1 month on diet, 30 lbs lost - and a new challenge

[wycoff]

I started the McDougall diet on 7/5, and as of yesterday, 8/02, I lost 30 lbs. That's more than I expected, but ti is a very welcome change. I feel better, I sleep better. But I still have a long way to go.

Anyway, the success of the diet has come with challenges, like going to group lunches at work, and figuring out how to plan for getting a meal that satisfies, but fits the McDougall diet. So far so good.

But now I have a new challenge. In a few weeks I will be travelling to Washington for the better part of a week. The days will be very long, and breakfast and lunch are prepared and delivered to the venue, so I won't have a lot of choice. Breakfast is "continental", meaning donuts, pastries, bagels/cream cheese; lunch is a sandwich, possibly vegetarian, but since they are mass ordered, you get mayo and other condiments and fats. Several of the dinners I will have control over to a certain degree, but the others will be en masse with the hundreds of others I'll be with - pizza, steakhouse, etc.

So this is going to be a big challenge. I'm so happy with the diet results so far that I look at this trip as my next (possibly defining) challenge.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this? I would prefer to not starve.

Thanks,

-Donald

[Lyndzie]

Your results are so impressive! I’m assuming you will be in a hotel, and those usually include a coffee maker in room and hot water for tea. You might even have access to a microwave and a fridge. For breakfast, use the hot water to make oatmeal. For lunch, the hot water can be used to reconstitute McDougall Right Foods soups. Shelf stable rice is available many places and heat up quickly in the microwave. Hitting up a grocery to for bags of microwave-in-bag veggies can round out the meal.

You might want to reach out to the coordinator and let her know your doctor has you on a special diet and how you can follow his advice while gone. You can totally do this. Keep rocking!

[Grammy Ginger]

I second Lyndzie. Contact the venue about your doctor's orders. I've never been anywhere that would not try to accommodate dietary requests on doctor's orders. Yes, Dr. McDougall did give you a prescription for this WOE even if it was a blanket prescription for everyone on the planet. It's not a fib at all.

I lived in WA for decades so know that there are plenty of grocery stores. Buy oats, applesauce, shelf-stable rice bowls, canned fat-free refried beans (not prepared hummus because it always has a boatload of oil), fruit, salsa, chopped lettuce, and already cut up carrots and celery. If you are near Wendy's, buy all of their baked potatoes without any of the toppings. Bring or buy a can opener and paper dishes.

Both rice and potatoes are good with beans and salsa. Make it a burrito bowl with lettuce. Dip your carrots and celery in beans and salsa, too. All of these can be eaten cold if you don't have a microwave in the room.

If there is no coffee maker in your room, you can still eat oats for breakfast. Muesli or rolled oats that haven't been boiled make a wonderful breakfast with cinnamon and one those little applesauce cups. My favorite are the blueberry and cherry flavors. (BTW-rolled oats have been steamed before they are rolled so are perfectly fine to eat without cooking.)

If you don't like the texture of muesli, overnight oats are the same thing but softer. Put some oats in a container, just cover with a bit of water, cover with some sort of top, and leave on the counter overnight. In the morning top with applesauce and cinnamon. Hotel rooms might not have bowls but they always have cups or glasses if you didn't get to buy any.

Finally, you don't even need all these ideas. My husband travels up to WA all the time for work and competitions. He eats oats and applesauce plus grapes or something the entire time.

[michaelswarm]

If possible eat or snack easy healthy choices before the group meals. Do what you can in your hotel room. Then you can enjoy the company, make conversation, and maybe graze on sides and salads, and I bet no one will even notice if you don’t eat the main course. And if everything does not go perfect, learn from experience, and keep going.

I’ve done quite a bit of traveling and it’s not a problem any more. I’m pretty creative, and I always find something no matter where I go. There is fresh whole food everywhere.

[Dougalling]

Hi

You can contact the hotel and have them stock your fridge with what you would get from the grocers. Saves you a grocery trip.

[viv]

When I go on a trip, I always have an Ezekial bread and jam sandwich in my bag for emergencies. You will get used to carrying your own food and not relying on others. When the only food available is a buffet, I scan it quickly for the most compliant choices. Often there is nothing I can eat, oh wait! I have a jam sandwich in my bag.

Viv

[John McDougall]

Eating Out by Mary McDougall is a great lecture: https://www.drmcdougall.com/about/foundation/

Then see the hot topics: https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/educ ... ining-out/

John McDougall, MD

[victw]

Contratulations Donald.

Here's another link to a lecture by Mary McDougall.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/educ ... -you-must/

A tricky option is to just not eat. It's tricky for most people because they end up caving and eating worse. Experimentation.

You might also want to look at videos by Doug Lisle. Particularly on the topic of Getting Along Without Going Along.

I find sugar snap peas are a veggie that keep well in a hotel room. Even without a fridge.

Chef AJ also has a nice webinar on eating while travelling. She goes to greater lengths than I'm willing to - but lots of good ideas.

Let us know how it goes.
Vic

[wycoff]

Thanks, everyone, for all the wonderful advice!

Incidentally, I just finished week 9 on the McDougall diet, and I've lost 47 lbs total. I feel "in the groove" right now, and the weight is dropping off more quickly than I thought possible. Yes, I'm eating well, and I'm feeling great.

I wanted to make this diet "stick", and find a way to help myself remain accountable. So I created a youtube channel where I'm making weekly videos about my accomplishments, challenges, and pleasures. I needed this more for myself than anything: it gives me a way to see myself from the first day on the diet, and see my journey back to health. Plus I get to share my love of cooking, and I've had great fun cooking vegan.

