February Eat To Live Thread - Page 2

[Anna06]

Thanks niki_f for the menu plan!! : It is really great. Thanks again.

IF it's not to much trouble I'd love to read a newsletter. IF you can. IF not it's ok.

Good luck lemongrass!!


How about snacks? I know Dr F says you shouldn't. But I'm so use to them that I'm afraid I'll totally fail if I dont at least make plans. ykwim

[Natalya]

i'm in! (again) i did this for a few months last year, and felt really good, but fell off the diet after awhile.

my biggest problem was that i found it pretty expensive to do etl. this time around i want to do all dried beans ( i did all canned last time), but other than that i can not think of another way to cut the costs. i was even buying mostly conventional fruits/veggies. any ideas?

anna06- last time i let myself snack for the first day or two i was on the diet (to wean myself off snacks). i'm doing the same this time. i also let myself have a late night snack every once in awhile, like a piece of fruit.

so what did you guys eat today? :

[BrooklynDoula]

I find that I have to snack because of nursing and being out a lot with two kids who are on a homeschool schedule. I can't always pack a full meal for me so I bring some fruits and veggies for myself. I also have an almost exclusively breastfed baby (he eats a bit) so keeping up with the nursing means eating a little more.

I am very comfortable with continuing to snack because I don't like eating really large meals and much prefer to just eat a bit here and there.

[Purple Sage]

I'm not giving up snacking, either. I don't naturally eat three meals a day...I prefer to eat 5-6 smaller meals than 3 big ones.

Here's what I ate today:
breakfast - two small apples, an orange, and some tofu scramble
lunch - (I had two big bowls of this about 3 hours apart) steamed collard greens topped with fat free vegetarian chili with a little whole grain bulgur
snack - banana
dinner - raw spinach with more of the chili/bulgur

I did not have a pound of raw veggies, but I had four raw fruits and more than a pound of cooked veggies between what was in the tofu scramble and the chili and the pound of collards I steamed for lunch. I had more than a cup of beans (probably closer to two) and maybe a cup of bulgur (I don't think it was that much, though). Not bad for my first day...tomorrow I hope to eat more raw.

And I'm happy to say that my first day without caffeine was not bad at all. No headache and plenty of energy.

[SugarAndSun]

Ugh, my blender broke today. I am thinking of getting a Vita-Mix, but I don't want to buy it now. I love having green smoothies. It really helps me get in extra greens.

Thanks for the ideas. I don't think it is the coffee because I always drank that on an empty stomach. I will be more concious about washing things though.

Breakfasy suggestions:
Cooked fruit with some kind of grains of your choice.
A couple of nice pieces of fruit.
A corn tortilla with greens and hummus in it (I am not following the plan exactly so I eat wraps).

[holyhelianthus]

how does one cook fruit?

[Natalya]

you can bake or poach fruit.

today was my first full day, yesterday was shaky because i hadn't gone grocery shopping. here is what i ate-
breakfast- an apple and coffee (i'm not giving up coffee)
lunch-salad with spicy lentil soup and sweet potato
dinner- no hurry curry (from fatfreevegan.com) and some rice.

i forgot that potatoes count as a grain! so i should not have had the rice at dinner, the curry was REALLY filling anyways, PLUS it had potatoes in it too.

i need to do better with raw veggies too, we've had really gross rainy/cold weather, and eating cold things does not feel good.

anyways, i've felt really energetic today.

[Mamajamz]

New here!

Hello everyone! I was so glad to find this thread. I thought I might find some ETL folks here. I started the diet after reading the book in Sept. I have been poking along though, and now am ready to get back into it.

I lost 6 pounds and need to lose quite a bit more, and mostly just want to feel better and have more energy.

I would love to see some recipes for green smoothies--haven't tried that--I'll also check out more of the recipes I saw on the link that Lemongrass mentioned.

I'll look forward to sharing the ride with you all!

Jamie

[midwestmom]

I do snacks occasionally if I get really hungry between meals, but make sure it is ETL friendly. This week has been harder than normal for me. I normally love salads but am having trouble getting into them in this cold weather:. I cheated a couple of times this week, but even when cheating, didn't overeat, so I am just gonna get back on the wagon.

I am happy to see new faces here! It really helps me to stay on track to have this group.

Hey Nikki-I got the newsletter, but couldn't open the meal plan attachments. Are they really long or could you copy and paste them? If it is too long, don't worry about it.

[Purple Sage]

I'm also having trouble eating salads in the cold weather. I've been eating a ton of vegetable soup instead.

Yesterday I cheated a little...wine and potato chips. Oh well, it was Fat Tuesday, after all.

