Thanks
Lindsey ! Hope your move went well!
Starchyme - not sure I have come back down to earth yet!
Geo - hope the new job is going well.
Thanks
Ejeff.
Sorry it's taken me ages to share my thoughts on the McDougall 3 Day Intensive Weekend. I looked back through the many many pages of handwritten notes and realised it would take me a very long time to write them all up! Instead of trying to summarise the whole weekend, I've shared some personal impressions.
Living the McDougall DreamWhen I initially thought about attending the McDougall 3 Day Intensive Weekend (or 3 dayer as I like to call it!), my ‘business case’ for the expenditure sounded a little flimsy, even to me. These were my reasons:
• See Dr McDougall and the team 'in the flesh'
• Enjoy eating McDougall compliant food that I haven’t had to cook
• Meet other McDougallers
• Meet Amandamechele (Amy) who leads the MWL weigh-in threads here and has become a friend.
I’ve been McDougalling since May 2017, have sorted my previous health issues and am happy with my weight, so there wasn’t a ‘compelling event’ for the trip. At times it's felt like a lonely path apart from the online world of the website, videos and online community so I guess part of me wanted to check that this world really existed! Luckily my husband was supportive and sensed that I really wanted to go, so I booked. As the date approached, I added another reason to the list:
• To help me ‘deepen my McDougall groove’. After the Christmas feasting season, various trips abroad and a drift towards more calorie dense foods, my weight had ‘settled’ about 3 pounds above my goal weight and I felt I needed to get back to close compliance before the weight rose further and to gain the most health benefits.
As the date approached, my excitement levels rose. My husband told me not to get 'over-excited’ but I couldn’t help it! The thought of being in Santa Rosa, an almost-magical place in my mind, and of potentially meeting my McDougall heroes – Dr McDougall, Dr Lisle, Dr Lim, Jeff Novick and Amy - was like a dream! I usually try to dampen down my expectations for fear of being disappointed, but this time I didn’t even try.
I flew to San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon (London time) with the conference starting Friday afternoon (San Francisco time). I caught the Airport Express bus from SFO airport and enjoyed the beautiful California scenery during the 2 hour journey. On a previous trip to San Francisco, I’d not crossed the golden gate bridge so that was great! San Francisco bay was much bigger than I’d remembered and I loved watching the green farm land, hills and trees roll by on either side of the expressway.
After an approx 20 hour journey door-to-door I was relieved to arrive at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Health Spa. It was built in the 1950's and has been modernised but retains a lovely period feel and is very comfortable. On Thursday, I tried out the large outdoor heated swimming pool and a yoga class at the hotel’s excellent health club. The yoga class was similar in style to one I do in the UK but the Brazilian folk music and American accents all around me left me in no doubt that I was a long way from home! I explored the hotel grounds and ventured outside to a large convenience store/pharmacy and to a local Safeway. I was delighted to see some of my favourite leafy greens in their organic veg chiller cabinet and wished I had access to a small kitchen
I bought some Mrs Dash salt-free seasonings which I haven't seen in the UK. On Thursday night, I ate from the McDougall menu in the hotel restaurant in the evening.
Friday morning, I met Amy for breakfast at the hotel. So far, my McDougall dream was coming true and living up to expectations! Amy had hired a car and was kind enough to invite me to join her and her son on some sightseeing. We visited the Charles Schulz museum, historic downtown Santa Rosa and drove to the stunning coastline at Bodega Bay. We had lunch at a casual Mexican place called El Patio where they have a McDougall menu - such a treat!
The agenda for the weekend is
here and featured 3 presentations from Dr McDougall, Dr Lisle, Jeff Novick and Dr Lim. Amy has done an excellent job of summarising this event
here and a similar one from 2018
here so I’ll try not to cover the same ground.
Dr Lim’s session on: 'Valuable life lessons from the Blue Zones' was based on the book by Dan Buettner and outlined the nine power principles
1. Movement – Dr Lim advises his patients to exercise that safely, consistently, with joy and ensure exercise is well rounded (for example include resistance exercise for bone density).
2. Destress – for example, meditation, yoga, prayer, afternoon naps.
3. Purpose/meaning – consider ‘Where your deep gladness and the world’s hunger coincide’ ( Frederick Buechner) or ‘follow your bliss’ (Joseph Campbell) for example hobbies, volunteering, journalling.
4. Plant-based diet.
5. 80% rule – eat till you’re 80% full by rating your level of fullness at the end of a meal. The difference between eating to 80% or 100% fullness could easily be 200 calories per day.
