Customer Reviews

The Mcdougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I think this is the best diet information available. I had read fit for life a few years ago and followed that for a while and put on some weight, I tried high protein diets and put on weight. I became a vegetarian and followed fit for life again and put on a lot of weight. I had read about how vegetarians were all skinny but the book never mentioned that eating oil, nuts, tofu, and peanut butter would cause weight gain. I picked up this Mcdougall book in September 1998 at a weight of 183 pounds (at 5"6). I followed it to the letter (except that I drink lots of black coffee) and I went down to 140 pounds in 4 months. I find it very easy to follow although I have not gone to any restaurants since I started which would be difficult. It is also important to mention that during this time I was eating huge quantities of the required foods and I had no time to excercise; so there was absolutely no deprivation whatsoever. I'm still on the diet and have had no cravings for high fat foods or animal products. I've never felt better.

Most people who reviewed this book are quite happy with the book, which is good, but there were a few negative reviews. It seems to me that those negative reviewers saw some benefit to this program, but saw some things in it they did not like. Well, I think too many people are caught up with being "perfect" and following diets/programs to the T. If you feel you need a bit more fat or oil in your diet, then add it, sparingly. If you want some pasta one night, then have it. I have lost over 80 pounds in 10 months on this program and I have been flexible. I eat vegan about 96% of the time, but I still eat a bit of shrimp once in awhile, or some egg whites. If I am too strict, I will most likely fail. I found a good balance. I think its okay to take away something from this book even if you are not perfect on it. It has a lot to offer.

In this book, McDougall delineates and refines his basic program to help increase weight loss. His books generally deal with heart disease reversal through diet. For both heart disease treatment and weight loss, this book is a good reference ONLY if you are able to stick to your committment to it. It has very clear guidelines that DO work if followed correctly.

Vegans will appreciate the all-vegan approach. Lacto-Ovo vegetarians who are not ready to go vegan may appreciate Dean Ornish's work more -- similar concepts to treating heart disease and obesity through controlled diet, but his program allows dairy and egg products where McDougall does not. People who are accustomed to eating meat will find neither Ornish nor McDougall's programs encouraging it as a food choice. It will NOT fit in with these programs, and if you are not willing to forgo meat you may find difficulty sticking to the diet. It has to be a lifestyle change, something you are willing to do forever to treat and control your heart disease/obesity.

The book contains menu plans and recipes along with the basic guidelines for the program. I find the recipes ok, but not fabulous because they lean heavily toward the "southwest" or "tex-mex" type food. They are easy to make, I just happen to not be a fan of tex-mex type food! Instead I bought the book as a reference and found other vegan cookbooks that suited my tastebuds better.

People who like to cook will find this no problem. People who are used to eating frozen entrees or eating out all the time may find difficulty learning how to cook and manage their time to be able to prepare their own meals. The book does give tips on how to best eat out in restaurants and still stick to the program, but overall, expect to have to at least cook a little. A lifestyle change does imply changing some habits.

Whether or not you like the book or find it useful will largely depend on how clearly you have your goals in mind and how far you are willing to change to achieve them.

I gave it 4 stars because while I liked it and it works for me, I can see where it will not work for my non-vegetarian spouse and may cause him frustration. He is simply not ready to go that extra mile at this time and give up meat.

CatR

Being an overweight woman in her 40s, I have lots of experience with trying and failing to lose fat, and with the misery entailed in the process. Dr. McDougall's book has the first system I have found that I really feel I can happily follow, not just to lose weight, but for the rest of my life in order to stay healthy and maintain my weight loss. At first I was startled by what Dr. McDougall had to say about nutrition, but I have found in practice that his claims are correct. My energy level took a big leap forward within two days, and I just keep feeling better all the time. In my experience, losing weight with this system is unbelievably easy and painless, and your food can be as simple or as gourmet as you want to make it. In the past I tried the Atkinson high protein diet (the most opposite one to this!), and even if I did temporarily lose some weight, I couldn't wait to get off that diet and start eating real food again, and I felt very unhealthy on it after a few weeks. On the other hand, I find the McDougall diet to be extremely satisfying, and as a bonus my skin and hair (dried out by the Nevada climate for years now) have become healthy again, and I have more energy and vitality than in years. Also important is that following the McDougall diet ensures that you minimize the toxicities you get from your food (see Howard Lyman's book "Mad Cowboy" for further information on that aspect!). It really feels good to improve your health, do what is right ecologically, and even lose weight as a bonus and keep it off! Everyone should do themselves the favor of reading and trying for themselves this or another of Dr. McDougall's books.

