Hooray it works well and it is effortless, if you can stick with mostly eating plant foods. I did 20-45 minutes of cardio or HIIT type training 3 of 4 days a week. Not to increase the rate of weight loss but just to start moving again and building muscle. Light weights and high reps because I am starting again at beginner levels.
Diet: Mostly WFPB-SOS all the time. Had 3 meals during this time that didn't follow guidelines but immediately got back on track with the next meal.
Bad News... This is me losing the same weight I have lost before.
2016 I went mostly vegan and mostly junk food vegan. Gained 50+ pounds until 2019 and went WFPB. After losing 80 pounds I decided I could limit myself and slowly allow Vegan Junk back in..... and that was a mistake. That once a month treat turned into every 14 days, weekly, twice a week, daily, 3 times a day. And before I knew it, I had spiraled back out of control and was eating anything and everything. One excuse turned into 5 and I just stopped worrying about it for another 2 years and gained all the weight back.
This time I am trying much harder to limit sugar, salt, oil, and other processed foods because they ultimately are what allows me to "cheat" and I am only cheating myself and my progress. The food and the side effects are never worth it and I end up being sick and bloated and angry at myself.
Share your story. Struggles and successes and everything else!
Thanks for sharing!
I like the McDougal plan also because it lets me have more starchy foods that I feel like are "cheats" Extra potatoes or pasta... yes please. I do agree that limiting oil has been one of the main factors in my success this time also. I will probably eat more starches as I get closer to goal weight. I still got 60+ pounds to go.
Health is my main reason also even though the pandemic stress and struggles got me off plan last time.
It is hard to explain to other people but I get use to the "wetness" of whole foods and then processed junk just feel so pointless to eat because it is lacking the water and fiber.
Awesome work on maintaining your weight. Are you incorporating any exercising? Other than weight loss what health improvements have you seen?
I started doing some bodyweight exercises, and have noticed my strength increasing quite a bit (newbie gains). Before wfpb, I would do literally hours of cardio each day to try to maintain my weight while eating all of the fatty stuff I used to enjoy. But that wasn't sustainable, and I'd eventually stop hitting the treadmill each day, then stop going to the gym at all, and my weight would bounce right back. I had previously focused on cardio so much because it was the best for burning calories, while resistance training doesn't burn nearly as many, but now I feel like I can incorporate a lot more resistance training and it's not a burden on my schedule.
I feel fantastic, have much better mental clarity, don't get drowsy at work at 2pm. My resting heart rate is much lower. It's pretty surreal how much of a difference it has made in such a short time.
Sounds like you have a solid plan now. The resistance training will likely serve you well now that you are at maintenance. Perfect time to get stronger and build that endurance. Newbie gains are the best I am always so happy when I am seeing huge weight jumps or reps the first several months.