Abbey...? about Eat to Live...

[DKinTX]

I'm not on the boards much these days, but I read a few weeks (I think?) ago that you'd had some success with this program. I'm thinking about beginning it and wanted to hear an update from you. Can you tell me how much weight you've lost and any tips or suggestions? I tried to find your posts about it, but I couldn't. I don't want to bug you on your bday (Happy 30th!!!), so answer whenever you feel like it! Thanks so much!

[momee]

Hey, not Abbey but my dh used ETL successfully.

He is very dedicated to the "cause" eating canned beans at times if he's out and can't get anything else.

I think he lost 45 lbs over about two months but he would not put one thing in his mouth if it weren't a "whole food" meaning you couldn't find it in nature pretty much.
He still sticks to it although not as religiously.
The biggest pain for me as "cook" was no pasta! We eat that all the time. I guess you could do whole wheat pasta but he didn't. Only fruit/veggies/beans. He ate a ton of salad - no dressing!
HTH

[abbeyej]

I followed the EtL weight loss program pretty strictly for about 6-8 weeks. I lost something like 22lbs in that first 8 weeks. It's been a little more than a month more now, and I'm down a total of 26lbs, but I haven't been following the program strictly since then. (A couple of small trips out of town, other things like that.) I'm still trying to maintain a number of the principals of EtL, but I'm a lot more relaxed about it.

I do *feel* better when I'm following it carefully -- but it also takes more time (all that chopping! lol)...

Anyway, I lost very quickly at first. I'm still losing, but more slowly now -- but I'm not pursuing "fast" weightloss at this point either.

What sort of tips were you hoping for? :)

[DKinTX]

[.

What sort of tips were you hoping for? :)[/QUOTE]


Wow, congrats on your accomplishment! It must be nice to enter your thirties feeling slimmer and healthier! I'm turning 34 in a couple of months and I wanted to be down 20 lbs by then (with an ultimate goal of losing 30).

Anyway, I guess I don't really need tips as much as hearing how well it worked for you...that's inspiring! But maybe a few more details...did you exercise, too? If so, how much? And, what were some of your favorite things to eat while in the stricter phase? Thanks again!

[DKinTX]

Wow, congrats to your dh! Is he near his goal weight? I don't think I could stomach salad without dressing. I'm glad to hear someone else was successful with this program. I'm really determined to get this weight off...though I've been saying that for 7 years!
Thanks!

PS was/is your husband exercising, too?

[Robin in Tx]

Oh, Abbey... congratulations!! That's wonderful!

I just put the book on hold at the library. It's basically a whole, natural foods approach, right? Not vegetarian?

you know, when you posted your picture of the fried chicken bouquet, what really caught my eye was the plate of green beans. I wanted to ask you if those were fresh or what... and how you prepared them... they were GORGEOUS!! THat's the first time I can say that green beans looked better to me than fried chicken! LOL

Robin

[abbeyej]

... I'm turning 34 in a couple of months and I wanted to be down 20 lbs by then (with an ultimate goal of losing 30).

Anyway, I guess I don't really need tips as much as hearing how well it worked for you...that's inspiring! But maybe a few more details...did you exercise, too? If so, how much? And, what were some of your favorite things to eat while in the stricter phase? Thanks again!

I definitely think you can reach your goal! I was amazed at how easily the weight came off while following his parameters carefully.

As for exercise, I didn't really. (Bad, I know...) I keep meaning to add in more exercise (I do get a *little*, of course), but I have yet to do it with any consistency. Still, it was great to see results even without *having* to do that.

As for eating in the stricter phase... Tons of fruit. I did allow myself to snack if I was famished (which, truly, I rarely was), and I would eat any kind of fruit (mostly clementines, but it would depend on the time of year) or carrot sticks or raw sugar snap peas. Lots of salad. Lots of vegetable soups and bean soups... If it was just me and I wanted something easy, I might even take a 1lb bag of frozen broccoli florets and spread it on a cookie sheet, quarter some crimini mushrooms on top and roast at 400 for, um, however long it took... And that would be a "meal" for me.

The one thing I didn't follow with EtL was the salt restriction. I just couldn't make all those other sacrifices *and* limit salt! And since blood pressure wasn't a concern for me, I just didn't worry about it.

