Warning, this is going to be long. I've missed a few days and the thread has really been active, hurray! I want to comment on everyone's posts so here goes . . .
Laura . . . congrats on your pregnancy, and your 1# of cooked veggies. I so wish I had found ETL while I was preganant. I had slightly elevated blood pressure in my third trimester and so I was trying to reduce my sodium intake. I would have really benefited from ETL.
Baraka . . . great job! Your menu plan for the day looks wonderful. I couldn't agree more about the best part being how you feel. I feel good every day. What better motivation could there be?
prettymom . . . congrats on your weight loss. I feel the same about how strange it is to go from being fat to thin in a relatively short amount of time. I'd like to be my Fuhrman weight (which I also thought was unattainable for me) by the end of the year.
sabra . . . congrats on the weight loss! It is thrilling to see that scale move. Such a motivator to stick with it.
sweetsadi77 . . . welcome and congrats to you too. Great to see all these pounds disappearing this month.
sabra . . . I own a vitamix. It is fantastic. I use it at least twice a day. For my smoothie every morning, for salad dressings every evening, and quite often for sauces and soups. You can't imagine how fantastic they are until you use one. If there is one thing worth putting on a credit card if you can't quite afford it, it's the vitamix. I bought a reconditioned one from the Vitamix site, same 7 year warranty. Works like a dream.
ILoveMyBabyBird . . . I struggle with this all the time. If I don't eat until I'm really full, then I get hungry and want to snack. Then other times I overeat. I try and eat just two meals because this seems to work better for me, but I do sometimes get hungry in between. Do you experience true hunger? I think once you get to that point it is easier, because true hunger is not as uncomfortable as toxic hunger. When I do make it to dinner without snacking, I enjoy my dinner so much more because I am very hungry. It is bliss.
janeroyal . . . glad you got the book today, welcome to the club!! You can do it. Converting a family of 10 is a big job, but well worth it and something your children will reap life long benefits from. Do you know about Dr. Fuhrman's book "Disease Proof Your Child"? I highly recommend it for information and motivation on switching your kids to the ETL lifestyle. Lots of good kid-friendly recipes too. I would focus on trying to make family favorites Eat to Live style. I make chili, burritos, enchiladas, burgers and fries (baked), all ETL style. As for sugar. Get to know the date. It will be your best friend. Try this recipe:
I Can't Believe it's not a Chocolate Shake Chocolate Shake
4 frozen bananas, sliced
4 medjhool dates, chopped
1 1/2 cups of soy milk (add more if needed - enough to blend)
2 slightly heaping teaspoons of unsweetened organic cocoa powder
1/2 t vanilla
3 T walnuts (optional, omit for weight loss)
4 ice cubes.
Blend soy milk and dates, add remaining ingredients, blend until smooth. If you don't have a vitamix, use crushed ice.
kerpav . . . I'm so glad my story is motivating to you. This is truly a life changing experience. You can do it. I tried to lose weight for 20 years before starting this program. I never had any real success. Now I know this is life long. You can do it!!!!!!! Find recipes you love. Find a salad dressing you love. That has been the key for me. I have always loved food, cooking, eating. I do now more than ever and I enjoy it all way more that I ever have. I get to enjoy my food and instead of guilt I experience true joy that I am nourishing my body with completely healthful food.
kerpav, also I have bought Dr. Fuhrman's vegizest, and I use his vitamins. I want to try the vinegars. The vegizest is good, but I do not keep it on hand most of the time. I use a no-salt powdered veggie broth from our local co-op. I order the vegizest when I order vitamins. I make the popems myself and they are to die for delicious. My staples are: nutritional yeast, cashews, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds (unhulled), soy milk, tofu - regular and silken, all the beans, fruits and veggies of course.
janeroyal . . . I have lost between one and two cup sizes (depending on the bra). I am much smaller than I was. But oh, it's so sad what has happened to them the skin is all still there. LOL. These old gray mares, they ain't what they used to be. :-)
Whew, that was fun . . .
I celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary yesterday. I am thirty pounds thinner than when we were married and about 70 pounds thinner than when we celebrated our 10th anniversary (I'm not exactly sure because I avoided scales completely during that time in my life), and I'm a lot happier than I've ever been.
Happy ETLing everyone!
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: ) and a good merlot (
: I am 24 hours into it and determined but I think I am experiencing withdrawl symptoms. How do I get through this?? 
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Kerpav~
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