After about 2 months on the Eat To Live approach to eating

[magical thyme]

with a couple weeks when I fell off the wagon to due hectic schedule...I've lost 4 " off my waist! 4 inches of fat GONE!!!!

The sagging under my should blades is disappearing

I met my initial goal so fast, I've had to set a new one. 4 more inches and my waist will be back to high school!!!!!

And I LOVE to eat this way. I'm taking the overly complex recipes from the book and simplifying them. I only follow the diet about 90% anyway. I don't miss anything. When I cheat these days, it's usually doing things like making homemade fudge as a reward

Can't recommend this enough!!!!!

[chalky]

1. Funny I should see this thread - I just came over here

from buying Eat To Live from Amazon. It's great to see a testimonial on the book.

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Wow! (edit)

If you put together an "Eat to Live" for Dummies or a quickstart, easy recipe guide, please let me know!

Honestly, I've never heard of Eat to Live before, but what a testimonial you provide!



Good for you!


EDIT TO ADD: I just Googled "Eat to Live" and this is one of the first "hits," which is perfect because I'm primarily eating vegan, not a purist, but definitely have trended in that direction.

Now I'm anxious to learn the basics about Eat to Live since, at first glance, it seems tailored toward weight loss(?)

http://fatfreevegan.com/blog/2010/01/01/eat-to-live-6-week-plan/

[magical thyme]

5. ok, that blog is riding off the real Eat to Live

It's a book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and includes recipes put together by gourmets, which is why I'm needing to simplify them. Especially as a single person, I just don't have that much variety in my kitchen to put 3 dozen ingredients in one meal, lol. Plus living in Maine where it gets cold, raw veggies just don't cut it when winter comes.

What's important is the approach to eating. Fill up with high fiber, high nutrient foods like romaine lettuce, kale, carrots, broccoli plus other brightly colored veggies and some onions, garlic and a couple mushrooms. Eat small amounts of legumes (1 cup/day which frankly I've cut to 1/2 cup because I can't eat as much as he says to eat, lol), smaller amounts of whole grains or white potatoes, 2 tbsp/raw seeds and nuts. Avoid breads (baking is bad), so I've been doing wraps but I've allowed back in a slice of toast now and then. Also eat 3-4 servings of fruit daily.

I've also given up on water sauteeing...it's with olive oil or else for me!

Still, here is a sample of my "No Bull Stew" -- it's quick and cheap; makes 6 pounds at ~$1/pound.

Cut up 3 medium potatoes (~1 lb) and 4 big carrots (~1 lb). Boil in large saucepan until "stew soft." Drain off the cooking water (I save it for making soup).

While the above is cooking, sautee 3 medium chopped onions (12 oz), several sliced mushrooms (4 oz) and a couple cloves of garlic.

Stir the onions, mushrooms and garlic into the potatoes and carrots.

Thaw 1 pound of frozen chopped broccoli, 1/2 pound of frozen corn, 1/2 pound of frozen peas and stir them into the above mix.

Add 1 can of Progresso lentil soup and stir. Heat season to taste and serve. I like it with a single slice of whole grain toast and I cheat a little more and scrape some butter on that toast!

[OneGrassRoot]

6. Thanks, magical thyme. I read more after my initial post...

and saw I was basically approaching food in this way over the summer anyway. I've gotten off track over the last two months.

I hardly have potatoes any more, which is for this Irish girl. I need to cut bread down even more than I have, but -- like you -- I'm going with wraps.

I'm essentially doing the right things but need to get back into the smoothies. It's definitely the best way to incorporate the veggie and fruit intake.

I'm with you: I go for simplicity, not stuff with a gazillion ingredients and prep time. I eat a ton of cabbage, kale and garlic.

If I had a way of, inexpensively, dehydrating kale to make kale chips, I'd be a happy camper. I crave a healthy, slightly salty, crunchy snack, and kale chips do it for me, but buying them is ungodly expensive, making them in the oven takes away the nutrients, and my solar DIY dehydrator takes forever and yields relatively little. A super-duper solar dehydrator is on my wishlist.

Thanks for posting this. It encourages me that I'm three-quarters of the way there already and just need to get back on track.

[FirstLight]

17. coolness...

checking it out....for sure

[Matariki]

3. Is it a vegetarian diet?

[kentauros]

10. I wondered the same thing and looked it up.

Here are a couple of links, one from Dr. Furhman's site and the other is a book review by a vegetarian. Both are positive in applying this to the non-meat diet

https://www.drfuhrman.com/library/article5.aspx
http://www.vegparadise.com/vegreading55.html

I think I'm going to have to try it as well. Thanks for the thread!

[Matariki]

12. I don't thrive on a meatless diet.

optimal for me are small amounts of animal protein with lots of vegetables and fruit. I couldn't do a vegan diet. Tried it, got very very sick.

