[Quillie]

Hello all! I am vegan (recently) and I need to lose weight, so here seemed like the right place to ask my question.

I didn't find very much on vegan diets, I have already done weight watchers in the past and it doesnt suit me. (if given the choice between a lot of healthy food or a little bad I always choose wrong) But I heard about the mcdougall maximum weight loss and I wondered if anybody has tried it?

I can't find much information about it online. Except for a ten day program on his website, which would be very hard to follow. (with those particular recipes) I can order the book, though it needs to be shipped and was wondering if it is usefull?

[betsysunqueen]

If the ten-day program recipes don't look good to you, I don't think you'd like what you saw in the book anymore.

Originally Posted by Quillie

I have already done weight watchers in the past and it doesnt suit me. (if given the choice between a lot of healthy food or a little bad I always choose wrong)

I think this is the root of the problem right here. Until you can find a way to choose a lot of healthy food, ANY weight loss program is going to be a struggle. What (if anything) has worked for you in the past?

I know the vegans here do a lot of things (though I don't know of anybody doing McDougall presently). Some people are doing "Eat to Live," some are calorie counting, at least one person is doing a low-carb vegan diet, some have done a vegan South Beach, and some of us (including myself) do a whole foods diet (I don't count calories--though I do know basically how many calories I'm eating a day--but instead focus on eating good foods).

[Darby1]

Hi Quillie-
Betsy is right when she said if you have a hard time eating healthy, Mcdougall may not be for you. I have "mcdougalled" many times, and while I always lose weight easily and quickly, it's not (sadly) something I can stick with. I find it too restrictive for my lifestyle. A lot of people, though, have been very successful with it.

The McDougall plan can be as simple as you want it to be. When I do it, I usually eat a lot of baked potatoes with either salsa or bbq sauce and lots of salads with fat free dressing. I'll also make rice and steamed veggies. I have several of the Mcdougall books, but rarely make any of the recipes in them.

[KindyMom]

I hope it is okay to say this here, but there is a forum on the McDougall website with a section just for the Maximum Weight Loss program. You might take a look there and get some more tips and recipes from people who are actually doing it. I am basically doing the regular McDougall plan, but I haven't read the Maximum Weight Loss book (sorry). Good luck!

[tammay]

I actually posted a similar thread about ultra low fat high carb vegan diets and got some responses about McD, so you might want to check that out (I think it's still one of the first posts on this board ).

For me personally, I've been considering it but to be honest, I'm scared to try it. I have a lot of problems with sugar/carb cravings and I'm afraid that if I try to eat a carb-based very low fat diet like this (even if it's good carbs like whole grains, veggies, and fruit) I will have cravings like crazy. I prefer to go with Fuhrman's Eat To Live, which focuses more on veggies and beans and limits grains. It's also more generous (but not much...) with fats, allowing for some whole fats (like 1 oz nuts and a bit of avocado a day) rather than cut out all added fat.

Tam

[erinmagill]

Ive never done McDougal, but I just finished the Eat to Live book and I started the diet plan yesterday. So far, I have found that I am very full and have very few cravings (except for all the cookies I am baking for gifts that I have snacked on)...I am so far loving this plan and I, personally, am finding it easy. However, its not a huge stretch from what my diet has already been for the last few months. I can see how if your eating habits were very differnet from what the plan suggests it could be a very difficult switch.