I know that potatoes are counted as a grain, but I do so well when I eat potatoes that I'm not going to follow that rule. I lost quite a bit of weight last month eating as many potatoes as I wanted, so I'm just going to stick with that. Beans, on the other hand, seem to be a problem for me. I tend to lose weight faster when I don't eat so many beans. I'm tweaking the program to limit beans to a small portion every other day or so and replace them with potatoes. Hope nobody minds.

[holyhelianthus]

yeah potatoes are great!

i, too, am having snacks but making them fruit or something. i can't not have snacks BFing and all...

[Natalya]

i re-read the chapter about the diet in eat to live today, it was a good refresher. he even talks about tweaking the diet to fit your needs, he said that people with better metabolism can eat more grains if they need it. i may have to add in a little more grain, i was fiending today, having withdrawal symptoms from my cheese.

anyone want to do stats (current weight/ideal weight/how much lost)? i love to see people's success, it helps me. i need to go weigh...

[SugarAndSun]

Originally Posted by midwestmom

I do snacks occasionally if I get really hungry between meals, but make sure it is ETL friendly. This week has been harder than normal for me. I normally love salads but am having trouble getting into them in this cold weather:. I cheated a couple of times this week, but even when cheating, didn't overeat, so I am just gonna get back on the wagon.

I suggest green smoothies. You can get tons of drinks in a yummy smoothie. I can only eat so much salad with two toddlers. It is just too time consuming.

I actually ate pizza today. It made me feel horrible and sluggish. It was really amazing. I haven't eat any cheese in a loooong time. Yuck.

I am going to look for a new blender tomorrow I think. I really need a good smoothie.

Does anyone have the Vit-Mix. I really want one, but can't really swing it right now.

[niki_f]

Originally Posted by SugarAndSun

Does anyone have the Vit-Mix. I really want one, but can't really swing it right now.

I know Fuhrman talks about the Vita-Mix, but I have the K-Tec HP3 (total blender). I got it when I was 100% raw for 18 months before I got pregnant with my daughter. It's like the vitamix but not as tall. It's still as loud as an airplane, so we have a special case for it to sit in to cut the noise to regular blender levels--almost. It's still very expensive, but I couldn't live without it. I use it every day, at least once a day, sometimes two and three times, for three different dishes. I got it at rawguru.com, which often has them on sale. My mom got one from there, too and loves it to pieces. He also sells the vitamix at rawguru, actually. This comparison chart/info sheet helped me a lot http://www.rawguru.com/vita-mix/vita...son-chart.html

Even on sale, though, these puppies are a major investment.

[Anna06]

Thanks niki_f for all your help.


But I'm not doing so well....: I believe this is the best way to eat....but I've got to work on it.

[BrooklynDoula]

I am back in my E2L groove. After being gone for a month and only being about 75% on E2L, it took me a few weeks to get myself back on full-time. Anyhow, I am feeling great being back on and I've lost a few pounds also, which always helps since I have 20 lbs of pp weight from my 8.5 month old.

Green smoothies are awesome (And I just have a glass Osterizer that I have had for 6 years). My dh makes fun of me while I drink them, but I like them

[niki_f]

Originally Posted by Anna06

Thanks niki_f for all your help.


But I'm not doing so well....: I believe this is the best way to eat....but I've got to work on it.

You're welcome, but please don't get disheartened!! What is it that is giving you the most trouble? Is it the not snacking or the portions or the greens or...? And if you ever feel it's just too much, consider doing McDougall before giving up altogether and going regular vegetarian.

Congrats, Brooklyn D.!

[Natalya]

Originally Posted by Anna06

Thanks niki_f for all your help.


But I'm not doing so well....: I believe this is the best way to eat....but I've got to work on it.

every day is a new day! don't let yourself feel bad.

i weighed today, i'm 146, my ideal weight is 111. geez, 111!! i'd like to be 120.

i've been feeling full, mostly because of all the gas i've had in the evening.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by Anna06

Thanks niki_f for all your help.


But I'm not doing so well....: I believe this is the best way to eat....but I've got to work on it.

I didn't do so well for a few days, either. I gained back 5 of the 16 pounds I lost (mostly water from eating too much salt). The last couple of days have been good, though, and I'm only half a pound over where I was.

My high weight was 150, current weight 134.5, ideal weight 123.

[holyhelianthus]

ok so i'm looking at this plan from a new angle because looking at it through messurements and all that was driving me coo-coo :
instead of trying to figure out what a lb of veggies looks like and getting them i'm just going to eat fruits and veggies to my hearts content and have 1-2 servings of whole grains and fit beans in there somewhere. it takes a load off my brain