After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

Actually, it's after ANY large amount of weight lost due to calorie restricted diets, even WFPB no S-O-S ones. Some of the Star McDougallers frequently mention how they have to eat less and less starch, less calories, first to lose those last few pounds, then to maintain their lower weight. Some Stars lost over 100 pounds, regained, and lost them again. 

Doctors, especially obesity experts, have known about this happening for DECADES, which is why they now push for weight loss surgery and weight loss meds. 

After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their BodiesFought to Regain Weight
Contestants lost hundreds of pounds during Season 8, but
gained them back. A study of their struggles helps explain
why so many people fail to keep off the weight they lose.
By GINA KOLATAMAY 2, 2016

And this is the Obesity Journal article  about the study referred to in the above article.

Original ArticlePersistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after “The Biggest Loser” competition

In conclusion, we found that “The Biggest Loser” participants regained a substantial amount of their lost weight in the 6 years since the competition but overall were quite successful at long-term weight loss compared with other lifestyle interventions. Despite substantial weight regain, a large persistent metabolic adaptation was detected. Contrary to expectations, the degree of metabolic adaptation at the end of the competition was not associated with weight regain, but those with greater long-term weight loss also had greater ongoing metabolic slowing. Therefore, long-term weight loss requires vigilant combat against persistent metabolic adaptation that acts to proportionally counter ongoing efforts to reduce body weight.

The 3 Biggest Mistakes People Make in their Diet

Here's Doctor McDougall explaining some of the biggest misconceptions people have about his food plan. It appears to be from an interview conducted back in July 2012.
 

Jeff Novick Coaching Again in 2014

Did everyone see the announcement from Jeff Novick entitled Nutritional Services? Yes! Jeff is going to start nutritional counselling again in 2014!

From the email announcement:

Staring in January 2014, I will once again offer personal nutrition services, which will include Medical Nutrition Therapy, Health & Wellness Coaching & Fast Fixes.  You can find out more about these services here. The Fast Fixes, which are 20 minutes phone appointments to answer a specific question or two, are currently available on a limited basis.  The other two services will start in January 2014.

If I can get my doctor to write out the referral and dietary prescription, I just may apply for this. Problem is, the only dietary prescription my doctors - primary care and cardiologist - give me is to eat 1000 calories. Neither doctor believes a WFPB, no S-O-S diet is necessary or effective, whether it's for weight loss or cardiac health. In fact, just yesterday the cardiologist told me not to bother giving my husband ground flax seed, that it's "just voodoo" and ineffective in lowering triglycerides or inflammation. Yes, he knows about Dr. Esselstyn but no, he doesn't like the diet and feels it's just another fad diet, and an unhealthy one at that. (sigh)

There's always the regular Health and Wellness Coaching if I can't get the doc's approval.

Are You A Junk Food or Healthy Food Vegan?

I was directed to this article on the VegNews site by Colleen Holland. Everybody should go read it and then think about how you eat.

Colleen Holland: How I Became a Healthy Vegan

Many Similarities Between McDougall and Engine 2 Diets

I rejoined the Engine 2 Extra site again and have been spending time catching up on all the group posts. One in particular struck my eye. It's written by one of their "coaches," Ami, and is in response to someone new who was struggling with weight loss (and food allergies, but that's a moot point). It's behind a pay-wall so the general public can't see it.

Here's part of her post:

For best results - skip the avocados/nuts/seeds/smoothies.
Chew your food instead of drinking calories.
Here are my best tips for maximum benefit:

• No oil at all in any product, by itself, or in a cooking spray. Zero.

• If you are trying to lose weight or have heart disease, skip nuts and avocados.

• Keep products that have a barcode to an absolute minimum.

• Keep the sodium low - use no salt added or reduced sodium products.

• Keep sweeteners to 1 tablespoon or less per day.

• Snack on ONLY fruits and veggies

• Do not drink ANY calories. Only water or herbal tea.

• Become caffeine free.

• Make the bulk of your plate veggies, 1/4 grains, 1/4 protein

• Follow the calorie density scale when assembling meals and snacks.

• Become a label reading expert and adhere to the label reading rules always!

• Do not use ANY processed Vegan substitutes - no V. burgers, V.sour cream, V. cheese etc.

Sound familiar, fellow McDougallers? It should, since Jeff Novick is also one of *their* nutritionists. The only real difference I see between what Ami wrote and what Dr. McDougall says is in the proportions. Dr. McDougall stresses that our plate should be at minimum half starch, and as far as I know, I thought the Engine 2 diet books said the same thing, but I see Ami here saying the starches (grains) should be kept to a quarter of the plate. I wonder if this is her own bias, just as some of the Star McDougallers push MWLP and 3/4 of the plate as veggies on the McDougall forums.

We Are More Than A Scale

With Rip Esselstyn's new book about to come out in a few weeks, I decided to go take another look over on the Engine 2 Diet site and catch up on some Daily Beet articles or recipes I may have missed. Boy, were there a lot of them!

One of the articles that struck me was this one by one of the Engine 2 team's coaches, Natala. Here's the beginning paragraphs:

       More than a scale

For as long as I can remember I have been on a diet. I remember going to weight loss meetings when I was in Middle School. I remember trying my first diet pills when I was 14. The agony of diets is something that I have been struggling through almost my entire life, 24 years to be exact.

