Discussion Board

My doctor recommended the book Forks over Knives. Just finished
reading it and have downloaded the movie on Netflix. I am 65 and have
type 2 diabetes and mild heart disease. The book was great but I am
not a cook and don't enjoy it. So, the complicated recipes with lots
of ingredients are not for me. Can you recommend a simple vegan diet?
I eat well already but do include a lot of fish, chicken and turkey
in my daily regimen. I do also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I
want to switch more to a vegan style but not completely.

Any sources of SIMPLE diets would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve Quiggle

Here is an example breakfast, lunch, or dinner:
- Baked, boiled, or microwaved potatoes. (50-75% of the meal)
- Cooked or raw carrots.
- An apple.

That is how simple this starch-centered diet can be.

You can buy bags of frozen rice and veggies that only need to be microwaved. Make sure that the only ingredients are veggies and brown rice, not any sauces. "Bird's Eye" brand makes some called "Steam Fresh." Very quick and simple. You can add some salsa or soy sauce and have a delicious meal.

Keep boiled or baked potatoes in the fridge for quick snacks, or microwave potatoes. I microwave a potato, with the skin on, for about 5 mins, let it cool, then slice it into steak fries. Sprinkle some spices on, like mexican or chili seasoning, then broil in the oven until crispy. You'll need some parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet, so they won't stick.

It's very easy to eat on this plan. You don't need to do a lot of cooking.

I think if you add more potatoes (no butter, cheese or sour cream), brown rice, and corn to what you eat would be a good start. Make these items the main dish. Eliminate all dairy. The more starches you can replace your meats with the better. Have the starch be the center of your meals.

The cooking part is pretty easy. I stay away from the complicated recipes. I eat oatmeal with fruit in the morning. I like a salad before lunch and dinner. I microwave potatoes and top with various toppings. I like to steam or microwave frozen or fresh veggies. I like the boil in bag brown rice (10 minutes in microwave) and I have a rice cooker. I might have air-popped popcorn as a snack. Fruit also. On a typical day I eat 60% starch, 45% veggies, 5% fruit.

The fact that your doctor recommended FoK is awesome. While you may not believe it, but if you ate this way, completely, your health issues could be resolved. I am new to all of this and have veered off the path a few times, but as a type 2 diabetic I am doing great. I am off all of my medication, blood pressure is great and I feel younger than I have in years. I go back to the VA for blood work, but I expect to see my A1C in the normal range. Your doctor might think you can cure your diabetes and mild heart disease with this way of eating.

Can heart disease really be mild?

Thanks to all of you for your input. It is really valuable to me as I am just getting started. I am on two medications for Type 2 diabetes (Metformin- 2,500 mg. a day and Januvia). My blood sugar is under control with these but I want to reduce the dosage even if I can't eliminate them. I also started having back problems and losing weight will help with that as well.

Mild heart disease for me is two angioplasties and a 'mild' heart attack with the second router rooter and splints. I need to lose 20-25 lbs and know this diet will help along with the exercise program I am doing.

I need to keep it simple as I stated. Therefore, your suggestions and successes are encouraging.

I'm not a very good cook, but I'm getting better.

My favorite easy meal is a microwaved baked potato, beans and some frozen veggies. There are so many kinds of potatoes, beans and vegetables, that this basic formula allows for a lot of variety.

I also vary what I put on the 'taters. I like hot sauce, mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce and malt vinegar. Russet potatoes are a wonderful canvas.

What do you eat to get enough protein?

Starches have plenty of protein!

I'll try to find a newsletter link for you...

Edited to add:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/apr/protein.htm
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2004nl/040100puproteinoverload.htm

If you are looking perhaps for some slightly more complicated recipes, but that are still simple compared to most, I can highly recommend the Happy Herbivore cookbooks by Lindsay S Nixon. She uses basic staple ingredients and the recipes are often very easy to make.
Another suggestion would be to do a search for SNAP meals here, particularly in the Jeff Novick subforum.

Good luck

I do my cooking on the weekend and use it up during the week. A pot of vegetable soup, a pot of steel-cup oats, a rice cooker full of brown rice or quinoa, a roasting pan full of slow-roasted root vegetables onions and Brussel sprouts. During the week I'll alternate leftovers with steamed and water-fried vegetables, microwaved sweet potatoes and winter squash. No real recipes, just seat-of-the-pants cooking depending on my mood and what's in the fridge.
Kate

My friend, you need Jeff's DVDs!

I recommend these 2:

http://www.drmcdougall.com/store_fast_food.html

and

http://www.drmcdougall.com/store_fast_food_2.html

Yummy, easy, and with a VERY few exceptions (just use rice instead of pasta), MWL! Enjoy!

This is a simple formula: starch (potato; sweet potato; rice; oatmeal; etc); vegetables/salads; fruit; beans; small amts of nuts. (based on Lani Muelrath's recommendations.)

Last night I microwaved 4 sweet taters (just shy of 4#) and then cut up a head of cabbage and threw in a big pot with some water to cook a little. Put half on my plate and half in my pyrex dish for todays lunch. Easy as can be. The night before last I made just about the same except I used 8 smaller russet potatoes (about 4#) and 2 bunches of kale, nuked the taters and at the same time tore up the kale and steamed with a little water. Breakfast is an easy one that I start at dinner time 1 cup oats, 1 cup water, .5 cups lima beans (frozen) and a cup of spinich (frozen) put it in a container and in the morning its ready to nuke for a couple of minutes then add sriracha and its ready to eat. I need a portable breakfast as I swim before work and don't like to eat that early in the morning.

For me its whatever potatoes are the cheapest that week and whatever kind of veg is cheap or on sale to go with it, and top with balsamic vinegar or sriracha.

Nuts are not recommended generally on the McDougall plan (permitted in small amounts on regular plan but not recommended) and they are NOT permitted on MWL (and you're posting in the MWL forum).

I eat very simply too:

breakfast:oatmeal ( a little sugar if not MWL) and apple

lunch:Big bowl of brown rice mixed with Pre cooked frozen broccoli or greenbeans...a little salt

Banana for snack

Dinner: large sweet potato, big salad, garbanzo beans and some zucchini.

I rarely make a dish that needs lots of fussing with. There are exceptions. Sometimes I get into a mood.

Riva