Vegetarian Chicks - Eat to Live-Dr. Fuhrman 6 week challenge

Hi Everyone,
I am planning on doing ETL next weekend. I will be doing 6 weeks just to see what happens. I've been on Dr. McDougall diet and have lost some weight but I keep on backsliding eating SAD food. I am hoping with turning it up a notch with all the raw and cooked veggies will make a difference. Right now I am re-reading my Eat to Live book. Anyone like to join me?:)

When where you planing on starting? I'll start with you on Monday if you like. I have done ETL in the past and it really worked well for me. I have a lot to lose.

Is anyone still interested in doing this?! I've been doing horribly the last few months and need something like this to get me kickstarted again. I think I'll also pull out my copy and brush up and try and get started as soon as next week.

Well I know no one else replied but I thought I'd say that I am starting this today! If anyone wants to join me I'd love it :)

I'm new to the community, but I would love to do etl with you! I'm away at college for another week and a half so until then I may be doing a modified version. You can pm me and we could exchange email addresses :)

I just started E2L on Monday and am loving it! Have you guys started yet? Seems like I'm probably a week behind you, but that's ok. So far so good!

I did start with my boyfriend on the 6th. We are doing pretty well! I suppose we are not doing it exactly perfect but pretty much sticking to it. I'm having a little honey with my teas, don't know if that's 'allowed', and some days I might have an extra serving of grains. But I'm not doing nuts and all of the other limited foods every day either so I think it is okay.

It does feel great doesn't it?! I love that I have so much more energy. The biggest thing I love though is no congestion :lol: I'm down 6 pounds since the first of this month too which is awesome :)

Hey everyone,
I am so glad that there are people doing ETL! I am doing a modified version of it. I just get too hungry if I eat only 3 meals so I added some snacks. I try just to snack on fruit or veggies. Hope everyone is having a great day. Enjoy your salads.:)

I don't see why you shouldn't just eat when you are hungry, so I do. I do green smoothies and fruit in the mornings, then I switch to veggies and hummus usually in the afternoons, and then salad or veggies with beans and maybe a grain. Sometimes I do two grains in a day too. I also don't measure to see if I'm eating a pound of raw and fresh veggies, I just do how much I feel like I need and I know it is less, but still enough. I started out thinking I would do it all strict like, but I quickly realized that if I am too anal about it I will end up quitting. I'm just not going to get too loose with it! :lol:

I am totally eating between meals. I actually somehow missed that "no snacking" part when I first read the 6-week plan, so I've just been eating veggies and fruits whenever I feel like it, and having beans and grains (with more veggies) at mealtimes. I've been trying to stick to the single cup of grains, but it was strangely hard yesterday and I definitely had more than a cup of potato at lunch. Oops! :)

I am also not hitting my pound of raw veggies, but I do what I can. I figure if more cooked veggies helps me stick to it, then it's worth it!

Does everyone weigh every day, or once a week, or never? I am trying not to weight myself until it's been about a week, so I'll probably do that tomorrow or Sunday. I'll update!

I used to weigh every day but I'm doing my best to limit it to once or twice a week. Once a week for an 'official' number. Can't wait to see how it's going for you!

How's it going for everyone I'm thinking of starting ETL on the first (after I'm finished all the not ETL friendly holiday parties)

Okay well I have to admit that I bombed on this last weekend. And I'm having trouble getting back into it. I'm still doing green smoothies and salad but the rest is definitely on plan! I hope everyone else is still doing good!

Hey girls! I'm Stephanie and I just started the etl program yesterday. So far so good. I'm excited. :carrot: I went to whole foods and man everything was expensive! But I bought a ton of stuff to get me through the week. I need to lose 60 pounds so we'll see how it goes.

I started this diet a week before Thanksgiving...big mistake. Though staying on this diet has kept me from gaining too much over the holidays. gained 10 pounds on Thanksgiving week, Then lost it. Gained 7 pounds on the Christmas holidays. So far I only have 4 of Christmas weight to lose before I'm back on track.
This is basically a diet that makes you a Vegetarian. (Vegan for some people who take it a bit further) So I'm setting a goal for myself to stick to this diet for more than three weeks. I haven't gone more than 3-4 days without meat, but it's a slow processes. I have gone longer without processed food and that alone had made me feel so much better. Almost like a detox.
This is my Hmm 4 or 5th day without meat. I feel great, not hungry at all. I'm making yummy meals that fill me up full of whole grains and veggies. I eat 3 pieces of fruit everyday, I'm trying to up it to 4 a day.

Ok, I'm starting ETL on Monday. I don't really like salads, but I love green smoothies and figure I can get a bunch of greens in them twice a day. I can also do the veggies and beans. The limited grains will be hard, but I can do it for 6 weeks. Here goes!

Hello everyone, I am new here and found this forum while researching ETL online. I am reading the book, fully read half of it and then skimmed ahead and read parts. I have been officially dieting since May, 2009. I started at 269 and am currently 178, mostly through counting calories, but eating a lot healthier as well. I haven't lost anything in 2010, so I'm going to give this a try and see if it will help get my metabolism back in gear. I want to lose at least 30 more and then re-evaluate. I will be doing the modified version.

I know my calorie counts are well within and often below what I need to lose so I'm guessing this is a little bit more stubborn of a plateau. I've had a few so far but usually I out stubborned them and after a couple of weeks, I would drop again. This one is being especially stubborn!

I would like to share ideas for food/recipes, etc. also any suggestions for good salad dressings, I'm currently using just lite ranch, very little amounts, but I'd like to try something different. I went to Central Market yesterday and picked up a bunch of stuff.

I am still going to count calories, especially as I'm doing a modified version.

Anyone have the recipe for a green smoothie? I don't recall seeing it in the book but I may have missed it.

All suggestions and ideas are welcome!

Wow thePetNanny, that is truly amazing! Did you do this just by calorie counting, or also exercising a lot? If I can ask, what is a typical day of meals like? Were you hungry a lot?

I have a green smoothie almost every morning. It has spinach (usually a 10oz bag), 1T ground flax, 1/2cup soymilk, 1 frozen banana, 1 c. frozen berries, 1c. water. Then blend until smooth. Sometimes I'll add a little agave (like honey) to it to make a little sweeter. But I can't taste the spinach and it's super yummy.

Did you do this just by calorie counting, or also exercising a lot? what is a typical day of meals like? Were you hungry a lot?


The first 50lbs was through calorie counting alone. I didn't follow any prescribed plan, I use the Daily Plate through Livestrong.com to track my calories (there's an iPhone app for it I use all the time) and basically just kept calories under my limit. I haven't done the same thing the whole time, I started just getting lower calorie options at places I ate and not eating fried/fatty foods, then after 50lbs, I added working out. A typical day would be a South Beach cereal bar or Kashi bar for breakfast, a lowfat cheese stick and/or light yogurt for snack. Lunch might be an orowheat sandwich thin sandwich with light deli meat, very light light mayo, afternoon snack of something 100-calorie portion (rice cakes etc.)...then I usually ate whatever was for dinner but very small portions depending on how much calories it was and then a later snack of quaker rice cakes or veggie straws...

I cannot lose at the amount of calories that is recommended so I use that as I guide but almost always stay below that, just the way my body works. I was going through a plateau but I started Eat to Live (fruit/fresh veg/salad) and doing 30Day Shred and this week I lost 4lbs so far. I think I needed to cut back on the carbs/dairy (the bars, yogurt, cheese and pretzel snacks, etc.) and getting all the extra roughage from the lettuce, spinach etc. is def helping.

Of course I've been hungry! I used to eat like a pig, seriously. There's no way I could go from Sonic and Whataburger all the time to dieting and NOT be hungry. I told myself everytime I felt hungry that it was a good thing, I was losing weight. I don't let myself get toooo hungry (I learned to distinguish the line between a little hungry and going to eat a pint of ice cream hungry) because I will mess up and eat too much of something bad, so if I'm really, truly dying, I'll have some extra fruit or veggies...Eating smaller amounts frequently was the biggest help though.

Yes, I'd like to join you on ETL! I joined the "fat chicks" forum just for the purpose of getting support around this was of eating. I've made a half-hearted attempt before, but I lacked the support. Looking forward to getting it here!

Yes, I'd like to join you on ETL!

Hi Pitgirl! I joined for the same reason. I certainly feel better and I think we'll definitely be tons healthier (and tons less, lol)...

So does anyone have any interesting recipe or food they've found that works on ETL that they'd like to share? I'm going to get tired of salads in a bowl at some point, LOL...

I started ETL a week ago and I've lost TEN POUNDS!!!!! I've been a vegetarian for two years and waffled back and forth between vegan/vegetarian. ETL is showing me that my body does better without dairy/meat, etc. I'm so happy with my progress and feel great. I'm also running every day as well, which certainly helps.

My big problem is that I've been weighing myself daily or even twice a day. I need to stop that.

:carrot: Hi I posted that I was going to start but never did. So here I am starting again.

You where asking about recipes for ETL and fatfreevegan.com has a whole section on ETL foods. my favorite is the fried bean soup recipe. Also Dr fuhrman has a lot on his website. He also sells vinigers that are really good I got a bounch of them is sample size.

I wish you all well happy thursday

Maureen AKA G

I started ETL a week ago and I've lost TEN POUNDS!!!!! I've been a vegetarian for two years and waffled back and forth between vegan/vegetarian. ETL is showing me that my body does better without dairy/meat, etc. I'm so happy with my progress and feel great. I'm also running every day as well, which certainly helps.

My big problem is that I've been weighing myself daily or even twice a day. I need to stop that.

Encella, that is a great start! Running certainly helps.

Weighing every day or not depends on the person. Some people can do it and even if they haven't lost or heaven forbid gained, they can stay on track. Some people will fall right off if the scale doesn't show what they like. I used to be like that and when I started losing weight I would only weigh weekly because I knew it would mess with my determination if I weighed more often. However, now I guess I've done it long enough to realize that there are going to be days I retain water or don't lose, hit a plateau, whatever...and sometimes I will weigh daily just to try to gauge if I'm overdoing the sodium, diet drinks, or busted the plateau I was on. Kind of helps me see what's working and what's not. I don't do that all the time though, only if I'm having a struggle.

Keep at it~

:carrot:

You where asking about recipes for ETL and fatfreevegan.com has a whole section on ETL foods. my favorite is the fried bean soup recipe. Also Dr fuhrman has a lot on his website. He also sells vinigers that are really good I got a bounch of them is sample size.


Thanks so much! I will check those out. I did go to his website and tried to register and it wanted me to pay a fee so I left. I didn't investigate to see what/if anything was available for free, so I'll go back. I do need to get a little more creative or I know I'll mess up!

Hi everyone. My husband and I have been following ETL off and on since May of last year and had great success with our health and weight loss. Since the holidays, we've had a little harder time controlling the amount of grains and starches, but we're ready to go hard core again.

We eat cut up mixed fruit for breakfast. This time of year we have apples, banannas, strawberries and mandarin oranges. Summer is better for fresh fruit due to our love of peaches! Lunch is a black bean burger on a lite bun, unsweetened apple sauce and green salad. Dinner starts with a big green salad that I usually add chickpeas to and then a cooked veggie like cabbage, cauliflower or broccoli. We also add a snack of a small handful of walnuts or almonds.

What do you all think about the soy controversary? I've been reading lately about how toxic it can be unless you eat a fermented type - like tempeh. I'd like to try seitan. I'll have to find it in the stores first! Sounds too time consuming to make from scratch.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!:(

My husband and I have been doing ETL for about 10 days now. Today we caved to a stupid urge and went out to dinner, where he ordered a hamburger and fries and I ordered a veggie burger and fries. Yes, it was stupid.

So of course, here we are 4 hours later and both of us are sick, sick, sick to our stomachs! We have the worst stomach issues imaginable. Awful! I will never, ever, ever do that again. It was so not worth it. Looking forward to getting over this and starting off the morning with a green smoothie.

Hi,

I just wanted to say slip ups happen and just get right back on it at the next meal. When you feel tempted remember how badly you felt and maybe that will help.

G

PS Bella Is that a photo of Rob Paterson as your avitar?

Just saw this - I completed my 1st week of ETL, and lost 4 lbs! I love it, it's the easiest diet and I feel great. I do bend it *a little* - ie, I have cream in my coffee. Can't do without coffee + cream. But other than that, I'm pretty strict with it.

I can really use some support with ETL.. I've been doing it for just over a week and so far, no weightloss at all.:(
I have to think that I must be doing something wrong here.

I just started ETL today! I am really excited to get in shape and on the program.

Remee, can you post your complete food logs?

Hi Jennifer, Here's an idea of what I may eat..
Half a cup of steamed broccoli, a salad that had
lettuce, some onion and carrot shreds. I used a light store bought dressing
that has 2grms of fat per serving and 50 calories.
One cup of brown rice total for the whole day mixed with lentils, an orange
and a banana. Oh, and another big salad that had tomatoes and cucumber. With the
salad I had used a store bought fat free dressing and 40cal per serving.

I have a feeling Im eating too much beans.
For beans, I usually eat a whole can but there have been days when I've opened a second can even and ate half of the second one as well as the whole first can.

Other days I may eat a whole bag of steamed green beans, an orange, oatmeal, (if I'm not eating rice that day) an apple and then a big salad with beans and salsa and sometimes I can eat another salad for a dinner if I had my first a bit early.

hmm well it seems like you may be eating enough veggies but your first example doesn't show enough cooked veggies. Also, I'd add some more stuff to your salads possibly.

Basically you should be eating cooked veggies, raw veggies and beans primary. Fruit secondary and then less grains. A cup of brown rice on the first part of ETL sounds like a lot.

Remee, you might want to count your calories for a day or two and see what number that comes up to. I looked on a can of beans in my cabinet just now, it came to 390 calories. So maybe a can to a can and a half, plus rice etc might be pushing your calories up to maintenance level for you. ETL advocates salad for the main dish, with grains as a side dish.

Are you eating enough for breakfast? I saw an orange and banana. If you can pull in more fruit for breakfast, that might help you last longer until lunch so you won't be so hungry. I usually had the same breakfast every morning - one orange, one banana, 2 cups of strawberries, a handful of baby spinach and a chopped date.

Here are some really good salad recipes (http://www.fatfreevegan.com/etl/index.shtml) that are as far as I know, all ETL approved.

Hi guys,

How's everyone doing on ETL? I posted on this thread a long time ago, then fell off the wagon HARD. I'm back on the wagon and just started blogging about my experiences with Eat to Live. So far so good!

If you're interested in reading about it (and keeping me accountable), feel free to check it out at caitlineats [dot] wordpress [dot] com

I'm off to Trader Joe's, hoping to find something ETL-friendly to make for dinner. it's hard when I'm this starving after work! :dizzy:

Thanks for the input on my foods. :)

I haven't been back recently in here because I had realized I was just messing up and messing up more often than anything. I think with no weightloss, it was making me mess up more as well.

So I've been doing something different to kind of get my mind ready if I want to try again.
I think I need to re-read my ETL book and do more reading to figure out what I need to do in the future. I think I'll re-read the China study as well.

