How We Prep For Mary’s Mini McDougall Diet

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MEET THE KROCKS: We are a married couple who started on a life-changing whole food, plant-based weight loss journey in June 2018. To date, we have lost over 290 pounds combined and we aren’t done yet! Read Our Story

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Yes, we decided to do another Mary’s Mini! After the struggles I discussed recently, we thought this would be a great way to get back on track. Our friends Martin The Great Potato Mage and David from Making the Most of the 2nd Half were also wanting a reset, so it was perfect timing for all of us to join in!

If you don’t know what Mary’s Mini is, check out this post from the last time we decided to do it. There will also be a bunch of links in the post below.

We also decided that we are going to host another live stream on YouTube this Sunday, February 9th at 3pm CT. Be sure to join us then as we discuss all things Mary’s Mini!

NOTE: We are not nutrition experts. We do not give out medical advice.
Contact your doctor if you have any concerns involving this diet. (Read More)

Without further ado… we present to you… our five steps to prepping for a Mary’s Mini! Don’t forget to watch the video for more info.

Step #1: Pick your start date & plan accordingly

Once you pick a start date for your Mary’s Mini, make sure you have a plan in place to use up things you have on hand that aren’t “compliant.” You don’t need to clear out your entire fridge and pantry, but you’ll definitely want to use up anything perishable.

It might be a good idea to organize any remaining items in your fridge and pantry to separate out any “non-compliant” things into a separate area. This will make it easier to stick to the plan!

Step #2: Do your research!

Before starting Mary’s Mini, it is good to have an understanding of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Below are some great resources to start with.

Mary’s Mini-McDougall Diet Webinar from 2016 – I suggest starting here! This will give you a sense of what Mary’s Mini is and WHY it came about, directly from the McDougalls.

Mary’s Mini-McDougall Diet Newsletter from 2006
*Note – In this newsletter, they mention eating fruit, but in the webinar linked above they do not suggest including fruit in your Mary’s Mini.

Our Mary’s Mini YouTube Playlist – This includes videos from our first Mary’s Mini, featuring a recap of what we ate as well as a few recipes!

Read our other blog posts about Mary’s Mini:
We’re Doing Mary’s Mini McDougall Diet + Life Updates
What We Ate On “Mary’s Mini” McDougall Potato Diet (Days 1-5)
“Mary’s Mini” McDougall Diet Recap, Weigh In & More

Brand New Vegan: What Is A Mary’s Mini? – Chuck from Brand New Vegan has a lot of great info about Mary’s Mini on his website, so be sure to check it out!

The Potato Reset by Jeannine Elder – This program is very similar to Mary’s Mini, so you can definitely find inspiration from it! She has a great book that features a ton of recipes as well.

Step #3: Buy a LOT of your starch & non-starchy vegetables

You will need a LOT more of your starch than you think. Since it will be the main part of ALL of your meals for ten days, be sure to stock up so you don’t run out. We started out with 30 pounds of potatoes to use for both of us, and I expect we will need to go back and buy more.

In addition to 30 pounds of russet potatoes, I bought 8 bags of frozen hash browns and 4 bags of frozen home fries. We might not end up using all of these, but they were on sale 🙂

SIDE NOTE: We get a lot of questions about which frozen hash browns we buy. I like Mr. Dell’s Shredded Hash Browns because they only have ONE ingredient – POTATOES! They have a store locator on their website so you can check to see if they are available near you.

Since you can also eat simple non-starchy vegetables, don’t forget to stock up on those as well. We actually had some leftover chopped up veggies from our weekly salad prep, so we decided to throw those into our hash browns in the mornings! I also like to buy a ton of frozen steamable veggies. My favorite is the California medley at Aldi that includes broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. This is an easy way to get in your veggies with very little effort.

Step #4: Make sure you have condiments, sauces & seasonings

Low calorie sauces like ketchup, mustard, salsa, hot sauce, etc. are fine to eat while on Mary’s Mini, and if you are anything like us, you will go through a lot of these. They will be the main flavor components for your dishes, so be sure to have a nice variety available.

Some of our favorites include:
Mustard (spicy brown, yellow, English)
Ketchup (we make our homemade Spicy Ketchup)
Hot sauces, taco sauce & Sriracha
Salsa (Trader Joe’s Fire Roasted with no salt added is our favorite)
Liquid Aminos

Step #5: Pick a few cooking methods & cook everything in BULK!

There are so many different methods that you can prepare your starch with, especially if you pick potatoes. It can get a bit overwhelming at first, but I recommend trying out various methods with smaller amounts and then once you find a few methods you really like, batch cook as much as possible! Cook more than you think you’ll need, because you will go through your starch a lot faster than you think, and the last thing you’ll want to do after eating potatoes all day is cooking MORE potatoes 😀

Check out the links below for some of our favorite cooking methods & recipes:

Baked Potato Throwdown: Russet vs. Yukon Gold vs. Red vs. Sweet Potato (includes our instructions for baking potatoes in the oven)

Oil-Free Cooking With The Griddler + Chili-Spiced Hash Brown Recipe

Recipe: Vegan Mashed Potatoes (Oil-Free, Fat-Free)

Potato Wisdom’s Crunch Tutorial – We haven’t had a chance to try this out yet, but we are definitely going to over the next week!

Our Favorite Products For Mary’s Mini:

PLEASE NOTE: If you choose to purchase any products through these links, we receive a small commission from each sale at NO extra cost to you. All proceeds go back into making more content!

Check out our Amazon Page to see more of our favorite products!

Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler
Ninja Foodi 8-in-1 Digital, Toaster, Air Fryer
OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Potato Masher
The Potato Reset: Weight Loss & Recipe Guide
Potato Express Microwave Potato Cooker
AmazonBasics Silicone Baking Mat Sheet, Set of 2
Pyrex Storage Plus 7-cup Round Glass Food Storage
Spud Dude Potato Vegetable Scrub Cleaner Brush