Dr. Mcdougall, The Starch Solution Book ( Vegan )

I just got a new ebook yesterday, and I have been reading it. Basically, what Dr. McDougall says is that humans have been designed to get most of their nutrition from starchy vegetables, like potatoes, and whole grains.
I have done the low-carb eating plan for so long, and I really miss having more fruits and starchy vegetables. I love fresh corn on the cob, and about once a year, I get some from the store and have 1-2 ears, and that is it for the year. (And I feel guilty for enjoying it)
Bobby has fresh bananas, grapes, watermelon, berries, and all of those are not on a low carb diet, except in minuscule amounts. I miss those, too.

Now that our fitness center is on limited usage, we have not even been going there and exercising, plus I have been so cold this winter that I have spent most of it , bundled up and huddled in front of my little heater in my computer chair.

The cold weather seems to bring out more body aches and pains, too, as well as I have gained weight from not being active.
So, I am giving the Starch Solution book a try. If it does not work, I am no worse off than I am right now, and if it does work, then I will have more energy to walk and (hopefully)swim this spring, once it warms up.

Here is a quick rundown of how it works.

 

One of the main foods that Dr. McDougall recommends is potatoes, both white and sweet potatoes, because of the amount of nutrition and healing that comes from these foods.
People have used them to help heal digestive problems, for arthritis, cancer, MS, and quite a few other reasons besides losing weight. So, after reading about the “Potato Hack”, I decided to try it. Basically you just eat potatoes for 2-5 days a week, and eat healthy foods the other days. Greens and non-starchy veggies are also allowed. But no butter, dairy or any kind of oils.

Yesterday I made a big pot of vegetable soup and had that for dinner, potatoes with spinach salad for my brunch. I am going to do this for 3 days and see how it goes. I have already noticed that I have more energy, and my head is clearer (not so dizzy), and my joints aren’t hurting now.
Here is a link to a page that describes all of the things that eating potatoes can help heal in our body, so it is not just for weight loss.

https://www.medicalmedium.com/blog/healing-potatoes?

 

You can do this with regular potatoes or sweet potatoes. Here is a link to his website, and there are some great youtube videos as well. After reading the website and watching some of the videos, I decided to get the ebook, and I am reading that now.

After just a couple of days, my arthritis is almost gone, and I can even clench my fingers again.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/

 

I am wearing my jeans for the first time since last summer ! Nothing hurts ! I can clench my hands into a fist again !
When I started, I didn’t know if I could give up favorite foods (like cheese, and cream in my coffee), let alone live on potatoes and vegetables for even a week; but I thought it was worth at least trying it.
Since way back in the 1970’s I have heard that carbs were bad and potatoes make you fat, so I thought that I might end up my week needing to lose even more weight.
However, I thought the information made sense, so I decided to go ahead and try this approach.
To my amazement, by the end of the first week, not only was the scale inching back down, but I had no arthritis pain anywhere in my body (even though it was cold and damp weather), I felt good, and I had more energy; so I kept going.
I am eating mainly the starches (mostly potatoes), greens, and non-starchy veggies, and I am actually not even getting tired of this way of eating. I am eating food to help my body be healthy instead of because some food looks or smells wonderful.
I know that it is too early to make a complete decision, but each week, I decide whether to go another week.

 

Kind of an unexpected update for my starch diet thread. My little dogs , Poodle and Tootsie, always share whatever it is that I am eating. Now that the food is mostly green vegetables and starchy veggies, they have decided that foods like broccoli and green beans are appropriate snacks for little dogs.
They happily enjoy bites of veggies and potatoes, just like they used to looks forward to bites of chicken or pizza.

Yesterday, my case of tofu arrived from Amazon, and I made some of the vegan tofu mayonnaise, and then turned it into Thousand Island dressing for my salads.
Mostly, I am sticking to really basic foods, but I am learning new substitutions for foods that I am not eating anymore, like making the tofu mayonnaise. I am starting to enjoy my homemade plant milk in my morning coffee, too.

My Apple Watch alerts me to walk once every hour, so when it does that, I have been walking 10 laps back and forth through the house. At the end of the day, I will have walked around 3 miles, assuming that I walk the laps consistently each hour. I am so looking forward to it warming up enough to go swimming again, and need to lose enough weight to be able to fit my swimming suit this spring.

 

It has been not quite two months since i started the starch solution diet, and I have lost around 15 lbs, never once felt hungry or deprived, and can now fit into my swimming suit again. That 20 lbs that I gained since last spring is almost gone, and I am starting to feel better and have a lot more energy.
I am looking forward to going to the fitness center later today and being able to swim again. Not only do I enjoy the swimming, but it helps me burn up even more calories.
I still have a lot of weight to lose to be at a healthy weight again. I posted pictures on my iPad of me back when I was at goal weight, so I have motivation to keep me reminded of my goals.

I still can’t quite believe that I can eat all of this rice and potatoes and still be losing weight, but it is happening anyway.
Since I can have all the rice and veggies that I want, I have been buying fresh sushi now and then from the little Korean store down the road; but they have now stopped making it for sale.
So, after watching a few youtube videos, I ordered a sushi maker gadget from amazon, plus some of those Nori (seaweed) wraps, and a gallon of rice vinegar.
I am all ready to start the Great Sushi Experiment, once everything arrives on Wednesday !

I downloaded a diet tracking app called “Lose It”, from the App Store, and it keeps track of the amount of calories, carbs, fats, and proteins that I get each day, plus goal charts for weight and measurements. This way I can make sure that I am getting all of the necessary nutrients every day.

 

I have had a hard time adapting to not using oil, even olive oil; but McDougall says not to use processed foods, and even the cold pressed oils are processed.
He says to get our healthy fats from natural foods, like eating the olives and foods like avocados and nuts and seeds.
Because I am on the McDougall weight-loss version, for me it is no nuts and seeds, olives or avocados, except in tiny amounts for right now.
What I did was put a couple spoonfuls of flax seed in the blender and grind it up, then add water to it and let it thicken while I was mixing up the rest of the Italian dressing, and the flaxseeds thicken up the dressing and add healthy omega 3 to it.

I also bought some of the oil-free salad dressing from the store, so I have a variety to choose from if I don’t want the plain Italian one.

 

I never liked milk, even as a child. It never made sense to me that a fully weened critter would still be drinking milk. (I think I've made that statement here before, and one of the country women told me that cows will suckle forever unless separated from their mother.) Secondary to that, I saw where milk came from as a kid living in front of a 4H farm. Gimme water and coffee, and I'm good.

 

I wonder why he says to avoid oil. The Mediterranean diet that's been so popular must have oodles of olive oil in it.

Interesting that "extracted" = "processed." As Don alluded, the act of stirring = processing.