Category Archives for Discussion
Nutcracker Improv + Kemo
What to do when you don’t have something to crack open a nut. Remember Dr. McDougall says “Nuts have a hard shell for a reason.” 🙂
Starch Solution Grocery Haul and Cupboard Display
Here is my latest grocery haul and I also show you what I have in my cupboard, along with my rescue cat Kemo. People like to see Kemo in my grocery hauls!
New Brunswick Man Gets Lean and Healthy By Eating Potatoes
Will Kriski, resident of Sackville, New Brunswick was tired of being overweight and having high blood pressure and high cholesterol as he hit his 40s. So after researching online and watching documentaries like Forks Over Knives and Engine 2 Diet on Netflix, he found a little known starch-based diet that allows you to eat a lot tasty, filling potatoes while losing weight and getting healthy!
Before Pic
Before Pic
Will discovered the problem is not with healthy carbohydrates (carbs) like potatoes that everyone fears these days, but it’s with all the added stuff like sour cream, bacon, butter and oils that are high in fat along with the unhealthy saturated fats and cholesterol. These products can pack on the pounds, raise blood pressure, raise cholesterol and cause all sorts of other health issues like diabetes and even cancer. It turns out that complex carbohydrates like potatoes are packed with nutrients and are extremely healthy but they’ve received a bad rap over the years as people shun healthy carbs for unhealthy fats and protein.
So Will started eating lots of PEI and New Brunswick potatoes in the form of baked fries and gravy or ketchup, mashed potatoes and gravy, scalloped potatoes, potato salad – all modified to be plant-based and low fat. Over a period of months he slowly and steadily lots over 35 pounds, and lowered his cholesterol and blood pressure so that he is now considered ‘heart attack proof’ (112 mg/dL or 2.89 mmol/L)
Before/After Transformation
The amazing thing is that potatoes are super cheap as well. So you save lots of money on your grocery bill while eating lots of tasty, filling comfort foods like mashed potatoes, pasta, pizza, tacos, shepherd’s pie and so on.
Changing one’s diet can be daunting for some. But by making some small changes we can eat the same types of foods we are used to, just with some changes. Will still eats mashed potatoes, fries, burgers, pasta, pizza, tacos, burritos, and desserts, he just tweaks them to be much healthier. And since the food is much lower in calories he can eat a large volume of tasty food while still losing weight and gaining health.
After having such amazing success Will now spends his time spreading the message to as many others as he can. With health care costs in New Brunswick and elsewhere reaching unsustainable levels it’s time we start to educate people as to what they should be eating on a daily basis. Instead we opt for expensive unnecessary medications and surgery when most of the common, expensive problems are caused by diet.
Will says we need to set up seminars and programs in New Brunswick to teach people how to eat better. If you would like to work with Will to spread the word in New Brunswick please contact him.
Should I Do Starch Solution or Maximum Weight Loss?
A common question when people first discover a starch-based way of eating and Dr. McDougall is “Should I do The Starch Solution or the Maximum Weight Loss approach?”
The Starch Solution
The Starch Solution is a starch-based approach to eating meaning the bulk of your calories should come from starches – potatoes, beans, rice, lentils, oats, corn, pasta, unrefined flours (for bread, pasta). The rest is provided by non-starchy vegetables (eg. broccoli, kale, cauliflower, spinach) and fruit (1-4 fruit per day). There are no animal products (beef, chicken, fish, dairy) or oil. Nuts should be minimized, and refined flours should be eliminated. Salt can be used to taste on your plate but should be avoided in the cooking process as much as possible. A little sugar is allowed such as on oatmeal. Dr. McDougall wants the food to be palatable so that people will eat it.
Maximum Weight Loss
The Maximum Weight Loss plan goes further in elimination all nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut and flours. This means technically no nut milks, bread or pasta. No juices or dried fruits (see guidelines at link below). A little sugar is allowed. Non-starchy vegetables should make up to 50% of the plate. The concept here is to eliminate foods that are higher in calorie density. You also want to restrict variety as that can lead to overeating. Here is a summary of the rules for maximum weight loss.