FOr now I'm almost 100% raw.. I still seem to have to keep my store bought salad dressings, be them fat free or low fat. But other than the salad dressing, everything is raw and I think I will stay this way for a while. I'm thinking it's a good and healthy way to get my mind and body clear and ready to stay strong for the rest of my life.

Thanks again for the food input and I will definately keep on reading here! :)

I have been eating well and posting here at 3FC for one week. I made a committment to Eat to Live a couple of days ago. This week I lost 4 pounds. Yesterday was horrible though, withdrawal symptoms and exhaustion. I hope that gets better. I am glad to see others here that are doing this along with me.

Rea

Just found this thread again after doing a search :). I'm not sure if there are any takers for E2L or Eat for Health (Dr. Furhman's new book/plan, which is similar to E2L but a bit more liberal) but I'm considering starting again on E2L. Like the OP of this thread, I have been doing McDougall for a few weeks but also keep backsliding to SAD food, especially junk food. I think the whole "no added fat" thing is just not for me. I like Dr. F emphasis on nutrient dense foods and not cutting out all fats entirely and focusing on beans and fruit rather than whole grains.

Tam

I am loosely following it. I eat more oil and nuts than he calls for, and a little less vegetables. I'm working on it, though! I know I'll feel better when I get there. I have been doing it for about 5 weeks now. I also just got some great bloodwork back!

I, too, have been loosely following it for a little over a year. I eat a big bowl of cut up fresh fruit for breakfast - peaches, grapes, blueberries, and strawberries, a veggie burger on a thin bun and steamed broccoli for lunch, and dinner is usually a huge field greens salad with pinto, kidney or garbanzo beans. Sometimes, I'll have cooked beans over quinoa. In the first six months I lost 30 lbs. but at the end of last year, during the holidays, I slacked off and gained at least 10 lbs back. I'm doing better now and really want to lose more weight.

The main reason I went to this way of eating was to lower my cholesterol and blood sugar. I do not want to take meds the rest of my life.

I see the thread started last year, but I started E2L today.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal
1/2 sliced apple

AM Snack:
2 c steamed patty pan squash (oops! should have been 1 cup)

Lunch:
1 huge peeled, seeded, roasted zucchini
1 gardein chick'n scallopini (I hope these are OK)

PM Snack:
1 svg Flax and Millet Crisps (um, not quite flax seed oil)

Dinner:
?

I think I would have fared better so far today had I planned meals in advance. I just woke up this morning determined to drops some pounds, so I went with what was in the house!

I'm off to the co-op for a cart full of fruits and veggies :)

How is everyone else doing?

I have heard and read a little about the ETL program and would be interested to see how it works out for you.

I consider ETL to be 'beans and greens' with fruit mixed in. I know you are going grocery shopping but where are your beans? Where are your raw veggies?

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

Seitan (which is where I'd put Gardein) isn't listed on the Unlimited or Limited list so I think it would be one of those 'rare' or 'off limits' items.

Nelie, thanks for the "beans and greens" comment!!!

I actually forgot beans are unlimited. I'll make up for it tomorrow :)

For fresh veggies, I made a huge salad for dinner that was out of this world!

Dessert was a large bowl of green grapes (easily two servings) and a d'anjou pear.

Hmm, anyway this thread can get active again? I was on ETL a year ago, lost a good amount of weight, then fell off. I have my wedding to get ready for. I GOTTA do it this time! Starting tomorrow! How's everyone doing on it?

I plan on starting tomorrow.

is anyone still doing this? i've tried in the past but it was really hard to keep with the exact plan.

I'm not following it exactly, but I have cut out almost all dairy and meat and drastically reduced most grains except oatmeal. I've been eating a ton of salad, fruit, and legumes. It helped get me out of a plateau and I have a ton of energy.

I'm interested in hearing from anyone else who is trying this out.

I hadn't heard of this until randomly running across this thread today. It is very interesting! I would be willing to try it and see if it can help me get past this 2 month plateau I've been on. I may run out to the bookstore today and see if I can pick up this book.

Courtney, this website outlines the plan pretty well. But the book is tiny paperback so will only set you back 8 bucks probably.

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

why is snacking not allowed?

i dont remember reading that you cannot snack in the book, but i see it listed on the fat free vegan wesbite.

what is your take on this ?

btw, i didnt start it yet.... Is it possible to follow the food plan and then just add a couple protein shakes into the mix? I have like 4 canisters of protein... that's 150$ worth that i certainly dont want to go to waste! 2 whey protein, 1 casein, and 1 veg. !!

@temple, the stuff I've read online about the snacking is when you stop doing it it "reprograms your metabolism." I read some articles from him that your hunger isn't real, it's "toxic hunger" and your body is burning up toxins or something.

I think it's all nonsense and in no way believe this to be true. But that said, not snacking is probably just a good way to get used to what hunger feels so you can tell if your body is hungry or you are just used to eating at that time.

I wonder the protein powder thing too...I think the ETL plan is a good starting plan but would want to modify it a bit for myself, personally.

I find when I don't snack, I go nuts and eat too much at my next meal.

So, far I haven't started the plan. I realized I had way too much meat and eggs to start it entirely, but i've been adding some green smoothies and lots of greens.

i think ya have to learn alot of recipes to stay satisfied ... or perhaps thats a matter readjusting the tastebuds as well...

Well, I bought the book and read it. There was a TON of great information about how the body and nutrition worked together, why diets like Atkins and the Zone don't work in the long term, and why fresh veggies are so much better for the body than meat and dairy. I am starting the plan today.

Also, on 12/17/2010 I went to the doctor. My blood pressure is high. It always is. Rather than put me on meds, he asked me to try this diet and see how it affected my blood pressure. He says he's seen other patients have success with this. So, I guess you could say I am under doctor's orders to try this diet and see how my body works while on it! :D Cool!

It's awesome that not only had your doctor heard of this book, but also that he encouraged you to try it rather than just push the meds right away! Be sure to keep us updated:)

Courtney, that's awesome your doctor was up for you trying this!!!

Please let us know how it goes for you. As I said, I had a hard time sticking to it in the past and would love to try it again or at least adopt my eating to be more along the lines of less grains/processed foods and based on fruits/veggies/beans.

Thanks folks! I definitely will let you know how it goes. :)

Right now I am cooking butternut squash in the oven. I'm making butternut squash soup to have with my salad tonight at dinner. Breakfast today was an apple and a bowl of oatmeal (with no added sugar...which was tough). Plain oatmeal isn't the best tasting thing in the world. Maybe over time I will crave the sugars less and eating oatmeal without sugar will be easier. Only time will tell. For lunch today my husband and father-in-law wanted to go out. We went to Ruby Tuesdays and I got the salad bar. I had two plates of salad with spring greens, edamame, chickpeas, carrots, banana peppers, black olives, zucchini, sunflower seeds, broccoli, peas, and topped it with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was surprisingly filling and satisfying. I drank two glasses of water with lunch as well. Dinner tonight will be some steamed broccoli, butternut squash soup, and a salad. Not sure yet what I will be putting in my salad yet. I have to go see what I want to put in there.

So far, so good. I do have a very mild headache today. It's probably a result of not having a ton of sugar and refined carbs in my system. The book mentioned that folks often do have withdrawal symptoms for a week or so while transitioning to this style of eating. The headache isn't bad enough to inhibit me in any way. It's just a very mild annoyance right now.

Oh man, I smell that butternut squash roasting in the oven. It smells like heaven! YUM!!! I can't want to make the soup!

CourtneyDaisy, I sometimes cook the oatmeal with a banana to sweeten it. I also use stevia sometimes, which probably isn't part of ETL, but is all natural with zero calories, so I wouldn't think it would hurt your progress.

Good for you eating salad while out to dinner! I love the Ruby Tuesday's salad bar. :)

I cook steel cut oatmeal (with cinnamon) in a small crockpot overnight for me and my husband and add cooked apples (also with cinnamon) to the bowl. Very easy and delicious. I was eating a big bowl of cut up fruit for breakfast but my triclycerides went way up so I've cut back on fruit consumption.

Anyone still interested in this thread. I'm on day two of ETL and if this forums active that would be great support.

I have started (again) on the Eat to Live plan after a 2+ month break. I ate and drank like wild over the holidays and now, 10lbs heavier, I come crawling back. I lost 40lbs following this plan from 2/24/10 - 08/2010 and need to do it one more time.

JBrum- hi! I'm glad to see a fellow Eat to Live'er. :)
This is my first time to actually follow the plan. I've owned the book for a few years now, but never managed to follow tue plan past a few days. This time is it. I'm now on day 6 and feeling confident that I'm going to male it happen this time.

While I say I'm doing this, Im not really spot on 100%. I told my self that I would focus on only eating foods allowed on the plan. But I haven't been only eat 1 serving of whole grains everyday. I have had no dairy or processed or fried foods. But I have had dressings containing more oil than Dr. Fuhrmun recommends. To avoid stopping the program because weight isn't falling off I'm not weighing until the six weeks is up.

How vital is it not to have too many starches and light dressings under 20 cals a tbsp? I feel incredible and healthy and vital. Bit the last few days I feel like weight loss has stalled.

Your previous weightloss is inspiring. Gaining ten pounds is discouraging. But your nipping it in the bud now before it becomes all the weight you have lost. Good luck!

How vital is it not to have too many starches and light dressings under 20 cals a tbsp? I feel incredible and healthy and vital. Bit the last few days I feel like weight loss has stalled.


ma, I'm not perfect either. I do what seems to work best for me. I personally keep the starches to a minimum, the book said it would result in faster weight loss and I wanted the excess gone quickly (plus I was a low-carber before it was "cool" so it was really normal for me). As far as the dressings, I am eating a salad with light blue cheese (there's that cheese :sssh:) with 40 cal. I'm picky about dressings and if I hate the dressing I won't eat the salad, so I think, within reason, you can get away with more oil/calories/etc. If you are feeling healthy I think you're doing it right.
I know you said you weren't going to weigh in for six weeks but maybe in a week or two if you're still feeling good about the plan you should check the scale. You may be inspired by losing a few pounds or decide to tweak something before you've invested 6 weeks.

Hello there I've been reading E2L so I thought I would do it for 6 weeks and see how I feel. Really need to lose at least 50 lbs. That number looks scary. I've been following McDougall and just can't seem to keep away from the junk. I have no problem giving up meat, dairy, poultry etc but the junk food is hard. So far today I've had a green smoothie with collard greens, raspberries, and blueberries quite good. Any support would be greatly appreciated.:^: I help when I can too.

Hi Snowflake. What's your plan for the 6 weeks? Are you doing the aggressive vegan 6 wk plan or the more moderate one? That smoothie sounds pretty good--I normally only use spinich so it's good to hear thar collards mix well too.

Hi JBrum1224 I'm going to be doing the aggressive vegan plan. I figure it can't hurt for 6 weeks. Kale works well in smoothies too. I think that raspberries cut the "green" taste. I also found a recipe for 321 blueberry dressing but made it with raspberries instead for my salads. It does use maple syrup but the 21 calories for a tbs isn't bad and it tastes so good.

Sounds like you're off to a good start Snowflake. I agree the maple syrup shouldn't be an issue, but if you use it a lot, maybe take a look at Walden Farms syrup, it's calorie free and it tastes pretty good too.

You mentioned not wanting to give up the junk food, have you tried kale chips? Obviously they are still kale, but they're crunchy and can satisfy the urge to snack.

I'm just worried about the "sugar free" things too many chemicals. I've tried Kale chips, wasn't too impressed but different. I think I would rather drink my greens that eat a ton of salad.

I'm just worried about the "sugar free" things too many chemicals.

Fair enough. Natural is best.

Hey Snowflake, it's been a few days, how's it going so far??

Hey Sorry I've been Mia. In over two weeks on and loving it. Jbraum- still not really keeping the starches down or only the low at salad dressings. But I feel great. I did have a day yesterday when hibby amdbi celebrated valentines and I had cheese. And it was not even good! I know not limiting my starch intake, and eating regular, though dairy free, dressings slow the weight loss, I am very happy with the ETL lifestyle. I think getting this much vital, healthy nutrients is working wonders. I've been working out HARD and feel better and have more energy than ever before.

Loving this way of life and loving how my body's changing. While not weighing all my cloths are hanging off me. I'm down an entire size in just 16 days!

Hope everyones doing well.

I'm so glad it's working for you and that not only are you losing weight but that you actually FEEL good while doing it. You put a smile on my face today. Keep it up, it only gets better! :D

And hearing it gets better Puts a smile on my face. I really wish people could open up their minds to this and be brave enough to give it an honest try. Like I said before I first read the book years ago but didn't get past a few days when I attempted before. Once you get past that first week and the cravings it just gets so worth it.

Hi everyone. I just joined this site and found your thread. I would like to join in. I have been following the ETL diet, but with more monosatuated fat than recommended. I have been on it since the week after New Years. My breast cancer surgeon recommended this diet to prevent a cancer reoccurance. So far I have lost 13 pounds. On weekends I cheat a bit and have some of the foods I like, but am still managing to lose. It is a way of eating and not a diet for me right now. I am glad to find other people to share ideas with.

Glad2behere, I am gladyouarehere, OK that was really cheesy. While I don't claim to be an expert in any way, I, personally, think that this is one of the best things you can do for yourself. If weight loss is a "side effect" of healthy eating, I'd take it any day! Keep me posted on how you're doing.

JBrum1224 Thanks. Too funny! I like cheesy as long as I'm not eating it-.Ha Ha. I have done a lot of nutrition research on the link between diet and breast cancer and this diet is right in line with the recommendations for prevention. The doctors have done their part, so now it is time to do mine. My favorite place to shop is Trader Joes now. I am not the best cook so would love to exchange ideas on any recipes. It helps to have support. I feel like our society in general is a temptation for eating bad.

I'm brand new here, so apologies in advance for any goofs!...I bought the book (Eat to Live) and am anxious to get started, but I'm very confused as to what you can eat on the Six Week Plan. Can you use lowfat dressings on all those salads? There are menu plans and recipes in the book, but are they to be used during the Six Week Plan? Or are they meant to be used as a life-time guide for after the first six weeks? Thanks for any help!

Hi aymac. Sorry to be so short, but 1) yes you can use dressing on the salads during 6 wk plan, 2) I would suggest (just my suggestion) that you use the recipes/plans in the back with caution. They are obviously designed around the plan (there are aggressive plans and moderate plans) but not all recipes fit the aggressive plan well. I don't have your stats so I don't know if you are trying to lose a lot of weight or just eat healthy. That will make a difference as well. I hope that helps just a bit.

Thank you for your help, JBrum1224! I think you're right. I've only been on the program for four days now, but find myself enjoying these huge salads so much that I haven't been worrying too much about what else to eat. That's just as well as I AM trying to lose weight in addition to taking my health more seriously in general! At this point, green smoothies, lots of fruit, garbanzo beans and BIG salads are making me plenty happy. The dressings in Appetite for Reduction rock, too!

Is anyone still doing E2L? I just read my book and have decided to give this 6 weeks. I know I will need support so I hope others are still doing this:) I have high blood pressure and high cholestrol. I have about 100 lb.s to lose and that number is very overwhelming to me. I think I can't do it. I have tried Atkins in the past to do good, but then only to gain what I had lost right back. I am planning on starting on Sunday March 6th. Anyone want to join me for the 6 weeks?

