This is a reader’s post at Cathy Fisher’s STRAIGHT UP FOOD blog.
I decided to add whole grains back into my diet after coming across Dr. McDougall’s website. What he said immediately made so much sense: that regularly consuming high-fat, high-calorie plant foods (and overly processed foods) would stall weight loss. So I ditched my daily handful of nuts and seeds, olive oil and avocado.
Then a miracle happened: After two and a half years of being vegan, I started losing weight. In four months I went from 123 to 110 pounds. I couldn’t believe how much of a difference it made to ditch the high-fat plant foods from my diet.
Now my lifestyle is a simple, whole-foods, low-fat vegan one. I eat mostly whole-grains (quinoa, brown rice), baked sweet potato, veggies, fruits, and lots of beans and lentils. I prepare a breakfast of oatmeal cooked in water with fresh fruit. I only steam, bake, grill or boil veggies, or I eat them raw. I love beans; I make them in every form I can think of, including hummus with garbanzo beans, but with no tahini at all (I just add a little extra water and it is as creamy as it would be with the high-fat tahini).
I am so happy to just have a clean, simple plate of low-fat food with no added oil. It took me almost three years to get here, but it was worth it! I will surely stick with this diet. It just gives me so much energy, and for the first time in my life I love the way I feel and look.
http://www.straightupfood.com/blog/2014/11/17/the-key-to-my-weight-loss/”
You can buy Cathy’s cookbook (Straight Up Food) on Amazon, but lots of her recipes are available online for free (click here).