Trying another diet – the Starch Solution
It’s worth looking at Dr. John McDougall’s “Starch Solution.” You can find groups on Facebook, and also his book on Amazon.
It’s completely the opposite of Dr. David Ludwig’s “Always Hungry?” in that (1) It’s starch-centric and (2) it actually does seem to work – at least so far.
By that I mean even though I just started it this week it completely controls my hunger. And even though I’m just in my 5th day so far I’ve already lost 3.0 kg (6.6 lb). That is certainly a motivation to continue.
It’s quite interesting. A vegan + non-oil approach I never tried before. After all this time it’s hard finding a diet approach I never tried before!
I realize everybody is different, and low-carb may work for some people. I also realize, living in Japan, that the diet here has been rice-centric for thousands of years and the obesity rate is just a small fraction of what it is in the U.S. How can I ignore that?
So I’m going to try this for a while. It might be worth looking at if you are not succeeding in losing weight with “Always Hungry?” or other low-carb or strict calorie-counting solutions. There are also interesting chapters in the book on the benefits of such a diet not only for obesity and heart disease, but also for all manner of health problems, including immune disorders.
The diet is quite simple to follow. I’ve been concentrating on starches like sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, starchy vegetables (corn, peas, carrots) and some other non-starchy vegetables, like tomato and cucumber salads, with some legumes sometimes thrown in. It’s not a “strict” diet, in that he is very reasonable about such things as white rice (brown rice is better, white rice is ok if that’s what you have) and even sugars. In other words, it’s easy to prepare meals – especially for somebody like me who is not “handy” in the kitchen. He even likes Sizzler’s!
There is a very friendly support group (not run by me) here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/StarchSolution/.
Dr. McDougall himself is quite approachable, and answers email quickly.
Anyway, another day another diet. I hope this one works out and turns into a permanent solution. It’s certainly a good start. And frankly, I feel better being back to vegan. Not just for me and my health, but also for environmental reasons.
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Nice blog Doug! What is very important, more than weight loss, it your blood work. That is the only way to see how great the diet is working.
I lost over 100 pounds in the mid 90s on a Weight Watchers program that was very heavily carb based. That experience has always made me a little skeptical of the low carb diets that became so popular later on. I don’t have any experience with low carb personally though so I can’t say anything about them one way or another.
I’ve been trying the methods described by Darya Rose in The Foodist and on her website. It’s a “real foods” approach I think I was lacking in my highly processed foods diet, combined with training on how to build and maintain health habits. Just more evidence that everyone has to find what works for them, and that one solution does not fit all. Keep at it!
Dr. McDougall’s live webinars every Thursdays are great. They are free and available on his website at http://www.drmcdougall.com under the Education tab.