Good luck! I'm sure you can do it! I was amazed at how easy it was once I really started... :D

[6packofun]

Oh, Abbey... congratulations!! That's wonderful!

I just put the book on hold at the library. It's basically a whole, natural foods approach, right? Not vegetarian?


The reviews on Amazon say it is basically a whole foods *vegan* diet--no meat, dairy, etc. :001_huh: Not sure I can do that! LOL

[DKinTX]

I definitely think you can reach your goal! I was amazed at how easily the weight came off while following his parameters carefully.

As for exercise, I didn't really. (Bad, I know...) :D


Thanks so much for the encouragement; I needed that! I'm actually glad to hear you didn't need to exercise. I'm hoping to lose the first 15 pounds without exercising, and then if I hit a plateau (sp?) I can add exercise to lose the last 15. I'll let you know how it goes!! Have a great birthday and thanks again for answering my questions.

[abbeyej]

...It's basically a whole, natural foods approach, right? Not vegetarian?

... I wanted to ask you if those were fresh or what... and how you prepared them... they were GORGEOUS!! THat's the first time I can say that green beans looked better to me than fried chicken! LOL


Hey, Robin -- somehow I didn't see your post till just now...

The diet Fuhrman recommends isn't just vegetarian, it's vegan (at least for the weight-loss phase), but you're right that the emphasis really is on whole, natural foods far more than the veganism. I believe that he himself is a strict vegan and has been for many, many years, but what he recommends is that most of us stick to a vegan diet most of the time. He acknowledges that there does not seem to be a health difference between those who eat a mostly vegan diet (with small quantities of meat or dairy occasionally) and those who follow the diet strictly at all times.

Basically, in the strict phase of the diet, you eat unlimited vegetables (he recommends >1lb raw and >1lb cooked per day, no added fat), fruits (>4 per day), and beans (>1C per day), with limited whole grains (<1C), nuts and seeds (<1-2oz?), no oil, no dairy or meat, no refined flour, no sugars, no dried fruit or fruit juices... There's more to it, obviously, but basically, you eat as much fruits and vegetables as you possibly can, and not a whole lot else. Dh and I were never hungry, and dh swore it was the first diet where he just couldn't wait to be done eating at the end of each meal, lol. (You wouldn't believe how much a lb of raw veggies a day is.) I was a little concerned at first about the lack of fat (I got mine from avocado and seeds only during that phase), but my skin looked and felt better than it ever has while I was doing all that. The enormous amount of fiber I was consuming meant that I had almost no blood sugar fluctuations and I rarely felt hungry. And if I did feel hungry, I ate!

I also found the strict limits made it easier for me in certain ways. I knew that if I stayed within the parameters, I couldn't overeat and I couldn't make bad choices. I allowed myself to "cheat" for one meal a week, and I would plan ahead to eat whatever it was that I most wanted. One week it was grilled salmon and asparagus with butter, another week it was a turkey sandwich (from Schlotszky's, so with good bread, cheese and olive tapenade)... But the funny thing was, it wasn't junky food I was longing for at that meal -- it was always pretty good stuff. :)

As for the green beans in the picture... I hate frozen green beans (I'll eat frozen broccoli or spinach, but not green beans -- blech!), so they were definitely fresh. I buy the thinner French haricots, when they're available, but I'll eat the thicker more standard ones if that's all that's available. I cut off the ends and drop them in boiling water. After the water returns to a boil, I test them again after 5 minutes. Drain. If I'm being decadent, I melt butter in the pan and toss them back in with that, then remove from heat and add a little fresh lemon juice and salt before serving. If I'm following EtL, I'll just drain the hot water and toss them with some chopped clementines and a little salt. Yummy! :)

[Ohio12]

This may be anathema on here, but my sister and I swear by The South beach plan. We do it hard core when we need to lose and then do it in moderation the rest of the time. We just got the book from the library.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

This may be anathema on here,...


Why? Because of the topic of the thread, you mean? Or for the board?

[CLHCO]

I did it for 4 or 5 weeks and hardly lost a thing. I got discouraged and dropped it. I mean, losing 3 lbs in 5 weeks?

Either I wasn't strict enough (possible) or it just doesn't work for me. I wonder if a tiny bit of fudging here and there really made that big of a difference. I remember being hungry a lot.