[kentauros]

13. Sorry to hear you got sick,

but glad you figured out what was best for your body

I do fine on a mostly vegan diet. I still eat some cheese, and, other than pizza, make sure I buy only those cheeses that use non-animal rennet or bacterial enzymes. The rest of dairy I don't eat, only buying eggs when I have cookies to bake for Christmas.

I am curious about this diet or rather, method of eating and living. If I can stick to eating more fruit every day again, I know I'll not only lose some weight but feel better. It's the junk/processed foods I still eat that are getting to me...

[magical thyme]

15. it isn't meatless unless you want it to be.

It sounds like you are already following the approach. He recommends lots of veggies (except for potatoes), with 1/2 raw and 1/2 cooked (up to 2 pounds/day but generally as much as you can eat). 3-4 fruits (or servings in the case of berries). 1 cup of beans/day. Smaller amounts of (whole) grains or potatoes (I think 1/2 cup). A couple tbsp or raw seeds and/or raw nuts. Smallest amounts of dairy or meat (10% of your overall diet).

I haven't been able to do vegan or vegetarian in the past either, but with this approach to eating, so far I haven't really craved or missed meat. I eat some occasionally, but haven't felt the need. It's been more a practical issue than anything else.

[magical thyme]

4. it's a "nutritarian" diet

and you can go vegan on it. Any meat you do choose to eat shrinks to <10 percent of your intake. Just make the main part of your diet colorful (and hopefully leafy green or orange) veggies.

I skipped the 1st 6 weeks part of the plan and went straight for the "rest of your life" part of it. It felt unnecessary for me; it is geared towards triggering weight loss in morbidly obese people (who weigh several hundred pounds) and/or very sick people who are unable to exercise. I live a very active life and am just trying to get 1. healthier and 2. lose that stubborn 10-15 pounds that are the hardest to lose. Mostly I just want to get healthier and be in a place where I can grow much of my own food.

I also didn't go "cold turkey" as Dr. Fuhrman recommends. I simply couldn't afford to throw away food sitting in my freezer. Instead I eased into it.

I also cut the goal of the "eat a pound of raw veggies/day" to 1/2 pound. I am small...I simply can't eat that much!

I'm not quite vegan. I occasionally eat an egg or use a tbsp of tostitos cheese dip as a spread or flavoring in soup.

I've replaced meat purchases with nuts, for the "expensive" thing in the food cart. I'm also "cheating" by using canned beans and Progresso lentil soup as the base for bean-based things. Too much work otherwise!

[shedontlike..rogaine]

18. Lentil soup couldn't be easier--learning to cook from scratch is very important

for life-time success. There are NO shortcuts. Canned foods don't cut it longterm and frozen veggies are not really that good for soup (fresh is cheaper and way tastier).

Seriously. Eat much more raw vegan and supplement with soups from scratch.

[magical thyme]

20. according to Dr. Fuhrman, who has studied nutrition for over 2 decades

Last edited Wed Oct 24, 2012, 06:48 PM - Edit history (1)

flash frozen veggies are equivalent to fresh in terms of nutrition.

Off season in the far north, where I live, when fresh has to travel very far to arrive, frozen is superior. In season, I eat fresh. Off season, I eat frozen except for salad greens for obvious reasons.

Of course, what would the medical doctor/nutritionist know, after a couple decades study and literally thousands of formerly very sick patients...compared to an anonymous, unwelcome poster who harasses an internet board?

Off topic, I always end up feeling a little sorry for people who can't accept "no" for an answer in a "relationship." It's as if it's such a huge blow to their egos. That includes even my former stalker, who couldn't accept that I simply wasn't interested in dating him. It never occurred to him that I had a *right* to live my life in peace and without him as part of it. At least in the "real" world, stalkers can be fired for their stalking. As he apparently was, despite my best efforts to avoid it becoming a ugly issue. He moved out of state. Too bad you are unable to take a hint and join him.

[Matariki]

19. Read up on what's in the lining of cans

then buy yourself a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers rock. You can cook beans nearly as fast as it takes to heat up canned beans. Lentils in about 5 minutes.

[teenagebambam]

7. For simpler recipes, and a smidgen of meat...

look to the Abs Diet. It's geared towards men (though there is an "Abs Diet for Women"...) so the meals have very basic ingredients, most can be made in the microwave and adapted for one or two servings. Same idea - low fat, low sugar, high fiber- I lost 55 pounds, mostly by just counting calories but using a lot of these recipes as a means to an end. You can Google lots of the recipes without buying the book, too!

[magical thyme]

8. you can google lots of "Eat to Live" recipes for free too

This isn't so much a "diet" as an approach to food. The focus is not so much on high fiber and losing weight as on high nutrition and healing and preventing illnesses caused by lack of nutrition. That is, focus on eating all you can of veggies and fruits that are rich in phytochemicals to clear out toxins plus high in fiber to clear your gut.

