Hello everyone and good luck on another 6 weeks of Eating to Live! I claimed I would do this 100%. I am if you count it as 100% failure! First day of the first week and I'm already cheating! Oh well!

I thought we might all introduce ourselves here even if we have before. I'm 41, work part-time in childcare, have 2 young sons (5&2) at home and a 13 y.o. stepson who visits regularly. I have a DH who needs to lose some weight for health reasons. I was slim until my second baby. I've got about 20 pounds to lose for my frame. I love playing with my kids, travel with my husband, hanging out with my girlfriends, dancing all night, drinking vodka all day. Okay, some things I had to quit when I had kids... But my husband and I hope to travel more when the kids go off to college. Latest cds purchased- Pink, Madonna, Joss Stone, Green Day. Recent books read- ones on parenting teens, 1776, and several cookbooks. I've also become a Soduko addict recently. Movies seen- Cars, Nacho Libre, Ice Age 2 (can you tell I'm a mommy?) That's all I can think of to bore you with right now.

Hello everyone today has been a good day I made some easy 3 bean chili and some smashed cauliflower but I put light smart balance in it as I’m allergic to nuts. I also added green peas and green beans it was so yummy. As part of my new attitude I’m going to say something positive about ETL every day today is I like green peas they make me happy and remind me of Thanks Giving with my Dad.



Breakfast Tofu Noodles with mushroom and garden pasta sauce

Lunch mashed cauliflower and spinach

Dinner 3 bean chili with rice cheese over baby greens



I got some of those date rolls at the store they don’t have nuts in them and that good.



I hope everyone has a good day.

Oh and I also worked out for 45 minutes on the elliptical.



G
Ps I'll answer the questions on my next post Welcome to the new people who want to join us

Ok here is my answer to your questions

1) Flax seed is important you can get it ground or in oil and you can put it in smoothies or on salads. But it’s not good to cook with it burns easily and smells kind of fishy.
2) Soy milk goes under Tofu and you are allowed one cup a day or one serving there are unsweetened soy milk and I would suggest trying to find some I think Eden soy or west soy both have an unsweetened version.
3) Processed foods is tricky the thing is you want to get the most nutrient dense food possible and canned or bottled aren’t however they are permitted for convince as long as they are low in sodium and fat free.
4) And Yes ETL has recipes also fatfreevegan.com has a section on ETL friendly recipes some of them I have tried and they are quite good also I noticed most of the recipes in the book are on this web site.

If you can get the book it is really helpful I had one form the library for a while then just bought mine at the friendly Barnes and Noble. I hope I answered your questions ok.

I hope everyone is doing well this is going to be a wonderful 6 weeks.

Let’s make tomorrow an independence day from SAD (standard American diet) foods let’s go 100% ELT.

G

Okay, I plan to start posting my eats & water and exercise here so that should motivate me to be more disciplined.

My DH will return today from being out of town and with his help I might not be as exhausted and weak. I normally give into temptation when I'm tired.

Menu planning will also help. It's been hard to wrap my brain around making salad or vegetables the main focus of a meal. I've decided to grill chicken or fish for my household males at each meal and spend the bulk of my prep/cooking on vegetables.

I have an exercise plan for MWF so that should cover our 120 minutes per week challenge.

Gotta check on the boys now. Sounds like the 2 year old is in the forbidden zone of mom & dad's bedroom. No telling what he's destroyed. Bless his heart.

8 weeks to lose 20+ pounds!

I'm feeling rather negative today and have been kind of testy with my DH it doesn't help that I have to work today Ijust not that into it today I have been 100% but my hearts just not there. Ok my posative ETL thing for today mushrooms I really like them cooked they are crewy and tasty.

for my menu see yesterdays post and ad a roll and some water melon after all what is the 4th of July with out water melon.

Ohhh... I am cranky too. Just feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done and having to deal with the boys at the same time. If I could be with my boys and do nothing else that's great. Of if I could do my chores/errands etc. without dealing with the boys at the same time, I would be more efficient. I just don't get the luxory of the latter. Wish I were rich enough to afford a maid/personal assistant/chef/etc., so I could play with the boys all day. Alright, I'll stop griping b/c they are letting me work at the computer right now.

