The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss

While many people new to the McDougall Program are familiar with Dr. McDougall's book, "The Starch Solution," some may not be familiar with "The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss." This book was written specifically for those trying to lose weight who may or may not have other health problems.

The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss which is often abbreviated as MWL, is a stricter form of the regular McDougall Program as outlined in the Starch Solution and other books by Dr. McDougall.

Here are the guidelines:

You may eat:

potatoes and sweet potatoes
winter squash (butternut, acorn, pumpkin, etc.)
whole grains (oats, brown rice, wheat berries, millet, corn, etc.)
legumes (beans, peas, lentils)
leafy greens (spinach, turnip greens, kale, collards, lettuce, cabbage, etc.)
non-starchy vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, etc.)
fruit (limit to 2 per day)

Do not eat:

meat, poultry, fish, seafood
dairy products
eggs
oil
flour products (bread, pasta, cake, cookies, pies, flour tortillas, etc.)
high fat plant foods (avocados, olives, tofu, tempeh, nuts, coconut, seeds)
dried fruit

Tips:

Make non-starchy vegetables one-third to one-half of each meal

Graze: divide your meals into 6-8 smaller meals per day so you don't get hungry between meals.

Use simple sugar sparingly

Try to exercise, but don't overdo it if you are obese when starting out as you might injure yourself. As you begin to lose weight you can add exercise to your program. Walking is a good exercise for the severely obese.

*I highly recommend buying the book "The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss," or checking it out of the library.

Praise God and Pass the Mashed Potatoes

I last blogged about my weight the third week in March. Since then I have lost 15 lbs. I lost 7 lbs. the last week in March on the Mary's Mini Diet. In April I lost another 8 lbs. on the Maximum Weight Loss program. After getting off to a rocky start in January, I am excited that I have finally begun to lose weight. Also I had my annual medical checkup and am happy about my results.

Here are my statistics:

Date: 5/1/15

Weight: 245 lbs.

Bust: 43 1/2 in.

Waist: 44 in.

Hips: 53 in.

Total cholesterol: 155

HDL cholesterol: 52

LDL cholesterol: 90

Triglycerides: 64

BP: 118/78

Mary's Mini McDougall Diet

I have successfully done the Mary's Mini McDougall Diet twice, losing a total of 13 lbs.  You may not be familiar with this version of the McDougall Diet, but although it may sound very restrictive and difficult to do, it is really very simple and do-able.

Mary's Mini McDougall Diet (aka "Mary's Mini") is just like the McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss (I will talk about that in my next post), but instead of eating a variety of starchy foods, you limit yourself to just one type of starch while doing the diet.

Dr. McDougall calls his regular (Starch Solution) program and his weight loss program (Maximum Weight Loss)  lifestyles, but Mary's Mini is a true diet, designed to get weight off very quickly----and it does.

**Note--Mary's Mini Diet is not designed for long term weight loss, but to kick start your weight loss if you find it difficult to lose weight. It usually should be done for a week or two at most.

Here's how it works:

Don't Eat:

animals or animal products (meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy or eggs)

high fat plants or plant products (avocados, olives, nuts, seeds or soy)

dried fruit (raisins, dates, prunes, etc.)

flour (wheat, cornmeal, tortillas, processed cereal etc.)

oil or fats (olive oil, corn oil, canola oil, lard, margarine, butter, etc.)

Do eat:

a starch at each meal (choose only one type of starch for the entirety of the diet, such as potato, sweet potato, winter squash or a whole grain such as rice, corn, bulgar, oats, etc.)

 non-starchy vegetables

fruit (limit to 2 per day)

That's it!

Easy isn't it?

To learn more about Mary's Mini McDougall Diet, click on the link below"

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/june/marys.htm

My Weight Loss Struggle

Although I grew up as a skinny kid, I began gaining weight in college. At first I didn't mind, because at 5 ft. 10 1/2 in. tall and weighing only 125 lbs. I was teased and called "bean pole."  After college I married and my husband and I began our family immediately. I had four children in less than ten years. I gained a lot of weight with each pregnancy and didn't lose all the baby weight after the children were born. Thus began a struggle with my weight for the next 40 years.

I think I've tried every popular diet out there including Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Medifast, Atkins, Eat to Live, The Paleo Diet and more. As I grew older, it became even more difficult to lose weight and I became obese. I developed hypothyroidism which didn't help. I also developed sleep apnea and began wearing a very uncomfortable face mask and breathing apparatus at night just to be able to get enough air. On top of that I developed osteoarthritis which my excess weight just made worse. I began using a cane to walk. I couldn't walk a half block without getting winded and having terrible foot and knee pain. I knew I had to do something or I would become an invalid. In 2012 I began the McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss and lost 40 lbs.  However I had to have surgery for pelvic prolapse and had a three month recovery time. During that time I returned to eating all the comfort foods that had made me fat in the first place. Over the next two years I gained back all the weight I had lost on the McDougall program. I knew that the only program that worked for me was the McDougall program, so in January of 2015 I began it again.

I have a very slow metabolism and am pretty much sedentary, at least during the winter when I go into hibernation mode. So I haven't lost as much as I would like, just 10 lbs. so far. However, now that it is Spring, I am hoping to be more active and lose more weight. So I started this blog to record my progress to share with my family and friends.

This week (the last week in March of 2015) I will be doing the Mary's Mini Diet as a "kickoff" and then do the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Program after that until I reach my goal weight. This is a stricter version of the McDougall Program, named after Dr. McDougall's wife, Mary, and consists of eating only one type of starch during the entire week along with non-starchy vegetables and two servings of fruit each day. I tried this before and lost a pound a day. I have chosen potatoes as my starch de jour. There are so many dishes you can make out of potatoes so they lend themselves to this type of restrictive diet.

To learn more about The McDougall Program, click the link below. 

https://www.drmcdougall.com/
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My Statistics:

Date: 3/23/15

Weight: 260 lbs.

Bust: 44 in.

Waist: 45 in.

Hips: 54 in.