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The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good!?
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56 reviews of this product found across Reddit:
I would not go low carb. Our bodies are made to function on carbs.
When I think of a carb heavy meal, I think of chewy farrow or fluffy quinoa as the base of a Buddha bowl with sweet potato, avocado, some sort of beans, cabbage, peppers, sprouts, and a dressing made of tahini, dates, and lemon.
WFPB diet already excludes animal products, oil, and anything processed. You’re left with legumes, grains, and veggies for the most part. I personally lost a ton of weight way less painlessly than low-carb, and felt better overall. Eating carbs is expected and healthy for humans.
I would recommend reading The Starch Solution by Dr. McDougall.
do yourself a favor and put that bro science bullshit on hold for a bit to read this book
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
Asians eat rice and Mediterraneans eat pasta (actually Asians also eat noodles and Italians also eat risotto) and both eat bread and they're the healthiest and happiest and longest lived people in the world
Potato and nut milks will be your friend :D
Don't forget Corn breads, rice breads, tapioca bread or flat corn breads, and various types rice to fuel your workouts :D
This is a great book for general nutrition info on a plant-based diet https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277 (you will lose weight, pigging out on whole-food starches)
Sounds to me like you're eating pretty well. Perhaps just eat more shrugs don't be afraid to snack on fruit and nuts too.
You might have to get algae omega 3 supplements though if you can't eat flax/hemp/chia.
Ain't nuffin cheaper and healthier than starch based meals. (beans, potato, rice, bread, pasta)
This is a fantastic book to get you started, recipes included: https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277 (grab a used copy if money is an issue, or even an older book by the same author, Dr. John McDougall, I found a copy for 50 cents online lol a few years ago)
The books are fantastic, because they explain all of the nutrition related myths about a plant-based diet.
You do need to take B12, but it's only $15 or so for a spray that lasts nearly a year. Much cheaper than buying meat and dairy for a year. (and fun fact, farm animals are given a B12 supplement....so you are just skipping the 'middle-man' lol)
> Fruits and vegetables are not remotely filling for me. Bread and rice is, I've been chowing down on that.
So what's the problem? It sounds like you answered your own question. Eat whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, potatoes, lentils.
I'm just like you, I literally wrote a similar post earlier today. If I eat just a salad even if it is enormous I don't feel satiated. If I eat some corn or bread with it I'm fine.
It sounds like you discovered "The Starch Solution" on your own. Whole grain carbohydrates are GOOD for you so eat them!
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
If you find counting calories to time consuming and not productive - I've had good success on a high carb low fat diet centered around starches. I was able to lose 50 lbs in 5 months. Since you're starting out at a higher weight than I when I started - you may lose more in that same time period.
A hclf vegan diet helps because you can eat when you have cravings - you just have to eat the right foods (and starches like potatoes satisfy my appetite and make me happy).
I'm sure it will - lots of fiber and your gut flora is probably geared towards other macronutrients.
I would try cutting out added fats like olive oil and butter from your diet first to try to get rid of the plateau before trying a cleanse. If cutting fats works for you - then you don't need to do anything drastic like a mono-diet.
I am white, American, and ate an American diet growing up (basically a hodge-podge of different cultures, fuck yeah 'merica). For about 1 year I have followed the starch solution, aka the anti-/r/fitness diet, and not because of animal cruelty or because I am on the cut/bulk-from-hell (as per your knowledge of vegan diets). I do so because it is the most scientifically/historically-supported diet and I challenge anyone to disprove this.
To put it simply, every large successful culture for approximately the last 10,000 years has survived on a starch-based diet (you can probably associate any culture you can think of with one or two starches). My diet is very low-fat (which comes from sauces and cooking oils), low/medium protein (from whatever starch/vegetable I'm eating), and almost entirely carbs (90% starches/10% green and yellow vegetables). I'm also hypoglycemic, and this diet has proven very effective for regulating my blood sugar, more so than paleo-type diets (which still left me a bit 'spikey'). It is neither historically or scientifically-supported to eat huge amounts of fat and meat with some vegetables on the side, but it is a scientifically-proven recipe for metabolic and arterial damage. Some day, the starch solution will be the next big thing--people were meant to eat starches, and love to eat them. Downvote away!
r/PlantBasedDiet - Great sub with good active members always willing to help!
