After numerous hours of dead-end research I just couldn’t find an answer to my horrible skin issues. My face was an absolute MESS when I was vegetarian. No matter what I did it just got worse. Not the usual pimples or breakouts but full blown rash on my face. It hurt and looked so awful I didn’t want to leave the house. I made it 6 months vegetarian then on 4.1.2010 I had some chicken. Within 3 weeks my skin was completely back to normal. It really was the most bizarre thing. The rash was on my chin and nose area and it was like an eczema. Makeup just burned it and made it feel even worse. Very strange indeed and I just couldn’t find any info online. I gave up dairy and that even made it worse. The more food groups I gave up the worse it became.

I wish I could have maintained the vegetarian diet but I gave in due to my skin issues.

Oh well. I’ve committed to do MWL for 12 weeks. 100% so that means no weekends off. Once I get to 135 I will allow myself some flour treats on the weekends (i.e. vegan pizza - my favorite). I don’t think I’ve had enough salad and raw veggies this week so I am going to work on that. I also have to work on my proportions of starches to veggies. I should stay in the 50/50 range but it’s been more like 1/3 lately. I’ve noticed my salads getting smaller and smaller. Remember the rule: at least 1 HUGE salad per day! I also must log my food in CROM-O-Meter before – not after — I eat.

Yesterdays menu (Thursday)

B: Green Smoothie

L: Garbanzo stew over baked potato + small salad

D: Vegan sloppy joes over baked potato, baked french fries (too many) + small salad. I was STUFFED after this meal and definitely overate.

Have a wonderful weekend! I’m actually leaving my house and going to look at some gardening supplies for my new garden.

On a side note, I’ve noticed that I am becoming a terrible hermit. I really don’t have any friends to speak of since I’m really not close to my sister anymore so I’ve just been hiding out at home. I am going to start forcing myself to leave the house on Fridays. I guess I should probably make some friends too huh?? Not sure how to do that at 41.

I’m also in love with his wife for creating so many great recipes. I couldn’t have made it even this far without them! And that’s not really me — just having some fun online with effects

I am down to 146.5 in just a few days of doing the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss plan. I am over the moon excited. My weight has been stuck for the last 6 months and just wouldn’t budge. This is the lowest I’ve been since I was on Atkins (yuck). And the best part is I get to have rice and potatoes! I have still been drinking my wine also which is awesome. I am sticking to his rule of 50:50 ratio of green & yellow veggies to starch. My skin is finally looking better and my hair looks shinier.

My husband has lost 4 lbs doing this but he takes a cheat day every weekend so we’ll see how it goes. I’m also taking a semi-cheat day on Sunday. I’m going to allow myself to follow the original McDougall plan for 1 meal during the week. That plan allows for flour but flour is very, very calorie dense so it needs to be strictly monitored.

Wednesday: 1/20/2010 (weight is today’s weight)

1. Today’s Weight: 146.5
2. Energy Level: High and good mood
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with Mexican rice (McDougall recipe)
5. Dinner: Spinach Wild Rice (McDougall MWL book recipe) + salad with fat free balsalmic dressing
6. Exercise: Gaiam yoga club inversion lesson + yin yoga poses in the evening
7. Notes: I sprouted lentils for the first time and included those in our dinner. The meal was good but a bit strong because of all the spinach and lentils. I will probably have it again for dinner because there is an entire bag of spinach in the recipe.

Here’s how I learned how to sprout. Super easy and a small amount of lentils goes a long way once they are sprouted! 10x more vitamin C than the original lentil once they are sprouted!

Another thing I must concentrate on is eating slower and chewing my food. I eat so damn fast.

I’m down 1.5 lbs since starting on Monday AND I don’t feel hungry or deprived at all.

Monday: 1/18/2010 (weight is today’s weight)

1. Today’s Weight: 148.5
2. Energy Level: Average. Worked then laid around with my husband since he was off yesterday.
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with Mexican rice (McDougall recipe)
5. Dinner: Tangy and Sweet Veggies over brown rice + salad with fat free balsalmic dressing
6. Exercise: none - lazy shit
7. Notes: Daughter went for a spa day with her friend and husband off so it definitely felt more like a weekend day.

Ok — calorie density. There is no way I can explain it as good as Novick did so here is an excerpt. Read the entire thread when you have time. Emphasis added by me.

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Unlimited does not mean unlimited in the sense that you can eat all you want of anything.

What it means is that if you follow the principles of the program, especially of the Maximum Weight Loss program, you will be able to eat all you want until you are comfortably full, and still lose weight.

Many many studies have been done in the last few decades confirming this. If you allow people to eat “ad libitum” or all they want till the are comfortably full, from low calorie dense foods, they will lose weight, not be hungry and do not have to count calories.

Of course, calories still count, but it becomes almost impossible to over consume calories from the foods you choose if you follow these recommendations.

Fresh Veggies are around 100 cal/lb
Fresh Fruits around 250-300 cal/lb
Starchy Veggies/Intact Whole Grains around 450-500 cal/lb
Legumes around 550-600 cal/lb
Processed Grains (even if their Whole grain) around 1200-1500 cal/lb
Nuts/Seeds around 2800 cal/lb
Oils around 4000 cal/lb

What they found is if the calorie density of the food is below 400 calories per pound, no matter how much they eat, they all lost weight.

Between 600-800 calories per pound, with some moderate exercise, they all lost weight.

Between 800-1200 calories per pound, people gained weight, except for those with very high activity levels

Over 1200 calories per pound, everyone gained weight.

These numbers are also inline with other recommendations.

The recent WCF/AICR report on cancer recommends that the average calorie density of our diets be around 550-600 calories per pound, to avoid obesity and weight problems.

