2400 Calories Per Day, Eating MM

[bunsofaluminum]

Help! I just did some math, looking at the big bag of rice I bought. It's Lundberg Gourmet Blend and according to the label, 1/4 c is a serving, which contains 150 cals. I eat probably a cup at each meal (eyeballed. I don't measure. It is definitely more than 1/4 c though) over spinach. (It really surprised me that a serving is only 1/4 c.)

If I am eating one cup of cooked rice, four meals per day, I figure I'm getting 2400 calories a day.

150
x4
600

not counting the spinach (I don't count spinach calories ) and I do eat this four times a day, because I find myself getting hungry...just do the math. I'm not going to lose weight with this. No way.

And it explains why my scale number seems to have stopped declining This rice and spinach meal has been my mainstay for quite some time. It tastes good and is very easy to prepare.

What am I gonna do? This is freaking me out just a bit.

Hm. Before I started eating this rice and spinach meal for most of my meals, I was dropping a couple pounds a week. I was eating things like squash soup, smothered baked potato, beans out of a can etc. Like the one article says "ad libetum" ... but now two weeks in a row without any progress on the scale...methinks I chose the wrong base starch for my mini. Phoo.

maybe back to MWL for me. I wasn't eating four meals a day with that. And I was losing. Hm.

[janluvs2heel]

Hey Buns-You did the math on paper right but not in your head. 4 x 150 is 600 calories, not 2400. Maybe you have reduced your calories too much. 600 calores is not that much. I know that sometimes I will have a day when I hardly eat anything but it never reflects a huge weight loss the next day.

I am doing MWL as well now that the holidays have arrived. I am giving myself no excuse to eat anything off plan. No matter how good it looks.

[debable]

Hey Buns,
Rice, oatmeal etc is measured as dry weight. So the calorie count is probably for 1/2 cup cooked. so 1 cup cooked 4 times a day is 1200 calories.

Also ,didn't you hurt your ankle and have been doing less exercise ?
How about any "extras" that may have sneaked in?

Including your veg which is probably 300 calories at least you are probably getting enough calories.

I would be frustrated and go back to MWL for a while. Personally I don't think MM is any better for weight loss than MWL, I think MM is good for stream lining the diet so I no longer crave higher calorie non mwl foods, like bread and nuts. I am trying to do mm for a few weeks to lessen my desire for higher cal plant foods at xmas. I am hoping the richer foods will be too overwhelming to me and I will only have a small taste.

Any way these are my thoughts and I hope you figure out what is best for you, but go back to mwl while you think about it because frustration can derail me and probably lots of other people too.

[Letha..]

Hi Bunsofaluminum,
I believe the ¼ serving size listed on the package of Lundberg rice is uncooked. According to the USDA National Nutrient Database a cup of cooked rice has only 45 more calories than ¼ cup of raw uncooked rice.

.25 cup: Rice, brown, long-grain, raw = 171 calories
1 cup: Rice, brown, long-grain, cooked = 216 calories

So, using the USDA site, or the Cron-O-Meter, or FitDay, or your favorite calorie calculator, try putting in the amount of cooked rice you eat per day. I believe you’ll find 4 cups of cooked rice has about 860 calories (it varies a bit depending on the type of rice).
Letha

[bunsofaluminum]

Hey Buns-You did the math on paper right but not in your head. 4 x 150 is 600 calories, not 2400. Maybe you have reduced your calories too much. 600 calores is not that much. I know that sometimes I will have a day when I hardly eat anything but it never reflects a huge weight loss the next day.

I am doing MWL as well now that the holidays have arrived. I am giving myself no excuse to eat anything off plan. No matter how good it looks.

I did the 4x150 per MEAL, because I'm sure I don't eat only 1/4 cup per meal. The 150 cals is for a QUARTER CUP which sort of blows my mind.

Letha and Debable that's a good point about the uncooked vs cooked cals. Hm. That puts it pretty much in half for the calculations I did. If 1/2 c = 150 cals, then I'm in a lot better shape. thanks for pointing that out! whew I love my rice and spinach.

but I think I will still re-think the MM at this time. Nothing McD unfriendly has gone into my mouth, except the clam dip at thanksgiving, and the rice and spinach has been by far the majority of my intake since before T'giving Day, yet I haven't lost anything.

the exercise is a huge issue. I am more than frustrated about that, in a hormonal, menopausal freak out sort of way. Slamming doors, muttering and griping around the house...lots of energy, and nowhere for it to go. SUCKS.

[CherryPizza]

Maybe you have reduced your calories too much. 600 calores is not that much. I know that sometimes I will have a day when I hardly eat anything but it never reflects a huge weight loss the next day.