I have some really good news I was the best loser in my TOPS chapter for the month of June with a 7.5 pound lose. It was so exciting I got to where the crown and have my picture taken. in the last 6 weeks I have lost 9.5 pounds now to some that might not seem like much but to me it's wonderful. I ate off plan today which was planed next week I'm going to go with a different group of ladies to a more ETL friendly restarant. I hope everyone is haveing a good day.

G

so I guess I should just go ahead and say that I didn't do ETL Monday and Tuesday. I figured, I've been counting calories for a week now...this holiday I'm going to splurge a little. I didn't go too overboard, although I did eat some cheese dip and such. I accounted for all my calories on my fitday and today I did an hour at the gym to make up for it.
So today, I started ETL and here is what I've had:
2 kiwis
1 pear
less than a cup vegan chili, which has the following: TVP, black beans, stewed tomatoes( I rinsed them off), salsa, and corn...along with of course my favorite spices except salt!

The chili is my own recipe. I discovered it accidently by trying to follow another recipe and giving up when I realized I didn't have everything. I'd be happy to share the recipe.

For dinner, I'll probably cook lima beans or broccoli. Maybe serve it over rice.
So far today, so good. I felt a bit bad for cheating the first two days, but I felt really renewed in my efforts today and best of all, I've lost 2 pounds since I started watching my foods and exercising!

I've been bad all week. I will do better starting right now.

Come on Sarah! Its not too bad, although I really miss salt.
I am running into a slight problem though. My caloric intake is down wayy low and I don't know what to do to get it up, except eat nuts and I'd rather try to meet my daily fruits and veggies goals. Like yesterday, I had to eat a peanut butter sandwich to get my calories above 800...for the entire day!
I've had no trouble eating my four servings of fruit, but wow. As soon as I eat the veggies and my serving of tofu or soy, I am stuffed! My friends think I'm starving myself or something silly. Is very low caloric intake the point of ETL and I'm just freaking over nothing? Or am I doing something wrong?

shakeitbaby, you are not doing anything wrong! When I was counting my calories I too had a hard time getting in 1200. I solved that when I started eating more beans. In fact, I can go through a whole bag of edamame in one day. Of course, I do it by violating the "no between meal snacks" rule of ETL. Low cal isn't necessarily the point but nutrient dense foods are. The minimum of beans/legumes is one cup, not the maximum. Perhaps you can add more.

Hi everyone -- sorry I haven't been around much lately. Between houseguests, illness, and work craziness I've been pretty wrapped up. Still losing a tad bit of weight, probably because I'm not finding time to eat regularly, rather than any wise food choices I'm making... I'm not eating terribly, just more grains and fewer vegetables than usual. But I still stick with whole grains and low- or non-fat stuff, so it's not too bad.

Will post more when life calms down a bit. Keep it up, everyone!

Been missing you Junia!

I've read info other than in E2L book that we don't need to go below 1200 calories per day b/c our bodies could go into "starvation mode" and hang onto the weight we're trying to get rid of.

I'm missing salt & chocolate but not together. Theoretically, this 6 weeks will rid our bodies of the cravings for sugar and salt and other unhealthy eats. I can do this! I will do this! I actually enjoy the days that I E2L. The problem is I easily give into temptation. Often I justify a Coke here and some chocolate there by claiming I need the caffeine. I'm often tired b/c I take muscle relaxers at night for fibromyalgia. I think I'll drop the pills these next few weeks and stay awake so that I can't talk myself into the sugar & caffeine temptation. And no, I'm not going to check with my doctor first. I am a stubborn naughty woman.

My latest plan is to make vegetable soup. It's not too desirable during summer but that is one way that I consistently eat my veggies. I think I'll make a gazpacho too for a cool refreshing soup. I also plan to grill some eggplant and portabello mushrooms. I've found some recipes for fruit-infused salad dressings that I might try if I have time. Fortunately, my stepson wants to babysit to earn some $ so it should be a win/win weekend!

YUMS COMING!

Cheers to you for your achievements! Congratulations! A crown for being the biggest loser! Let's hear it for Gggbdomino! You did it!