Dr. McDougall Video on Obesity

Who agrees? Who thinks that by eating as much starchy foods as we want with no regard to calories will magically lead to weight loss as long as we eliminate the fat intake? That is, as long as we ingest zero fat other than that naturally contained in the grains, fruits and veggies that we eat and keep total fat intake to 10% or less of our calories that we WILL lose weight, even if we're 60 year old post-menopausal women who have been obese since infancy?

Many Star McDougallers have to watch their portion size and calorie counts. Most have to eat strict MWLP or they immediately start to regain.

A number of Star McDougallers have already regained their weight, many while still following the food plan, even the MWLP version of it. Some regained all 100+ pounds they previously lost, some just a few, some both at various times in their lives.

I'm one of those people who MUST watch my portions and calorie intake. I have ZERO foods with added oil, I don't have any oil or fat products in my house aside from the cream cheese my son eats. I read the label of everything that goes into my shopping cart following Jeff Novick's guidelines. If I eat the way Dr. McDougall tells us to in his books and this video, I *gain* weight, and I HAVE gained over 30 pounds since I first started the McDougall program back in the early 1990's and ONLY lose if I eat 1000 calories a day when I can't exercise (either because of pain or illness), 1200 calories if I do aerobic exercise (in my target heart rate zone) a half hour 5 days a week, 1400 on those rare occasions I can actually get in an hour of aerobics, but it's been over a year since I've been able to do that, thanks to my degenerative disc disease and sciatica. I know of MANY others both on and off the official forums, including a number who left because they were accused of "sneaking" fats in, not disclosing everything they were eating, and everything else doctors and family have been accusing us of our entire lives.

Sorry, Dr, McD, but I do NOT agree that JUST dropping the fat will cause magic weight loss.

How about the rest of you?

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

A Different Engine 2 Shepherd's Pie Recipe (edited from original post of 6/9/2013)

This one is from Natala, one of the Engine 2 coaches:

Shepherds Pie: The quick way.
   
about 5-6 white potatoes.
2 cups cooked lentils
1 package of frozen peas and carrots
1 package sliced mushrooms
1/2 package of frozen kale
Poultry seasoning
paprika
no sodium added tomato sauce or Pomi tomatoes (pureed)
nutritional yeast
unsweetened non-dairy milk

Pre-heat oven to 400

Peel (optional) and cut the potatoes; cook in boiling water for around 20 minutes, until soft.
While the potatoes are cooking:
Layer in a baking dish:
first layer: a thin layer of tomato sauce to cover the bottom
second layer: lentils
third layer: mushrooms
4th layer: kale
5th layer: peas and carrots

When your potatoes are finished, drain and mash them, adding a bit of milk and nutritional yeast, up to 1/2 cup, and some poultry seasoning.

Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the peas and carrots layer. Sprinkle paprika over the potatoes.

Cover the casserole and bake for about 30 minutes, until completely heated.

Before cooking

What I did differently:
Not much. I forgot the poultry seasoning in the potatoes so sprinkled it over the peas and carrots. It worked out better this way because otherwise they would have turned the potatoes green. I also forgot the paprika. It was in the list of ingredients then never mentioned again in the original directions.

It's too hot to light the oven so it was cooked in the microwave. Since it's to be covered, anyway, that shouldn't matter. I used 75% power for 15 minutes and it was very hot to touch. I should have used a thermometer, instead.

Tastes:
Well, not so good. The bag of kale had more stems than leaves and was very chewy, and it didn't taste as good as usual, either. I had to use a lot of salt on mine and my husband drowned his in sriracha sauce.

after cooking

I didn't cook it long enough and the mushrooms were still solid and crunchy, and some were still room temperature. Everything else was very hot, though, which is weird.

If I use this recipe again in the future, I'm frying up the mushrooms with onions first, and instead of kale I'll definitely use spinach, instead. And instead of, or along with, nutritional yeast, the potatoes will also get a hefty dose of garlic.

We both decided this wasn't a very good meal, and soon after eating my husband went foraging for something else to eat. There are plenty of leftovers that I now have to figure out how to doctor up to make more appetizing. Perhaps a batch of McDougall-approved gravy?

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.

Mark's Heart Healthy Pizza TV Premier