Engine 2 28-Day Challenge

Hi all,

I watched Forks Over Knives, then bought The Engine 2 Diet. I'm still reading that, but decided to go ahead and start the 28-day challenge. I cleaned out the kitchen and bought some more food. I've been naturally heading down this path towards a plant-based diet, but I still feel this is going to be quite a leap for me. I have a 5-year-old daughter to feed as well.

I'm excited though! Any tips/suggestions/resources you can offer would be much appreciated. :flowerforyou:

Thanks so much!
Kris

Replies

  • volleypc
    volleypc Posts: 134 Member
    I just read Thrive and Eat & Run and decided to give the Engine 2 Diet a run. This is going to be particularly hard for me because I have very few meals without meat. I start on Monday.

    The one thing that I came away with after reading these books is that is seems to reduce the recovery time between workouts which is a great benefit for triathletes. I had my cholestorol tested this week and will the week after the 6 weeks as well. Good luck.
  • I think the reduced recovery time will be a big plus for me, too. I rock climb and want to add more weight training to my routine, but it's hard to figure out how to get it and still have the rest days in between.

    Thanks for the encouragement and good luck to you, too!
  • volleypc
    volleypc Posts: 134 Member
    How is it going so far? A friend of mine started the Engine 2 Diet last week and I ran into him yesterday. He said he lost 8 lbs which surprised me. I have been eating crazy so I wasn't expecting to have any weight loss. I jumped on the scales yesterday afternoon and I was down 5 lbs. I normally weight in the mornings so I am going to wait until Friday morning and check again. I just want to make sure it isn't water weight. The first couple of days I seemed to have less energy but things seem to be back to normal now. I do not stay full as long so I eat more often. I basically keep fruit/nuts/seeds in my desk at work to snack on during the day. The only other thing I am doing differently is adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to my water bottle in the morning. This is supposed to lower your blood PH, but people also say it helped them to lose weight.
  • I also read Forks over Knives and it hit me really hard. I am on day 15 of the diet. Here are my thoughts. The first week I lost 1.8 lbs. But I did my measurements and they were down 5 inches. Go figure. I exercised 6 of 7 days and I am sure that helped. I found the food delicious but had terrible gas and had to figure what was causing that because I think everything was. The second week I felt a little better but still that gassy feeling. I was UP .4 lbs. But again I lost another 2 inches total. I love the diet and I can't imagine me ever going to a fast food again. I also love making the recipes but it is a lot of work. I found going to the grocery store more often during the week rather than buying all the food in the beginning keeps it fresher and I don't tend not to get to certain foods. I have told myself that my goal is to get in a better habit of eating and the weight will come off. This is going on my third week. I am going to keep better track of what I eat and write every bite down. I feel there are way too many carbs in this diet. I would love to hear how everyone is doing.
  • bluebug53
    bluebug53 Posts: 86 Member
    I did the 28day Engine 2 challenge in May of 2011, and never looked back. I feel so much better, have dropped 20lbs. I am 53 year old massage therapist. I can now go for a 26 mile bike ride in the morning and still do 5 or 6 hours of massage that day. This week I have added p90x back into the mix. I have done the p90x twice before last winter. At 53, I can do more than I could when I was in my 20's and I attribute it all to becoming a Plant Strong eater. The new Forks over Knives cook book is fab, lots of great recipes. I have had fun trying a new one each week, and have not been disappointed yet! Would love some more plant strong friends on here!
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
    I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if anyone knows if the Engine2 products are available in Canada? I want to try the 28 day challenge but I see of alot of E2 products on the menu and I have no idea what to substitute for those items. any ideas?
  • veg_runner
    veg_runner Posts: 38 Member
    I feel there are way too many carbs in this diet.

    Don't be afraid of carbohydrates. They are your friend and are what EVERY cell in your body runs off of and needs for proper function, and that's also why our taste buds crave and desire sugar. And when I say carbohydrates, I'm talking about ones from whole foods like potatoes, rice, grains and other starches as well as legumes, lentils, and fruit. The longest and healthiest and trimmest lived cultures eat the most of these types of food and use it as their staple. Think about the Chinese. They eat rice 3x a day and they are ALL skinny and trim. Not just athletes or people with active jobs, everyone from teachers to people with desk jobs even. They only get diseases and get fat when they adopt America's eating habits which is meat dairy and eggs 3x a day 24/7 365 days a year. So don't worry. Also, check out my log. I'm eating a lot more than most of the people on MFP and am losing the weight easily. And most of my days are over 80% of calories from carbs. PM for more resources if you'd like my friend!
  • veg_runner
    veg_runner Posts: 38 Member
    I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if anyone knows if the Engine2 products are available in Canada? I want to try the 28 day challenge but I see of alot of E2 products on the menu and I have no idea what to substitute for those items. any ideas?
    Eat more whole foods. The closer a diet we can all get to a whole foods plant based diet the better. All the little processed things are nice but are more special occasion food. So just buy more whole foods in bulk is my suggestion, cheaper and healthier. If you really want to still get some of those E2 products, I bet there are places online you could get them from.
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
    I agree about the processed food, I'm aiming for little to no processed in my diet so I guess my question might be more along the lines of whats in his cereal & grain mixes so if I see them in his recipes I can substitute. Some of the recipes look yummy.