I think I can't do it.

:?: Why would you say that??? You sound like you've given up before you even started. If you don't believe in yourself who will?
I believe in this plan wholeheartedly. If you follow it you will lose weight, improve your health and feel great. I too followed the Atkins diet for quite a while and lost 50lbs+. Then I gained it all back. E2L is not a gimmick, it involves eating what we have always known that we should be eating, plain and simple. I learned that and have been able to lose about 4o of those pounds again (for good this time). I plan to continue the journey, the weight loss, the health benefits, and all the good that comes from it. I sincerely hope you will give this an honest try, I think you will be really happy you did. And I promise to not be so preach-y in the future. ;)

:?: Why would you say that??? You sound like you've given up before you even started. If you don't believe in yourself who will?
I believe in this plan wholeheartedly. If you follow it you will lose weight, improve your health and feel great. I too followed the Atkins diet for quite a while and lost 50lbs+. Then I gained it all back. E2L is not a gimmick, it involves eating what we have always known that we should be eating, plain and simple. I learned that and have been able to lose about 4o of those pounds again (for good this time). I plan to continue the journey, the weight loss, the health benefits, and all the good that comes from it. I sincerely hope you will give this an honest try, I think you will be really happy you did. And I promise to not be so preach-y in the future. ;)

Great job on your weight loss:) You are doing great!!
I think I can't do it because to me the thought of losing 100 lb.s is so overwhelming and depressing to me. I do have plans to do mini goals, so maybe that will help. Might be easier to think I have 10 lb.s to go instead of a 100 lb.s to go all at once. You can be preach-y with me anytime. I need it:) I am looking forward starting this on Sunday.

Alright Jenset02, think of it this way, losing weight is the exciting/fun part. Gaining is depressing, but I think you are done doing that now.

Are you planning to do the 6 weeks by the book (meaning no animal products at all?) or are you going to lean toward the more moderate plans in the back of the book?

When I first started on the 6 week plan I followed the suggestion to limit the starchy veg/grains and nuts at first to really jump start the weight loss and I ate a bit of baked fish a couple times a month if you find that info useful at all.

I am excited for you. I think if you really give it 100% for 6 weeks the weight will fall off and you'll be hooked :D

And BTW my BP was always in the "normal range", I only checked it when I donated blood, but it is now consistanly lower than it ever was in the past. I think that's kinda cool too.

Maybe Sunday will be the day I cut back on the coffee and wine again to get myself back on track:woohoo:

Haven't checked back for awhile, but I am so glad to see other people joining. I have been doing the ETL program since January 4th, but am eating more monosaturated fats than reccomended. I have lost 21 pounds so far. I figure all the diets that didn't work before are learning experiences. I lost a lot of weight doing the Atkins type diet, so I know I have blood sugar issues. Yet I got breast cancer eating that way, so I know it isn't healthy. There is a huge connection in research between eating animal products/saturated fats and getting cancer. However, I did learn from it. I now try to make sure I eat healthy foods without spiking my blood sugar. If I eat an orange, I also have some almonds to keep me leveled out. I have unprocessed healthy carbohydrates, but make sure I eat them with beans etc.. It seems to really be working for me. I am trying to branch out now I find some good recipes to keep me going. I would love to have support budides to help keep me motivated. I am making it more of a way of life than a diet and I am happy eating this way. I am not perfect because on weekends I will still have pizza or chinese food, but then I just get back on track and keep it going. Looking forward to hearing what foods are helping you stay satisfied.

Glad2behere - Great job on your success so far:) Sorry to hear about your cancer. I hate cancer. I have a family member now going through cancer in 4 of her organs and she is only 36...her mom just got through treatment for breast cancer. They need to find a cure.

JBrum1224- Yes, I am planning on doing this by the book. Just fruits and veggies and nothing else. I am hopeful to see a big drop in my blood pressure meds and just to feel better. Right now, I feeling like I could die. I have diverticulitis too so that is most of the pain that I am having. It stinks. I hope this helps:)

Today is day 1 for me of week 1. I am normally not a breakfast eater. But I did manage to get in a banana. We had a luncheon at church yesterday and I ate too much, so I prob. won't get all the recommended amounts. But I will try. On a plus side, I was down from the weight in my profile, so I get to change that. I was 228 this morning. I will put that as my beginning weight too since I am just stating E2L. I'm excited to see what this day will bring:)

Going good so far. I had a banana, clementine, and a nice sized salad so far. I need to get in my water still...only one bottle so far..yikes. Better get moving on that. I added 1/2 cup chick peas to my salad and I really liked that. I think this salad will be my everyday lunch salad. Now to come up with a yummy salad for dinner:)

Jenset, sounds like a good start for the first day. I like the idea of beans at lunch/earlier in the day because they keep you feeling satisfied longer.

Glad2behere, you have mentioned the mono. fats a couple of times, I missed how much is recommended, but I'm curious whether you consume more by choice or chance? My limited knowledge tells me that olives, avocados and "healthy" fats are monos. Are you trying to consume more of them for a certain health benefit or do you just love olives and avocados like I do??

I just did a google search for any forums with people doing the E2L program, and I found this site! I hope there's not a rule against non-chicks posting. I just want to have some support with others doing this program.

Today is day 1. I've eaten a LOT of fruit, had my lunchtime salad, and more fruit. I'm worried about dinner, since I've already steamed veggies for lunch, and unless I go shopping, it's going to be more of the same thing.

I gotta say, my bamboo steamer (just bought it) is a lifesaver!

I'm a guy, 328lbs, looking to get to 175 sometime in the next year or two.

-Ben

Hi NotAChick Ben. I think I can overlook the guy thing, but I'm still a newbie so I won't speak for anyone else.

Have you had beans yet? Might be a beans & salad dinner. I can't see how more steamed veggies would be harmful though.

I ate beans with my lunchtime salad. I think I overcooked them, since they were mushy.

I'm sitting down to my dinner now, and I can't help but feel strange gurglings and rumblings in my insides. I think I'll be able to do this, especially since tomorrow I shouldn't have the caffeine headache anymore.

Speaking of the caffeine headache... usually I get a more severe withdrawal headache when I haven't had caffeine. I wonder if all these nutrients I'm eating have diminished the symptoms.

Ben, Doesn't bother me your not a chick;) Welcome to the boards. Looks like you are off to a good start:)

JBrum1224- HI!! How is your day going?

Well I haven't eaten since lunch time. We have had the tummy flu going on in my home and tonight I became light headed and clamy. My tummy is not feeling well so I am passing on eating tonight. Don't want it to be a issue later. Hopefully, it is just a fluke and I feel better in the morning.

Well, it's the end of day one for me.

Dinner was a bit rough. I felt really full, but the taste of the steamed veggies and salad was not up to my expectations. Hopefully I will get used to the flavors of unsalted, unbuttered, unflavored veggies soon.

I think maybe my problem is that I'm overcooking everything. My red cabbage was a bit starchy, not crunchy. The kale was fine, but bitter (as I'm sure it's supposed to be). Does anyone know any tricks to using a bamboo steamer?

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Hey Jenset, hope you're feeling better today. I have read that when your body isn't working to digest food it is able to concentrate on healing itself. Maybe passing on dinner will give you the little boost to help kick that flu.

Ben, I know nothing about bamboo steamers, sorry, but unflavored veggies are a little sad. Maybe some Mrs. Dash type seasonings, they're salt-free and add loads of flavor. I saute most of my veggies. You can use a splash of veggie broth instead of oil to keep them from sticking and add some flavor. You could also try salt substitutes. They're made from potassium but taste similar to salt.

FYI, I am having kale & mustard greens for dinner tonight, I have been craving them for days. I saute mine in broth with loads of fresh garlic and crushed red peppers--sometimes some onions too.

Headaches! Headaches!

Here's a few things I'm withdrawing from that I think are causing the headaches:
-Caffeine
-Sugar
-Joy and happiness
-Ugh!

Just kidding about the last two. I'm sure I'll begin feeling better and more energetic soon.

I think I'll try adding Mrs. Dash to the steamed veggies tonight. I'm going to try to cook them a bit less so they're more crunchy and less soggy. One thing I have definitely learned already is that I HATE soggy cooked veggies.

What do you all think about eating an egg or two? What about Ezekiel sprouted bread (as the starch serving)? I want to be strict, but I also want to survive this thing long enough to fall in love with truly healthful eating.

I don't know off the top of my head where the book mentions this, but somewhere it states that you can have an egg white omlet once a week or maybe a couple times a month have some healthy fish. (And being a guy I think you will be fine with a small amount of very lean animal protein in the beginning while you establish this new way of eating.:sssh:) but, obviously, keep an eye on it because technically the 6wks are supposed to be animal free I think.

Sorry I didn't get in here to post yesterday. I did great. Got all my meals in:)
The thing I didn't get in though was steamed veggies...I ate raw all day. I will try today.
My weigh ins are:
Day 1: 228
Day 2: 225.5**-2.5
Day 3: 224.5**-1.0

So 3.5 lb.s so far not bad:) I'll take it. I haven't noticed any chances yet. How long does that take? I actually think I can do this way of eating for the rest of my life. I am loving it so far:)

Ben - You are doing great:)

JBrum1224- your kale and mustard greens sound good:)

Going through today I have noticed that the pain I would get daily from diverticulitis is gone. Wonder if that is from this way of eating. So far today I have had a banana, apple and a nice salad. I need to get more water in. But off to a great start.

Ben - I don't know anything about the bamboo steamers. Sorry, no help there. Maybe you can google it and come up with something. How are you doing today?

Jenset, I think you're right about the new way of eating making you feel better. I think the high fiber content will do wonders. And 3.5 lbs in 3 days is a great start.

Unfortunately my greens last night were disappointing. Hubby had them ready when I got hime from work--so no complaints there---but he did mustard greens alone and the were overcooked. I think I like kale better so I'll try again soon.

JBrum - glad to hear you are feeling good too:) I am really enjoying this. I'm glad I found a site I can come to for support:) That was so nice of your hubby to make your veggies for you. Sorry they didn't turn out the best...but hey you didn't have to cook right..LOL

Ben -You haven't checked in yet today. How is it going?

Hey all. So, I must have been really foggy yesterday, because TODAY is day three for me!

So, guess what? I had a mild (but tolerable) headache all day today! Three days of headaches. But I admit that this is most likely because this change is really extreme for me. Sunday I was drinking coffee and eating eggs and bacon, and today I was drinking water and eating plums and oranges.

Jenset... thanks for your encouragement! Also, I think I've finally found the "sweet spot" for steaming veggies. It's only a minute difference between perfectly done and disgustingly soggy.
I did a double-take when I saw your numbers, since I started at 28 and was just at 25 (though in the 300s, not 200s). I realize a bunch of my weight is water, but that's okay since I feel a bit more freer, if that makes any sense.

JBrum... I still have local eggs (yum!) in my fridge, just in case. I haven't touched them yet, mostly because I like telling my friends that I'm 99.9% vegan! (1% fish oil capsules for omega 3s) My biggest challenge will be when I go back to the gym in a few days (once these darn headaches go away). I have whey protein powder, and I think I might take a scoop of this both before and after my workouts. If the dairy begins to make me feel bad, I will try eggs the next time.

Tonight I tried to bake some spaghetti squash, but I did something wrong, since the shreds were not moist and tasty. I didn't put any sauce on them, since I'm doing the strict version of the program. Think of the stuff that comes out of the paper shredder bin, and that's the taste and consistency of my spaghetti squash.

Last thing... my face flushed for about 20 minutes tonight. It had been at least 45 minutes since I ate, so I wonder what caused that reaction. Maybe it's not a bad reaction?

Have a great Thursday! You both (so far) are an inspiration to me to keep going with this. I'll check back tomorrow evening, as I have very busy workdays.

Ben- you are doing GREAT!! Keep working your plan:) I can't stand the taste of squash, not sure why, but YUCK...lol Hopefully, you will come up with something to keep it moist and tasty when cooking. I'm glad you found the right timing to cook your veggies:) That is always a plus. I know what you mean on the weight, I know mine is water too, but hey, it is less water that I am carrying around:) Got to like that;)

JBrum- I hope you have a great day today:)

I am starting to feel like a new person. I woke up this morning feeling energized. That hasn't happend oh since I was 25..lol Still loving this way of eating. Well I need to get my lunch and snacks around for today.

My weigh ins are:
Day 1: 228
Day 2: 225.5**-2.5
Day 3: 224.5**-1.0
Day 4: 223.5**-1.0

Ben & Jenset, Thank you both for checking in so frequently. That makes me do the same and forces me to stay on track so that I don't feel like a hipocrite. I did my 6 weeks in Feb/March 2010 and then started to move toward the 90% rule. Then I fell off the wagon and started to feel gross. So I restarted in January but overlooked my daily coffee and wine until this week. I've lost 2lbs so I know it makes a difference.

Ben, did you put water in the oven pan to steam the squash? I actually like it but I have heard from a lot of people that it varies greatly based on prep. Maybe a little vegan margerine and some other veggies mixed in?? They also make vegan protein powder, I don't know if it is all soy based, but I have seen it at netrition. As far as the flushing, did your face get really hot too? Mine does that occasionally but I haven't figured out the cause.

Jenset, I'm glad you're feel happy and healthy. Maybe by tomorrow morning you'll look like this.....

:carrot:

I will try water in the pan for the half of squash I have yet to cook. Thanks, JBrum.

Well, today I ate my fruit, veggies and beans. I craved more protein, though, so I put a bit of boiled egg on my salad. I have had a headache all day, with other aches and pains. My body needs more than I'm giving it. That's why I've decided to take the ideas of Dr. Fuhrman and combine them with the practical advice from a podcast I listen to, fat2fitradio.com. Fat2Fit advocates finding your BMR (the amount of calories you use if you were in a coma) and never eating below this amount. There's a BMR calculator on the website. The calculator calculates how many calories we need to eat at our GOAL weight, and-as long as it's not below our BMR--we eat this amount of calories. In time, our body will gradually lose the weight, safely and long-term.

I'm sorry to come and go so quickly, but I don't think my eating habits will be compatible to that of the strict E2L program, even though I will incorporate a lot of the concepts. Thanks, ladies, for your welcome and support, and I wish you the best of luck!!!

-Ben

Well Ben, if you check back in, I'm sorry to see you go so quickly. I know this plan will work for you, but I hope you find good results from F2F too.

Thanks, JBrum. I'm not giving up completely on E2L! I will eat PLENTY of veggies and fruit (nutrient dense, right?) and limited amounts of dairy, meat and carbs. I am a "all-or-nothing" kind of person, and that's what I want to avoid. I can see myself going full force into bad foods if I don't include moderate amounts of the things I like to eat. That's just me. :dizzy:

Ben, just a few last thoughts......
-follow the same basic plan but add some fish or chicken a few times a week.
-eat more nuts/seeds
-try the soy protein powder (mine is 90 cal/20g protein) it tastes good.
-eat some eggs
There are modified plans in the book that will still produce great results. I know you're a big guy, don't take that wrong either, who exercises, so you will need more calories than I would, but don't be fooled into thinking you need too many calories. You won't go into "starvation mode" and there are many very healthy, if not vegan, protein sources that can keep you satisfied. It will get better!!

