Eat To Live October

[PapayaVagina]

Here we are! My dh and I are gearing up for ETL starting Nov 1. I've got to get some more dressing recipes and figure out what my shopping lists are going to be

[earthchick]

Oh yay, I'm so excited that there are at least a couple of other people out there doing this. So this is where I am:
I am 5'5.5" and as of this morning, I weigh 145.5. This is the highest I've been in 3 years. Earlier this summer, I had gotten down to 136, which was the lowest I'd been since before getting pregnant (was 125 when I got pg with twins). Then I kind of let myself go over vacation and just never got back on track after we returned, even though I've had the motivator of this upcoming wedding next month.

According to Dr. Fuhrman, my ideal weight would be 117. I used to think that was a bit extreme, but I've come to think it really does represent the ideal. However, I would be happy if I could just get down to 125. Obviously, there's not time to do that before this wedding (in 4.5 weeks!), but I'm thinking long-term. I'm not sure what to expect I could lost in the next month. If I could get back down to my more normal 137/138, I'd be relieved.

I know it's not all about the numbers, but the numbers are an indicator to me that I have been a little out-of-control. I start off the day great and then end up self-sabotaging after dinner. I love sweet stuff, and I especially love baking. I'm also a bit of a foodie, so I just enjoy cooking and eating in general. :

Anyway, I'm trying to get serious. My mornings almost always start the same: a banana-spinach smoothie (3 bananas, 1 C water, 2 C baby spinach). Guess I'll go eat that now and hope I can make the time to workout sometime today. I hope to check back in tonight to record what I actually ate.

Glad to be onboard!

[Porcelain Interior]

Like the OP, I'm going to need a prep period otherwise I'll sabatage, so I'm using the rest of October to do that and weed out the serious offenders.

One thing I'll say is that if you've tried this plan and had trouble usually the causes are of course cheating, and truly the sugar/salt/caffeine needs to be cut in order for your body to do the work it needs to.

I've never been successful for a long period of time because of the three above factors. Sugar salt and caffeine usually always come packaged with fat, and junk so I feel that it's important to commit to dropping those for myself. He writes of the addiction to the food, and how like drugs when you come off of them you go through withdrawals- if you continue to ingest those things your body doesn't get the chance to experience the "true hunger" that he talks about which is so important in order to lose the cravings and desire for the crap foods. So this is the area I'm focusing on purity. Cheating really doesn't work for me.

My family will NOT be doing this plan with me, but they will be foregoing candy, and all my trouble foods which are not healthy anyways, and I'll be modifying their meals so that they are provided with a whole foods super healthy diet- even if they continue with dairy and meat. (Which I don't eat.)

I need to find a solid breakfast or two that I can just streamline and suck down. And lunch is easy SALAD. I'm thinking I'll need to measure some carby items and freeze them so I'm not tempted to eat an entire pan of rice at the expense of getting my beans/veggies in since the core of the plan is more veg/fruit/beans less carbs/starch and less than 10% fat/meat/dairy/crap.

Then of course the exercise, I'm currently doing nada. I plan on walking my dog starting once a day 1 mile and then adding in a second walk at the end of the day also 1 mile. Then I'd like to restart my Lotte Burke videos they are fantastic for toning.

I've maintained at about 122 lbs for 2 years now, previously I was almost 140, and at my all time low I was 116. Per Furhmans weight chart I should be in the neighborhood of 110 for my 5ft 3.5 inch body. That seems low, but I was lower than that before kids and I wasn't skeletal in the least. Right now I don't feel good. I'm tired all the time, I don't sleep well and I'm cranky. Motivation is zero in all regards. I am not healthy. I eat garbage. Candy is my weakness. I use sugar in my tea which I drink a lot of.

I think it freaks a lot of people out when they see the low weights, but even Dr. Oz has stated the health risk from carrying excess fat on the body, it messes everything up. So I'd be fine with 110-115. My body will tell me where the sweet spot is after the tissue has been modified and contains muscle instead of flab. Amazingly even at 122 us short people can be lugging around a spare tire. I've got one.

I turn 30 next week, so this is it.

[lactivistmama]

I am subbing! I have "tried" to do Eat to Live once before, and failed miserably..That said I threw myself in with no preparation, and a very limited variety of food, I would really like to give it another try. I think I will start cutting things out and plan to be doing it by the 1st week of Nov..

[Porcelain Interior]

Just popping in to report on my cleanout. I now have ZERO candy in the house. That's huge! I don't eat trick or treat candy so I should be ok.

I'm dumping my caffienated teas by the end of the week (I'll run out in a few days anyway.)