I have lost weight using two different methods in my 49 years of life. The first was to eat 1,500 calories or less every day and excercise 4-5 times per week. All of my food choices were healthy on this regimen, and my only complaint is that it took lots of effort to keep track of the calories I was consuming, and I was usually painfully hungry between meals and late at night. I twice lost around 30 pounds using this system.

The other method I have used is the one developed by Dr. John McDougall, using this book and one other: "The McDougall Program". This book is without question the one to use for efficient weight loss, the second more for maintenance and cultivating healthy eating habits for life. I give this book my highest recommendation because (a) it makes the best common sense of any "diet" I've ever heard about or been on...all you have to do is eat the world's healthiest foods in whatever quantities you like so long as you follow the instructions, and (b) the results are fast, steady, and come with many other pleasant benefits. In my case, my complexion has improved, my facial color and tone have radically improved, my energy is great, and my bodily functions have all started getting in sync. In the first month I have lost around 12 pounds, and all I've been doing for exercise so far is walking 3-5 times per week for around 45 minutes to an hour.

If you are not used to living without meat and dairy products, breads and refined grains, as well as other high calorie and fatty sources in the typical American diet, I would imagine that the transition could pose some challenges. (Don't forget, I'm only talking about the "maximum weight loss" program now. However, since you never need go hungry, and the results are so spectacular, you will be richly rewarded if you just get into the McDougall groove and make the delicious and life-giving adjustments to what you're eating he suggests. I have had the best success sticking with it thus far, by shopping much more than I used to, and cooking and preparing food every day. And yes, I have had a few "feast" days, where I ate some sushi, or a few bites of something made with oil etc. But I usually just stick with it because when you're putting this much effort into something, it's not too nice to backslide. Even when dining out with my wife and friends I've been pleasantly surprised to see myself checking carefully with the food servers as to the preparation of things, avoiding all oils, breads, and danger foods. A few times I very happily ended up with 2 baked potatoes with salsa, steamed veggies, a gigantic salad with vinegar and a squeeze of lemon, boiled beans etc. etc. My friends jaws dropped in amazement as I resisted every temptation! Dr. McDougall teaches us winning strategies for snacking, eating out, dining at friend's homes, shopping, the proper amount of exercise etc. Give his program a try! You will be very glad you did!

Being very skeptical, I decided to give this diet exactly a month to see if it really works. After a few days, I noticed that my food portions were becoming smaller and smaller because I was satisfied and full very quickly. One week into the plan and my energy was through the roof but I wasn't jittery like that rush you get with caffeine or sugar. Two weeks into the program I no longer craved pizza, hotdogs, cookies or junk foods.
Three weeks into the program I noticed I had no more good morning bad breath. One month into the program I have lost 18 pounds! It's not just water weight loss either. Even my double chin is shrinking. It is now five weeks into the program and my only regret is not finding this program before I wasted so much money trying to lose weight other ways.
I feel incredible and the plan is easy enough that I can see the finish line even though I have a ways to go.
This book also includes many outstanding recipes as well. To help you succeed by losing weight this way I also highly recommend the vegan cookbooks "Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure" by Lorna J. Sass (A vegan pressure cooking recipe book that gives you two hour taste in ten minutes! Saute with a little water or broth instead of oil and you can easily make all of these scruptuous recipes work.) and "How it all vegan" by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer (this vegan cookbook does include a few recipes with very high fat vegetarian foods like nuts, avocado and tofu, but many of the recipes you can still have on the McDougall program are just incredible).
May you have good health.

I went vegan for ethical reasons 3 years ago, and 2-1/2 years ago I adopted the McDougall plan in order to lose weight while following my vegan lifestyle. Sticking pretty religiously to the plan and exercising 3 times a week, I lost 70 pounds in less than a year, going from nearly a size 18 to a size 4. Within a month of starting the plan, my sinuses stopped bothering me, my skin cleared up, and my digestive tract began running so smoothly -- I hadn't realized before that it did NOT run smoothly, until I changed the way I ate and saw how it was supposed to work!

I haven't been sick to speak of since I started the plan, my low-grade depression is GONE, and I'm truly the healthiest person I know. I feel great, and I'm now training for a half marathon, with tentative plans to try a marathon after that!