Hi everyone! Been on the Eat to Live for a few days now and so far, really like it. Eating so many veggies can be a little rough though. But I feel so good! Giving up meat and dairy isn't too difficult especially if I can see the results. Would love to hear how others are doing and if you're sticking exactly to the plan. I'm not but pretty close!
Amy

Hey all!
I just became a vegan for ethical reasons this past sunday and I'm feeling great! Could anybody summarize what this Doctor's 6 week challenge consists of?

In addition to not consuming animals or animal products, I've cut out white flour, grains, and sugar, caffeine (< 3 servings/week, used to be 5/day!) and sweetener. I get 3-4 servings of whole grains per day, 2 of meat alternatives (beans/lentils, none of that processed soy crap lol), 1-2 of B12 fortified soy milk, 2-3 of fruits and 3-4 of veg. Is this plan any different from what I'm doing? If so, how?

Ben - sorry to see you go. I like the suggestion JBrum put out there for you;) Good Luck to whatever you decide. You can do it!!

JBrum - I'm glad you post regularly too, I would be lost if I didn't have the support and motivation. Thanks!!!

okiemom7 - I am finding I can't eat all the veggies and fruit. I'm am trying to eat as strict as I can and have not went off yet, but I'm just not able to eat that much. lol Here is what I have done this week. for breakfast I have a banana, snack I have a clementine, then I have a nice size salad with organic lettuce, carrot shreds, 1/2 cup bean and a fat free dressing, for snack I will have an apple or celery sticks, then another nice size salad for dinner. I try to get in at leat 8 cups of water a day too. I know it is very boring what I eat, but I need to keep it simple so I will stick to it:)

WannabeNurse - I am doing the strict version of E2L. It kind of sounds like you may be doing the modified version??? I haven't really looked at that part in the book yet.

Today I am feeling a little dizzy. Not sure why. Just off.

Forgot to post my weigh ins. I'm a daily weigher..lol

My weigh ins are:
Day 1: 228
Day 2: 225.5**-2.5
Day 3: 224.5**-1.0
Day 4: 223.5**-1.0
Day 5: 223 **-0.5

WannabeNurse & Okiemom--Welcome to our little, but steadily growing group!

WannabeNurse---(This is pasted from fatfreevegan dot com)
Eat to Live 6-Week Plan
From the book Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

UNLIMITED (eat as much as you want):
•all raw vegetables, including raw carrots (goal: 1 lb. daily)
•cooked green vegetables (goal 1 lb. daily)
•beans, legumes, bean sprouts, or *tofu (minimum 1 cup daily in total of these)
•fresh fruit (at least 4 daily).
•eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomato and other non-starchy vegetables, cooked and raw (unlimited)
*Beans should be eaten daily; tofu should be eaten less frequently.

LIMITED (not more than one serving):
•cooked starchy vegetables OR whole grains–Maximum 1 cup per day (butternut or acorn squash, corn, sweet potato, brown rice, cooked carrots, whole grain breads*, whole grain cereals*)
•raw nuts and seeds (1 oz. or 28.5 grams a day) or 2 ounces avocado
•ground flaxseed (1 tablespoon a day)
•soymilk, low-sugar preferred–Maximum 1 cup a day
*avoid breads and cereals as much as possible

OFF-LIMITS:
•dairy products
•animal products
•between meal snacks
•fruit juice, dried fruits
•salt, sugar

NUTS and RAW SEEDS, but not ground flax, are optional for obese or overweight persons while they follow this weight loss plan. People who have difficulty losing weight may also eliminate the starchy vegetable/grain.

I really suggest you read the book though, there's so much more to learn about, you know, the why instead of just what.


Jenset & Okiemom, are either of you drinking smoothies? Jenset, you eat a banana for b-fast usually, right? Combine it with some water or soy/almond milk and a couple handfuls of fresh spinich and maybe some berries, etc . I can easily get 6oz of spinich in a big smoothie without it tasting "green". It puts a dent in the 1lb raw veggies and unlike juicing, every bit of what you put in that blender goes into your glass.

Hi! I am back. My body still hasn't recovered from the breast cancer treatment. My immune system won't recover. I have been fighting mono, then pnemonia and now mono again. I have been having a personal pitty party and gained back 3 of my 21 pounds. But, I am not giving up. It is even more difficult because I can't exercise. If you are interested, a local place here sells all natural bean soups. They save me because I don't have the time to cook from scratch all the time, plus I am not a very good cook. I did ask and they ship so if you are interested the website is Sierrasoups.com. My favorite is the Split Pea. Your progress is inspiring me to get back on track.

G2BH, I am glad you checked back in, I've been wondering about you.
Only if you want to share, but are you currently undergoing treatments? I know it's hard to stay on track "diet" wise when you feel like crap, but I also know that you will do it because you know that you have to eat well to help your body through this.

:getwell:

I just read ETL by Dr Fuhrman and I'm a little confused by the 6 week program. To the best of my knowledge, the 6 week program is limited to a pound of raw veggies, a pound of cooked veggies, some legumes and nuts for 6 weeks.

Is it just me or are you supposed to follow those Exact rules for a 6 week program, without any special recipes, sauces, bean cakes, smoothies, soups, etc? Isn't that what differentiates the 6 week program from the time after 6 weeks when he lists all of his favorite recipes, etc.

IOW if you can eat all of those recipes from the start, why is there a 6 week program in the first place? Why just start calling it the ETL program period??

Thanks for clearing this up for me.

Danny, I will try to be quick...the 6 wk plan is as pure as it gets, simply fruit, veggie, bean, flax...no animal, period. It is meant to "detox" your system & jump start weight loss. The recipes in the back, while healthy, aren't necessarily animal free, some contain dried fruits, or higher amounts of cereals/grains, etc. that will maintain a healthy weight.

The veggie totals cited on the 6 wk plan are goals to strive for. If you are hungry, you can eat more than a lb of raw and/or cooked veg., the idea is to flood your body with nutrients for very few calories. It's the veggies that do it.

As far as the question about bean cakes and smoothies...if you make your own bean cakes only using beans/veg, then by all means go for it, and smoothies, IMO, are perfect. Fruit, flax, a little soy/almond milk (and spinich), blend & enjoy.

Jbrum,

Thanks for your kind response. Perhaps I was not explaining my question enough.

Are you allowed to use the recipes during the 6 week program or do you eat the veggies in the plain form, cooked and steamed. If so, how different are you supposed to eat after the 6 week program?

OK Danny, I can not speak for every recipe in the book, but I feel like many of them are meant to be used after the 6 wk "jump start" plan in order to maintain ideal weight/slowly lose more weight.

The book says, for 6 weeks, keep it simple, for example...B-fast: fruit Lunch: salad w/ beans Dinner: salad w/ 2 cooked veg. and fruit for dessert.

The whole book is about what to eat forever, but there are about 4 pages that relate to the 6 week plan. I posted the basics 4 days ago, check out the OFF LIMITS section. Use any recipe you would like as long as it adheres to those guidelines.

Does that answer your question or have I dodged it again?

Thanks JBrum. You never dodged my question, it's just that the certain part of the book, The 6 Week Program, seems to be interpreted differently by everyone on the board. I see it as a detox period where you can eat those certain foods, (The ones you listed) but maintain it literally as one pound of greens, one pound of fruit, one cup of legumes daily, etc. others see it as they can eat that stuff but make nice dishes, smoothies, soups, etc out of the same material. That's where the confusion was.

Also I wonder how it's going to work for me. I am not overweight (6ft, 185), but I have 3 stents due to coronary artery disease. My Friend recommended ETL for me. I wonder if I would lose too much weight or my body would naturally adjust for it's own weight.

Danny, I don't think you would lose too much weight if you don't have extra to lose. You may drop initially, but I think it will all even out over a few months. You can always add in more calories with nuts, avocados, starches if you aren't feeling "right" or losing way too fast, but I think your body will adjust accordingly.

Unfortunately, the 6 weeks is a bit boring if done by the book, but like I said, smoothies, soups, etc. can be done using EXACTLY what you are supposed to eat each day, you just have to be creative. Find a recipe you like and make it fit your new way of eating. (quickie example, I like hummus-it satisfies my bean requirement and helps me to eat all my raw veggies, but commercial varieties (and the recipe in the book) contain oil. I try to make something similar using chickpeas, veggie broth, onions, garlic, etc. It can fit the plan with a bit of experimenting.

The health improvement will be unmistakable regardless of your weight though.

Danny - If you don't have weight to lose, I would just think of this as a new way of eating lifestyle. Because I am a cancer survivor and have heart issues from my treatments, I have done extensive research. This is definately the right type of diet to be on based on the research. You might also want to look at the Mediterrainian diet too to expand a little on your options so you can make the adjustment easier. No 1 diet fits people exactly so you need to adjust a little to make it work for you. But, keeping in mind that increasing the fruits and veggies and avoid animal products and processed foods are the biggies. I am having some shellfish and fish and do cheat a little on weekends. But if you think of it as a lifelong eating plan instead of a diet it may help.

JBrum1224 I finished my treatment last June. It will be 2 years this May since I was first diagnosed. I had a very difficult time with treatment and almost died a couple times. It seems I have had every odd side effect and complication you can have, but, I am fighting back. I can't exercise right now due to the mono, but I can at least eat healthy. My body just took a huge beating during treatment and can't recover. I am down 20 pounds now, but havent been great this week due to another complication/scare that I won't know the answer to til next Tuesday. UGG.

All of you following this diet are preventing having to go through what I went through. It is worth sticking to!!!

Glad2behere, I hope you got good news today!!


Is anyone else still checking in? This was a pretty busy thread for a while, now it's as if (almost) everyone quit at once.

Does anybody here subscribe to Dr Fuhrman's newsletter? I got this in the mail yesterday - it makes you think!! It's a testimonial by Emily Boller.

In the Fall of 2008, after I had dropped 40 lbs in three months, my peers started commenting and asking questions about the noticeable changes. By the next Spring, when 100 pounds were off, complete strangers such as clerks in stores would comment and ask questions as well.

Everyone's question was, "How did you lose weight?"

Of which my reply would always be, "By following Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book, Eat to Live;. . . . basically eating lots of high nutrient, plant-based foods."

"You mean no meat? No cheese? No pizza? No McDonald's? . . . . Oh, I could never do that!"

Now, over 2 ½ years later, the majority still say to me, "Oh I could never do that!" in response to anything remotely related to the idea of eating meals primarily composed of plant based nutrition.

Well, the following is what I think in response to, “I could never do that”:

"I could never blow the family budget on unnecessary test strips, insulin, medications, doctor and hospital bills, or bypass surgery."

"I could never carry around expensive medical supplies and meds while traveling."

"I could never ask a loved one to mow the lawn for me due to fatigue and ill health."

"I could never turn a child away from playing a game due to a migraine headache."

"I could never miss out on the joy of a wedding celebration due to obesity and depression."

"I could never ask someone to drive me to kidney dialysis three times a week."

Jennifer3FC Here, here! I agree totally. I have checked out Furman's site but did not join becasue it is really expensive and I am on a tight budget at the moment.

Jbrum1224 I thought I scared everyone away with my heavy post last time. I had a biopsy yesterday and hopefully get the results today, but I don't think it is cancer again. Hopefully that will be confirmed with results today.

I seem to have daily staples for my diet, so I a curious what everyone else does?
I was never a breakfast eater before, but now I make a morning smoothie with berries, flaxseed and almond milk. I love it!!! There is a local place here that sells all natural bean soups and they have saved me. I loved their split pea and I freeze the leftovers for lunches. It is Sierrasoups.com if you are interested. I absolutely love Trader Joes store. They have a 8 fresh veggie mix that comes in the produce section in a bowl and is cheap. They also sell a mixture of small tomatoes. It makes it so easy to tear up some romaine lettuce throw in a bunch of the already cut up veggies and tomatoes and bam a really easy, healthy salad. I use their pear gargonzola dressing because their is no sugar and the tiny bit of gargonzola won't make that much difference. I also make creamy veggie soups with blended steamed veggies, vegetable broth and almond milk. I find if I eat soup and salad at dinner I don't miss the meat that the rest of the family is eating. They won't convert yet-but I am trying. I am still 20 pounds down right now, but trying to get back on track after my nerves cal down. Emotions are definately tied to food for me. I hope everyone else is doing well!

I love that quote Jennifer posted. After eating well for a little over a year now if I eat some of the crap I used to eat (i.e. double cheeseburgers & chicken nuggets) I almost immediately start to have pain in my stomach and my back and I just want to go to sleep.

I could never go back to eating like that.

G2BH, I am the same way. I don't have a ton of variety in my daily food choices. Smoothie for bfast-usually banana and flax w/ berries, peaches, apples or pears and either soy/almond milk or water, oh and spinich--always greens in the smoothie. For lunch if I don't have leftovers, it's salad or my new fav. a wheat pita stuffed with salad. It doesn't taste so much like salad that way. Dinner is usually some sort of veggie stirfry, but I love a soup and salad dinner too.
I wish I had a Trader Joes near me. Shopping in my area of VA is very sad.

Well I am up a few pounds because of stress eating, but at least my biopsy came back with no cancer. Yipee. Time to get back on track and get rid of this annoying mono. I have a califlower recipe that is really good:

First pre-heat you oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Next you separate the cauliflower into florets
Then you toss the florets in a bowl with a bit of olive oil. Just enough to coat the cauliflower.
Place them on the prepared backing sheet and spinkle liberally with salt or seasoning of choice.
Roast unitl browned to your liking, about 45 minutes

mmmmm, sounds yummy. Unfortunately, I don't have any cauliflower, but I do have a decent amount of broccoli. I might have to give that a try.

That's how I make kale chips. Have you ever tried them?

I have never tried Kale. How do you make it specifically. I am missing crunchy chip like snacks. I got a lecture from my doctor which kick started me again and I lost 2 more pounds. I am down 21 pounds now. Yipee. I just have to keep the momentum going. We are having tostadas tonight-whole wheat tortilla, refired beans, avacado, onion, letuuce tomato and drenched in salsa. Sooo good!

Take a bunch of washed kale, remove the very large stems, then tear into bite sized pieces.
Toss or spray with a bit of oil then sprinkle on seasoning of choice (I use garlic salt, but then again, I use that on just about everything).
Arrange it on a baking sheet and bake at around 350 for 20 minutes. Adjust time and temp as you see fit. They will be crunchy.
They aren't potato chips for sure, but I've even caught my husband making these for himself, so they must be decent.

So I have been lurking this thread for quite some time, and decided that I would really like to try out Eat to Live. I have been full vegan for two weeks now and have lost 11 pounds (mostly water weight), but really want to shape my vegan diet into a healthier way of life. I purchased the Eat to Live book and have gone shopping today for all the required foods. I have a couple questions though before I go into this.

1) What constitutes a "salad"? I notice in the book that he says salads should be the main meal, and that you should use nutrient dense leafy greens. What do you all add to your salads to spice them up?
2) Is the flax seed necessary? Also, what does it do for the body? I am more than willing to incorporate it into my diet, but would like to know what it has done for you.