The Starch Solution - I have read this and follow this. Losing weight constantly.
The Forks over Knives Plan - I have not tried this but the documentary they made is what changed my way of eating (hopefully for life)
Edit: I don't count calories, I eat what is allowed in the diet until I am full (ad libitum). I follow visual guidelines of how much food should be of each group. I try not to cheat except for special occasions. My lipid and Hb1AC numbers have come down to where I have never seen them before since I have started tracking them and lost 24 lbs in 3-4 months or so.
You want a weight loss and health-promoting diet which also is disease-preventing.
Good luck!
For reference:
The author's Starch Solution website
Book on Amazon
I read about it in <em>The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good!</em> by Dr. John A. McDougall initially.
You need to find a gyno who will listen to you, first off.
I hate to be *that* person, and I apologize, but I'm going to do it.
How's your diet? Do you eat a regular sad diet (standard american diet with meat, dairy, oil?) If so have you considered going whole food, plant based, no oil diet? You might want to try it and see if it helps. At the very *least,* it will help you with stress and panic attacks. It could help with depression, I can't speak to that, nor the pms/pmdd.
Look into the maximum weight loss diet - this is the healing diet as well, which is what you need. His normal diet might be sufficient for you, too, if you don't need to lose weight - that one is the Starch Solution - it's not as strict.
Dr. McDougall Forums:
https://www.drmcdougallforums.com/viewforum.php?f=14&sid=c58fe8bb6d0568425c9fc80a259981d3
​
The Starch Solution:
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277/ref=asc\_df\_1623360277/
I know you don't have a lot of time, but I would really recommend going through my post below carefully if you really feel like you've tried everything and nothing has worked.
There are some very simple principles that will get you to whatever weight you want to be at and maintain it. Compare all of the effort you're putting in, the stress about apparently stalling, and all the uncertainty/stress to the following simple principles and routines.
The main principle behind weight loss is CICO, calories in vs calories out, it would defy the laws of physics if this was not the case, so this is the baseline principle. Here is a 2.5 minute video summary of what CICO says. Every single diet that works for anybody only works because it utilizes this principle, usually implicitly (often to sell books, often in very unhealthy unsustainable ways) without making it explicit.
The next thing is how many calories? How many calories is the minimum needed in general? How many do you need if you did zero activity? How many do you need if you were living a normal day with no exercise, or a day with exercise, etc... This is covered in the idea of Basal Metabolic Rate and Total Daily Energy Expenditure, all explained here and here. (The 2.5 minute CICO video above basically gave the idea about TDEE and CICO for getting started if these posts are long.)
The next thing is how many is the max you can lose? If you calculate your average TDEE using a calculator like this, you want to aim for a 500 to 1000 calorie deficit daily, where 500 is 1-pound-a-week and 1000 is 2-pounds-a-week, the maximum amount that it is usually recommended which one can safely and sustainably lose.
This means it is completely possible to lose a lot of weight by doing very little exercise, and could instead view exercise as a health benefit mechanism, and a way to buy a few hundred calories extra a day max, rather than a weight-loss activity, since the main mechanism is ensuring your daily calories are below your TDEE, largely by ensuring your diet does not ruin things.
The next thing is, how do you monitor progress correctly? Clearly the answer is doing daily weight measurements if you are trying to minimize your weight (along with say weekly/bi-weekly/monthly body fat measurements), but what about those daily fluctuations that can be pretty big sometimes?
The reason a person's daily weight measurement can drastically fluctuate, for example the 2LBS you think you gained, is that the weighing scale is registering all the food you've eaten that day along with all the 'water weight/glycogen'.
This means that in order not to get distracted by water-weight fluctuations, one must step on the weighing scale under the same conditions every time. Usually it's best to do your weight measurements first thing in the morning under the same conditions, 8-12 hours after a meal. The way to minimize water weight fluctuations is to keep one's salt content relatively stable (towards the low end) as this increases water retention, and does not over-do it on carbs, especially processed carbs (apart from this, carbs are good not bad).
