Empowering Change in Early, Middle, and Late Life

Our first book, published in 1979, was titled Making the Change. Back then Mary and I understood that health and appearance problems and solutions were dependent upon people changing how they ate. We also knew that the biggest changes would beget the biggest results. Our efforts over the past 34 years have been focused on helping people through these often-difficult changes so that they could see and feel the biggest results. The most empowering of these changes have become clear to Mary and I, and they are presented below, organized into the three overlapping stages of life: Early, Middle and Late.

Humans are naturally motivated to approach pleasure and avoid pain; but the more powerful of the two forces is the desire to avoid pain. In general, people change when the inconvenience of being fat and sick outweighs the inconvenience of taking care of themselves. Because the intensity and kind of stimuli for deriving pleasure and avoiding pain varies with age, the motivations for change also vary. |MORE|

Holiday Meal Planning
By Mary McDougall

This time of year, the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays frighten many people who eat a healthy diet. They wonder how to socialize with friends and how to prepare a meal in their home. These two days are supposed to be the largest feasts of the year. Yet in fact, both dinners are the healthiest, most vegetarian-like, most McDougall-like meals people eat all year long. Traditionally, these holiday dinners consist of mashed white potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, a bread stuffing, butternut and acorn squash, cranberries, and a variety of green vegetables, including Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, and green beans. For dessert, pumpkin pie ends the feast. That's a cornucopia of starches and vegetables. The turkey served is the leanest of all common meats. The truth is that every other dinner consumed by Westerners all year long is far richer in fat, cholesterol, salt and sugar than is eaten at these two traditional festivals. Therefore, if you are a healthy eater you will find Thanksgiving and Christmas the two most comfortable times of the year to socialize with all of your family and friends. I have laid out the menu, shopping list, and time schedule so that you will be able to more easily prepare a successful meal. The starred (*) items are ones I suggest for a basic meal plan, and then add as many more dishes as you feel your Thanksgiving dinner needs to fit your celebration.|MORE|

Featured Recipes - The Recipe Contest Winners

Rockin Moroccan Medley
By Kim Hoffman

Baked Ziti Casserole
By Diane Barnett |MORE|