Thank you for reading my rant/questions! I hope to hear from you all soon.

Hi Tend3rloin,
Congrats on the 11lb loss, water weight or not, it's still encouraging to see it when it happens. To answer your questions,...personally, my usual salad is mixed lettuces/baby spinich (whatever I have on hand) onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, and tomatoes occasionally. Slivered almonds, pine nuts, avocado, broccoli, carrots, jalapenos, or cucumbers are also good additions. Oh, I also like to add chicken or bacon flavored TVP (you know, Bac'n bits). I don't know if that is advisable if you are on the 6 week plan or not, but it will add some flavor and texture.

The flax seed, if I remember corrrectly, is supposed to be non-negotiable. It is a good source of omega 3 which is great for you and possibly lacking without fish, etc. in your new way of eating. It's good mixed into a smoothie or on top of fruit, or maybe you could even mix up your own salad dressing using a bit of flax seed oil if that is easier or more appealing.


Thanks for waking this thread up from it's 5 week nap!!

Your salads sound so yummy! I was going to keep mine fairly simple but now I have some new ideas! I plan to stop by the health food store tomorrow to pick up the flax, because it seems that is the only place that has it around here!
No problem on waking the thread up! I am looking for support/advice so I'm excited that I can get it going again.

Not sure where in VA you are, but I have found flax in the vitamin section at Walmart and in the organic/gluten-free "crunchy" section at most local grocery stores. It's easier to find once you've quit looking for it.

I am located in Southwest Virginia (Abingdon to be specific). I will check out Wal-Mart tonight. I usually avoid that place, but I will venture there tonight to look for it. It is true, once you stop looking for something you always find it. If only I could keep that in mind!

Here's a lengthy explanation about the goodness of flax: http://www.flaxhealth.com/howflaxhelps.htm
I get mine at the grocery store near the flour. You can also order it online from Amazon or Bob's Red Mill. Get ground flaxseed unless you want to grind it yourself.

A salad can really be whatever you want it to be. I usually use 1/2 spinach and 1/2 other leafy green, and then any of these I have on hand: carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, broccoli slaw, cabbage, and/or roasted veggies like eggplant, summer squash, brussels sprouts. I've even thrown leftover cooked green beans or peas into it. Then I add 1/2 oz walnuts and usually some kind of fruit (blackberries, strawberries, apple, orange). The sweetness of the fruit helps with the non-sweetness of the veggies and the nuts help with satiety. Also fat to help you absorb the veggie goodness. If I haven't had ground flaxseed on my morning oats, I sprinkle it over my salad too. Mrs. Dash makes some good non-salt spice mixes if you want to sprinkle some one, and I've found that Sriaracha hot sauce adds a nice bite to my salads or cooked veggies (though it does have salt in it -- probably sugar too). I add 1/2c of cooked beans to my salads for protein. You want your salad to be BIG.

1) What constitutes a "salad"? I notice in the book that he says salads should be the main meal, and that you should use nutrient dense leafy greens. What do you all add to your salads to spice them up?
2) Is the flax seed necessary? Also, what does it do for the body? I am more than willing to incorporate it into my diet, but would like to know what it has done for you.

I am currently a member of his site. It is very helpful, but I'm not going to renew my subscription. It is expensive, and some of the people there have a very superior attitude (or maybe it's my own insecurities?). Dr. F does answer people's queries personally, but (though I've heard he is a very caring, warm person when you meet him) he comes across as very impatient and gruff.

[QUOTE=Jennifer 3FC;3770721]Does anybody here subscribe to Dr Fuhrman's newsletter? QUOTE]

Anybody out there still doing ETL?

Well, I am trying to do ETL--I've read the book and actually I'm doing a tweeked combination of McDougall/Fuhrman. I actually call it the McFurhman program which fits my lifestyle.

My goal is to be more healthy and if I lose weight in the process, this is good. I do have about 50 pounds I need to lose. I just started on this program yesterday and I will say my first day was very successful and it wasn't that hard to do. I feel great.

I was already vegetarian so the adjustment to this program wasn't that difficult to do. I hope to post here a lot and to get acquainted with all of you.

so jazzmegirl---there are some who are on the ETL program yet even though my program is a bit different. :)

It sounds like you're doing the very same thing I am. I like McDougall but can't seem to get enough veggies in I love potatoes way too much. Yesterday was day one and I followed Fuhrman with a few potatoes (in soup) and I must say it went pretty well. I ate a ton of veggies a green smoothie, huge salad with garbanzo beans and kidney beans, veggie soup and another salad with a few pumpkin seeds and also a couple apples. I felt great at days end and plan on doing it again today. One day at a time! This weight I've been carrying with me is just ridiculous I'm sick of it and need to commit to losing it this year.

good for you Snowflake--you can do it!! What you ate yesterday sounds just great. I'm the same way--it is time to get the weight off for good. I like doing it through small lifestyle changes which makes it more permanant. I'm determined to stick with this and incorporate it into my lifestyle.....

:wave: Hello Everyone! I am new to 3fatchicks. I am planning on doing a McFuhrman type of diet, too. Today wasn't so good food-wise. DH and son decided to get pizza! Argh! My nemesis! But I am re-stocking the cabinets and frig and looking for a group of recipes to use for default recipes so I can be ready to go. Without planning well, I am sunk! Glad to see others here! I know Breezy10 - she brought me here. :hug: Looking forward to getting to know you, Snowflake!

Hey QuiltDiva--glad you're here. Pizza really is hard for me to resist too but I'm determined to stay on my plan. Today is a new day and you can start today. I ate lunch out yesterday and had a wonderful tossed green salad with all kinds of wonderful things in it with no dressing and it actually tasted delicious.

I think I need to re-train my tastebuds!!

I also think we need to have "quick" snacks on hand in case we are tempted to eat something not on our plan. That might help when DH brings out the pizza.

Today is my 3rd day on my program and already I feel better. No TUMS being consummed either--that ought to tell me something!! :)

I am not sure I could ever follow ETL 100%. My family wouldn't be open to doing that, which makes it very difficult. Besides, I love pizza and ice cream and other non-ETL foods too much to NEVER eat them again. I try to eat lots of veggies, fruit, and beans daily, have my daily flaxseed and walnuts or almonds, and cut back on sugar/bread/pasta/rice/cereals, etc. I think that's as close as I'll ever get. Who knows -- maybe in the future when my kids are older and not around to ask for non-ETL foods?

I agree, Susan - I could never say I won't touch any of those foods again. But, in full disclosure, yesterday I had deep dish pizza, ice cream and M&M's. That isn't self-control! :o And the guys would have been fine if I had said I didn't want to order the pizza. It was my own doing. I am sure I will have a froz. yogurt cone with DH now and again. This is one thing we do together - go out and get one - I know better than to have a carton of ice cream in the house - I'd be dipping in there throughout the day. It also have me terrible reflux last night. But today is a new day. I had oatmeal for breakfast and am dressed to go to the gym.

Good for you QuiltDiva---looks like you started out your day well.

wife2abadge--it really is hard to do this program with kids around and having to cook for them. I understand completely. While I do a combination of ETL and McDougall, I have also tweeked it to fit my lifestyle. Actually what I'm doing is probably more centered towards WeightWatchers rather than ETL/McDougall. I allow a very small amount of healthy fat per day if I need it. Usually I don't.

Really, it just boils down to using self-control. Just tell your stomach YOU are in control, not IT!! :)

Today is my fourth day and I'm continuing on my program. I feel great too.

Sounds like you are off to a great start! Keep up the great work! :carrot:

Luckily, my family is pretty open to eating beans, salads, fruit, and will eat most of the vegan dinners I cook. They just also really like meat and bread!

wife2abadge--It can be hard to have to cook other things for family but you can stay on your program. Today is my 5th day and I made it--

I also wanted to say often before I was married, I'd make something vegetarian and just not tell my sisters that it wasn't meat in the dish. They never knew the difference. (I used vege meat) If I had of said something, they would not have eaten it but stuck their noses up in the air...lol. They still don't know it to this day how much I did this!!

Actually with my program I think my biggest problem is I get so hungry. My salad sticks with me about 2 hours if I'm lucky!! But today I put beans on top of my lettuce, and it stayed with me for 4 hours!! So I'm improving and learning....

QuiltDiva--how are you doing?

Hanging in there. Could be better - could be worse. Had cereal for breakfast - it is fast before church. For lunch we went to Moe's and I had their salad - with black beans, mushrooms, onions, black olives, salsa and cilantro on it. It was quite tasty!

~ QD

YUM--your salad sounds so good. I love having salad alone for one meal because it can be made in so many different ways. I'm probably going to get creative before long---but I know I'll get in ruts too with just using my favorites...

Today went very well considering I made a big "mexican" meal for "dads day." My DD really enjoyed it. We had Cheese enchiladas, spanish rice, tossed green salad, steamed broccoli. For dessert we had Mexican Wedding Cakes. (All favs of my DD)

So of course No cookies or enchiladas for me--lol. Didn't even miss it.

Our two kids/grandkids were all here!!

Breezy -- you need some protein and fat on your salad to make it stick. If I haven't yet had my ground flaxeed, I sprinkle it on my salad. I always have 1/2c beans (pinto, black, garbanzo, etc) on it also -- and avocado or 1/2oz walnuts. That way, I stay satisfied for several hours.

thanks wife2--I am realizing this more and more that I need something on my salad that will stick with me. Last salad had some sliced almonds on it and the day before I threw in a few peanuts for something weird. It actually tasted pretty good.

but I still think the beans are the best to add to my salads.

I agree with Susan - we need some nuts or seeds during our day. And that cup of beans.

Do either of you have any recipes for a healthy salad dressing?

Thinking about starting a blog today......

Quilt Diva

Caesar Salad Dressing 1
Casinera

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
4 - 8 cloves garlic, roasted *
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup cashew butter
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions:
Roast garlic, then blend all ingredients together.

* To roast garlic; break the cloves apart. Leave the papery skins
on. Roast at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until mushy. When cool, remove skins.

Yield: 2 cups
Serving Size: 1/2 cup
ETLex: 1 serving nuts

Wow, thanks wife2 for that recipe!! I just copied it.

Hi ladies. I'm on day 2 of the 6 week challenge. I'm modifying just a tiny bit, I had bran cereal with 1% milk and a cup of blueberries for breakfast. I can give up coffee, tea, meat, bread but giving up that bowl of cereal in the morning is a toughie. I was looking around for any ETL recipes, have you found any on this site? BTW, I love the sounds of that Caesar salad dressing, wife2. Yummy!!

Nora

Same with me Nora--I like that bowl of cereal in the mornings. I've realized I need to tweek things in order to fit my lifestyle and yet keep my weight down. Might take some juggling to do but you can do it!!

I am doing a combination of Fuhrman/McDougall and trying to eat as healthy as possible. But my program is more like Weight watchers actually as I allow a very small amount of fat. Also 1 egg a week if I want it--which has happened only once in the last 2 weeks.

While doing this program, I eat only a salad for either Lunch or Dinner, usually lunch. Within the first 8 days I lost 3 1/2 pounds. Since I am weighing only once a month, this has encouraged me that this program is working and to stick with it.

Go for it Nora--we can do this! :)

Breezy, thanks for that encouragement... you are very kind. I'm on day 3 and I'm down an incredible 7 pounds. Except for my morning bowl of cereal, i'm sticking to the diet. Woo Hoooo!!!!

I have a hard time giving up my cereal, too. Occasionally I crave a bowl of Cheerios and some almond milk.

Keep it up, Nora. Those who stick to ETL have great weight loss. Have you ever read Emily Broller's transformation story? Really inspiring!

~ Quilt Diva

Susan - Your Caesar Dressing sounds awesome! I so need a good home made dressing to use! I keep using store bought dressings and don't like all the chemicals I know are in there.

~ Quilt Diva

WOW Nora--down 7 pounds already? That's great--keep it up. Don't stop.

What I have a hard time with is emotional eating--happy/sad/upset or too busy/too tired--whatever the reason I will eat....but I am determined to stay on my program!!

We are in strawberry season right now and they are really good this year. In another week my MOST FAVORITE fruit will be ready to pick--blueberries. I can hardly wait. Last year I ordered ten pounds to put in the freezer and ended up eating them ALL. YES--all of them. They are wonderful on cold cereal on a hot morning. lol I absolutely love them!!!

I think I am going to try this plan again next week. I did it for 4 days a few months ago and lost much more than usual, but ended up feeling pretty ill. I don't think I was eating enough, so I will allow myself more beans or something. I also need some new recipes, because I was eating some pretty boring salads! I want to lose as much weight as I can before school starts. :o

I am going to start next week also. I need to find some dinner recipes that don't take forever to make. I think fatfreevegan.com has an extensive ETL section. Actually, my program will be a combo ETL and McDougall. I think a couple starches per day will make me feel more full. Let's do this!

Is anyone still doing Eat to Live?

I started about a week ago and was looking for others currently following it.

Just wondering if anyone is still doing ETL? I am sitting on the fence about starting this program....and don't know why. Maybe I'm scared of all the work that seems to go into the meals. Or maybe I am scared of my family and the meat they love and also, of course I am worried I will blow it. However, after reading how some of you are tweaking the diet makes me feel a bit better. I must go into this thinking of this as a life style and not a diet. The weight has to come off. I feel emotional so run down and my body is tired........I will try ETL!

Thanks! Would love to hear how you are all doing and if the weight is coming off! Are you sleeping better? More energy? How was getting off coffee? This will be hard I love 1 cup in the morning!
:carrot:

hi Canuck,

I am currently doing ETL. It's been 2 weeks and I am down 5 lbs. I am happy with that rate of weight loss, so if I can keep losing I will be thrilled.

I am adjusting it a bit. We are not doing grains or startchy veg every day. I have not been dillegent about limiting the avocado to 2 oz and nuts to 1 oz, and I am not getting a ton of greens (i think it says to try to eat 1 lb?)- but other than that, we really like this way of eating.

I still drink coffee too. It doesn't have calories, so I don't see how it would impact weight loss. I don't know if you have read the book, but the first 6 weeks are sort of a detox and after that he says coffee is fine, but try not to have more than 1 cup per day, also wine but not more than 1 glass per day (maybe it was two?). I've had wine maybe 2 times per week and am still losing.

A typical day for me looks like this:

6:30 AM - Coffee or tea with unsweetened almond milk and stevia

9 AM - breakfast of fruit. A banana, cantelope, peaches, plums, etc

11 AM - lunch. generally a salad with red wine vinegar as dressing, or leftovers from dinner the night before. Today I had leftovers - a salad of grape tomatoes, canellini beans, avacado, onion, black olive with lemon juice / cumin / cayenne over it and then baked tofu with lemon and zatarr baked with onions.

3 or 4 pm - snack of fruit. maybe a small handful of nuts.

7:30 pm - dinner. generally some combination or grilled vegetables, beans, tofu, lentils and sauteed or steamed veggies and a raw veggie salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, beans, lemon, cumin, cayenne. We snack on baby carrots while we cook. A few times we have grilled fruit for dessert (plums, peaches, bananas).