This still leaves two problems.
First: if one does not do daily measurements, it is more likely that e.g. one of the weekly measurements could have been done with a high water weight and so make it look like you've gained weight over the past week when it was just a fluctuation.
Second: even doing daily measurements things can look a bit wild and lead to a lot of stress. If one instead computes a weighted statistical average of the past few days (an app/program can do this for you, see below), one can see a trend. This is the absolute key to seeing whether you are achieving stable weight loss or not. This single number lets you predict whether your calorie+exercise intake is adequate for weight loss, lets you see whether you are unconsciously deviating from your plan (e.g. larger portions over time) and course-correct for natural mistakes, and so you can keep on track without letting daily fluctuations like your 2lb's stress you out. Also, since women retain more water during that time of the month for a few days, the statistical average lets you account for that and not get thrown off by the sudden fluctuations.
Thus, a simple way to constantly monitor progress is to do daily measurements under the same conditions (first thing in the morning, leaving 8-10 hours from a last meal, minimize salt etc.. to minimize "water weight" fluctuations which can be drastic) and then compute a statistical-average of the past few days (see below).
This program (associated to this book which explains a lot of these points) does the statistical average for you, just input each day's measurement whenever you want (the average helps you not get distracted by daily fluctuations yet lets you quickly course-correct if things go bad), so you can see if 1,200 or 1,400 or 1,600 or 2,000 calories is enough (using a loss of 0.5-2 lb a week as the maximum sustainable loss), and experiment with how this couples to certain exercise levels.
If you just wrote down on a piece of paper each days measurement in 5 seconds, you could plug it into the app once every few days at the same time to see how the average is going. This minimal amount of effort for the most predictive weight-loss number you can get is clearly worth it if you want to monitor things.
Assuming all this goes well, the next issue is the eventual 'plateau', where weight loss stalls. It's clear from a CICO perspective that all one needs to do is to tweak the quality and/or level of the calories coming in, and tweak the activity/exercise level for calories going out, assuming we are not getting distracted by water weight fluctuations and not incorrectly counting calories-in/calories-out (which is usually the issue).
Thus, for example if weight loss + no exercise only works for a while until you reach a plateau, all one has to do then is to start adding exercise to see more progress, etc...
So, the last thing: just casually watching what you eat in a world where the everyday processed food you eat has a very high 'calorie density' means it's just incredibly easy to ruin any progress you've made - a few teaspoons of olive oil is enough to ruin a whole days progress from a calorie perspective.
If you think of processed food as 'predigesting' the food to make it easier to eat, thus allowing you to eat more of it in the same volume, it means you can get way more calories and still not even feel full (which is why 'portion control' is doomed to fail without extreme and likely unsustainable willpower), which is bad from a weight-loss/maintenance perspective, and completely avoidable by focusing on calorie-dilute (instead of calorie-dense) foods.
This and this lecture really explain the issue with calorie density and why processed food is very understandably leading to weight problems with people, and how to avoid it sustainably in the future.
A whole-food plant-based diet makes focusing on calorie-dilute foods easy, but it's obviously not the only way, and the implication is one should focus on the most calorie-dilute foods there are, and so the least filling long term, encouraging an emphasis on calorie-dense foods like fats and nuts and processed foods.
A solution to this issue is a very similar long-term diet, for which calorie-counting quickly becomes a waste of time, is a starch-based diet. For more on why this is a simple sustainable solution, where you can with few exceptions eat as much as you want, and followed to a large extent by most people throughout most of human history, see the lecture Why Am I So Fat? (For the basic idea, also see this short talk, and this longer one, all of which complements the earlier links).
Some tricks that make working with calorie-dilute foods easier and sustainable long-term are volume eating and low calorie recipes.
