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?
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/
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!!
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!
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.
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!
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?
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.
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!!
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.
Great thread! I'm getting inspired. I need a new diet plan and have fallen off my green smoothie wagon. I'm gonna to check out the blog and the website...thanks ladies!
Amber, what a great story! I'm still awed by the power of a vegan diet to reverse diseases. Right now, the weight loss is the most motivational factor for me, but I do think being a vegan will keep me healthier, especially when I'm an old lady. And I love that you can lift more than the other people at the gym! DH is into olympic weightlifting, and he's convinced that he NEEDS to eat practically a whole chicken every day to be able to lift.
Originally Posted by GoGoGirl
Amber, what a great story! I'm still awed by the power of a vegan diet to reverse diseases. Right now, the weight loss is the most motivational factor for me, but I do think being a vegan will keep me healthier, especially when I'm an old lady. And I love that you can lift more than the other people at the gym! DH is into olympic weightlifting, and he's convinced that he NEEDS to eat practically a whole chicken every day to be able to lift.
Hey ya'll, sorry for reviving an old thread, but I didn't see a newer ETL thread. I did ETL for a little while about 6 years ago, and liked it, but fell off the wagon. I've been doing WW for almost a year, and have lost 50+ founds. But I'm finding now that the weight wants to creep back on if I'm not anally careful. And I just can't live like that. I want to say up front, that I doubt I will ever be able to strictly follow ETL because I love meat and cheese too much, but I'm hoping if I aim for that, and try to think of the meat and cheese as condiments....
I know I just need to make so me more significant changes in order to keep off this weight. I'm also struggling with chronic pain leftover from a herniated disk in my low back [surgery 4 years ago alleviated most of it, but I have lingering sciatic pain, and general tightness on that side of my body], and hope that a more nutritive diet will help alleviate the inflamation.
AND, I am homeschooling now, and want to model better eating for my son.
I haven't read the book recently, but I have a general idea of the food recs. What I'm trying to picture is this:
1) What does one pound of raw veg LOOK like?
2) Ditto cooked?
3) Are there any sample meal plans out there, or do I need to get the book again?
A pound raw or cooked looks gigantic! I have a food scale and I"m always amazed at how little a large amount of greens can weigh. I put loads of greens into a smoothie once or twice a day and get lots that way. In the book he says that you are aiming for a pound of raw and pound of cooked. I actually wasn't able to eat all he recommends! Here is the basic outline I've been following:
Breakfast: Fruits (he recommends 4+)
Lunch: Large Salad and cooked green, beans
Dinner: 1 Cup of starchy food, large salad, more cooked vegs.
~also, up to 1 oz of raw nuts per day~
Good luck! I've lost 15 pounds in 6 weeks and am still following the plan. I just feel really good!!
Yeah, I just looked at some carrots this morning, and a 1 pound bag looked huge.
I'm thinking of this as a general plan, what do ya'll think?
Breakfast: fruit with a bit of yogurt and nuts [maybe even blended into a smoothie?] and/or sauteed veg with a bit of egg white to hold it all together
Snacks: I want to make a veggie tray that me and the kids can snack on during the day. I figured if I made a 1 pound tray, and we all snacked on it, then in combo with the other things I'd eat during the day....
Lunch: a big salad [about half a pound of greens and veg], with diced avocado and beans [and nuts if I didn't have them for breakfast or snack], and maybe some fruit
Snacks: cont on the veg tray; frozen grapes
Dinner: some cooked veg and whole grains, and a bit of whatever the family is eating; I'm sorta hoping that after a day of munching on all those veggies, I won't be too hungry!
All Day: lots of water, plus I really enjoy a couple cups of coffee.
Does this sound reasonable?
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