I try to get the greens in through smoothies if I don't have a salad. unsteetened almond milk, frozen berries, spinach, banana, stevia, vanilla. you honestly cannot taste the spinach.

I wouldn't worry to much about doing it 100% as long as you are reducing oils/grains, dairy and processed foods. I was vegetarian anyway, so cutting meat out wasn't an issue for me as I didn't eat it. He actually says small portions of meat are fine a few times a week if they are small and lean.

For your family...well, this plan does require a fair amount of cooking/prepping. but if you make a giant mess of beans/veggies maybe that can be their side dish with meat and you can just make it your main meal? I have some combos I've been doing a alot if you would like suggestions....

Hi :) I'm new here but have done 3 weeks of ETL and am loving it. I'm down 12 pounds in 3 weeks, 2 inches from my waist and abs and 3 from my hips/rear, and my energy levels have increased dramatically.

I never thought I'd do it because I was such a low-carb, meat eater. But I jumped in with both feet and it is going amazingly. I'm never hungry, don't crave junk food or meat or sugar.

I'm a 90%'er not a 100% follower. I didn't do the 6 weeks cold turkey everything... I kept my coffee with cream, but only one cup. But no meat, no eggs, no dairy, no sugar, and so on by the book. I may clean up my act more if my weight loss slows down, but for now I'm happy with a 90%+ approach.

********************************************

That's me. As for the family, I knew it would be easy to add a side of meat to the meals I make. Like throw ground meat in their black bean chili with rice, or chicken on their salads, and so on. But thankfully they all jumped in with me :) DD17 is doing the diet but also eating her teenage food too (starbucks, chocolate, etc.) and has lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks. Not fair! Hubby is doing the diet, gave up beer! and coffee, and has lost 10 pounds as well.

DS7 is not as thrilled, but he is slowly coming around. When we have company, I throw some meat on the grill to add to our mostly-vegan food, and he always digs into the meat. But he's eating smoothies, raw veggies, peanut butter & honey on whole wheat, raisin bran with unsweet almond milk, and even beans and rice (he was a bean hater before this!) and bean burgers and so on. It's really cool to see him open up to the new foods slowly. I started with his favorites only though and didn't try to push food.

*******************************************8

The giving up coffee is somewhat for sleeping better because you lose more weight when you're not tired. But i'm sticking with an early cup and it doesn't seem to bother me.

******************************************

My meal plan is very similar to Wildflowers:

early - coffee with half & half (not on plan!)

Breakfast - walnuts (omega 3 fats) and a banana

post workout - smoothie with almond milk, banana, blueberry, spinach

lunch - huge green salad with whatever veggies I have (tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, shredded carrots, etc), plus 1/2 avocado or some olives (olives are not on plan b/c of salt), plus some black beans on top or some quinoa (protein), and some fruit on top or after.

snack - if needed, and it usually IS needed, - either a homemade trail mix (dried fruit, raw nuts), or some fruit & seeds. sometimes I'll eat a bowl of beans & rice leftovers.

dinner - so many options here. Usually I take an old family favorite and revamp it by subbing beans for meat. We eat black bean chili & rice, veggie fajitas (corn tortilla), nachos (bake corn tortillas in oven) or nacho salad, wheat pasta with sauce and veggies, whole grain pizza (veggie), and so on. Or, an easy and delish meal is just plain old black eyed peas or beans and rice or quinoa. Add a salad or raw veggies and cooked veggies and fruit, and you're good to go.

late snack - usually not needed but sometimes fruit and seeds.

I was never able to do the strict 6 week challenge, but have decided not to feel like a failure because of it. ;) I figure I am working my toward being a vegan. I usually have 1/3c old fashioned oats cooked w/water and 1/3c soy milk and a small banana to sweeten it for breakfast, with almond butter on top, and I still have my one cup of coffe in the morning.

At lunch, I have either a large salad of greens and raw veggies w/olive oil dressing or a homemade dressing of some type of vinegar & OJ, 1/2c cooked beans, and 1/2oz nuts if the dressing is fat free, OR I have a large bowl of cooked veggies with the beans and nuts.

If I'm hungry in the afternoon, I have some greek yogurt & fruit or a Larabar.

For dinner, I make my (patient) family a vegetarian or vegan dish or try to adapt whatever I'm making for my family -- vegan chili, tacos with beans instead of meat, spaghetti sauce I can have meatless over spaghetti squash, bean burgers -- or I have some type of frozen leftovers if I make them meat. Since watching the movie "Food, Inc" meat doesn't appeal to me often anyway.

As much as I love sweets and bread, I don't think I'd ever be a 100% ETL person, but I'm trying to stick to it as much as I can.

Just came back to say that I gave up the half and half and switched to unsweetened almond milk in my coffee. It tasted great! :carrot:

You guys are doing so awesome!!!

Rachel -great news about the unsweetened almond milk. That's what I use too, but I add a packet of stevia to sweeten it back up in a calorie free way! lol.

I am down 7 lbs now and i've been sticking to the plan for a little over 2 weeks. BUT, tonight I am leaving on a business trip for a week...super worried how I am going to stick to the plan. And, I am flying internationally, so the flight is long and I will probably have to eat on the food they give me on the plane...

I guess I will just do the best I can. It will suck to not be able to follow this exactly, but I am hoping that I at least don't gain anything back. I plan to go to whole foods tonight before I leave and stock up on Lara Bars and nuts, and when I get there tomorrow I figure I will hit up a grocery for fresh fruit I can have for breakfast. I don't know if my hotel will have a fridge or not...then, I just plan to stick to salads and at the very least try to eat low-calorie even if I have to eat pasta / dairy / eggs.

Any tips, ideas? I don't eat meat anyway, so sticking to lean meats is not an option for me...

Can't you request vegan meals for the plane? We're flying to London in a few weeks, and I filled out a meal request for the flight. I'm a bit concerned about how many choices I'll have in England and Belgium, but I figure I'll muddle through. If I have to eat some meat, I don't think the world will come to an end.

Wife2abadge - I don't know about Belgium, but I live in London, and it's very unlikely that you will have to eat meat there. Vegetarianism is very common, and almost all restaurants have at least one vegetarian option on the menu, often marked with a "V" symbol. I have been vegetarian for two years now and have never had to eat meat even when out and about.

Going completely vegan should also be fairly easy within London, though outside London some of my vegan friends choose to eat dairy to give themselves a little more flexibility in choice of restaurants.

If you would like to treat yourself to a really nice dinner, I can recommend an excellent restaurant in Hammersmith (West London) called The Gate which is entirely vegetarian and has many vegan dishes - their menu is online, so you can Google them (I won't link because it will probably be removed.) You will also find a good list of places to eat on the Vegan London website (Google again.)

If you're eating breakfast in a hotel, your best vegan option will often be to ask for beans on toast and some fruit. The trickiest thing will probably be if you want to find lunch to go, but there are some takeout options on the Vegan London list, and Central London also has many small "express" supermarkets where you will be able to buy your own supplies. Look for one of the major chains such as Tesco or Sainsbury's. Most of these will sell hummus, peanut butter, fresh veg and bread. Marks and Spencer's food halls also have some vegan salads and are also quite common in Central London. Enjoy your trip!

Hi Wifetoabadge -

Yes, I did request a veg meal, but when the last time I flew to London on AA this meant that I got pasta with cheese. I was pleasently suprised on United this time! Food was nuts, then a starter of chickpeas on a kale leaf plus a green salad, then some sort of indian wrap with a curry sauce and rice. I ate a bit of the rice, and the filling out of the wrap (tofu, zuchini, corn, other veg). Breakfast was a fruit plate and an applesauce. I gave the applesauce to the guy next to me as he requested one and apparently they only come with the veg meal option. Also, dinner had some sort of sugar free cookies and rye bread that I skipped over...oh, and fruit for dessert.

I was totally able to stay on plan!!!

I've never been to Belgium, but when I was in Paris I bought some delicious vegetarian salami that was imported from Belgium so perhaps they are veg friendly?. I agree with Pilgrim, everything is labeled in London as Veg on the menus, it's quite easy to stay veg here, you won't have any problems.

Pilgrim - thanks for the tip on that resturaunt. I'll also be heading to a grocery store later...my room has a mini bar fridge, but the staff member said they would clear out my mini bar items if I would rather keep food in that fridge than use it as a bar. :)

Hi, everyone! I haven't been around in forever, but someone recently gave me a copy of ETL, and I'm starting the 6 week thing tomorrow. I'm already vegan, so mostly I'll just be giving up grains, sugars and a lot of the margarine I put on everything. The bread will be the biggest challenge. I'm a big PB&J and bean/soyrizo quesadilla fan. I'm a little worried that I won't see the dramatic results promised because I gave up dairy, eggs and meat so long ago, but I'd like to drop about 50 pounds.

Anyone else still doing this?

I'm still going strong and am down 13.5 pounds so far.

I've never felt better and the foods are incredibly good.

I started ETL last Thursday and I have already lost 8lbs! I have been a vegetarian since I was nine so the transition wasn't as hard as it might be for some people. I'm really enjoying eating so healthily - I feel great, so much lighter and less bloated - and I'm enjoying seeing results there in black and white. As well as the pounds, I have also lost two inches from my bust, two from my waist and one from my hips! Good luck to the rest of you still doing the program... I am so, so glad I discovered Dr. Fuhrman's book. It's so simple and yet such a revelation. After months of flailing around, wanting to lose more weight but not really knowing what to do or how to kick start it, it's like a light bulb just switched on in my head!

I've been listening to Dr. Fuhrman's Eat for Health CD's in my car and also have the companion books ... Started just a week or so ago and have already lost several pounds. This is great and I am looking forward to getting to goal and being more healthy!

I'm back from my trip and back on the program. I tried my best to do it while eating out, but I came back 2 lbs heavier...not sure if this is just water weight or what. Hoping it is, from all the salt, etc of restaurant foods and that it will drop off in a few days.

We'll see...

I have been doing well and feeling quite happy about being able to stick to this. I was listening to the CD's this past weekend and my husband heard part of it. He was intrigued and looked through one of the books ... he thought it sounded great and is now on board as well.

That's great, CT! I should look up the audio books... I like the idea of listening to them when I need a bit of a boost.

Wildflower, I'm sure the 2lbs will drop off in no time. Let us know! I'm anxiously awaiting Friday's weigh in. I'm trying not to weigh myself daily, like I did the first week. I was just too tempted. Last time I weighed, I had lost 9lbs. I started the Thursday before last. So Friday will be my two week weigh in.

Glad everyone's doing well! I've been pretty good about sticking to it, and I feel great. I'm not eating as much raw greens as I should, I guess. I haven't weighed this week, but my clothes are feeling looser so something's happening. :)

That's great, CT! I should look up the audio books... I like the idea of listening to them when I need a bit of a boost.

Wildflower, I'm sure the 2lbs will drop off in no time. Let us know! I'm anxiously awaiting Friday's weigh in. I'm trying not to weigh myself daily, like I did the first week. I was just too tempted. Last time I weighed, I had lost 9lbs. I started the Thursday before last. So Friday will be my two week weigh in.

It took a week, but they dropped off. I am upset I am where I was 2 weeks ago, but I guess it's better than a gain.

I've had the stomach flu the past few days so added some grains back in (was entirely eliminating them before). Can't stomach the thought of raw veggies right now so had some brown rice with grilled veggies for lunch.

Overall, we like this plan and plan to continue it past the 6 weeks (this is the start of week 6 for me). In the first 3 weeks I went from 145 to 138, then back up to 140 and back down to 137. I went slightly off plan due to travel for work...tried to stick with it but still went up a few lbs that easily dropped off.

I will post my final weight for the 6 weeks at the end of this week and then before I leave on vacation the 30th. We did this plan to lose some weight for vacation and it's working. We'll pick it back up when we get back in mid October.

:carrot:

:carrot: I've officially finished the 6 week challenge!!! :carrot:

Starting Weight: 145 (August 15)
Ending Weight: 136 (September 26)

Things I did:

Avoided pasta entirely
Avoided dairy entirely
Avoided eggs entirely
Avoided rice, wheat, bread, quinoa and any other grain with the exception of having rice maybe twice, oatmeal I think once, popcorn once, and corn 3 times. I did not eat the 1 cup per day that was allotted for grains.
Avoided Oils, butters, etc entirely
Avoided all processed foods
Avoided all sugar, maple syrup, agave, juice, etc.

Things I ate more of than I should:

Nuts, nut butter, avocado, olives I did not limit to the few ounces a day the book says

I had dried dates a few times when I wanted sweets (dried fruits are off limits first 6 weeks)

I continued to eat salt

I had alcohol on occasion and I had coffee on occasion, but with stevia and unsweetened almond milk.

There was one week when I traveled for work that I was technically off plan (although I tried my best to stay on). this was in the middle of week 3 to the middle of week 4. I went up 2 lbs that week. From week 4-5 I lost 2 lbs, and from week 5-6 I lost 2 more.

Hey wildflower looks like you had great success with this program! Congrats!

I am thinking I need something more restrictive than my typical calorie counting. These last 9 lbs won't come off... mainly because I let myself indulge in nibbling and grazing on things like chips and chocolate.

Can someone sell me on Eat to Live?

Already a vegetarian, but my big caveat is I live in India, where eating raw veggies is a no-no. I do it anyway, with things like bell peppers and tomatoes, and red cabbage. Will it be difficult to abide by the E2L requirements if this is an obstacle for me?

Thanks!

Hey INDIBLUE I found it...thanks for the link.

Wondering out-loud if this "diet" is to become vegan? If it is that will be something my brother wouldn't achieve...or so thinks me...lol

Hey everyone!
By chance, this weekend, I came across this thread and read through every, single post. At the end of reading, I decided I wanted to post here every day for the next six weeks to document my attempt at doing ETL for the next six weeks.

Not only do I want a place to write about how I did, but my hope is that I can give ideas and shared experience as much as I have taken from all of those who posted before me.

A bit about my background:

As you can tell from looking at my user details, I am extremely heavy. With the exception of taking medication for hypothyroidism, I haven’t experienced any other health issues. However, it makes sense that health issues will manifest at some point if I don’t start decreasing my weight.

For the past three years, I’ve been doing a lot of research on eating raw fruits and veggies. During that time, I have consumed over live food than I ever in my life. The thing is, I also continued to eat a lot of crap.

For the past three months, I’ve been juicing a lot—drinking about two quarts of green juice a day. It has made a huge positive impact on my life. Most notably, mind is so clear. While the numbers on the scale aren’t decreasing, I feel so much lighter.

Every day, I would have the intention of starting a juice fast. In the morning, I would drink my juice and feel awesome, but then by early evening, I was so hungry. I could have drank more juice, but I wanted something that made me full. That’s when I’d order pizza, Chinese, etc, etc.

Last week, I came across a YouTube channel of a guy who is doing a juice fast. In his videos he mentioned Eat To Live and how he was a patient of Dr. Fuhrman’s. I got curious and went to Amazon to check out the book. I had seen it before, but never gave it a closer look until now.

I listened to the audiobook, did more research and decided to try the six-week plan to see where it takes me.

Here’s how I’m adjusting things as I begin:

-I really don’t like eating salads (as in, veggies mixed with greens), but I do love green smoothies. I’ll be making green smoothies rather than salads. I do vow to seek out some salad recipes that I can get excited about eating.

