Any Eat to Live Folks out there?

[jane-t-mommy]

I started Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live 6 week plan on Monday and so far the scale is down 3 pounds! Earlier this spring I tried calorie counting (with healthy food) and exercising and didn't budge the scale for weeks!! This is awesome!! Anyone else also doing it now?

[lovetheheights]

what are the meals? I am interested but haven't done it. Or even bought the book!

[jane-t-mommy]

The meals revolve around high nutrient plant foods. Basically 4+ servings of fruits a day, aim for 1 pound of raw vegetable salads, and 1 pound of lightly cooked green vegetables, one cup beans, one cup of whole grain (such as brown rice, oatmeal, etc.) up to 2 oz. of raw nuts. Wow, reading that it seems like a very restrictive diet! My body is really loving it though. He says that the high nutrients turn off your appeistat (receptors in intestines that tell your brain you've had enough food) and the high fiber keeps your stomach feeling full. I haven't been able to eat all the recommended foods in one day yet. The prep work is very simple. Just need to stalk up on the produce. He does have allowances for animal foods, a few ounces a day of low fat seafood, or eggwhites, but no dairy foods. His book very clearly presents the scientific studies that back up his claims. He even shows the pitfalls of other diet plans. Plus, he has thousands of patients who have changed to this lifestyle and lost amazing amounts of weight. I can't wait to get on the scales tomorrow!! You can check out his site for more info too: http://drfuhrman.com/

[GoGoGirl]

Yeah, I'm doing Eat to Live now. I wasn't religious about the first 6 weeks (and I'm still not) and I lost 20 pounds in 2 months! Are you on the yahoo group? I just lurk there, but I'm learning a lot.

[jane-t-mommy]

oh, I didn't know there was a yahoo group, cool, do you have a link for it?

I've decided to be very strict these first 6 weeks because I've tried losing weight (sometimes resulting in gaining up to 6 pounds!!) recently and know that I need to be very strict with myself while developing a new habit, or I fall off very quickly. Did you have any "detox" symptoms?

[tug]

i am starting today again. did it a while ago with great results. yes, i get bad detox symptoms, but they go away after, well, maybe a week.

[GoGoGirl]

I didn't have any detox symptoms, but I was already close to vegan and not drinking caffeine. I have found, though, that when I'm better about sticking to Eat to Live foods, my cravings aren't so bad. If I slip and have a piece of cake one night, I find myself craving junk again pretty badly for a few days.

Here's the yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Eat-2-Live/

What kinds of stuff are you all eating? I wish I had more Eat to Live recipes. Do you have any favorite recipes/cookbooks/blogs?

[jane-t-mommy]

I'm off to the farmer's market for some fresh greens! I've found I really like some bean soup (cold even) poured over my greens. Almost makes it like a taco salad. Really yummy. I've been eating really simply this week, but am finding I want to find some more compelling recipes/ideas too. I have Dr. Dean Ornish's book: Eat More Weigh Less, which is very close to the Fuhrman plan and there are loads of great looking recipes in there.

Detox symptoms have mostly flown the coop and I'm actually feeling GOOD again! Awesome.

[SugarAndSun]

I loosely follow his plan. I used to be more strict. I stay trim and I feel awesome. You're going to love it!

[tug]

yay for greens and the farmer's market! my dh went out and got a whole bunch of stuff too, so we are ready too.

hope the weekend went well. mine was a mixed bag. saturday was good - exercise and greens and fruit. sunday was ... well, half good - we did a two hour aikido seminar, but then had drinks with friends and pizza (special "healthy" pizza - whole wheat crust, no added sugar - but still pizza).

sugarandsun, i remember you! nice to see continuity in the lifestyle (to some extent at least, i guess?). i tend to come and go with it, although i never understand how i fall away when i am in the midst of it and feeling wonderful.

good luck for the new week!

[sparklett]

I LOVE Eat to Live! I really like the green smoothies for breakfast and have really gotten creative with my beans/salad recipes. The fat free vegan blog has really been helpful.

[EStreetMama]

Just about to start!! I've been doing Fat Flush for 6 weeks and have lost 14 lbs, but I can't handle the amount of meat I'm supposed to eat. Looking forward to switching over to ETL!!!

[jane-t-mommy]

I'm wondering how this is going to go when the Farmer's market season is over. I'm longing for a green house that I could grow tomatoes, chard, lettuce, and kale!!! Anyhow, 10 days in and 5.5 pounds down. I'm starting to feel good, too!

Just started experimenting with green smoothies. My kids think I've seriously gone around the bend, LOL. But I know that my message and my model is getting through to them. The other day I was telling the kids that a friend's brother is really sick and my 5 yo ds asked: "why, didn't he eat enough greens?" Sadly enough, that's probably the case.

Haven't heard of the Fat Flush program. 14 pounds is great. It will be neat to follow that up with E2L!

[GoGoGirl]

I've been wondering about winter, too. Part of what made the switch to EtL so easy for me, I think, is all the berries, mangoes, and melons I've been eating. Honestly, I don't like winter produce anywhere near as much as summer produce. And salads are going to be so expensive! I guess it will just be another learning curve, though.

What green smoothies do you guys like? My favorites are the chocolate green smoothie from Eat for Health, and one I thought up with kale, banana, avocado, mangoes, and orange juice.

[jane-t-mommy]

Chocolate green smoothie sounds great. I don't have the eat for health book, would you mind posting that recipe? I'm going to try a Kale, Banana, Blueberry, Soy smoothie this morning...my kids think I've gone nuts!

[GoGoGirl]

The chocolate smoothie is great!

http://www.chooseveg.com/chocolate-smoothie.asp

I use stevia instead of the dates, and add vanilla extract. I also need a ton more liquid than they seem to...so I use a 1/2 cup non dairy milk and then water for the rest.

(And I think it's so funny that they show a video of making a smoothie. Come on, they're not making a souffle or anything, it's just dumping stuff in the blender and pressing go! How hard is that? )

[ambereva]

I've lost 80 pounds and completely reversed several chronic health conditions by essentially following Eat to Live. I eat more plant fats than he recommends, and no animal products at all. I can't speak highly enough of this lifestyle. At 37 I am lean and strong (I can outlift many of the men at my gym and I regularly run 10+ miles at a pop), my body fat is 18%, my HDL/LDL cholesterol ratio is 1.5/1, my blood screen shows optimal levels of all micronutrients (and I don't take one single supplement), and I look and feel awesome.

2 years ago I was clinically obese, had early stage metabolic syndrome, arthritis, high blood pressure, migraines, fibrocystic breasts, cystic ovaries, anxiety and depression and thinning hair (among other things)...and that was on a fairly 'healthy' diet of lean meats, dairy, whole grains and the recommended daily servings of fruit and vegetables.

[jane-t-mommy]

Wow Amber, that is really inspiring! thanks for sharing. I also have migraines (but haven't had a one in the two weeks I've been on this plan). I'm really hoping that they resolve. I'm going to go read your blog now!!

[ankh]

Wow! Amber, great story!

I did eat to live a few years ago and lost 20lbs really easily. Am doing the green smoothies and slowly getting back into it..

[chkpea]

I am glad I found this thread, just pulled the book off the bookshelf and blew off the dust! Hoping to get started on this lifestyle change and start feeling better.