Then I have to go to the grocery store and stock up on:

Beans
Spices (since I'm not going to salt my foods)
Fresh and Frozen fruits and veggies
And other stuff I haven't figured out yet! Back to the book....

[Marissa88]

Last year in early November I did this. It worked awesome for me throughout the holiday season. I started at about 161. (I'm 5'7") This is the highest I've ever been. I was absolutely disgusted with myself, so I decided to do this. I lost 14 pounds . I got on the scale and weighed 147 by probably mid- February, which the lowest I've been since before high school. Well, of course summer came and went and I got off track and I've gained on a good day 3 pounds, and on a bad day 5 pounds back. I plan on doing the ETL again to try and lose about 10 - 15 more pounds. I need to be strong and follow through!

[earthchick]

I'm really excited to be doing this with other people! Yay! :

Yesterday I did kind of my usual - started off great and then went downhill about midday. Actually got back on track for dinner but then got into some veggie chips in the evening and ... bleh. Today, I'm doing well so far. I've been on-the-go a lot so I grabbed a bunch of fruit and that has sustained me. I find that if I can make myself eat a piece of fruit before making any other food decisions, I can usually stay on track a little better.

I'm so interested to read what others are doing in terms of food for family. My husband is better than I am about eating mostly vegan. He is diabetic and has gotten pretty committed to taking better care of himself, and he is convinced (with me) that eating high-produce, low-fat vegan is the best way to do that.

My kids eat vegetarian. (Actually all of us will eat meat out, if we are served, but at home we try to do vegan for the adults and vegetarian for the kids.) I want to do better by them - I realize that grilled cheese sandwiches are not the best lunch for them - but I'm struggling to find healthy options that they will eat. They do, fortunately, eat a ton of fruit. And one of my sons eats a spinach smoothie with me every morning. His breakfast today - which he chose all himself - was plain oatmeal, spinach smoothie, and an apple. I feel good about that. It's lunches and dinners that are a lot harder. I really hate the idea of cooking two different meals for my family.

I'm trying to focus on what I should be eating as opposed to what I shouldn't. I feel like if I can get myself full of fruits, greens, veggies, and beans, I won't have as much room (or desire) for the crap stuff I like.

[Porcelain Interior]

Well no one else in my family will be doing this with me (my DH is a chef...)) so the meat stays for him.

For me my keys are:

1. Do I have food in the house that supports my goals?
2. Have I planned out what I'm having so I don't slack and cheat?
3. Don't buy the foods I cave for, hot chocolate, candy etc

I have to start getting some menus and prepare.

[earthchick]

Just checking in to say that I am down 2 pounds today, to 144. I weigh myself everyday - I know that most people think that is badbadbad, but it helps me get a better sense of how things are averaging out. Anyway, I weight myself every day but I consider Thursdays to be my sort of "official" weigh-in day. We leave for our nephew's wedding 4 weeks from today, and if I could lose another 2 pounds per week, I'd be thrilled.

As y'all make your plans and menus, what resources are you consulting? I find many of the recipes in E2L to be a bit boring, but it's hard to find recipes that conform to the E2L requirements elsewhere. I do have a book called Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes that has some good recipes in it (his recommendations are somewhat similar to Fuhrman's but not exactly the same). And I read the fatfreevegan blog, which has a database of recipes which include some that are specifically E2L. Where else do you guys look?

I am going to try to make myself do better about eating salads. I have a hard time eating salads without some form of oil or other fat on top. I think today for lunch I will try a salad with some canned beans on top and pour some blood orange vinegar on it to see what I think of that.

[Porcelain Interior]

Yeah the salad is hard. I love Garlic Sauce. www.garlicsauce.com It's got oil in it, but I dilute it with vinegar when I use it as a dressing. (BTW I've almost cracked the garlic sauce recipe ratios so if anyone wants it I'll post it below)

Garilic Sauce

30 cloves garlic (Costco has these already peeled and ready for action)
2 lemons juiced
1/4- olive oil (may need more if you want it thinner/or add more lemon juice for less fat)
Salt *I use hardly any
Cracked Black Pepper *Lots!

Put garlic and lemon juice in food processor/blender and blend the tar out of it, drizzle in oil slowly and blend, add salt and pepper tasting until you like it. Put in a container and store in the fridge, it stays good for quite a while. I got some restaurant ketchup squeezy bottles for mine.

I'm going to try concocting a breakfast drink I can slam down that will get some of the fresh greens "out of the way" for the day, because frankly I don't enjoy cold food in the winter so I have to squeeze these in.

Ideally I'd like to do that before breakfast. Fruit, some handfulls of spinach, flaxseed, and a few other things maybe? Should be palatable.