Anyway, here's my introduction/baseline video for the "Donald Wycoff Felton scale-down" channel. I recorded the video the day I started the McDougall diet, July 5th, 2019:

https://youtu.be/Ywdx7RPcpe0

And here's yesterday's video where I have lost 47 lbs:

https://youtu.be/w09Oo_Nf4yA

[viv]

Hi Donald,

I checked out your you tube channel and I must say I am very impressed with your dedication and achievements to date in improving your health. You are a Star Macdougaller in the making! I really liked that when eating lunch out with colleagues, you handed the wait staff a list of your requirements. The toasted wholewheat sandwich with veggies looks delicious! btw I know your neck of the woods well, I used to live in Santa Clara and went to UC Santa Cruz. Great days! I look forward to your updates.

Viv

[Lyndzie]

Excellent videos. You’re doing so well, I’m looking forward to seeing your progress.

[wycoff]

Thanks, Viv, thanks Lindzey! Especially thanks for looking at my youtube channel! And it looks like a few other folks looked as well. Many thanks!

I think my big challenge coming up will be my work-related trip to Spokane the week of the 22nd. It's basically a 10-12 hr work day stuck in a big room with 50+ engineers and architects. We get breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but "vegetarian breakfast" means avoiding eggs and bacon and loading up on danish. My plan is to follow a suggestion I got earlier: I'll do some shopping and stock my hotel room with oatmeal; then I can use the room's microwave or hot water from the coffee maker to make morning porridge.

Lunch at these events is always sandwiches or pizza, and although they provide a vegetarian alternative, it isn't vegan, and it is guaranteed to be high in fat with a gratuitous cookie. I figured I would include whole wheat bread, mustard and soy cheese in my grocery shopping trip so I can carry them for lunch. Dinner is the next challenge, but I can use my imagination since at dinner I can put in a request, and I don't mind asking for a couple of baked potatos with salsa.

Either way, I'm hoping to use my phone to capture "hotel life" when it comes time to grub, and add that to my Felton scale-down channel for my Weekly Round Up. Hotel Room Porridge: nice!

Oh, funny note: 3 months back at our last work-related Spokane visit, I wasn't vegan yet. I found out (the hard way) that the creamer in the office had gone bad, and as it turns out, it was a singular and lasting experience that turned me off to creamer altogether. That was a 40-year-old habit broken a few months before I turned vegan. Maybe that makes the bad creamer some kind of foreshadowing? Hard to say, but fun to consider.

[Lyndzie]

I like your idea for a sandwich. My favorite combo is mustard, lettuce, tomato and cucumber. All you would need is a small knife and a paper plate, and you have a sandwich shop in your room! Good luck on your trip.

[pundit999]

Hi Wycoff:

Congratulations on your great success with the McDougall plan!
Your experience mirrors mine. I lost 30 lbs 7 years ago over a short 6 weeks. I have never looked back!

Anyway. My wife and I have managed to be on plan in all kinds of weird places and hotels. We consumed this meal in our hotel room at Bryce Canyon at 8000 ft where no compliant food was available in restaurants:

We bought the supplies from the only grocery store at the place:
- Russet potatoes microwaved
- Corn tortillas (microwaved for 30 seconds)
- Salsa
- Fat free "refried" beans (from a can)
- Snap peas (these are great tasting snacks and keep well in the fridge or outside)

We made tacos with the ingredients. They were tasty and compliant.

We also make the following in our hotel rooms:
=== from another thread ==
Most people eat oatmeal sweetened.
We prepare a great savory dish that can be cooked in any hotel room with a microwave:

- 1 cup Old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups water
- handful or more of spinach
- 1 cubed tomatoes
- one chopped green chilies (optional)
- pinch of pepper
- pinch of salt (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salsa (optional)

Put the ingredients in a bowl and microwave for 3-4 minutes.
Let cool for 3 minutes. Enjoy!

At home, we also add cubed mushrooms to the dish at times.
===

If you really wanted to, you could make this oats dish in the hotel room and bring it to the event in a lunch bowl you carry from home. Bring a few microwaved potatoes also to hold you over in the afternoon and help keep away from the goodies
Of course, bananas, easy peel oranges, grapes, carrots etc are great options for snack.

[gracezw]

Thank you for sharing this Pundit! When you say "- Fat free "refried" beans (from a can)", are they just refried or well-fried in water?

Hi Wycoff:

Congratulations on your great success with the McDougall plan!
Your experience mirrors mine. I lost 30 lbs 7 years ago over a short 6 weeks. I have never looked back!

Anyway. My wife and I have managed to be on plan in all kinds of weird places and hotels. We consumed this meal in our hotel room at Bryce Canyon at 8000 ft where no compliant food was available in restaurants:

We bought the supplies from the only grocery store at the place:
- Russet potatoes microwaved
- Corn tortillas (microwaved for 30 seconds)
- Salsa
- Fat free "refried" beans (from a can)
- Snap peas (these are great tasting snacks and keep well in the fridge or outside)

We made tacos with the ingredients. They were tasty and compliant.

We also make the following in our hotel rooms:
=== from another thread ==
Most people eat oatmeal sweetened.
We prepare a great savory dish that can be cooked in any hotel room with a microwave:

- 1 cup Old fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups water
- handful or more of spinach
- 1 cubed tomatoes
- one chopped green chilies (optional)
- pinch of pepper
- pinch of salt (optional)
- 2 teaspoons salsa (optional)

Put the ingredients in a bowl and microwave for 3-4 minutes.
Let cool for 3 minutes. Enjoy!

At home, we also add cubed mushrooms to the dish at times.
===

If you really wanted to, you could make this oats dish in the hotel room and bring it to the event in a lunch bowl you carry from home. Bring a few microwaved potatoes also to hold you over in the afternoon and help keep away from the goodies
Of course, bananas, easy peel oranges, grapes, carrots etc are great options for snack.