My Advice
My advice is to start with The Starch Solution. It’s already quite a change from the standard American diet. Do it with 100% compliance until you are plateauing for at least 1 month. Then you can consider being a little more strict. I find that the vast majority of people are not 100% compliant (they will go to restaurants and have some oil, or eat snack foods and soy ice creams/chocolate that can be high in fat). A lot of people want to cut back on the starches as soon as they have trouble losing fat, but I’ve found the problem is usually coming from other sources (hidden fats/oils, snacks, restaurants, social gatherings, etc).
Why Do People Consider the Maximum Weight Loss program?
The main reason people want to consider Maximum Weight Loss instead of the regular program is that they want faster results. I totally get that. But what usually happens is people are very motivated at first, get very restrictive with their diet and then they can’t sustain it so they go back to their usual eating habits and the weight returns. What I do is ask myself ‘Will, do you want to never eat this food again?’. Like bread, pizza, peanut butter. And the answer is usually ‘No!’. So I try to do things that I can sustain for a lifetime. You could temporarily restrict a food (like pizza) but it increases the risk that you will really go off the rails and never come back. So I opt for a moderate, sustainable approach that I can stick to for a lifetime (it’s been over 2 years now so that’s a good sign).
Going from a standard American diet of meat, dairy and oil to The Starch Solution is already quite a big change as you won’t be eating those products anymore. I personally have been doing The Starch Solution for over 2 years and I wanted to be patient and give the program enough time to work it’s magic before considering changing anything. I’m happy to say that it has worked very well with a slow and steady weight loss over time. I still eat pizza, tacos, bread and other things that help keep me happy and with a full belly. There were ups and downs and plateaus but I had faith that it would work if I adhered 100% and that’s exactly what happened over time (at least 1 year to reach a lean weight).
Sometimes people have issues with certain foods like gluten so they will naturally feel better eating a diet closer to maximum weight loss and avoiding flours that are in pastas and breads. Another reason is if you have serious health issues (heart disease, diabetes, etc) you may want to be stricter in your diet by avoiding nuts and refined sugars/flours.
Possible uses for Maximum Weight Loss program
If you’ve been doing really well on The Starch Solution but have reached a plateau for a few months you could consider trying some of the principles in the Maximum Weight Loss program such as eliminating nuts and/or eliminating flours (eg bread, pizza). Or if you get off track and need a reboot to reset your taste buds it could be a way to get there. Or if you have the serious health issues I mentioned above. But remember as soon as you add these back in you will probably return to the weight you were when you were eating them. Here’s a McDougall article on maximum weight loss you might find interesting and if you want extra help there’s a Maximum Weight Loss Facebook group.
Ultimately it’s your decision and I just wanted to let you know about the possible risks of getting too restrictive. What do you think is the best way to go? Post your thoughts below in the comment section.
7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Dieting
I came up with a set of 7 habits of highly ineffective dieting that might help you avoid getting off track (or get back on track). These are some common problems I’ve seen over the years with people trying to lose weight and getting stuck.
Portion Control
Most diets out there depend on portion control for their success. They get people to limit the portions that they eat. Since animal products, processed food and oils are high in fat (9 calories per gram) they also tend to be high in calories. So to reduce calories they say you have to reduce the portions. People tend to use willpower in this case, trying to get used to smaller amounts of food. But that willpower only lasts for so long and they fall off the wagon on that yo-yo dieting cycle.
A much better way that has worked for me is to eat lower calorie dense foods such as fruit, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. You fill your stomach on lower calorie foods, feel satiated and yet you don’t exceed your caloric requirements.
Lack of Knowledge
Many people have emailed me with questions about what to eat and I find that knowing how the diet works and what is involved can really help. Also learning how to cook various foods is useful so you don’t have to order out or buy processed foods all the time. Also understand what our biology indicates we should be eating, the science behind healthy food as well as the impacts on the environment and abuse and death that is involved with raising animals for food. Also many foods in the store have oil, sugar, fat in them so being able to look at the nutrition label and ingredients on the back really helps.