-I really don’t like brown rice and will be eating Jasmine rice for awhile as I ease myself into acquiring a taste for brown or wild rice.

-I will be using hemp seed rather than flax simply because I have two bags of hemp seed that need to be used up. I’m confident I can get just as much benefit from hemp seed as flax.

-Even though Dr. Fuhrman advises against juicing, I’m going to drink a cucumber/celery/apple/lemon blend each day. I love juice too much to not have some each day.

I’ll be on the treadmill for a minimum of an hour a day, every day. I also want to make a video diary and, after I (hopefully) lose some weight begin posting the videos on YouTube.

If anyone out there wants to join me, I’d love to connect. If you’re just reading my posts, I hope you get something of value from them.

I saw my brother yesterday and he is doing pretty good on it so far after a couple of weeks. A slight blip when he had to go out of town for a few days w/o notice but just a minor one.

Hey wildflower looks like you had great success with this program! Congrats!

I am thinking I need something more restrictive than my typical calorie counting. These last 9 lbs won't come off... mainly because I let myself indulge in nibbling and grazing on things like chips and chocolate.

Can someone sell me on Eat to Live?

Already a vegetarian, but my big caveat is I live in India, where eating raw veggies is a no-no. I do it anyway, with things like bell peppers and tomatoes, and red cabbage. Will it be difficult to abide by the E2L requirements if this is an obstacle for me?

Thanks!

Hi Indiblue -

While Dr Furhman is big on giant raw salads, I personally think you can do the plan with cooked veggies. Just make sure you steam them or use a tiny bit of Pam (or indian equivalent) so you don't add any oils/ghee/fat/butter.

I know you are already veg, so I think the important thing in following the plan would be to not eat any oils, grains, sugar (including dried fruits and processed juices), dairy and eggs. Limit starchy veggies like potatoes to 1 cup per day. Buy unsweetened soy / rice / almond milk.

We cook a lot of our veggies and I don't think it effects weight loss. I think giving up processes foods, grains, dairy, sugar and oil is what helped me lose weight.

Good luck to you - I'm back from my 2 week holiday and we are continuing with Eat to live (the 6 week initial strict period).

Here is an example of my meals from today:

7 AM - Tea with unsweetened almond milk

9 AM - Banana and cashews

11 AM - Raw veggies - grape tomatoes, carrots, green olives

12 PM - Lunch of cooked pumpkin stew

Dinner will probably be a veggie salad. i don't make the 1 lb of raw greens per day he recommends, although we are going to buy a juicer to try to get them in that way. Most of my salads are veggie based without the greens. Last night we had a salad of cooked mushrooms, red onions and tomatoes. I added garlic, thyme and oregano for seasoning.

-Even though Dr. Fuhrman advises against juicing, I’m going to drink a cucumber/celery/apple/lemon blend each day. I love juice too much to not have some each day.


Are you sure that Dr Furhman advises against juicing? From reading the book I assumed he was advising against drinking prepackaged juice - like Tropicana Orange Juice or apple juice, as there are no vitamins left and it's mainly just fructose.

I also watched the film, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" (Probably what you watched on youtube?) and now we want to get a juicer to have juices at some meals.

I know Dr Furhman doesn't have a problem with green smoothies. I've been making them on the plan with spinach, banana, unsweetened almond milk and stevia. They are fantastic. I also did see some juice recipes on his FB, or I thought I did...

Are you sure that Dr Furhman advises against juicing? From reading the book I assumed he was advising against drinking prepackaged juice - like Tropicana Orange Juice or apple juice, as there are no vitamins left and it's mainly just fructose.


I was (desperately) hoping this would be the case--that he was only referring to prepackaged juices--but alas, he is referring to all juice.

Within his program, he's all about the need for fiber coming from healthy sources. When you juice, you're taking out the fiber. I've read in several places that he is accepting of a short juice fast before starting the six-week program, but not to make juice a mainstay in one's every day eating routine. I've also read he advocates using veggie juice for soups.

Juicing has had such a huge positive impact on my life that I can't see myself completely giving up, but for the time being I will lessen my juice intake while giving more whole foods a try.

Thanks wildflower!

I have one additional question. I'm concerned about the levels of protein I would be intaking on an E2L diet. I track my food and usually add eggs, tuna (I do eat sea food), or steamed shrimp to days when I'm not hitting my protein targets of 30% a day. I find it quite difficult to get near this target when only eating tofu, beans, and veggies.

Do you have any perspective or advice on this? Would adding in a low carb, no sugar protein shake be an absolute no-no? Or maybe I don't need 60-90 g of protein a day like I've been aiming for...

Thanks!

Dr. F doesn't completely outlaw juicing, especially after the weight loss phase. From his blog on preventing cancer,

""Here are the seven most important dietary steps to take:
....
4. Drink fresh-squeezed vegetable juice two or three times a day, made with carrots, beets, tomatoes and greens (kale, collards, wheat grass, mashe, and cabbage). This provides the broadest spectrum of cancer-fighting nutrients. Only use organic vegetables for juicing."

And, if you subscribe to his website (very low cost per month), you'll see other references to juicing. It's very true he is against drinking large amounts of fruit juice because of the potential for weight gain.

A quick update to my ETL journey, I've finished two months now and am down 20 pounds. It may not seem like a drastic weight loss, but I have three conditions that make it extremely difficult for me to lose weight. In fact, my endocrinologist told me earlier in the year that it most likely wouldn't be possible for me to lose weight. (You can't see me but I'm sticking my tongue out at her ;) ).

I'm considering going back to the stricter 6 week plan again but keep putting it off, so maybe I'm just happy where I am. The LIFE plan is indeed liveable for life, so I might rather lose weight a bit slower (1-2 pounds a week) and keep up my daily exercise than ramp back my food that much.

Best wishes on your ETL journey :)

Rachel - that's fantastic weight loss!!! 20 lbs in 2 months is phenomenal!

I am so impressed!

Thanks wildflower!

I have one additional question. I'm concerned about the levels of protein I would be intaking on an E2L diet. I track my food and usually add eggs, tuna (I do eat sea food), or steamed shrimp to days when I'm not hitting my protein targets of 30% a day. I find it quite difficult to get near this target when only eating tofu, beans, and veggies.

Do you have any perspective or advice on this? Would adding in a low carb, no sugar protein shake be an absolute no-no? Or maybe I don't need 60-90 g of protein a day like I've been aiming for...

Thanks!

I wouldn't worry about getting 60-90 grams of protein a day. However, the plan does allow for seafood/eggs/meat a few times a week.

If it makes you feel better, you could try the plan while still including it daily. Just make sure the majority of what you eat is fruits/veggies/beans/tofu (Dr Furhman thinks eggs/meat/seafood should be eaten as a garnish or side dish to a vegetable meal).

I would stay away from protein powder as it's quite processed and the goal of the diet is to eat whole foods.

Good luck, let me know if you try it!

Thanks again wildflower for the advice!

I am starting a modified version of E2L today. I kind of started it two weeks ago then stopped, then had a guest here (which meant lots of not-on-plan meals) then we had a dessert party at our house...

I don't have the book but I'll basically just eat a LOT of vegetables (cooked and raw), fruits, nuts, and beans, with an occasional starchy veg. I don't really eat grains so that won't be a problem. No avocados in India really, unfortunately, so fats will come from oils and nuts. I will add in tuna and eggs every now and then as needed. I also am unable to get unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened soy milk, so I'll be sticking with regular soy milk and skim milk. It has sugar, I know, but I think since I'll be eating no grains hopefully it won't have too much of a net effect.

Look forward to posting updates :)

Another question for wildflower and any other E2L experts...

Do you count calories at all while on E2L? I approached this assuming I can follow the general gist- nothing processed, no animal products, lots of veggies, no grains/starches. I didn't count my calories yesterday but did today and have eaten a lot calorie-wise, even though I haven't eaten much E2L-wise, if that makes sense.

In other words, I've had:
- Veggies (and oil): 1/2 c sauteed spinach with onions, tomatoes, a little oil, and Indian spices, 1/4 c okra sauteed in similar seasonings
- Beans: 1 c chickpeas, no salt or oil
- Nuts: 15 almonds (less than 1 serving)
- Fruit: 1/2 banana, 1 apple

From what I understand, I haven't eaten nearly the vegetables (cooked and raw) I need to, nor the fruit. No avocado, no flax seed, not enough nuts as I'm permitted.

Yet I'm at 800 calories exactly, only 400 to go if I continued on my 1200 calorie/day track. It's doable to get in the rest of the required vegetables, flax, and fruits, but I could VERY easily overdo it and up over 1200 calories.

Does E2L suggest that calories dont' matter as much if the nutritional density of those calories is increased? Is that the nutrients/calories equation I keep seeing?

I'm quite nervous to just follow E2L and not track calories, or to allow calories to go higher than 1200. I lose VERY slowly on 1200, even with reasonable exercise (30-45 minute runs, lifts, yoga, 3-5x a week).

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts :)

Hello Everybody. I have been gone for quite a while, so I apologize in advance if I have missed much of the background info on the last 5 or so pages.

With that being said, indiblue, Dr. F. says that most people will still lose weight even when consuming higher than normal calories because their bodies process the healthy foods well.

If you are still worried about going over 1200 cals, have you tried cooking your veggies with broth/seasoned water instead of oil? The calories and fat in oil add up really quickly and take away from the "actual food" that you can eat in a day. I limited nuts myself, but I ate avocados and olives so it probably evens out. Just my two cents...

Thanks JBrum! I would love to be able to eat more than 1200 calories and lose... so I'll just have to experiment a bit and see what happens. I'm a *little* skeptical that calories won't matter as much, only because I eat super clean to begin with and still have to stick to 1200 to see slow results. The only things that will change in my diet under E2L are switching over to soy milk and cutting out peanut butter. But I'm hopeful!

Yes, I actually rarely use oil for my veggies and prefer to steam or roast them. It was a bit of a coincidence we had two types of sauteed veggies the other day. And you're right, oil adds up quickly.

Yesterday I did quite well until the evening- went to a Diwali party (I live in India) and ate several hundred calories of sweets. I didn't go too much over my calories, but I know all the sugar was terrible.

No more social engagements for a while (I think) so I plan to be quite diligent about staying OP :)

I didn't count calories at all. I ate whatever I wanted as long as there was no added sugar / fat / grains / dairy / eggs / meat. I didn't restrict nuts, but I didn't go crazy either - maybe a few tablespoons of almond butter (no sugar, no added oils) with a banana or a 1/2 cup of nuts. I also ate tofu/tempeh, avocados and olives which have naturally occurring fat in them.

The theory is, if you are not eating oils/refined carbs/sugar, it's actually quite hard to over eat on veggies since they are low in calories. Combine that with the fact that beans/veggies are very filling (due to high fiber/water content) and you actually should be eating less than you were before. Also, as another poster mentioned, the body responds better to the low sugar/fat calories and will burn through more quickly than animal protein.

Thanks wildflower!

I have decided that I am going to continue calorie counting because I am not sticking with the plan exactly. I am not able to get the full 1 lb of raw vegetables he recommends because I live in India and raw vegetables are a big risk. I eat them when I can (mostly things I can peel, like carrots, or things that aren't dug out of the ground, like peppers) but raw broccoli, cabbage, and spinach are too big of e-coli risks to eat in large quantities.

So, I'm eating more cooked veggies and more beans. The latter of which is VERY easy to overdo.

I also have not cut out sweets altogether, and this is absolutely something I'm working on.

Otherwise I'm really enjoying living a more plant-based diet. I should have been doing it all along, and I do expect to continue this WOE permanently. Hope that there are others who can check in with me here and keep each others accountable!

My brother stopped by last night. He has been working out of town so I don't see him much even though he lives across the street pretty much.

I was really worried this eating style would not work for him Been about 5-6 weeks and he says he has stuck to it as best as he can not being at home much. He found a vegan restaurant he loves!

He is down 17 pounds and looks very good.

Shocks me because he was such a huge meat eater!!! I'm talking a pound of hamburger at a sitting!

His wife and daughter each down 8-9 pounds too.

A few mishaps with some desserts and a meal or two but otherwise they say they are on plan.

Glad to see others here following this plan!

I've been eating my version of ETL for about 2 1/2 months. I've only seen Fuhrman's pbs special, and just the other day got the book from the library.

I'm rather old (in my 6th decade) and didn't anticipate losing very fast. Especially since I too don't stick to the program to the letter. But in the past 2.5 months I've lost about 17-18 pounds and am tickled pink! I'm rarely hungry, and if I am, I eat something. I exercise, but nothing out of the ordinary. And best of all, I feel great. And the food is tasty - but then I am a good cook. ;)

Right now I'm making a lentil/vegetable stew, which currently is the mainstay of my eating. I serve that with a bit of whole grains such as brown rice.

He recommends a pound of cooked, and a pound of raw veggies. I don't get anywhere near the pound of raw however. I keep intending to, but just dont.

My other 'cheats': daily hot tea (tea is not even in his book's index), artificial sweetner, gelatin (for making blender ice cream w almond milk and fruit), half glass of red wine when I desire, and occasionally 1T olive oil in salads.. And a bit of 80% chocolate most days.

I do not believe in deprivation. :)

I'm finding this way of eating very easy and if this rate of weight loss continues, I'm not sure I'll believe it. I would have been happy as a clam with 1 pound/week.

This feels like losing weight without dieting!! I don't understand why more people don't try it.

Hi jansan! Glad you're posting here.

EZ kudos to your brother and his family! What great progress. Even if he returns to an omnivorous diet I'm sure parts of the E2L philosophy will carry over.

I really want to do E2L "for real"- which for me would mean cutting out my sweets. I was able to find natural (sugar-free) soymilk here, which is great. Downside is, it tastes like water... but that's ok. I don't mind giving up milk.

Everything else has been easy. I still can't do the huge salads every day, but I'm trying to eat a lot of bell peppers and carrots, and huge salads when I can. I bought some spinach yesterday and washed it three times, so I may just bite the bullet today and eat it, fingers crossed :)

I would love to see any E2L recipes you guys have and want to share. Or meal plans. Inspiration is great, and using this board as a support as I ween myself off of sweets would be wonderful :)

Indiblu - Be careful with the spinach - if I remember right (and I am not exactly I microbiologist, I work in banking! ha!) e coli can't be washed away, because it has been absorbed into the plant from the water/soil.

You should probably just cook the spinach. I don't think getting 1 lb of raw veggies in that important if you eat a ton cooked.

As far as recipes, I've been making a dish of cooked kale (I chop it up and then saute it in a frying pan), sauteed onions and cumin seeds. Last week I added a little apple cider and sliced apples to the mix. Delicious side dish to be served with baked tofu brushed with mustard and tamari.

Other dishes I've been eating a lot of include dahls and lentil soups and vegetable stews. I make a big pot and eat it all week. Oven baked tofu or grilled tofu, grilled veggies (especially asparagus) are also favorites.

If you need something sweet, I've been eating medjool dates. Dried fruit is technically restricted during the first 6 weeks, but I figure it's better than eating cookies and they are so sweet it really takes care of my cravings.

