How long till I'll notice a difference?

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How long till I'll notice a difference?

Postby seattlebuddy » Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:30 am

I have been on the McDougall program for a long time with a very steady weight. Wanting to lose 5-10 pounds (Dr. McDougall would probably tell me that as a female at 5'4" I could lose 15), I finally decided to stick to the Maximum Weight Loss Diet and maintain my daily exercise. The difference was that I stopped my little "cheats" that must have been adding up (bread once a week, vegan chocolate often, the occasional handful of nuts, etc) to maybe 200 calories a day (since these cheats are high calorie) or perhaps even 300 cal/day.
After 9 days on the MWLD, looks like I've gained a pound. Ugh. Granted this could be misleading, but it's definitely not progressive weight loss. :( I have committed to staying strictly on MWLD for 30 days (like Doug Lisle recommends). My goal was to lose 2 pounds in a month, I'll take 1. Is it common to see absolutely no results after 9 days? How long till I should expect any results? Is it possible that I will see no weight loss at all, ever?
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Re: How long till I'll notice a difference?

Postby curcubit » Sat Mar 26, 2022 7:58 am

HI Seattle Buddy,
I'm sound somewhat similar (although no idea of your age and gender). Im 60 and female. But long time McDougaller with a steady weight who would like to trim some pounds. For what it is worth, I moved to Seattle 3 years ago. I seem to be able to take off weight in the summer following MWL, but in the winter it is like a switch flips and it is all I can do to keep from gaining weight. When the days start gettign shorter I start craving nuts, fruit. I was constantly hungry and never felt satisfied eating a 50/50 plate. My mental health was suffereing, I foudn I was obsessing over food WAY more. I have read elsewhere it is an evolutionary adaption to put on some pounds to get you through the lean winter. The problem is "food winter" never comes in our modern world.

This was not so much a problem when I lived 1000 miles south where the daylight longer and it was much warmer and sunnier. I really think, for me at least, I have a glitch in my CLOCK genes or circadian rhythm that makes me more susceptible to this here in Seattle. Getting a SAD light helped and also eating more 10% more protein dense foods (tofu, beans) and 10% less starch seemed to satisfy my appetite better. Plus veggie soups daily. Winter just seems to go on forever in Seattle, so I view it as a win to be able to easily pull on the shorts I was wearing last October in March. True, they are not baggy, I did not go down a size over the winter, but neither did I go up. I can work over the summer to get down that next 1-2 sizes and then maintain over the winter.

Hope that helps, but your mileage may vary. Just stick with plants and avoid all overt fats, remember calorie density...water and veggies are your friends. But, at least in my case, soy and beans are too!
"One cannot pick a flower without troubling a star." Aldo Leopold
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