Of course, I'm doing sparks now and I've not lost much after the first week or so. That one I can see why. I've been hovering too close to about 1500/day some days and you can't lose very quickly on that. I've been lazy.

[Elaine]

A question-

If you can't have dairy, why do a few of the breakfast recipes call for milk or soy milk? That has me confused.

I think that we might do this, but I am simply not willing to give up coffee with cream. Life is too short.:001_smile:

[abbeyej]

A question-

If you can't have dairy, why do a few of the breakfast recipes call for milk or soy milk? That has me confused.

I think that we might do this, but I am simply not willing to give up coffee with cream. Life is too short.:001_smile:

Honestly, I paid fairly little attention to the recipes. I read through them when I was first reading the book, but they're just not presented in a remotely appealing way.

You know, if you're just doing it for health, not for (much) weight loss, I wouldn't worry about a teaspoon or two of cream a day. If you wanted to be strict about the diet though, I suppose you could do soy milk for the first six weeks.

To answer your real question, I think when the recipes in the book say "milk", they mean "use your favorite milk substitute here" like soy, rice, almond, etc etc "milk".

I was a vegan years and years ago -- not the super healthy sort though, lol, just the sort that just didn't eat animal products -- and I'm not interested in returning to that dogmatically. That said, dh and I both seems to feel better following the EtL-type diet most of the time -- and, as Fuhrman suggests (for those past the initial weight-loss phase), we just don't worry about that 10% of the time when we eat what he would consider "junk". (For the most part, we eat pretty healthy even when we're eating junk, but you know, sometimes you just *neeeeed* ice cream.) ;)

[Elaine]

Honestly, I paid fairly little attention to the recipes. I read through them when I was first reading the book, but they're just not presented in a remotely appealing way.

You know, if you're just doing it for health, not for (much) weight loss, I wouldn't worry about a teaspoon or two of cream a day. If you wanted to be strict about the diet though, I suppose you could do soy milk for the first six weeks.

To answer your real question, I think when the recipes in the book say "milk", they mean "use your favorite milk substitute here" like soy, rice, almond, etc etc "milk".

I was a vegan years and years ago -- not the super healthy sort though, lol, just the sort that just didn't eat animal products -- and I'm not interested in returning to that dogmatically. That said, dh and I both seems to feel better following the EtL-type diet most of the time -- and, as Fuhrman suggests (for those past the initial weight-loss phase), we just don't worry about that 10% of the time when we eat what he would consider "junk". (For the most part, we eat pretty healthy even when we're eating junk, but you know, sometimes you just *neeeeed* ice cream.) ;)

:D Ice cream and air, the necessities of life.

So do you guys eat meat? The more I read of this book, the less sure I seem. We are really carnivores!;) I wonder if it's possible to follow the basic principles with meat 1-2 times per week. I would really do this more for my husband. His father was his age when he had his first heart attack and I worry about that for him, too.

[abbeyej]

So do you guys eat meat? The more I read of this book, the less sure I seem. We are really carnivores!;) I wonder if it's possible to follow the basic principles with meat 1-2 times per week. I would really do this more for my husband. His father was his age when he had his first heart attack and I worry about that for him, too.

We do eat meat, but not terribly often -- I rarely prepare it at home. We had had to increase our amount of meat by a lot when ds was 4, because there was not a single other major protein source he could eat, but neither dh nor I were ever true "meat and potatoes" people. So it wasn't a huge burden to us to eat less of it now... Though we do joke about lentils around here as a sort of punishment. ;) (Lentils are so cheap and easy, they often end up being what I cook when all other plans fail.)

Yes, heart health for dh was a reason we have gone more to this type of eating. I had/have some weight to lose, but keeping him from developing any heart disease over time (which, given certain factors, could be more devastating more quickly to him than others) was a major factor too.

Really, what I came away from EtL with was that it was more important to eat the obscene amount of vegetables he prescribes than that we eat little or no meat. I mean, I *thought* we always ate a fair amount of veggies and fruits, but EtL sure showed us how wrong we were! If you eat the quantity of fruits and veggies he recommends, it's hard to know when you'd get the *chance* to eat much meat. ;) But even if you did, the huge quantity of veggies would improve overall health.