Hi everybody - this is my first post, although I'm an avid reader of the forum and have been since I joined back in October. I discovered McDougalling by a circuitous route, involving a Google search on Fodmops, after the worst sustained flare-up of IBS that I'd ever had. My hobby is long distance running (marathon and half marathon) - and I'm currently training my way up to running my first ultramarathon later this year. Anyway, on September 13th last year I ran the biggest half marathon in the world - the Great North Run - had a great time, but when I saw the photo of me someone had snapped on my mobile phone, I realised that enough was enough - I had gained a lot of weight, was bloated as all get out - and I needed to find something that worked. I was having to take Immodium every time I ran - and I knew that was not good for me at all - I'd experimented with eating at different times to see if that made a difference (it didn't) - I always ran on an empty stomach, just in case - but to no avail.
Anyway, the following day I weighed myself and got a shock (I was up to 185 pounds from 145 a bare 15 months earlier). I found my way to Dr McDougall's website, read up - and it all just clicked with me and made perfect sense (I should explain I'm a nutritionist and usually work with people who want to lose large amounts of weight - 100 pounds upwards). I downloaded MWP (and subsequently ordered The Starch Solution) onto my Kindle and started the same day. I was away for a long weekend in London a fortnight into this, took cooked potatoes, Shredded Wheat and fruit with me, and managed the food over the weekend just fine. I weighed myself after 10 weeks - and had lost 21 pounds. Which was great - but just not fast enough for me as for various reasons I'd decided I just didn't want to start another new year carrying excess poundage. Also, I was finding the food bland, despite all the herbs and seasonings. It was as though my taste buds were covered with a layer of clingfilm and I just wasn't tasting food clearly. Also, I was hating restricting fruit to two pieces a day - I've always eaten large quantities of fruit, and was starting to feel deprived (even though I understood why the restriction was there). Having worked with a lot of people and coaching them through the weight loss process, I knew this was not a good combination of feelings. So - as I was reading The Pleasure Trap, I got an idea from something in there - that some people benefited from a Fruit Fast (or a series of them) to clean the palate and help in the adjustment process. I knew I could lose weight fast by juicing - the problem is always in keeping the weight off when reverting to solid food. Anyway, in for a penny, in for a pound, I jumped - and did fruit (and vegetable) juice fasting 3 or 4 days a week. The other days of the week I had juices morning and evening, and a McDougall compliant main meal of the day at lunchtime. I did this up until 11th January, and finished off with 2 weeks of juicing (something I always do in January) - and before the two weeks were up my weight had fallen to a low that I had last weighed age around 12! My BMI had also gone below 18 and I felt that was too low - so I added McDougall food for the last 3 or 4 days, and stabilise the rapid loss. I ended up on 25th January down to 120 pounds - on that day I began McDougalling in earnest, and have done ever since.
My successes: a lot of them, the headline being in February the otherwise inexplicable reversal of progressive astigmatism in both eyes, following laser eye surgery in 2006. My ophthalmologist was at a loss as he has never seen this kind of improvement before - there is no trace of astigmatism in one eye, and now only minor astigmatism in the other (worse of the two) before, and he cross-questioned me about what I was eating (he had noticed the weight I had lost since he'd seen me the previous year) - and what exercise I was doing - and was of the opinion that the food 'could be doing it'. My blood pressure is down to 98/68 (from a high of around 130/78). I was diagnosed with auto-immune hypothyroidism and auto-immune pernicious anaemia back in 2002 - my dosage of levothyroxine has been reduced and I am taking another blood test on Tuesday as it likely requires further downward adjustment - will keep this post updated as it happens. I have to take sub-lingual B12 for pernicious anaemia, so it's handy that it's a supplement Dr McDougall approves of
I have stopped taking D3, of which I have taken a high dose (1,000 i/u daily) for 6 years - I took it after seeing the research on its efficacy for S.A.D. - far better than lux lamps - and it has been 100% effective as a preventive. However, seeing as I have been feeling so unbelievably well, when I was finishing the jar, I thought well, let's give it a whirl. I would have to say that my 'baseline happiness' for want of a better term has increased out of all recognition as the weeks and months go by - I don't EVER remember feeling this darn good. My total cholesterol is 3mmol/L.
[Background info - I'm 57 years old, have been mainly (a high fat) vegan (or vegetarian) for about 10 years, and I'm 5' 8" tall.]
Anyway, last weekend I ran another half marathon - the first since the Great North Run back last September. I smashed my personal best time by an astonishing 23 minutes! And the course last weekend was far tougher, with a lot more hills! That improvement has given me more pleasure than almost anything I can remember, and I just wanted to let Dr McDougall know that he has made a 'mature' runner very happy
The first photo is from the September 2015 race - the second (race number 2154) is from the race last Sunday, May 22nd - and I think you'll notice a difference ...
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our chance to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
Viktor E Frankl