Restaurants
Restaurants are highly problematic even though some people are able to customize their food. Restaurants want food to taste good so they put lots of salt, sugar and fat in the food. They often have prepared sauces so trying to get them to cook things without oil can be difficult. And even if you tell them what you want they may screw up by force of habit, putting oil or cheese on something. I’ve seen so many stories online over the years that it’s basically not worth it. And when you finally get everything done properly you might end up with a plain salad or dry baked potato. If you decide to go once in a while that could be fine, I just want you to understand where some problem areas are that you may not realize.
Plateaus
We all hit a plateau at some point. This is often a point where people give up and jump to another diet. I plotted a graph for an entire year and I feel it really helped me stay on track because I could see the downward trend, even with a few ups and downs. The scale is also not always the best measure as we can gain water weight at certain times. So mentally the graph is a great way to see the progress you’ve already made and encourage you to stick to the program. Also realize this should be a permanent lifestyle change due to the knowledge you have that this is our natural way of eating, and the benefits to the animals and the environment.
There may be some things that need to be changed over time. As we lose weight we need less calories to function so sometimes we need to make adjustments. The best way is to reduce the calorie density as discussed previously.
Moderation
Most diets also use the moderation concept where we can continue to eat unhealthy and fattening food as long as we eat smaller amounts or eat it less often. This generally doesn’t work due to the pleasure trap principle. I like to think of food like I do drug and cigarette addictions. We don’t tell cigarette smokers to only smoke a little or alcoholics to only drink a few beers a day. The best way is to cut it out but of course we all like to hear that we can keep eating the junk! Some people can truly moderate with a few nuts here and there but if you’re overweight or unhealthy, that’s not you!
Minimizing
We tend to forget all the bad things we eat and minimize their effect on our results. I’m here to tell you that everything you eat matters. But we often underestimate how many less than ideal things we’ve eaten and wonder why we aren’t getting the results. With 100% adherence the results will really start to kick in!
Victimization
Many people have the knowledge they need but they just can’t get the results. They tend to blame other things like genetics, or the food corporations that make the unhealthy food or the government who promotes unhealthy eating. I suggest we focus on things we can control which is what we put into our mouth each and every meal. Try not to blame things that you can’t control and even if you have a certain condition (thyroid, etc) you can make sure you eat the best way and get the best results you can in your current situation.
What ineffective habits have you noticed?
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91695677@N00/3982668517/
Using Accountability to Help You Lose Weight
Some people can start a plant-based diet and have success from day one. More commonly some fall off the wagon never to return to a healthy lifestyle. Yet some others jump from diet to diet and never really have success.
If you’re having problems losing or maintaining weight it can help to add some accountability. Accountability can help keep you on track. At work we have bosses and deadlines. At school we had teachers, assignments and deadlines. I’ve often used a teacher or coach to help keep me on track. Whenever I didn’t feel like practicing I would remember my upcoming guitar lesson and it would help keep me on track. Maybe find a friend that you can tell your plans to, share what you eat, tell them your weight, workout with, etc. Or you can start a YouTube channel and share your progress with world. Places like Weight Watchers provide this accountability with weigh-ins and group discussions, even though I don’t agree with their eating suggestions.
I’d like to offer a couple other options – one is that you could join my private Patreon community where you can feel free to post your progress – such as photos, what you’re eating, your weight – whatever you are comfortable sharing. This can help you stay on track and you commit to posting updates every week. Another option is to hire me for phone consults where you can update me on your progress and I can help with you work through problems. You could call once a week or once a month, it’s up to you. I talk about accountability in this YouTube video:
Eagle and Squirrel Release
It’s fun to help out the local Atlantic Wildlife Institute during wild animal releases!
This Week In Plants – Insulin, Diabetes, Vegan Klingons and More
I spent a lot of time reading, watching and learning about plant-based diets so here’s a video showing you what I found this week online.
Potato Strong vs Baby Bear
In this video I attempt to feed a baby bear. What a joy!