Week 2 & The Switch

Something amazing happened this week: on Wednesday night, I received a book in the mail. I forgot I had ordered "McDougall Diet Maximum Weight loss." When I got it, I never thought I would actually do it, because Eat to Live had so much information about why eating mainly green and yellow vegetables are much better for me. But in the beginning of the week I started feeling very tired and hungry. I wasn't hungry to the point where I needed food now, but I was hungry enough to realize that it was hunger. Not toxic hunger. When I opened Dr. McDougall's book I noticed that the information inside was quite similar to Dr. Fuhrman's research. In fact, almost the whole book was the same! The only main differences are involving starches, salt, and nuts. Fuhrman does not encourage partaking in starches (he says to limit it to one serving a day), or salt (which I really do believe isn't the best think for the body). I believed him the first time around, and I still do believe that starches can make a person fat, but that has to do with what people put on the starches. Nuts and seeds are a healthy fat, and because these doctors somewhat disagree, my opinion is that for maximum weight loss, nuts and seeds should be eliminated. But because our bodies do need a small amount of fat, nuts, seeds, and avocado are ways one should attain that fat (when they are maintaining their weight). I'm not a nutritionist or a weight loss specialist, but I don't think anyone could go wrong by eating whole foods. Mcdougall, on the other hand, encourages us not to put salt in our cooking, but to leave it on the table for surface use; that way, if we do want to flavor our meals with salt, we can taste it more since it's right on the food, rather than inside. His also stands by starches as a life necessity. When I was reading Eat to Live, I would come across youtube videos about the starch solution and I thought that was crazy! But in Mcdougall's book he shows how whole grain and starchy vegetables cannot make a person fat. (I mean, if you only eat starches, you may gain a little). My mom once told me, "any diet that eliminates a food group is unhealthy," and now I truly believe her. Starches are essential to a weight loss diet; most diet plans discourage starches, but when starches are thrown out, like my experience with Eat to Live, a person will get hungry, making it more likely for them to "fall off the wagon" and eat anykine food they find in the kitchen. That leads to discouragement and disappointment, and therefore will go full circle and end in a failed diet and likely more weight gain. What Dr. Mcdougall said about diets was certainly true for me. So I am willing to give this lifestyle a try. Now, with Eat to Live, I know I said the same thing, but Mcdougall's program is a lot easier to follow, and a lot more sustainable.

Guidelines for the Mcdougall Maximum Weight Loss Program:

1. No animal products
2. No oils
3. No high fat plant foods (avocados, soy, olives, coconut)
4. No flour products (no refined products)
5. Eat whole grain foods (rice, potatoes, oats)
6. Eat legumes (chickpeas, lentils, peas, beans)
7. Eat more greens
8. Eat uncooked foods
9. No more than two servings of fruit daily
10. Use simple sugars sparingly

Tips from Mcdougall:

• eat large amounts of vegetables
• make the last of your meal starch based (fill you up)
• make half of your meal starch, and the other half vegetables (then add your curry, fruit, or seasoning)
• snack on starches or vegetables and dip (ex. raw peppers w/lentil dip, rice cakes, quinoa salad)
• you're allowance of fruit

Here is what I ate this week. I'm going to keep track of at least 21 days, and see how it goes from there...

Day 1 (Thursday):

Breakfast: multigrain oatmeal - banana, oats, barley, rye, coconut sugar, cinnamon

Snack: carrot sticks

Lunch: salad (w/soy-lemon juice dressing), brown rice and squash soup

Snack: quinoa salad - quinoa, pinto beans, peppers, corn, basil, chili powder, lemon juice, seasoning,

Dinner: broccoli, sweet potato, apple

>> I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was not as hungry today. It wasn't until three hours after my breakfast when I felt a little pang of hunger in my belly. I was far less hungry than when I drank my green smoothie for breakfast. The rest of the day I didn't feel the need to snack of "cheat," and I felt completely satisfied after my meals.

picture of my food on day 1

Day 2 (Friday):

Breakfast: multigrain oatmeal - w/banana, coconut sugar, and cinnamon

Snack: quinoa salad

Lunch: salad and peppers (w/salsa), brown rice and sweet chili*

Dinner: Sweet potato, broccoli

Snack: Apple w/cinnamon

(I counted my calories just because I was curious to how many more calories I will be eating compared to Fuhrman's plan - which was about 800 cal.)-----1,186 cal-----

