A Pound of Cure... thoughts?

Dr. Weiner is my surgeon and I have been following the Pound of Cure diet for close to 14 months now and I love it.

For me, the key is that it is a diet that I can sustain in the long term. The main reason being that there really is no quantity restriction. Sure, you could probably eat enough bananas to gain weight, but it would be fairly tough!

If I am hungry, I eat. I just eat to plan, and if I need a snack, I tend to go to veggies first and fruit second. And you're right - if you stick to the plan, it is very hard to consume enough calories to gain weight.

I have lost a total of 180+ pounds (from 333 to ~150 depending on the day). I lost the 180lbs in about a 10 month period and have been maintaining for about 4 months now.

I follow the plan about 90%. My occasional off-plan cheats tend to be a small amount of dairy (I will have a meal with cheese in it a couple of times a week) and I use the occasional artificial sweetener in an iced coffe or espresso drink. Other than that, I tend to stick to plan.

As so many have said, there are a lot of plans that will work. What I like about Pound of Cure (in addition to it being a sustainable plan for me as I mentioned) is that I figure if I am eating protein, veggie and fruit it literally can NOT be bad for me. I am getting so many phytonutrients in addition to the needed protein that it is just fuel for my body. Keeping away from processed food just feels good to me!

If you have any questions or want to know more about my experience, feel free to ask as I would be happy to share any specifics of my experience.

That's awesome! Quick question for you -- how much protein are you getting a day? I want to follow the plan but my dietitian is pushing back saying it won't be enough protein.

My daily target is a minimum of 60g. For a woman, Dr Weiner recommends a minimum of 50g. That being said, now that I'm on maintenance and eating more calories, I generally get a lot more than that. I'd say I usually average 80g-90g a day now.

Thats kind of Dr Weiner's point about protein. Sometime people don't like him (or his diet) because he doesn't go with a "protein first" approach. But if you watch his videos part of his rationale is that generally speaking, Americans who are eating a "normal" amount of food (obviously not shortly post-op) get more than enough protein in their diet. What they are lacking is vegetables. So he prefers a "vegetable first" approach.

Hi...I've been thinking about doing the 2 week detox and then following the "diet" before surgery (I haven't had my surgery yet) to prepare me for a new way of eating after I have my surgery. I realize that this will be interrupted when I have to take the opti and of course the first few weeks after surgery when we are only able to take in liquids. I have been searching the internet for anyone or any clues as to if this is a good idea or not. As Dr. Weiner is your surgeon, do think this is something he would suggest patients do before surgery? Did you follow this plan prior to surgery as well? Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

Thanks,

Barb

This is actually exactly what he recommends! There was only 6 weeks from my first visit with Dr. Weiner and my surgery. At my first visit he asked me to start on the Pound of Cure diet in order to start getting accustomed to this new way of eating that I will be following once I recover from surgery. I lost 47 pounds in that 6 weeks prior to my surgery. In fact, he had planned to put me on a 2 week liquid diet prior to surgery, but when I saw him for my pre-surgery consult (the day after I started my liquid diet) he said there was no need to do it as I had lost so much weight, he didn't see how the liquid diet would be all that beneficial. He asked me to just keep doing what I had been doing the last 4 weeks.

This was a great approach for me, personally, for a couple of reasons:

1) I lost a lot of weight with this approach, and this was almost 50 pounds I didn't have to lose AFTER surgery. It's part of the reason I got past all of my original goals and down to 150 lbs in just 9 months post-op (HW 333, SW 286)

2) Even though I had to drastically change what I was eating post-op, as we all do, I was very familiar with what my long-term plan was, so it was once less "new" thing to learn.

3) If you watch Dr. Weiner's bariatric videos, you will see his plan for after surgery on how to re-introduce foods is very much aligned with getting you back to following the Pound of Cure, so it's helpful to be familiar with the guidelines in advance.

Anyway, the short answer is yes, he does recommend it. And yes, I did do it. And yes, it worked out great for me!!

I think whatever works and allows you to lose weight is great. The quantities of the food sounds concerning just because it would be hard to eat it all for me personally. I also love veggies and eat them all the time, just in small amounts.

Good luck - I hope you find something that works for you!

I've been doing some thinking about it, and i think for me specifically, it comes down to giving myself permission to eat the way that I want to. I want to eat more veggies, and I've tried to focus so much on protein forward that I feel a sense of guilt when I eat them. For me, it's a battle in my head. If I'm not going protein, protein, protein all of the time, then I'm not doing what I should. Then, it turns into a thing where I start eating junk that I shouldn't, and it's a downward spiral.

Giving myself permission to eat the non-starchy veg and some fruit without a sense of guilt is really important to me. I've been pushing protein for so long, and as much as I've lost 125+ pounds, I'm not happy. It's not that I'm not happy with my weight loss, I am. But i feel this internal turmoil. I'm so focused on food, I live and breathe my menu and my plan. I obsess over it, and it makes it so difficult to stay on plan. You would think that obsessing would make me stick with it, but I feel deprived. Even with the restriction, i feel like I NEED something and I'm not getting it. I'm going to therapy, and I'm working on my head, but I need to try to find a way for my eating to support my head.

In A Pound of Cure, Dr. Wiener talks about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment that was done in 1944 and 1945. Something that struck me about what he said was that the people who volunteered for the experiment became food obsessed. They were on strict diet for 6 months and each lost about 25% of their body weight. I did a little reading just now, and each person ate approximately 1500 calories a day. I feel like I am food obsessed. I'd like to get to the point where I can just eat and not feel guilty about eating a vegetable.

From what I'm reading in this book, Dr. Wiener makes it sound like I can eat and still lose weight. The food that is pushed is healthy and it's going to be difficult to eat enough calories (especially since I had RNY) to actually gain. I think some people could struggle on this plan, like my hubby, since he's not a huge fan of veggies. I can also see how it wouldn't work for someone like Grim, who is completely anti-vegetable, lol. I'm hoping it works for me.

D- when are you starting it? I am setting aside some time, on Sunday, to watch the videos, so I can be a support system, for you

I'm planning on Monday. The first 2 weeks is kinda a detox, so it cuts all dairy and artificial sweetener. After that first 2 weeks, I can add in a little bit of dairy (a couple of servings a week) and the occasional artifical sweetener.

The plan really seems to be eating clean with a focus on non-starchy veg. I'm excited and looking forward to trying it out. I just have to take today and tomorrow to get some grocery shopping done and meal plan and food prep for the week.

Good luck, I do follow it as well (loosely). I have the book as well. I do not do the one plant based protein source. I guess I'm pretty much following a blend of his and dr duc Vuong's plan. Dr Vuong also advocates veggies, in his case 50% raw (a big ass salad for lunch every day) and he prefers a pescatarian diet. His focus is high nutrient concentration. Advocates eating cooked food within 3 hrs because nutrients dissipate/break down over time (especially protein...I did not know that)

My philosophy is nutrient dense food only. I avoid heavy animal fats (like cheese, bacon etc). And don't eat processed food. It's worked well for me so far.

I have a big ass salad for lunch every day. And usually a fish with pico de gallo and guacamole or something like that for dinner. I eat berries and apples for fruit.

i think success really hinges on are you eating in a healthy way that you can maintain long term. It works for me, where keto doesn't.