In your case, it's very likely that the foods you eat are full of calorie-dense oils and nuts, sauces full of oils and calories, all of which could literally add hundreds to potentially thousands of calories a day, processed flours full of calories cooked in oils full of calories, which alone means you will never see progress (yes something this simple could be responsible for all of the issues). A simple solution is to begin to count calories for everything you make initially, and get help from those around you making pre-planned pre-prepared meals for the week to save time and ensure your calories are low enough to give a 500-1000 deficit from your TDEE (while still remaining above the recommended 1,200 minimum), which will likely produce a lot of results, which you should begin to see immediately, for a while.
Any questions let me know,
Good luck.
I think some simple changes in perspective will help solve some of these issues.
Exercise is going to buy you a few hundred extra calories a day (unless you devote hours and hours to it, likely unsustainable/unappealing); the weight-loss achievements are nearly always minimal compared to the larger general-health/potential-longevity benefits associated to exercise, the main focus has to be on calories (it would defy the laws of physics otherwise).
The basic solution is to transition from eating calorie-dense processed food (more generally discussed here and here) into a calorie-dilute, satiating, virtually restriction-free, and sustainable, diet, the way that most of human history survived without weight issues.
One example of such a long-term diet for which calorie-counting quickly becomes a waste of time is a starch-based diet. For more on why this is a simple sustainable solution, where you can with few exceptions eat as much as you want, and followed by most people throughout most of human history, see the lecture Why Am I So Fat?.
The problem with going to restaurants every day is that they serve you calorie-dense food, often full of hundreds of unnecessary and wasted calories via oils alone. If you want to continue eating processed food, the only way you're going to lose weight is by doing some form of restriction - this is how I would suggest you could do both things, and would suggest reading it regardless of what you do, but thinking long-term one simply needs a filling satiating calorie-dilute diet, and it's extremely hard to find something that is not going to involve constant monitoring, constant restriction - why not learn from the majority of human history when none of this was an issue?
One solution is to transition from eating calorie-dense processed food (more generally discussed here and here), and to transition to a calorie-dilute, satiating, and sustainable, diet.
One example of such a long-term diet for which calorie-counting quickly becomes a waste of time is a starch-based diet. For more on why this is a simple sustainable solution, see the lecture Why Am I So Fat?.
The surface-level answer is, you just have to lower your calories more compared to the energy you expend, and since it's stalling by not being strict about doing CICO, you're just going to have to do CICO more carefully to really know unless you make a drastic diet change which makes it more likely to lose calories without counting, while also being aware of water weight fluctuations bringing your number up (thus more than another 20 is likely what you mean so that the average end up landing around there), and then hope you end up picking a sustainable long-term diet pattern, even though this has failed before (as it does for most people who do not continue 'drastic' diet changes).
By really appreciating the meaning of calorie density (also this), you might be able to cut some things out that are currently wasting calories without too much effort beyond counting calories; like oils and/or nuts/nut-powders/protein-powders, that or something similar might be a simple fix.
If one is really looking for this kind of precise weight loss when things seem to be stalling, it's best to weigh everyday under the same conditions and use a statistical average of previous days (explained the idea, and gave links for how to do this here, will need to give it 8 days to first compute an average too) so you can compare how CICO to the rolling average day by day to quantify whether you're doing things correctly or not.
Further, there are different types of vegan diet: calorie-dense processed-food vegan diets or calorie-dilute unprocessed-food vegan diets, the former are well-known not to lead to weight loss, see this video for example. It's pretty likely that one is just having too much processed food right now that can be cut out.
The bigger question is whether the weight loss is, and will continue to be, sustainable, especially if your current diet (which is likely already 'restrictive' and likely a temporary measure, with the implicit hope of going back to something more normal after) is plateauing at this level.
The fact that it's unavoidably completely natural to want to eat as much as possible, means eventually one will reach a plateau and worse want to eat more - if one goes back to eating the foods that led to the problem in the first place then it will just end up going backwards.
This is why long-term maintenance 'diets' (in the long-term sense of the word) like the starch solution argue one should just full-on transition their entire diet from the standard calorie-dense processed-food Western diet to eating calorie-dilute satiating whole-foods (for the basic idea, see this talk, and this, and more generally the earlier lectures linked above).
If one ends up back at the original weight it will almost certainly (barring incredible eating disorder issues, which can sometimes be attenuated by doing calorie-counting short term to stabilize things) directly be caused by having eaten a normal amount of calorie-dense foods, not because they ate 'too much' food.
