Now down 80 pounds!

[Nettie]

Just to let everyone know: it's official. I'm now down 80 pounds, in a little over 6 months! All glory to God!

I still have a long way to go. I'm 5'6", 202 pounds, so I need to lose quite a bit more. But, I'm female, 59 years old, and I consider this to be quite an accomplishment for me - the Queen of Chick-Fil-A. I'm planning on starting exercising regularly soon; I've not done that so far - just a little treadmill work every few weeks. But I now feel well enough to begin exercising to strengthen the muscles and improve my cardiovascular fitness and keep the weight loss going.

I'll have to admit here to still missing some of the old, bad foods. I worry about slipping back into my old way of eating - not out of need, but just a kind of longing. But I love the way I feel now, and when I feel hungry/snacky/whatever I just eat a huge salad and that seems to calm the beast.

For newbies, as you may have learned, we don't do any counting, weighing, measuring or totaling up points. We just eat! Healthy, natural foods cooked without added oil. What a revolution! The McDougall Plan is the easiest thing I've ever done, and undoubtedly the healthiest.

Our family is funny in a way because I also feed MY DOG in the natural way - no dry kibble - only raw meat. It's considered the safest, closest to their physiological needs. (And with the dog food recalls lately, I'm glad I'm doing this.) So at the grocery store, with my cart laden with fruits, vegetables, potatoes and some pork butt, when the checkout girl asks how I'm going to fix the pork, I tell her I'm vegetarian, so the $20-meat is for the dog and the $120 worth of vegetables are for me! What a great country!

[prairiedream]

Congratulations! That is really amazing! I really admire anyone who can stick to their guns and experience a weight loss like that, we all know how difficult it can be.

And I also commend you on your raw diet for your pet--I've been feeding my cats raw for years. You're right, people do get confused when I say I'm vegetarian and then they see a bunch of chicken hearts in my grocery cart. Oh well, *I* know who it's for

Good luck on continued success!

Carol H.

[Sierra]

Nettie

That is sooooo amazing!!! I am so proud of you!!! Just think
what your weight loss might be when you start incorporating
exercise into your life!!!

I can't wait to read about you in the Star McDougaller Hall of Fame!!!

[atrapos]

I am so glad for you! I think that is a remarkable weight loss in so short a time.
Could you post what you are eating? I would love to follow your menu.

[hope101]

Yay Nettie! I just know you are going to be a star McDougaller before it is all over. You inspire me regularly.

[MamaPajama]

That is soo awesome! And very inspiring!!!!

[Nettie]

You can find out what I eat by looking at the previous post in this "Success Stories" forum titled "Now down 60 pounds". There I outline a typical week's food. Not the best way to eat, but since I'm staying in someone else's home Sunday through Thursdays, I don't cook there. I just heat up canned goods. I eat much better on the weekends.

Today I had steel cut oats, 1 tsp. ground flax seed, and cut up pineapple (no bananas in the house) for breakfast. Lunch has been a big salad so far. I'm thinking about making a plain baked potato. I'll actually cook a meal tonight, probably something out of McD "Quick and Easy" cookbook. I also get oodles of recipes from the Recipes forum on this site.

Hope this helps. Nothing mysterious about it all. Just be low-fat vegan, as Dr. McDougall recommends, and everything else takes care of itself.

[Doris]

Nettie, Congratulations!!! Thanks for sharing your wonderful news (so inspiring).

[happyalyssa]

Woohoo, way to go Nettie! I love hearing from you and how you're doing 80 pounds is amazing.

Also, congratulations on deciding to start up exercising!!! I have found that it feels really good to overcome small goals and to be able to watch my body change and see my endurance go up. So far I've lost about 17 lbs and I don't see much difference in the mirror at all, so when I can go to the gym and realize that I now can row 3 times as long as I could three months ago or lift twice as much, that just feels so good. I know if nothing else I feel more powerful and more in control of my body. I love how I can see muscles starting to take shape (mostly in my arms and back, the rest of my body is still too pudgy to see the muscle underneath )and I even enjoy the pleasant feeling of soreness after a good workout.

