Discussion Board

Tomorrow will be the start of week 4 on McDougall. I followed the 12 day plan then have been trying to stick to the MWL to get the final 7# off. I'm down 7# since the start. I've been a vegetarian for 20+ years, but lately realized I needed to make a change. I was tired all the time and had some other health issues. Someone recommended the Quick and Easy cookbook to me and I found the 12 day plan as well when I went to the bookstore and that's what started this change. I am struggling with the lack of sweets as I have a big sweet tooth. Other than that I'm feeling well. I am hoping the cravings go away soon.

How are you doing?

I'm doing good. This morning I lost another pound. I went to a dinner hosted by Whole Foods-Health Starts Here tonight and it was great. It was nice being in a group of like minded individuals. I had been feeling pretty alone in this. I'm happy that I'm not. I'm 6# from my goal.

Hi Oregonmom. I'm in Oregon too. welcome to the group.

It's nice to see so many Oregonians here! Since today is Friday, I dug out jeans I haven't been able to wear in a while. I fit into a size 6! I am so excited. I still have 6# to go, but this really shows me I've made progress.

If your close to portland there are quite a few Vegan meetups. www.nwveg.org, http://www.meetup.com/Viva-la-Vegan/ are both great places to find local meetups and local restaurants. There is also a group on facebook called Pacific Northwest oregon vegans. And a few from oregon in my group on there called Vegetarian and vegan friends. I'm Condalicia Eutsler on there if you add me as a friend let me know who you are here and I can add you to those 2 groups and a few other vegan ones if you want.

It's the end of a 3 day weekend and I've done ok. I haven't gained so that's a plus. I do worse on the weekends because I have a tendency to overeat. It's frustrating, but I am getting better at least. If the weather holds up this week, I plan to start riding my bike to work. My goal is to do that every day in the summer. I am not terribly athletic, so it's the small things that will have to work for me. I'm excited that my son has felt great being dairy free. It does help to not have dairy in the house.

It sounds like you're doing great! Welcome!

I listened to John Robbins' Diet for a New America lecture today. I saw it for the first time 20+ years ago. Back then it did impact me greatly. I stopped eating meat. Back then I was in the fringe and was the only vegetarian I knew. I'm almost embarrassed, but understand why it took me those 20 years to make the next step and become vegan. The good news about now it's being Vegan is more accepted and living in my community there are tons of others ( although not as many like us). I felt the same as the first time I watched it and was inspired all over again. Although I was quite shocked that not much has changed in medicine and nutrition in those years. It's a shame progress is so slow.

Went on another bike ride today with my son. We are trying to go every day. I realized I am out of shape and if I want to ride my bike to work I need to work up to that. I'm so impressed by those of you who ride long distance, but that's just not me. I just enjoy riding around the neighborhood, but would like to work up to slightly longer trips. This in addition to adding time to daily dog walks will hopefully get me closer to my goal and way healthier.

No weight loss this week, although I'm not sure why. However, I did pull out some clothes I haven't been able to fit in for a while and was happy to see I fit into quite a bit of them. This week I went to a cooking class held by the Health Starts Here program. It was really good and very informative. There was even a family doctor there who said she's tired of not being able to help people more so she's learning about plant based eating. My mom asked me if I could send her another McDougall book so I think I'll go to the bookstore tomorrow. I'm happy that she's doing so well with this as well.

We went kayaking yesterday and I expected to be really sore today. I can feel that I did something, but I'm not really sore. This is motivation for me to get more active. We are going for a bike ride today, then a veggie potluck tonight. I've got to come up with something wonderful to bring. I'm excited to see what else will be there, also excited to see what my son will like.

Went to my first vegan potluck today and it was awesome. I sat with 3 older couples who were taking about The China Study and McDougall and FOK. It was so cool. There was a ton of compliant food there and the McDougall corn salad and lentil stew I made got all eaten up. I am so happy we went and I will be going to more events like this in the future.

Laugh sounds like we might of been at same potluck.

Haha, week next time we'll have to say hi.