When I started going plant-strong I weighed upwards of 450 pounds. Life was not good for me, every day was a struggle. I didn’t weigh 450 pounds for lack of trying different diets, I weighed that much after attempting every single diet known to man, go ahead, ask if I’ve been on a certain diet, if it is out there, I’ve tried it.

For those people who, like me, struggled for decades to lose even an ounce and cry when the scale is up even a half pound, this article is a must-read.

I'm more than twice her age and have been through this struggle for almost 60 years now. I'm really tired of the agony of weigh-in's that show no loss, even though I'm almost 150 pounds over a "healthy" weight - and HAVE been for over 40 years. I'm been officially overweight since the day after my birth! Like Natala, with each weight loss attempt more weight eventually came ON instead of going off. I really want to just stop. Like Natala (and many, many others I've read about on the McDougall and Fuhrman message boards and elsewhere) I lost quite a bit of weight when I first went on the no added fat, whole foods, plant strong food program (McDougall MWLP, in my case), and like Natala and those hundreds of others, the weight loss slowed, stalled, then stopped completely after a while. A long while. For years, even while going towards more nutrient-dense whole foods and following strict MWLP, at times experimenting with a more Rice Diet like program (Dr. McDougall's suggestion, actually) and going well under 1000 calories. I actually gained weight during that phase of my dieting life, so decided to go back on the regular McDougall program and take what I get and try ignore the scale. Of course, after 50-plus years of weight loss dieting, that hasn't happened (the ignoring part).

When you finish reading Natala's post, search the Daily Beet for other posts by her, then watch this video of her with Chef AJ and Julianna Hever cooking Thai Noodles using a Mary McDougall recipe:




It's been many years since I had such an upbeat attitude as Natala has, and I hope she retains it throughout the rest of her journey, whether she losses another ounce or not.

The Pleasure Trap - The OTHER Author, Dr. Alan Goldhamer

As a McDougaller, I heard about Dr. Doug Lisle frequently because of his appearances at McDougall events, then his DVD and book, The Pleasure Trap. He continued lecturing at McDougall events, released another DVD, then another.

But we never heard anything about his co-worker at the True North Health Center




and co-author of The Pleasure Trap, Alan Goldhamer, D.O..

A few weeks ago I came across this video of him giving a lecture on the Pleasure Trap. It's excellent! If you thought Dr. Doug Lisle gave a good lecture on the subject, you're GOT to see this one by Dr. Goldhamer! This really hammers it home.


I found another lecture by him on fasting, but haven't watched it yet, as I've been a tad bit busy the past 2 months with life and death matters. It's on my to-do list for Monday morning, though, now that I'm slowly catching up with things.



Thanks, Dr. Goldhamer.

Does It Really Hurt?

Does It Really Hurt?

This is a "must read" article! A short quote:

Most people sharing space with you at that moment would have no idea of the epic battle going on inside you as you ferociously and desperately debate yourself over your upcoming food choice. Sometimes we win that battle, and sometimes we don't. We may reach for the pie, smile at the person standing next to us, and  say, "Oh, well. Just this once won't hurt." And, it doesn't. If anything, it brings on a full-body wave of release. We actually sigh out loud sometimes with the bliss of it. Our shoulders drop as our muscles drain of tension.

Our eyes may even glaze over a bit as we go to our happy food place where our taste buds sing and our heart soars. Dopamine, after all, is the very same chemical that is released when we fall in love.

So, it's true, then. Just this once really doesn't hurt at all. In fact, it feels really good. However, when I close my eyes and picture myself having that bite of pie followed by the full-body melt, it's hard not to also imagine the images we've seen of crack addicts in the movies. Just picture the wild-eyed, jonesing addict on the floor, leaning up against the dirty wall of the crack house, tourniquet tight around her upper arm. She inserts the needle into her vein, pushes the plunger, and we see that same body melt, the same release, the same eye glazing we ourselves get when we eat the pie.

Penultimate VeganMoFo Post

I'm trying to think of a way to end this month with a bang, but am having a hard time finding a topic.

~ ~ ~

I just edited out a very long and scathing post about weight loss, the official McDougall forums, and people with the same attitude I find on every weight loss forum, message board and mailing list, hell, "successful" weight losers I've met in real life (While they're still in their honeymoon phase, before they started to regain). If you've tried and failed at weight loss in the past or just know people who did manage to lose, you know what I'm talking about. That simple little phrase - "If *I* can do it, so can YOU!" I feel like drop kicking their asses from  here to eternity!

NO! Just because YOU did does NOT mean that I can. Do YOU have a 58 year history of weight cycling? Do YOU have hypothyroid disease and other auto-immune disorders? Do YOU have degenerative disc disease, arthritis and neuritis throughout your body? Do YOU have nutritional deficiencies and a heart condition caused by 5 decades of restrictive eating? Do YOU have the genes that I have? Well then don't tell me that if YOU did it I can too!



Let me just remind people about the McDougall groups on YahooGroups. There's the one geared towards weight loss, and another group for everyday people following the program for various reasons, usually for health or animal rights, but the group had voted to exclude all weight loss talk. When the Groups were active a few years ago, we had a very nice time there, sharing recipes, shopping or cooking tips, hints on how to sneak healthy food into a family's meal. In recent months, thanks to YahooGroups general idiocy and the rise of other social media sites, things have been slow. We can use some fresh blood, so why not come on over and visit? The Files sections of both groups have hundreds of recipes gathered from various cookbooks and web sites, as well as favorites posted by members.

~ ~ ~

So where am I going with this rambling post? I have no idea.