6. Wine at 5pm - Dr Lim said he considered excluding this one but left it in. He said, "the less alcohol, the better. There is no safe level of consumption." Blue Zones research found that settings mattered.
7. Family – family first. Blue Zones families lived in close proximity to each other.
8. Community – or finding your ‘right tribe’ - surround yourself with people with similar values
9. Spirituality – vast majority of Blue Zones people attended some sort of spiritual event regularly.
He then linked these principles with Dr Dean Ornish’s advice to: move well (1), stress less (2,3), eat well(4,5,6), love more (7,8,9) approach. Neat
Some of my fav quotes from the weekend:
Jeff Novick “We’re a commodity program. “Make the best choice whenever you can. One day you’ll be out and the best choice won’t be available.”
Jeff Novick [in response to a question: “Is there a key vegetable for preventing cancer?”] “Yes, all of them. It’s the overall lifestyle approach that will prevent cancer. Dietary patterns are what matter most. There are no super foods only super dietary patterns.”
Dr Lim: “compassionate authenticity” Authentic = say what you mean and do what you promise. Compassion = sensing the other. Or be true to yourself and sensitive/loving towards the other person.” Wise words indeed
Dr Lim “I have nothing to sell you” [comparing with programs that promote their own products] “My referral for you at the end of the weekend is to the grocery section of the supermarket.”
Dr McDougall [when talking to people about this way of eating] “appeal to where people are. For example, with kids talk about pimples, ridicule from peers not breast cancer and Alzheimer’s. For adults - gain health and power. For older adults - delay death and disability."
Dr Lisle [in response to a question about Dr Greger saying add oil to your greens] “Get the CRAP out and the good stuff in and don’t worry about absorbing the nutrients.” “Your life needs to have a starch stream”
And some random observations:
The presenters and presentations lived up to and exceeded my expectations. They are all super-knowledgeable, energetic, warm, friendly and entertaining. They managed to hold my attention throughout, in spite of feeling jet-lagged and sleep-deprived most of the weekend. Watching the presentations live felt more interactive and immersive so I 'got' some messages that I'd missed when watching a similar presentation online.
If you’ve seen Jeff present or watched his videos, you’ll already know what an entertaining presenter he is. I hadn’t seen him present on reading labels before and found it very instructive, to the extent that I was applying his advice in the supermarket the very next day. I can totally see how this could become a hobby!
This clip from 2012 shows the part describing how a fat free spray is actually 100%fat and is very funny.
Jeff also delivered a powerful reminder of why to avoid vegan CRAP with an example of high fat vegan burgers:
It was inspiring to chat with a man who’s helping his company roll out a lifestyle program to improve their employees mental and physical health. Oh and reduce their healthcare insurance costs. I can’t remember the exact number, but I think he said that the savings were over 35% for each employee who went through the program.
The food tasted different from my home cooked food. I worked out that when I cook at home, salt has sneaked in way more than I realised and am rectifying that
In the presence of an all you can eat McDougall buffet, I felt a little like Goldilocks. The first day I ate small portions at mealtimes and was hungry in between. The second day, I ate huge portions and had a sore tummy from overeating. But by the 3rd day, I’d just about got it sussed
It was a real treat to be part of the McDougall world (my 'right tribe') for a weekend. The content, organisation, accommodation and food were all excellent and I loved meeting the McDougall team and other McDougallers. I've returned home with a renewed sense of joy in this lifestyle, some practical tips and a deeper commitment.
Dr Lim's closing slide:
I hadn't done long-haul travel on my own for many years, but enjoyed that aspect of it as well. Having time away from home and family, some clear headspace, plus a stream of great information and interesting people to chat with gave me a valuable opportunity for personal reflection and self-knowledge.
There’s absolutely no need to go to a 3 day event as all the content is on the McDougall website for free and/or in the books and the support and information available in the online community here is outstanding. But, if you can afford to go I wholly recommend it.
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I had a dream about a magical land with a large blue sky, warm sunshine, rolling hills, tall redwood trees and flowering shrubs. A place where the food is healthy, abundant and delicious. Where the people live long, healthy, purposeful and active lives, and the leaders are wise, welcoming and full of good humour. I found that place at the McDougall 3 dayer in Santa Rosa. But as I awaken from the dream and settle back into my real life, I’ve brought back some of that dream with me. For those of us that are given the gift of this way of eating, we are lucky enough to be able to live the dream any where, any time, any place. (Well the food and health part not the landscape
!)
“There was a dream that was Rome, it shall be realised”
(from the film Gladiator)Other photos on Flickr.