I'm not clear on what you're saying here. Is it possible to have too few calories? I was under the impression that the idea was to consume as few calories as possible.

[bunsofaluminum]

Maybe you have reduced your calories too much. 600 calores is not that much. I know that sometimes I will have a day when I hardly eat anything but it never reflects a huge weight loss the next day.

I'm not clear on what you're saying here. Is it possible to have too few calories? I was under the impression that the idea was to consume as few calories as possible.

Hi CherryPizza (cool name ha!)

i wonder where did you get the impression that we were trying to eat as few calories as possible? The McDougall program does reduce cals quite easily by dropping all animal products and added oils. The mini reduces them a little bit more by making the plate less than 50% starches, and eating the same starch food for every meal, you get satiated on that food and eat less, and cals go down. Like a "diet" within the lifestyle of plant based eating.

[CherryPizza]

i wonder where did you get the impression that we were trying to eat as few calories as possible?

Short answer, my copy of Dr McDougall's book is at home, I am currently doing a job in a town 15 hours from home... so the combination of vague memories of the book's philosophy + websites about every weight loss plan out there = being murky on the finer details of the MWLP.

[bunsofaluminum]

ah, I see.

There is one philosophy/lifestyle/diet out there, a longevity diet, where people reduce their cals way much, eating nutritive dense/calorie light foods in order to live longer. Based on animal studies where rats who were fed nutritionally complete food, but much lower calories, lived 60% longer than rats fed regular food. Those folks keep their intake pretty low on a day to day basis. Maybe 1200 or less for a man; 900 or less for a woman? I don't know the details on that one, but I think they might be looking for "as few calories as possible" McDougall is a simple way to do that, I think.


Until looking at the rice bag yesterday, I haven't fussed about the calories on this program. Just eat when hungry, and make all my foods McD friendly. I've lost 20 lbs, but it's come to a stand still this past two weeks. I thought it might be the rice, but thinking about it, now I figure it's the inability/lack of exercise due to my ankle.

[talkingmountain]

Buns, it looks like you are eating plenty, but not too much, and eating the right stuff.

This just looks like a typical "plateau." Sometimes your body just stops losing weight for a bit. I don't know why, but then it will start losing again. Maybe it's just your body's way of adjusting its metabolism. Watch for other signs of improvement, like clothing getting looser, having more energy, skin clearer, etc. Rejoice in those and let the scale catch up when its ready.

Do you have access to a rowing machine or recumbent bike? Those might be ways to get in a little exercise while your ankle heals. Also lifting weights (upper body only for you, plus lots of core work); if you proceed quickly from one exercise to the next, you can get a somewhat decent aerobic workout.

Hang in there!

[etoila]

Hi!

I am new here and to the diet. I just bought the book and the cookbook. Haven't read it yet but plan too and start the diet as soon as possible.

What does MM mean? Also, how do you get your stats on here?

Thank you,

etoila

[bunsofaluminum]

hi etoila

MM stands for Mary's Mini. That is an adaptation of the McDougall plan, where you choose one starch to be the basis of every meal, for ten days (longer, if you want) It's sort of like a "diet" within the "lifestyle" of starch based eating, which is the regular McD plan.

your stats? you can go to tickerfactory.com and set up an account. I can't remember all the details about that, but it will "talk you through" all the steps, then you post it here. I'd go to the lounge forum and ask all the questions you might have, many people there more knowledgable than me.

[JillCo]

I am preparing to start MWL in the next few days, and am just doing a little research. I thought I could eat as much I wanted as long as it consists of the right foods. Why are you concerned about calories? The all-you-can-eat part is what I feel may make me successful. I am disappointed to learn that it sounds like you still have to use portion control. Please let me know, as I want to know what I am in for.
Thanks.

[Potatohead]

I am preparing to start MWL in the next few days, and am just doing a little research. I thought I could eat as much I wanted as long as it consists of the right foods. Why are you concerned about calories? The all-you-can-eat part is what I feel may make me successful. I am disappointed to learn that it sounds like you still have to use portion control. Please let me know, as I want to know what I am in for.
Thanks.

You pretty much can eat all you want of the right foods, just don't forget to eat alot of veggies too, I lost over 100lbs on MWL, I didn't count calories, but I didn't stuff myself either...eat until you are full, then walk away, and by all means eat when you are hungry...don't be concerned about counting calories, unless you really are not losing....I lost 1 to 2lbs a week, and I ate plenty...Good Luck

[JillCo]

Thanks for the information. Wow - it sure worked for you! My big concern is that I eat a lot right now. I'm not very good at stopping sometimes. I'll just try my best.