Eat to Live Modifications

coueswhitetail wrote: »

I love the Eat to Live philosophy which is to eat nutrient dense foods as much as possible. High nutrient, low calorie foods are a great way to maximize nutrition while minimizing calories.

Eat to Live is not an expensive way to eat, but I do find there is a fair amount of prep work cutting up veggies. Most people recommend doing the prep work of chopping vegetables on the weekend so you have things ready to go for the week. I don't do that, but then I work out of my home, so it's a little easier for me.

To save money, and eat healthy, you can focus on eating beans (which are super cheap) and they will help you feel full. This has been a real winner for me in terms of helping me stay under my calorie goals while feeling full. Beans are super nutritious and because they are high in fiber they keep you feeling full longer and stabilize blood sugar. We had black bean burgers last night with avocado, tomato, onion, mushrooms, romaine lettuce....these were awesome and all those foods are nutritious and relatively inexpensive (except for avocados maybe).

Another versatile and inexpensive food I make is to take a bag of frozen peas or corn, a can of black beans, a chopped onion, a bunch of chopped cilantro, chopped purple cabbage, chopped red pepper and mix it all together in a bowl. then add a lot of cumin (to taste) and some lime juice to taste. Mix it all and then you have a giant bowl of veggies that you can use for tacos (it's amazing with siracha mayo), or a salad or side dish or whatever you want. Add or subtract whatever veggies you prefer. I have made this for a lot of people and have yet to find anyone who doesn't love it!
If you want, you can add smoked chicken or fish or other meat. here is a pic:



Eat to Live is an adjustment as is any version of changing the way you eat. But I have had a ton of fun learning new recipes. there are several great blogs online that you can draw recipes from. I love the Oh She Glows blog.

Love your ideas and appreciate the photos and love the wrap idea as well ...thank you! I also enjoy the "Oh She Glows" blog.

julgwill wrote: »

yeah LOL... I eat whenever I feel like it, and I have lost 15 pounds following these recommendations, and it's not stopping. I sleep better, my skin has cleared up, I have tons of energy when I exercise, and I never have to count a single calorie. I just eat.

You lost weight because of a calorie deficit, whether you actually counted or not. The fact you said otherwise just shows your complete lack of understanding as to how weight loss and nutrition actually work.

mcdougall style food- microwave baked potatoes with ketchup, bean soup in the crockpot, spaghetti with a jarred sauce, rice with vegetables etc...

julgwill wrote: »

I have a degree in nutrition, so I know how it works. I know eat to live has less calories, but there is no calculated deficit, or calorie counting. In fact, you are encouraged to eat huge portions every meal. I have plenty of understanding about nutrition-- when I said deficit, I meant restrictions on portions. That to me is a deficit. Eat to live leaves a person totally full, and never hungry, because the body is getting everything it needs to fight disease and repair itself.

FYI, on MFP "deficit" is almost always used to indicate a caloric deficit. Also, sometimes people confuse not counting calories with eating a surplus of calories. If they haven't read the book and don't realize that the cornerstone is leafy greens and non-starchy vegetables, and to a lesser extent beans and fruit, they won't appreciate how difficult it would be to eat a surplus of calories without eating absolutely massive quantities of food.

The reason people may have reacted badly is that there are people who claim they can eat at a caloric surplus and still lose weight, as long as they eat the "right" foods.

The premise of this plan is that by eating nutrient dense, calorie light foods, MOST people will eat at a deficit if they follow their hunger cues. Of course there will always be exceptions, but if you wanted to eat 3000 calories of mainly spinach and broccoli, you'd be eating literally hundreds of cups of food a day (spinach is 10 calories for 2 cups according to MFP database; broccoli is 200 calories per KILOGRAM). Obviously beans and fruit are more calorie dense, but there just isn't that much room for an excess of these after you eat the recommended 2 lb of veggies per day

I personally find the Eat to Live program too restrictive in terms of food choices and I don't know that I could eat enough greens to meet my protein needs, but I agree with the main premise and I think it would be a very healthy diet and promote fast weight loss if implemented properly (again, with more leafy greens than I care to eat).