I have a recipe for sunflower cinnamon date "truffles" if you would like it. It requires a food processor or vitamix to make it though...

I was able to find natural (sugar-free) soymilk here, which is great. Downside is, it tastes like water... but that's ok. I don't mind giving up milk.
If you have access to nuts such as almonds or cashews, you can make nut milks - if you have a strong blender. Soak the nuts over night, then put in blender, cover wtih water and pulverize. Strain, add a bit of vanilla, and a bit of sweetner, and you have a very nice 'milk'. You might have to dilute it with enough water so it's not high in calories.

I also make lots of lentil soups/stews with lots of veggies. I rarely get as many raw veggies as cooked because when I am hungry I want to eat - and I almost always have some sort of veggie concoction ready to re-heat. I just finished eating a large bowl of soup now. :)

wildflower you're right about the spinach. I get so frustrated because technically all leafy greens here are "dangerous"- almost no one eats them raw. I miss salads so much that sometimes I just eat them and hope for the best (like yesterday- big old bowl of spinach, right before I read your warning post haha). My fiance and I have only been really sick once in the past year so I use that as my "excuse"- that getting sick here is just par for the course and why miss out on salads for the next 8 months? Not necessarily a wise decision- e-coli is nothing to be messed with.

I try to get creative with making alternative "salads"- roasted corn, cucumber & carrot in lemon and dill, peppers in balsamic- but it's just not the same as a huge bowl of spinach or romaine... or mesculun!! Oh how I miss mixed greens!

I have been craving kale like crazy but unfortunately it's not available in the city where I live.

Soups have been a mainstay of my diet lately as well. Yesterday I did a pumpkin-ginger that called for coconut milk, which I replaced with soy milk. Unfortunately it didn't taste nearly as good with the soy milk.

The dates are a good idea. They are wicked expensive here but could be worth it. We also have some frozen mangoes left over from mango season I could use as "dessert." It's really just a question of commitment on my part- I really could give up the sweets if I actually committed to it.

I'd love the sunflower "truffle" recipe. My food processor is broken- would a blender work?

jansan I have been really tempted to try to make almond milk. Our blender is not very strong though. I may try anyway...?

Sorry for the back-to-back posts. I find it really helpful to post here for accountability purposes :)

Today was MUCH better. Lunch was raw vegetables (chopped carrots, peppers, and cucumber in dill and lemon juice), fruit, and pumpkin soup. Almonds and chickpeas for snacks. Dinner was baked tofu, fruit, and steamed spinach. I'm super full.

I'm still drinking two cups of coffee in the mornings with 1 tsp and a splash of 2% milk in each in the mornings. Potentially 100 calories of dark chocolate or other sweet after dinner if I really want it (today I don't). I've cut out all grains so I don't feel like my additions will negatively impact my results.

Calorie counting and came in way under calories today. But I'm really full and coming off the last two weeks of high calories so I'm going to just take the low cal day.

jansan I have been really tempted to try to make almond milk. Our blender is not very strong though. I may try anyway...?
If it's not very strong, I'd suggest adding a bit of extra water so the solution is not quite as thick when blending. Then strain through a very fine mesh strainer, or even cheese cloth. I use a very fine metal coffee filter.

I need to go to the store and get some more veggies. It's amazing how many I go through on this diet. The ones I use the most often are frozen chopped spinach and frozen broccoli from Trader Joe's. I like the ease of just opening a bag and tossing them into whatever I am making. I also use quite a few canned tomatoes.

I need to start looking for more recipes so I don't get too tired of the things I do like. I am not a vegetarian/vegan by choice, and if the diet said I could eat all the meat I wanted, I would. But I made the choice that not eating meat was better for me, and I am feeling much better the past few weeks.

Thanks for the tips, jansan! Almonds are wicked expensive here, but it may be worth making a batch so I can replace my 2% coffee milk with almond milk. I otherwise am fine using soy.

Today has gone well so far. Same lunch as yesterday (diced carrots/peppers/cukes in lemon/dil and pumpkin soup) plus an apple and almonds. Dinner out tonight for a birthday with friends... Indian restaurant of course (I live in India) so I will be sharing dal with my fiance. He can eat all the naan :). I've saved 600 calories for dinner, so hopefully if I use proper portion control that should be plenty to account for the lentils + oil in the dal.

My food scale from the US finally arrived today! I'm so happy. I've been without one for a while. Now I can really work towards the 1 lb of raw and 1 lb of cooked veggies :)

Hi all. I posted on here quite awhile ago. I am starting the eat to live six weeks today. I have tried to do this program before but have always allowed myself to be derailed. I believe that this is the ultimate and most healthy way in which I can eat and I want to make a commitment to doing the six weeks. ANyways hoping that daily(or close to daily) check ins will help me stay on plan and get to goal!

jansan- You are a big motivation! Thanks for sharing your story (I was looking back a few pages). And losing 17 lbs is awesome also. Hearing how good you feel is a great boost here on my first day on this program.

indiblue- I also am a little afraid to do this sans calorie counting. I know that if I am 100 percent following all his principles I wont have any issues losing weight without calorie counting. I am doing a slightly modified version though. I am drinking coffee almost daily and I use a touch of coconut or almond milk that is vanilla or otherwise flavored. I also am planning too allow an occasional 85% dark chocolate piece.

Here is the big thing that I know if not on plan at all. We have a weekly dinner date with some friends. I have, for years, been an almost vegetarian. I eat occasional fish, but no other meat. And also eat dairy and eggs. Everyother week we go to their home for dinner, every other week they come here. When I am cooking I know I will be able to eat on plan absoluetly. And I realise I could just tell them the changes to my diet, but frankly they already make such effort to accomidate me that I dont want to throw this at them. I can tell making dishes not completely meat centered is a bit strange and foriegn, and a little bit of a struggle for them. I am unwilling to throw that in the mix. So there will he three meals during the six weeks in which I may eat some dairy and eggs or more oil and fat than I plan. But I figure if I am calorie counting those days and keep my portions light, I don't believe this will totally ruin my efforts.

When I did this plan before I allowed the days we had our dinner dates as "free days" with the intention of simply tacking on additional days to the six weeks. This is a terrible idea, and often I would fo so off track, eat and drink things all day that weren't on plan, then inevitably I couldn't seem to get back on track the next day.

I am hoping that this modifed way of allowing a one meal stray from plan on occasion, and adhereing to a calorie goal that day, will be my saving grace to not sticking like I should 100%.

ma I feel the same way COMPLETELY. I also eat fish on occasion (1-2x a week), mainly because I don't want to inconvenience other people too much. And I definitely am not telling people that I am not eating anything right now except tofu, beans, veggies, and fruit. It would be too hard to accommodate.

Like you I'm modifying slightly to include maximum of one meal that is not strictly E2L if I have a social event to attend (going-away party, dinner with friends, etc). That + 2 tsp sugar and splash of milk each morning in coffee + small chocolate piece I don't think is enough to derail efforts but it IS enough to make sure I continue calorie counting.

Each day is getting just a bit easier. I'm really enjoying this WOE. Lunch is fresh fruits and veggies. Snacks are almonds, fruit, or beans (I love snacking on chickpeas!) Dinner is my soy or beans for the day plus cooked veggies.

I've lost a little bit of weight each day for the past 3 days, which is wonderful. Saw 121.8 on the scale this morning. It makes me extra motivated to stay on track :)

Yesterday went well. I definitely had a huge serving of dal for dinner- too big- but I should have been ok calorie-wise.

Wildflower I bought some dates yesterday at your suggestion and had them for dessert. Delicious! Thanks for the idea.

Hi Everyone,
I am planning on doing ETL next weekend. I will be doing 6 weeks just to see what happens. I've been on Dr. McDougall diet and have lost some weight but I keep on backsliding eating SAD food. I am hoping with turning it up a notch with all the raw and cooked veggies will make a difference. Right now I am re-reading my Eat to Live book. Anyone like to join me?:)

I will read ETL!

Saw my brother at our church bazaar yesterday....

he is down at least 22 pounds he said....

it shows!

Still doing all vegan...

I am pleasantly surprised!

I am hoping that this modifed way of allowing a one meal stray from plan on occasion, and adhereing to a calorie goal that day, will be my saving grace to not sticking like I should 100%.
I look upon this way of eating as something I would like to be doing forever. And I have no intention of being a total vegan, or even vegetarian, 24/7/52. This has to be something I can live with.

I would guess I am 85% in compliance and things are still going well. I would love to be 100%, but I doubt that will ever happen and I'd rather do it this way than the old way I was eating. I feel great and have more energy, am losing weight and not starving, BP numbers are ideal (which they never were). If these sorts of changes stop as they well might, I'll be willing to consider staying more on the straight and narrow.

I also know and accept I am not deriving 100% of the health benefits that those who follow the plan more strictly do.

Hi all- just swinging by to say hi.

I've had a few perfectly on plan days, a few not. It's really difficult to eat out on this plan. We only eat out for social events- a friend's going away party, birthday party, etc- but they seem to crop up more than I would like!

At home it's quite easy to stay on plan. I love veggies. Right now chickpeas, baked tofu, dried figs, and steamed vegetables are some of my staples.

Would welcome any more recipe suggestions!

I'm not sticking to this plan like I want to. Today I made an agreement with my fiance that if I stay POP for the next 7 days he'll cook me one on-plan dinner. Here we go!

I'm going to start ETLish tomorrow. I may include a few variations but overall, I'm sticking to the veggie and fruit requirements and will measure my grains and starchy veggies.

Good luck, I hope he's a good cook :)

Let us know how it goes. After close to 3 months eating 'this way' I am really liking how I am feeling. I feel strong and at peace. I never ate enough veggies, and now I put them first in the meal - then eat the other stuff second. Sort of.

For breakfast I steamed a large mixture of frozen veggies, added some whole grain cooked rice and some grated hard cheese over the top. I am feeling very satisfied. While the cheese is not on the program, it's the only dairy I eat. And this has to be a livable program for me to stay on forever more. I don't even think of it as a diet. :)

Yes, it is difficult to eat out on this plan. I think people with the most success cook their own food 95% of the time.

Go, Suzanne! My ETL is modified slightly too (to include up to 113 calories of dark chocolate, .25 c of milk and 1 tbs sugar for coffee). I also have cut out the grains completely (except for 1/2 c of oatmeal before 1 hour+ runs) because I don't do well with eating grains moderately. Check back often and let us know how it goes!

Agreed, jansan. 90% of my meals are homemade. I hate eating out now- it's so stressful. My fiance is really understanding and we try to minimize the number of times we agree to go out to eat because it's so hard to stay OP. That said, we are expats with a) a close group of other expat friends whose birthdays and going away parties it would be really rude/conspicuous for us to skip and b) many local friends who are always getting married/having events/holidays, etc. It's a lot more difficult here to pass on going out than it is in the US, but I'm trying.

Yesterday was PERFECTLY on plan. Ate:
120 g pureed cauliflower + some 2% milk
180 g roasted beets
1 serving roasted red pepper soup (homemade)
10 almonds
40 g dried figs
1 apple
1 67-cal square dark chocolate
huge stir fry for dinner: 250 g broccoli + 200 g tofu with 1 tbs sesame oil + soy sauce
a few dates for dessert (thanks Wildflower for the idea- dates and figs are working great for me)

Happy veggin', you guys!

I agree it needs to be liveable and I'm a believer in tweaking :) I may include more oil than the tsp allowed by the plan, though I do want to work on that. I may include a little agave nectar or sugar from time to time as well.

This morning I had a fruit salad for breakfast which included fresh fruit as well as sliced baby spinach.

Lunch: vegetarian chili (I make my own and freeze it). It's just fire roasted tomatoes, onions, peppers, 3 kinds of beans and a special seasoning. It's fat free and tastes fantastic.

Later:
Kale chips :) I'll measure the oil and see how little I can get away with and still eat a fair amount of kale. I didn't choose to eat this for my diet but rather to encourage my granddaughter to eat something green. We watched a video of a little girl making them and it encouraged Mikayla to want to try them as well.

Meal: One bunch of swiss chard, sauteed in a few drops of water and served with a dash of balsamic vinegar. 1/2 cup of baked tofu cubes. I might roast a beet to go with it.

Probably also later to reach veggie goal - Big salad of spinach, tomatoes, onions, peppers, 1/2 cup beans and salsa for the dressing.

I regret not starting the day weighing my foods but will do better tomorrow. It's really hard to get a whole pound of raw and pound of cooked! The last time did ETL I stuck to it well but had a hard time getting enough calories.

Suzanne and others, what do you think about moving this thread to the General Diet Plans forum? For one, it's not just for vegetarian chicks, and folks who don't identify themselves as vegetarian may not think to wander over to the Vegetarian Chicks board to look at ideas for plans. Second, since he permits fish on secondary stages of the plans, it might appeal to people who wouldn't otherwise consider it under the label "vegetarian."

Just a thought :)

I also am neither vegan, nor even vegetarian. He actually allows meat on occasion. But even if he didn't 'allow' it, I'd eat it. ;) Once in awhile. And I'd definitely eat fish. I probably average 3 to 4 lean animal protein dinners (chicken or fish) each week.

Suzanne, I am not familiar enough with your story to know if you are wishing to lose weight or not. But if you aren't, the book says you can eat more grains/potatoes and carbs in general to reach greater caloric intake.

I also am one who eats more oils, but I do measure them carefully and don't get carried away. Over the years I have never been able to eat salads without some in some form, and his nut dressings just don't quite do enough.

What I have found over time is that I am becoming more compliant with more things. After almost 3 months, I really do like what this way of eating is doing for me. :)

ps... it does feel as if we are down in the basement here. ;)

I'm in it for heart health :) Long boring story - I've been very concerned about my health lately due to a heart condition. (I've had it for 25 years but I'm getting ready to turn 50 and realize I'm not as invincible as I might have hoped :p ) I watched Forks over Knives and learned about Dr. Esselstyn and also watched the Dr. Gupta's special on CNN with Bill Clinton and learned he followed Esselstyn's plan. I bought his book but it is far too restrictive for me to follow :o I know from experience that if I try to force a drastic lifestyle change that I won't be able to stick to it, and I have found that easing into a new lifestyle works better for me. At one time, I had the same thought about ETL. My food patterns evolved over time as I eliminated first land animals then sea animals. By the time I finally tried ETL, I was ready and it was easy to follow.

I think that if go back to ETL for a while that I can gradually evolve into Esselstyn's plan. Right now I eat too much oil (actually not much but Dr. E allows none), more grains and starchy vegetables than I should, and I do eat some sweets. I eat mostly vegetables but my balance is still all wrong. ETL should help me get it back in check and then I hope to keep evolving towards Esselstyn's program.

How about instead of moving this thread to diet plans that we start a fresh one over there? This one is kind of long and was started in 2009 :dizzy:

I'll go start one under General Diet Plans right now :)

If you start a thread elsewhere, could you please post a link to it here - or I will never find it.

Thanks.

I have more to say re Suzanne's last post, but it's late and it's past my bedtime. :)

Here it is!
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/general-diet-plans-questions/247081-eat-live-support-thread.html

I actually did this a fews months ago and lost 6 pounds durning the 1st week....