Once you able to effectively clear the toxic by-products of metabolism out of your system, you will lose cravings and what he calls "toxic hunger." It's a change in how you approach food altogether, to make certain your body gets the nutrition it needs.

It also enables you to go vegetarian and vegan without worrying about "balancing" legumes and grains to get all the amino acids you need to make proteins. With this approach to eating, you get what you need without thinking about it. You can include meat if you want, but you don't have to. Meat becomes totally unnecessary and he categorizes it with "sweets" at the top of the pyramid.

I found the book useful to understand the approach to food and eating, and the science behind it, as well as to get some starter recipes.

You don't need to count calories or volume or weight with this approach to eating. Also, he counts flash frozen veggies at the supermarket as nutritionally "raw" as long as you don't cook them. Just understand his revised food pyramid and follow it, and the rest follows.

"The salad is the center of the meal" is the center of the diet. Once I understood everything that was behind it, I found where I could modify it to match my individual needs (cold climate, cutting the goal eating a pound of raw veggies/day, etc) and modify the recipes to ensure I get what I need.

[OneGrassRoot]

9. Another wow!

Good for you!!!

[kentauros]

11. One major question:

How easy or difficult was it to stick with it?

I'm all for eating more fresh veggies and fruits, and did well with my VitaMix for the first month (until I managed to throw off my routine when I somehow "broke" it and had to send it back for repairs.) I'd like to get back to using it again, especially for morning smoothies. I have a pineapple just waiting for me right now

[magical thyme]

14. easy, easy, easy

I don't feel like I'm dieting, just living better. No calorie counting. I weigh food right now only because I want to be able to replicate recipes. Early on I weighed it to get a sense of how much raw versus cooked veggies; then I gave that up because I just eat as many "good" veggies as I want until I feel filled. A large carrot is ~3 ounces. 1/2 avocado is 3-3.5 oz. Etc. Also, I tend to make things in large batches and freeze the leftovers in meal-size bags to take to work.

I don't have a smoothie maker or anything like that. Thought about getting one, but my budget is too tight right now. I also enjoy cooking, especially while I'm experimenting with recipes.

I don't feel like I'm dieting. I don't feel like I'm missing anything. The biggest thing I'm cheating on is I don't eat half my veggies raw when the weather gets really cold and I do fry some things with olive oil. Also I still use some salt, but I have extremely low blood pressure (100/60 -- any lower and I'd be unconscious) and I work up a sweat with the dogs, the horse and work.

But really, it's just about doubling or tripling the green/orange veggies and halving or thirding everything else.

I cheat and don't worry about it because 90% or so of my eating is healthy. Every couple of weeks I'll treat myself to an omelet with fried potatoes. In a way it's nicer than before because it's more of a treat.

I already ate oatmeal with fruit in it for breakfast in the winter, but it didn't hold me until lunch and I got in a habit of a "second breakfast." Adding a couple tablespoons of either raw seeds or cashews or almonds to my oatmeal made it much, much hardier. And instead of a 2nd breakfast, I started eating a piece of fruit at 10am. Then I'm comfortable until lunch.

Lunch on warm days is raw, usually a wrap overloaded with greens (fresh from my garden -- late October and I *still* have sorrel!), tomatoes, maybe half a sliced avocado and/or half a cup or so of chili beans. Or carrot sticks with guacamole dip. On cold days, a large bowl of hot, thick soup loaded with veggies, and a single slice of whole grain bread. Or a couple fried green tomatoes made with cornmeal.

White beans cooked down and mashed make a great stock for hearty "creamed" soups. Same with mashed cauliflower. Even better is to use both of them

Dinner may be rice pilaf with a ton of veggies mixed in, or stew, or bean patties with a ton of veggies on the side.

[kentauros]

16. Thanks for that detailed reply!

I just bought the Kindle version last night, though I may not get to it right away (still reading Anita Moorjani's book "Dying to Be Me".)

The VitaMix I mentioned is good for many types of processing besides smoothies, though that's what I use it for the most. I just used it the other day to make some tahini sauce, and you can't tell (other than by taste) that there's a full bulb of garlic in it! It pulverizes everything on the highest setting. There are a few threads in the Cooking & Baking group here on the VitaMix and you might want to look for them. It's a much more useful tool than simply as a blender, and you can buy refurbished models for much less than the new sets. It's still a big purchase, so something to save for if decide to get one.

By the sound of things, you're really just emphasizing the kinds of foods I tend to eat when I'm really focusing on what I eat. Years ago I lost a fair amount of weight by eating mostly soups. I didn't manage to keep it off, but I felt better and managed to only need to eat during meals with very little snacking between. Soup fills you up better than most meals, especially if you include more grains.