Skyscraper wrote:Usually they aren't actually doing McDougall. For example, maybe someone is eating a lot of high fat foods like lots of nuts and nut based creamy sauces and dressings. Or maybe they are eating processed vegan cheese junk foods or oil or some other vegan junk foods. They might still consider that they are doing the McDougall program because they also are eating a lot of starches and avoiding meat and dairy, but it's really not McDougall at all. So they are rightfully not losing weight. Rather than address it through application of the McDougall Program's principles they want to see if they can lose weight while still eating the unhealthy high fat foods that they want. Thus the solution becomes to add in some fasting.
I fell into this trap at one point myself, when my diet was just a bit too rich for me. Rather than adjust the diet I wanted to try intermittent fasting.
This is such a very important point. It describes one of the main concerns and "flags" when we hear people are doing these "hacks."
Case in point....
This past Monday, someone booked an appointment with me. I asked about their concern and their main concern was their Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, VLDL, and LDL ad all risen significantly from when we last worked together 3.5 years ago. Back then, they had a similar concern and at that time, I asked them do to an 8-week experiment cleaning up their diet from everything and anything that was not 100% on program (MWL). Just for eight weeks to see.
Eight weeks later and all the numbers were excellent.
So, this week I said, you don't need another appointment with me, you don't have to spend the money, you know what to do and you know what your not doing correctly. Just do the same experiment for 8 weeks and you will have the same results. If not, then we can talk again. I cancelled the appointment and refunded their money.
I then received a few more communications from them listing all the things they realized they weren't doing correctly and how they had each slowly crept back in and now, "they are back on track!"
I had a similar discussion last week from someone I worked with in 2015. They were interested in IF and a few other "modifications." My response was..
"Our program is simple, very simple. So simple it becomes difficult. Just eat commodity simple staple foods as close to their natural state as possible (rice, beans, corn, oats, fruits, and vegetables) and get a pair of sneakers and move. That’s it. Adjust to your personal health situation if necessary.
The problem is, to do this in our toxic food environment, is nothing short of brutal. Literally. It puts pressure on family relationships, relationships with friends, social interactions, dining out and restaurants, travel, work, etc etc. We are social creatures (most of us) and like to fit in and get along, so to do this, puts a great strain on fitting in. And, todays current climate of information overload, clickbait and social media, everyone is an expert and makes it hard to figure things out."They wrote back. In their own words,
" You are correct. Last year, I went to the 3-day and Dr Lim asked me to do an 8-week experiment and after my inspiring conversation with Dr. Lim late last summer, I dialed in, lost 9#, and lowered my thyroid antibodies by half. Okay, so I just remembered that. Back on track! Thanks lots!"They both are doing the 8-week experiment again. The didn't need a consult with me.
Oh sure, I could spent an hour with either of them, explaining them the wonders of IF, TRE, EOD, VFB, etc etc and worked out a plan with them, but none of that would have addressed the real issues.
The real issue is understanding and adherence and those little things that starting slipping back in and adding up.
In Health
Jeff