For sustainable weight-loss long-term, look into things related to the starch solution and the related plans as a baseline to consider tending towards (obviously with help from medical professionals etc...)
Think of these approaches as the main approaches where you have to worry the least about things like calorie-counting long term and so are simply the most sustainable.
> The amount of physical and mental effort I would need to lose 250+lbs is staggering.
The reality is, you will likely be able to lose at least 200 pounds, if not more, by doing very-little-to-no exercise, instead just doing everyday activities, by monitoring your calorie intake and eating healthy.
Read this description of how to get started and the principles behind making it last.
> I’m not naive enough to believe that losing weight now will fully prevent whatever health consequences I have coming to me in the future, that damage has been done
That's absolutely not necessarily true. For example if you went on a calorie-dilute (not calorie-dense!) Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet:
> Research shows that plant-based diets are cost-effective, low-risk interventions that may lower body mass index, blood pressure, HbA1C, and cholesterol levels. They may also reduce the number of medications needed to treat chronic diseases and lower ischemic heart disease mortality rates. Physicians should consider recommending a plant-based diet to all their patients, especially those with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662288/
The problem is:
> I’ve never been a yo-yo dieter despite jointing Weight Watchers probably 80 different times since I was 16. It worked when I actually did it but it seemed like every time I started making progress I would just quit. I’ve never lost a significant amount of weight and have been content to just keep living my life the way I am.
The reason you quit is because a diet is not a temporary thing, one has to completely change the food they eat from calorie-dense (fattening) foods to calorie-dilute (slimming) foods.
By understanding calorie density (also this), and the fact that it's unavoidably completely natural to want to eat as much as possible, it will hopefully become obvious how unbelievably difficult it's going to be to relax about your maintenance level if you just eat the foods that led to the problem in the first place.
This is why long-term maintenance 'diets' (in the long-term sense of the word) like the starch solution argue one should eat calorie-dilute satiating foods (for the basic idea, see this talk, and this, and more generally the earlier lectures linked above).
If you end up back at the original weight it will almost certainly (barring incredible eating disorder issues, which can sometimes be attenuated by doing calorie-counting short term to stabilize things) directly be caused by having eaten a normal amount of calorie-dense foods, not because you ate too much food.
For sustainable weight-loss long-term, look into things related to the starch solution and the related plans you can consider tending towards with help from medical professionals etc..
> is it really worth it?
Yes, think of this as an engineering problem caused by calorie-dense foods that can be fixed by calorie-dilute foods, by simply going back to eating the way people did for most of human history.
By understanding calorie density (also this), and the fact that it's unavoidably completely natural to want to eat as much as possible, it will hopefully become obvious how unbelievably difficult it's going to be to relax about your maintenance level if you just eat the foods that led to the problem in the first place.
This is why long-term maintenance 'diets' (in the long-term sense of the word) like the starch solution argue one should eat calorie-dilute foods (for the basic idea, see this talk, and more generally the earlier lectures linked above).
Sorry, that may not have been clear: the low-carb diet is part of the problem. It has to be complex carbs like starch and fiber, but they need to be >55% of your diet. The brain runs exclusively on carbs as its fuel, so eating low carbs basically means your brain is running on fumes.
For blood sugar, starch and especially fiber are also very important. Fiber works at least as well as protein at preventing blood sugar spikes, and it's way better for your kidneys, liver, brain, and cardiovascular system.
This is a good book to read on the subject, and this is a good website with resources to investigate.
You might be interested in Dr. McDougall’s website (https://www.drmcdougall.com ) and his book The Starch Solution: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623360277/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_HYMABJ1KXJH43BG52NTD
His work has gotten a lot of people off diabetic pills (including me) and reduced or decreased insulin injections. He also has a YouTube channel.