>> Today I felt amazing; I was not hungry at all the whole entire day. I feel like I was constantly eating (a good thing) and the meals I ate filled me up for hours. The only meal I get hungry after is breakfast, and it works out perfectly because I get a snack a just few hours after. I do, however, miss my fruit smoothies and banana nicecream, but the satisfaction I get from this food is greater than the desire to go back, although I know if I wanted it, I could have it guilt-free. I love the feeling of fulness and satisfaction. One thing that I did notice, though, is that my stomach looks a little puffy (not so much bloated, but just a little added fat). I don't know what it's from or if my body is reacting to the starches, but I'm going to move past it and keep persisting.

Day 3 (Saturday):

Breakfast: Coach's oats w/banana, coconut sugar, cinnamon

Snack: 15 rice puffs (Korean), (2 tbs.) kalo (pic below)

Lunch: Chili, potato, salad w/balsamic glaze

Dinner: Sweet potato, broccoli, apple w/cinnamon
Snack: rice puffs (a lot...)

>> Wow! Not only did I have the power to decline food left and right at the craft show I went to this morning, but I didn't feel hungry AT ALL. Not one moment did I ever feel that pang in my stomach; it was amazing. There was one time when I ate all those rice puffs (serving size: 5), but I didn't feel too guilty or sluggish after. I got a huge bag of potatoes today and learned how to heat them close-to-perfectly in the microwave - cut about half an inch down around the outside of the potato, wrap in wet paper towel, heat for 7 minutes. After lunch I was pretty much stuffed! Took dinner on the go, and just felt great about all that I ate today. Sometimes this food tastes so good that it makes me think it's unhealthy.

After I wrote all of the above ^, I brushed my teeth and got ready to go to sleep, but for some reason, I opened the rice puff bag and somehow managed to eat all of them. I don't think theres anything wrong with that since each rice puff has less than 20 calories, but this is something (binging) that I am working on now. This is not even close to how bad I was before though. I don't think this will happen again; I just love those Korean puffs.

Kalo: traditional Hawaiian staple 

aka Taro (like a sweet potato), pounded into Pa'i'ai 

---looks gross but tastes amazing---

Day 4 (Sunday):

Breakfast: Coach's oats w/banana, coconut sugar, cinnamon

Lunch: potato, chili, salad w/tahini-miso dressing and sprouts

Snack: 5 rice puffs (Korean)

Dinner: lentil stew, rice, potatoes w/ketchup
>> Oh my goodness, I feel so good today. Thinking back over the week I realize that I felt so satisfied by all the starches and foods I was eating. Seriously the opposite of what I felt on Eat to Live. I don't feel like I lost any weight, but I do feel so happy that I get to eat all the food groups (unlike Raw Till 4 or Eat to Live). Honestly, I feel like I'm eating everything and I can't even think of one thing I want to eat that I can't. Also, a plus: my shopping list shrunk, the price dropped [potatoes are pretty cheap.]

Homemade baked oil-free fries w/organic ketchup

---oh, and I had a late-night (not really...its 8) snack of sprouted wheat cereal with a splash of coconut milk---

***This week was honestly AMAZING! I never felt ravenous like I did on Eat to Live. My body inherently craves starches, and I didn't realize that until I completely eliminated the group from my diet. It feels so great to not restrict myself from anything my body craves! I am allowed to eat from every food group except fats, but fats can be found in other things I eat (I think). But overall, I feel wonderful.

Recipe of the week: Sweet Chili (by ME)
1 c. onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 c. pepper, diced
2 c. beans, (if dry, soaked overnight) pinto
1.5 c. tomato sauce
1 c. water
2 tbs. chili powder
dash of cumin, paprika, oregano, parsley

1. Heat a large saucepan and pour tomato sauce and water in. Add chopped vegetables and let sit for 10 min.
2. Add beans and cook for another 10 min on medium heat.
3. Mix in spices and chili powder.
4. Keep on low until celery is completely cooked.

“The will must be stronger than the skill.”