I love the food. It takes getting used to for people who eat a lot of refined junk, but once you do, you start to CRAVE complex carbs. When I'm hungry now, I find myself thinking about baked potatoes with salsa and black beans, or brown rice with veggies. I no longer crave fatty foods, cheese, etc. at all.

It's important to realize that the McDougall plan is a WAY OF LIFE -- a lifestyle change -- not a 'diet' that you go off of when you lose weight. You just keep on eating like this, and you'll stay slim, stay healthy, stay off medications, etc.

I recommend this book, the Quick and Easy Cookbook, the New McDougall Cookbook, etc. They're all great. Change the way you eat NOW so you'll live longer and feel great doing it!

This is the only plan that has worked for me. I have tried Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Zone, Diet Center .. everything...this is the only plan that has worked and I can live with. Sure it is strict....did you expect Ice Cream every day and loose weight too?
If you have a serious weight problem then you need a serious program. This one really works and you feel good on it. After you loose your weight you can introduce good bread, more soy, some nuts with your veggies, starch (potatoes, legumes, corn, etc)and fruit - food that most of the world lives on.
This program has taught me to eat to live rather than live to eat. The "healthy" american diet got me to over 400 lbs. Give me McDougall any day.

This plan is by far the healthiest, most effective way to lose weight out there. I've been following this plan--with the occasional addition of pasta/bread when the need arose--with incredible results. I've lost 45 lbs within 4 months, and I look/feel better than ever! But the weight loss isn't the only thing I've gained; I've also gained a greater knowledge of the health benefits of veganism. There's evidence out there that indicates that a plant-based low-fat diet--such as this one--may reduce the effects of aging, reverse and prevent heart disease, prevent cancer, and cure a host of other maladies. Thanks to Dr. McDougall, I can look forward to a long, healthy, happy life! The benefits can be seen right here and right now too: I have more energy than ever, and I'm getting several second glances from all of the cute guys around here ;)

My word of advice to those considering this plan is this: just give it a shot. Give it, say, 3 weeks. If at the end of 3 weeks you don't like it, then quit. If you do like it, then continue with it and enjoy the amazing benefits of following this program! You have nothing to lose.

If you're intimidated by those that say you need meat or dairy in your diet to be healthy...don't be. Several civilizations throughout history have followed this low-fat vegetarian diet throughout the ages out of necessity. The peoples of Asia and Africa, plus the millions of the working class in the olden days, ate a diet similar to this one and experienced none of the health problems that we do today. And that's better proof of the healthfulness of this diet than any laboratory can provide!

Not that a fair amount of other diets have not pointed out the same thing, but Dr. McDougall makes a great effort to stress how the rich Western diet has become so standard that we are all convinced that eating gobs of meat, fats, and junk food are normal. Bear in mind that the McDougall plan has been around for many years...and although it's never been a huge fad like Atkins, McDougall has stayed around and still remains mostly relevant. Alot of people will find his plan too restrictive - vegan in essence (but not by creed...he doesn't care one way or another about the ethics of eating animals, just the physical result), it takes a LOT of preparation and getting used to. A friend and I tried this plan around 5 years ago, and the first two weeks were a bit of a struggle - you realize how used to salty, sweet, buttery, creamy foods we all are, and his recipes seem bland and hard to take (and I agree with what a previous reviewer wrote, that the recipes are a little too on the Tex-Mex side). Then you get used to the concept of eating "pure food"...and the benefits start to kick in. My friend and I did start losing weight, seemingly without trying - we were packing our faces with McDougall approved food and definitely not starving - but the other benefit was that I had more energy, and was more likely to wake up earlier and be more alert and cheerful and ready to start my day right away.

After 2 months or so, my friend and I went out for dinner and broke the diet. The next morning we both had the worst hangover we'd had in a while - from food. I felt sluggish and letharic and greasy. And, eager to get back to eating vegan.

McDougall says himself that meats, dairy, and junk food have their place. I think a lot of people miss his point when reading his opinion on eliminating these foods from your daily diet. At one time, rich foods were "feast foods" that were prepared on special occasions - turkey for thanksgiving, ham on easter, cake and ice cream on a birthday. Today it is easter for breakfast, thanksgiving for lunch, and every day is a birthday. The point is not that you have to swear off these foods for the rest of your life - eat them on special occasions, sure, but not every day. The point is, to recognize that it is much, much healthier to build your daily diet around vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. McDougall was saying this way before the Food Pyramid was even changed (twice - once to give grains and vegetables the top spot, then again to emphasize vegetables even more and also bring attention to the fact that there are other foods in the protein group besides meat).