Welcome! I like to recommend that any one of the books below is great transitioning tool, they are written by doctors(some were in What The Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
You don't have to eat as cleanly as they do in the books here, feel free to pig out! But the more you eat like this the healthier you will be :-)
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7509230-the-get-healthy-go-vegan-cookbook
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3359298-the-engine-2-diet
https://www.bookdepository.com/Forks-Over-Knives-Gene-Stone/9781615190454
Eat like these suggest and you will lose weight and gain muscle (with a good workout regimen) - and you'll be wondering how they've gotten away with the high protein craze for so long.
Welcome! I like to recommend that any one of the books below as a great transitioning tool, they are written by doctors, so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
You don't have to eat as cleanly as they do in the books here, feel free to pig out! But the more you eat like this the healthier you will be :-)
(most of these authors also have audio books, so you could listen to these on the plane, and when you get back you'll be ready :D)
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7509230-the-get-healthy-go-vegan-cookbook
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3359298-the-engine-2-diet
https://www.bookdepository.com/Forks-Over-Knives-Gene-Stone/9781615190454
Also check out James Aspey and Joey Carbstrong on youtube :-)
Look into the bathroom mirror at midnight, and chant "meat is murder" 6 times and smear hummus over your forehead, then put out the candles with some avocado :P
Seriously though, check out this https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
or for a shorter read this: https://www.amazon.com/Foods-That-Cause-Lose-Weight/dp/0062570366
(go for a used copy, it's sometimes less than $1 )
whole plant foods are super cheap, and super healthy :-)
Welcome! I like to recommend that any one of the books below is great transitioning tool, they are written by doctors(some were in What The Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
You don't have to eat as cleanly as they do in the books here, feel free to pig out! But the more you eat like this the healthier you will be :-)
Check out any one of the books below, they are written by doctors(most of them were in What the Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything, complete with recipes :-)
Welcome! I like to recommend that any one of the books below is great transitioning tool, they are written by doctors, so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
You don't have to eat as cleanly as they do in the books here, feel free to pig out! But the more you eat like this the healthier you will be :-)
Any one of the books below is great transitioning tool, they are written by doctors(most of them were in What the Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7509230-the-get-healthy-go-vegan-cookbook
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3359298-the-engine-2-diet
https://www.bookdepository.com/Forks-Over-Knives-Gene-Stone/9781615190454
Good luck and happy eating to you and your sister:-)
Check out any one of the books below, they are written by doctors(most of them were in What the Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything, complete with recipes :-)
After reading Wheat Belly, you might also be interested in checking out the details from the plant-based side of the pond: Any one of the books below is great, they are written by doctors(most of them were in What the Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
Any one of these are great, they are written by doctors, so you won't have to worry about missing anything, complete with recipes :-)
Any one of the books below is great, they are written by doctors, complete with recipes that are easy, soups, pasta, burritos, sandwiches etc :-) You can preview a lot these on amazon's website to see if the recipes are suitable for you :D
Edit: also this http://www.pcrm.org/kickstartHome/mealplan/week-1
My tip is to try it for 3 weeks and see how you feel :-) Make it a challenge, don't worry about committing yourself forever Just try it out :D
Any one of the books below is great, they are written by doctors(most of them were in What the Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
You can usually get books by these authors used for a few bucks online too.
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7509230-the-get-healthy-go-vegan-cookbook
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3359298-the-engine-2-diet
https://www.bookdepository.com/Forks-Over-Knives-Gene-Stone/9781615190454
or even PCRM.org/kickstart
Check out any one of the books below, they are written by doctors(most of them were in What the Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything(and it'll avoid any bro-science or psuedo-science which you might stumble onto online), complete with recipes :-)
Any one of these are great, they are written by doctors, complete with recipes :-)
I don't think you need to use IF.
I've lost my excess weight on a vegan diet - but I try to avoid added oils and fatty foods like nuts, added oils, and avocados. I've been healthy and getting the essential oils from the plants I eat themselves.
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
There's also a forum if you have any questions
This is the book I read for losing weight
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
Losing the weight is possible in different ways. Any time you lose weight you achieve CICO.
I lost my weight using a whole foods plant based diet - I don't count calories. The meals I cook are easy to do. I learned using dvds from Jeff Novick This one for rice and vegetables and this one for bean burgers
It takes me about 15-20 minutes to cook (not counting the rice which is done in bulk in a rice cooker).