The Okinawan diet, before Western influence, was around 600-650 calories per pound

So, knowing all this, if you look at the numbers, it all makes sense.

A starch based diet, made up of starchy vegetables and intact whole grains [this is not flour, bread, etc] along with some fruit and veggies, will have a calorie density under 500 calories per pound and maybe even 400 calorie per pound. It would be near impossible to overeat.

You can also see the problem with many of the “low fat” diets that focused on processed whole grains, like whole wheat bread, crackers, dry cereals. At 1200-1500 calories per pound, if they become a large part of the diet, they can raise the overall calorie density and make it much easier to overeat on calories and easy to gain weight and/or not lose weight, even with a higher activity level. Hence the principles of the MWL program is to avoid those foods, or really limit them.

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Ok how do you measure the calorie density of a food. I downloaded the CRON-O-Meter (free and I love it!). Select a food and for grams put in 454 (there are approx 454 grams in a pound).

You can also figure out the calorie density from the nutritional label:

“It’s not hard to figure out. Just look at the label to see how many ounces in a serving. That will tell you how many servings in a pound, and that will tell you how many calories in a pound.

For example, say a product has 200 calories in a 2 ounce serving. You’d multiply 200 by 8 since there are 16 ounces in a pound, and get 1600 calories per pound.”

I think this might explain my problems with losing lately. I have definitely consumed too many flour products even though they were homemade. Whole wheat flour has a calorie density of 1540 calories/lb!

I put this into practice last night and had a baked potato (350 calories per lb) and mexican rice (recipe from McDougall cookbook) which was 327. I couldn’t even finish the entire meal and was very full. I was down on the scale today!! That’s another story because my scale broke so I had to use my old one which always weighs me less but I was down 3.5 lbs. Probably not that much in reality but more like 2 lbs.

My goal is to keep all foods below 500 kcals/lb

I am absolutely just stalled in losing this weight. I must lose at least 15 lbs. I think I’ve been guilty of ‘tweaking’ weight loss plans too much. It’s an easy trap to fall into when you have a family who would prefer not to go on my ‘diet of the day’. That said, my husband is terribly supportive of a healthy diet and he would like to lose some pounds himself so I am committing to faithfully following the McDougall plan with 1 exception — Saturdays I can have a regular vegan meal. Saturdays are our family ‘eat something good’ nights.

I am also taking a Fuhrman / Eat to Live spin and having more veggies. McDougall says in his book that for more aggressive weight loss, increase the green and yellow veggies so that they are half of the meal. “Salad is the main dish” will be my motto.

McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Rules:

1. Eliminate All Animal Foods
2. Eliminate All Oils (yes that means NO ADDED OIL)
3. Eliminate All High-Fat Plant Foods (nuts, seeds, seed spreads - tahini, avacodos, soybean products - tofu)
4. Eliminate All Flour Products (breads, pasta, bagels, pretzels, crackers)
5. Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes (rice, barley, millet, oats)
6. Eat Legumes (beans, peas and lentils)
7. Make Green and Yellow Veggies 1/3 to 1/2 of Your Meal (salad greens, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, etc)
8. Eat Uncooked Foods (at least 1 HUGE salad a day)
9. Restrict Fresh Fruit to No More Than 2 Servings a day. Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Juice
10. Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Here is a basic formula for structuring my day:

Breakfast: Kale & Fruit Smoothie

Lunch: Salad or Leftovers from previous dinner

Dinner: McDougall approved recipe + salad

Today I’m going to work (I work from home part time) then I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and cuddle up on the couch under my snuggie and finish reading Eat to Live. If anyone has any reviews or info on Dr. Fuhrman’s membership website please let me know. His book is so good that I am toying with the idea of joining.

Thursday: 1/13/2010 (weight is today’s weight)

1. Today’s Weight: 151
2. Energy Level: Pretty average but a bit more drained and quiet than normal
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with balsamic vinaigrette; snacked on piece of whole wheat (homemade) bread around 3p
5. Dinner: Crockpot Veggie Stew + whole wheat garlic bread — bad!!!
6. Exercise: Moon practice Gaiam Yoga club (menstration sequence)
7. Notes: I really think the moon practice helped with my period cramps and crabbiness. Must stay away from bread. I just can’t control myself around it at all!!

More on why Sarah Jessica Parker’s picture is here below …

Period started yesterday and I am absolutely dragging. I was in a complete fog all day yesterday and could barely keep my eyes open. I’m not sure why but as I’ve gotten older my periods have gotten stronger and more intense. Maybe it’s the IUD??

Anyway, finished day 3 of Eat to Live and day 13 of vegan!

Wednesday: 1/13/2010 (weight is today’s weight)

1. Today’s Weight: 149.5
2. Energy Level: Low low low. Tired, dragging, couldn’t keep eyes open or stay focused
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with balsamic vinaigrette
5. Dinner: Polenta with spicy ragu + salad
6. Exercise: None. Lucky to have made it downstairs to work
7. Notes: A bit crabby. Looked at hair pictures all day and I think I want to grow my hair out super long. Who cares that I’m 41 — look at Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston — the list goes on and on. I love SJP’s hair and I have a long face too so I’m going for that. Just need to lose weight so my face thins out.

Tuesday: 1/12/2010

1. Weight: 149 (-1.5)
2. Energy Level: Started out high then slowly dwindled throughout the day. Moody by the end of the day
3. Breakfast: Green Smoothie
4. Lunch: Spinach & romaine salad with balsamic vinaigrette
5. Dinner: French onion soup (vegan & fat free) + homemade whole wheat garlic bread (2 small slices) + salad
6. Exercise: Yoga in the AM. Gaiam yoga club video lessons (handstands)
7. Notes: As per above, beginning period and moody. Happy I finally went down some!