He brings up a few interesting points that, although I'm not sure of the facts to back up his statements, definitely make an impression. One, is that Americans overconsume protein, overestimate our need for it, and assume that we can only get our protein from meat. We're led to believe this by the meat industry, of course. You can just as easily meet your protein needs from beans, seeds and nuts. Vegetarians have been arguing this for years. Two, is that the milk industry pounds into our heads that (cow's) milk is essential to prevent osteoperosis. He makes the point that Americans consume more milk than any other country and we also have the highest rate of osteoperosis than any other country. A kind of of silly example he makes - Giraffes eat nothing but leaves, and you'd think an animal like that would really need healthy bones, right? The truth is that you can also get calcium from other foods, like broccoli, spinach, and tofu. Morgan Spurlock addressed the same issue (from a junk food angle) of the food industry selling us a skewed view of the foods they sell, in the documentary "Supersize Me".

McDougall also advocated "grazing", what he called eating small meals rather than 3 large ones. Now we know that this is a good practice and it it much better suited for an even blood sugar level. When McDougall first publish his plan, it was a novel idea. Much easier on your insulin production and your energy levels, much easier on your apetite.

The downside - and there is a downside - is that eating McDougall long term is difficult unless you embrace it like a religious conversion. My friend and I slowly quit after about 6 months of fairly dedicated eating, because we were sick of all the extra effort. Friends and family are either hostile, feeling the need to defend their own eating choices and poking fun at yours, or well-meaning but clueless, inviting you to dinner and insisting you try their "vegetarian" casserole they took hours to prepare just for you, gobbed with oils and cream and cheese, and are hurt if you decline. It really is tough eating out, whether at restaurants or other people's houses - even ordering a salad is a hassle, since everything but garden salads have got meat or cheese stuck in them...and unless you order plain vinegar as a dressing, you're out of luck. I think McDougall recommends either using a lemon wedge for dressing - I never heard of a real person that would consider lemon a dressing - or carrying around your own dressing mix. Imagine going to dinner with friends and whipping dressing out of your purse - and what do men do without a purse to whip their dressing from, anyway? And it seems like all your spare time is given over to cooking, cooking, cooking...and you'll develop bigger muscles by carrying around all the food you'll need to eat throughout the day. Since it's so fresh and healthy, the whole foods he recommends are digested much easier and quicker and before you know it, you're hungry again. I found myself eating 6 minimeals throughout the day, from breakfast to pre-dinner, and believe me when I say I lugged a big grocery bag full of food back and forth to work every day. And you HAVE to do this, because it's not like you can go out for lunch and order something quick from the local deli. You might also wind up feeling alienated from friends and family because your new lifestyle is so different than theirs, and your needs have become so specialized that asking them to accomodate you turns you into one of the worst picky vegetarians that perpetuate the stereotype that all vegetarians are card-carrying pains in the neck.

Another bad point is the use of salt. McDougall assumes that his readers are attempting to lose weight or regulate their blood sugar - he doesn't take into consideration people with hypertension. Salt use is encouraged - and so is the use of salty condiments in order to make his recommended foods more flavorful; barbeque sauce, soy sauce, and salt, salt, salt. Canned foods are also encouraged, also high in salt...and in a few places he encourages the use of granulated sugar. Not great for diabetics.

To sum up, this is a great book to read (along with some of his others) to get a different outlook on the food industry in America, and inspiration and enthusiam for changing your own eating habits. It is by no means the be-all, end-all of diet books, and I don't think it should be regarded as the cure for every person's problem. I do think that it deserves credit for bringing attention to the fact that a lot of the reason why we are so chronically sick these days is that we are poisoning ourselves with over-processed, nutritionally vampirized, artificially "improved" foods and lost touch with the cause and effect of our bodies' fuel needs.

TRY the diet - give it your best shot, your most open mind, your most optimistic intentions, and ignore the maintsream media and "common knowledge" that tells you "everyone needs meat" or "but are you getting enough protein?" And, continue learning about the subject through the web and other books, even after you've finished The McDougall Plan. I think the best thing I took away with me after reading this book was a newfound interest in my own nutritional needs and a realization of how important it is to know for myself what is good for me to eat - because *I* know, not because the TV tells me so.