Now, there are some days where I wake and think "what did I get myself into?" and absolutely do not feel up to doing any exercise at all. I figure those days my body is telling me I need a rest so I take that day off from the gym or a walk, and get right back to it the next day. I have noticed that these days are becoming fewer and farther between. In fact, I've only taken one day off from exercising over the past two weeks or so now, compared to exercising only about 3-4 days a week initially. Sometimes I think I'm actually beginning to enjoy it. Then I think maybe I've eaten one too many sweet potatoes, but really, deep down, I think I am learning to

Anyway, I didn't mean to be so long-winded! I guess I just wanted to return the favor of a bit of inspiration that you have shared with me through all your posting!

Congratulatsions again!!!
Alyssa

[Mayflowers]

Congratulations on your weight loss! I'm just worried about your dog. I hope he gets regular check ups for parasites eating raw meat. That would be the reason humans started cooking it.

[Nettie]

I appreciate your concern about raw feeding. However, my dog is getting human grade food, i.e., meat from the grocery story. If it's not safe for her, it's not safe for us! The risks from eating kibble are just too great - including a shortened life span, cancers and other diseases from the deficiencies of commercial pet food. Even the so-called "premium" packaged foods have additives and things dogs are not supposed to consume, like corn. So, both my dog and I are eating the way nature intended, as evidenced by our physiology: meat for her, fruits, veggies and starches for me. Don't fight Mother Nature!
Nettie

[Mayflowers]

Yes but you don't seem to understand that the grocery store meat should be cooked also.. It says right on the packages.. I can't believe you don't know that?!

But why don't you ask your veterinarian if you don't believe me then?

[kribby]

dunno about the dog food but...

THANKS for posting this success story!!!

[happyalyssa]

The raw diet for pets topic of discussion intrigued me since there seem to be so many benefits and downfalls for both arguments. I read a lot of information including the facts that a raw diet can greatly benefit a pet's health, however most of the factory-farmed meat on the market's shelf today has much higher concentrations of e. coli, salmonella parasites, and other bacteria (not to mention antibiotics and hormones which is a different topic altogether).

On the bright side, most animals can handle a far larger amount of this bacteria than humans can, but there are still precautions that can be taken to decrease the chances of infection. Ground meat, for example, is much more likely to be contaminated than whole chunks of meat. Also, free-range meats (since most of these aren't regulated, it is best to find a small local farm who's production methods you approve of) are also much more likely to be a safe food for your pet.

http://www.caberfeidh.com/Safe.htm is one interesting article that seems to lead in favor of the raw food diet but also gives good information as to how to decrease any risks such as what I mentioned above. If you do a search on the topic, you'll find a weath of information that supports both sides.

The two things I'd personally want anyone to remember before feeding their pet a strictly raw foods diet is that the cows, pigs, etc. we produce in factory farms are most certainly not as healthy as the game they would catch in the wild. You would end up paying a lot more for organicaly grown free range beef and eggs and chicken, but if you're already concerned about your pet's health to the point of buying him or her meat instead of kibble, maybe take it the extra notch and really ensure you're doing something good for them. And lastly, dogs DO tend to eat vegetables in the wild as well. It is important that they get a bit of greens in their diet as well as just the raw meat so maybe read up and find out the appropriate ratios of foods for them if you haven't already.

Btw, Nettie & Mayflowers, this wasn't just directed towards you two, but anyone who has a pet and is considering doing what's best for their best friend. Oh how I love pets

[Mayflowers]

I hear what you're saying. I'm not against it. I just think if you'd want to feed your pet raw meat you should have him wormed and checked by a veteranarian for parasites regularly and ask the Dr.'s advice on raw food feeding.