Hello, Thanks!
Is this the book?
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
May just buy it since it's not much.
And thanks for the other recommendation!
You can get to a healthy weight and still eat rice and other carbs.
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
If a budget is an issue you can lose weight with a diet centered around low cost starches.
Success helped me stick to my plan. Nothing keeps you on a plan like losing 1.5 lbs a week consistently for months.
Sounds like you're getting the bulk of your calories from protein/fat. You may make better progress with the diet I used to lose weight. https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
This book is great for addressing low carb/starch diets
If you don't like veges I think you might get a lot out of a starch based diet. E.g. the pasta from here http://www.pcrm.org/MealReplacement
And there is more in The Starch Solution https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277 (if you just want to get started, you can skip straight to the plan 1/2 way through, and you might enjoy reading about the theory of it all once you've already begun). Most of the recipes are foods you'd already know, but transformed into healthy plant-based versions. And the veges are all hidden into the meals.
This is the kind of results you can expect if you stick with it: https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/stars/stars-written/
If I've understood correctly you're annoyed at the lies and the BS that is marketed to us, so I think you'll enjoy Dr. John McDougall's work, since he is very vocal about how he feels about all of this too :-)
Another thing that might work for you is, smoothies - that way you can get the strawberry flavour you like, but without the texture. And like-wise for veges, blend them up into gravies, sauces, spreads, curries, soups etc.
Bit of trial an error might be required, but enjoy yourself, experimenting can be fun:-) Good luck to you!
If you're still looking to lower your cholesterol - a whole foods plant based diet is one option.
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
If you're having trouble using calorie counting to lose weight - you should look into a whole foods plant based diet. I managed to lose my weight using this book
You should look into non-counting calorie diets.
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
I did really well on a whole foods plant based diet.
In a graph - over the past year - The last drop is when I cut out refined carbs - (I am eating potatoes, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes).
As for your general situation:
Go learn an athletic activity like dancing (ballroom or swing dancing) - maybe fencing - it will get you into a social situation where you can be active as well - win win.
Learn to cook - when you buy food - try to avoid any food that has "nutritional information" on the container. The things you buy should have one ingredient. (Whole grain pasta's are an exception). I like this dvd to learn
Get a trainer to get you a strength machine workout for you. Get your doctor to give you the OK. Start the weights low and just keep increasing week over week as you feel comfortable. I do 3 sets of 8 on each machine all the same weight. I really like the machines that let you bump the weights by 5 lb increments. Go to the gym - and get on the exercise bike to avoid knee stress. Do the weights - then bang out 30 minutes on the bike. 3 days a week. Start small and add a little weight as you go. Take it slow - and increase when you feel confident you can do it.
You can lose weight on high carb - you just have to stay away from fats (so the only fats are the natural ones inside the carbs, legumes, and vegetables). This lowers your caloric intake to keep you at a healthy weight.
Another technique to lose weight vs keto or CICO is to go high carb low fat vegan.
Check out the starch solution for all the info
This guy is eating nothing but potatoes and losing a ton of weight
I find it hard to count calories too. I'm losing weight without counting calories using this book. (Down 18 lbs in a month I'm now 230 at 5'11").
http://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
But that's my story and this diet is a permanent change, something you have to do for the rest of your life. I'm also now not drinking alcohol.
Note/edit: to really not count calories you have to stay away from bread and pasta which are on the wrong side of calorie density - you can gain weight if you stuff yourself with those all the time. Choose cooked whole grains that aren't bread/pasta. Of course talk to your doctor.
the reason the keto diet is frowned upon is that it is not very sustainable in the long run. Absolutely it works in the short term and it is relatively easy = why it's so popular. [real] Athletes [even shredded ripped ones] eat an assload of carbohydrates. Also - you can get shredded and eat grains/starches/whole grain carbohydrates along with a solid exercise program. McDougall has been doing that for decades: (clearly he does not focus on athletes)
Not knocking what you are doing. That's great that it works for you. There are other ways to lose fat and be athletic than cutting carbs to next to nothing. Check out McDougall's book - it's a good read
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