We'll see. I've dropped from 124 to 122 since we ran out of candy. Amazing. I always drop tons the first few days I eat better and I know it's water, but hey!

Tomorrow is my last caffiene day. I dropped salt several days ago, and sugar will go tomorrow. Goodbye my love.: LOL

I grocery shop tomorrow and I've let the pantry go bare so it'll be perfect timing to fill it with good food. I'm making my list today.

Well keep posting, let's actually do this eh?

[Noah's mommy]

I'd like to join in...I read the book several times but don't have it with me since we moved to Brasil. I bet I can find most of the info on line or maybe at our school library.
My biggest challenge is being in a new country and figuring out how to cook here. The good news is I have a great fruit stand right outside our gate and everything is in season here.
I plan to buy a blender tomorrow-I love green smoothies.
What other ground work should we be doing to gear up for November?
I turn 30 in 2 months, so I'd love to have a jump start on some big changes. Also, I'm not sure about cutting coffee-it is EVERYWHERE here-but I could at least drink it black and it is served in shot glass sized cups so maybe that will be my splurge.

[mysticmomma]

I'm starting this program, but with a few slight modifications. I'm a salt waster, so I can't cut salt completely from my diet. I'm allowing myself a few boiled eggs a week and more nuts/seeds than he recommends. No dairy (milk/cheese/yogurt/butter/ice cream/etc). No meat. No bread.


I need some dressing rec's, as right now don't have a good one and am still using RANCH! :

I bought a huge bag of frozen fruit and have been making smoothies with a splash of water. So far, I've done:

mango and pineapple
strawberry pineapple
peach and honey dew

Talk to me about adding greens to my smoothies!

I'm eating a ton of bananas and apples, and drinking a smoothie or two a day. I'm snacking on celery, peppers, carrots, etc.

I also need more dips for my veggies. I don't like naked veggies.

I've made the plan to grocery shop every few days. That way no food is wasted.

Today I had a banana, a boiled egg, a 10oz smoothie, celery and peanut butter, 1oz peanuts, 1oz sunflower seeds, a bowl of red beans, rice, red peppers, onion and taco type seasoning. I just finished snacking on peppers and carrots in ranch dressing and another smoothie. I'm going to eat something else before bed because I'm hungry now. I need recipes!

Trisha

[Porcelain Interior]

I've started doing:

1/2-3/4 cup frozen blueberries
2-3 tblspoons ground flax
2 large fistfulls of fresh spinach
1-1.5 cups OJ

Blend and drink! I'm allergic to bananas, otherwise I'd throw one of those in too for creaminess.

I figure if I kick my day off with that every single day I'm in good shape. It gets in loads of vitamins straight away. I know juice is supposed to be limited to using in dressings and stuff, but I'm allergic to several fruits and I haven't found a way to snaz up the flavor yet without the OJ. So for now it'll do.

I'm going to do a hot salad soup tonight. (That's a term I made up) I just cut up a bunch of fresh veggies, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, carrots, etc some beans and then make a nice broth, cook the veggies very very lightly to retain maximum vitamin content and then I eat that. I can reheat the rest the next day too. It's tasty and soothing and makes it easier to get the beans down.

I'm not big on cold foods right now so this fresh stuff is hard.

[mysticmomma]

I've done really well on my version of etl! Today I made a huge veggie soup/stew. It had green beans, black beans, carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, corn, peas, green pepper and emerils vegetable broth. Turned out great! I have been having a PBJ sandwich at night before bed. It seems to help stabilize my blood sugar and sleep. I use real jam and real peanut butter and really whole grain bread (1 slice).

My dd's birthday party was Sunday, and they had pizza and cake. I had salad. Lots and lots of salad. I kept loading veggies on. peppers, onions, broc, you name it! I did find that when I iced the cake earlier in the day, I was doing a lot of finger licking! I never realized how mindless eating had become for me.

THe kids wanted a doughnut, and i have a BIG thing for fried dough. So, anyway we went and I had probably half a doughnut that day, and was totally satisfied with eating that. The prep work hasn't been half as hard as I expected it to be... need to get more pyrex and those veggie steaming bags.

Please! UPdate! I've already lost a few pounds in about a week. My blood sugar is normalizing and I feel pretty good.

[earthchick]

I haven't been checking in b/c I haven't been doing very well at this the last few days. Bleh. I'm still drinking my banana-spinach smoothie for breakfast each morning, but some days that's been the only right thing I've done, food-wise. Feeling pretty down on myself about it.

Holding steady at 144. Leaving for the wedding in 3 weeks. Did go to yoga for the first time in 3 weeks (had childcare issues the last two classes), so that felt good....