Eat To Live diet... Anyone try it?

wxchaser
wxchaser Posts: 173 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just wondering because I read the book a long time ago, and I'm rereading it now that I'm in desperate need of inspiration. I've been stuck in a rut for about a month and the frustration is killing me!

So... Has anyone tried it? How much weight did you lose?

Replies

  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
    I think Dr. Fuhrman does an excellent job, and I agree with most everything he says, but he advocates something like a pound of cooked greens and a pound of salad a day (I've probably got the numbers wrong, but he's real big on leafy greens. That's an awful lot of chewing, lol.
  • wxchaser
    wxchaser Posts: 173 Member
    Yeah, I remember that from the first read through. As much as I dread it, I really do like salad when it's dressed properly.
  • jipsybird
    jipsybird Posts: 878 Member
    Bump. I don't know much about it, like to see what others say.
  • wxchaser
    wxchaser Posts: 173 Member
    Still staying on topic, anyone have any good recipe ideas for when I do start this diet?
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
    I tend to eat really simply, so I wouldn't call this a recipe so much as a suggestion. I fill a 2 quart casserole dish with greens like kale, spinach, and collard greens. Then I mix in whatever fresh vegetables I have on hand, mushrooms, banana peppers, tomatoes, green onions, etc. add a splash of rice vinegar and Bragg's Liquid Amino's, cover and microwave for about 3 minutes.

    Now I'm hungry.
  • wxchaser
    wxchaser Posts: 173 Member
    Hmmm... That does sound pretty tasty. I actually found a great website last night with wonderful suggestions and actual recipes for different types of salads and dressings. I'm considering going vegetarian next month depending on if I'm chasing or not.

    http://fatfreevegan.com/blog/2010/01/10/eat-to-live-recipes/
  • maremare312
    maremare312 Posts: 1,143 Member
    I'm on my second day and am pumped to stay on this program! Yes, the goal is a pound of raw veggies and a pound of cooked veggies a day, along with a cup or more of legumes and at least 4 fruits. That's a lot of food, which is why I think I'll be able to stick with this! 2 raw carrots, 2 celery, and half a cucumber is 10 ounces of raw veggies, so I think it's definitely doable. The salads I've been eating are around 7 ounces of raw veggies, so I think it's going to be more difficult for me to hit the cooked veggies at this point...although cauliflower and broccoli are pretty heavy! Feel free to add me if you are doing this program and we can share diary entries!
  • Kithera
    Kithera Posts: 10 Member
    Hiya - I just started ETL. Day 5 - I actually made it through the weekend!!!! and the coolest part is that I'm down 6.4 pounds. I know thats just an initial thing and I can't expect it every 5 days but its a pretty darn good start. And I'm so full I feel like I could roll away from the table. I just went to the vegetable market at spent $60 on veg. Thats insane for just veg! But I'm stoked to try all kinds of stuff. I am wondering if theres any place for chia in the eating plan - I can't seem to find anything about it on the web - except that Dr. Furhman sells something with chia on his website. I just can't figure if its a bean or a carb or a veg. :)
  • maremare312
    maremare312 Posts: 1,143 Member
    Hiya - I just started ETL. Day 5 - I actually made it through the weekend!!!! and the coolest part is that I'm down 6.4 pounds. I know thats just an initial thing and I can't expect it every 5 days but its a pretty darn good start. And I'm so full I feel like I could roll away from the table. I just went to the vegetable market at spent $60 on veg. Thats insane for just veg! But I'm stoked to try all kinds of stuff. I am wondering if theres any place for chia in the eating plan - I can't seem to find anything about it on the web - except that Dr. Furhman sells something with chia on his website. I just can't figure if its a bean or a carb or a veg. :)

    Chias are seeds and I'm pretty sure they are listed in the list of seeds that are good to eat in the book! That's great after five days, go you!
  • wxchaser
    wxchaser Posts: 173 Member
    I'm on my second day and am pumped to stay on this program! Yes, the goal is a pound of raw veggies and a pound of cooked veggies a day, along with a cup or more of legumes and at least 4 fruits. That's a lot of food, which is why I think I'll be able to stick with this! 2 raw carrots, 2 celery, and half a cucumber is 10 ounces of raw veggies, so I think it's definitely doable. The salads I've been eating are around 7 ounces of raw veggies, so I think it's going to be more difficult for me to hit the cooked veggies at this point...although cauliflower and broccoli are pretty heavy! Feel free to add me if you are doing this program and we can share diary entries!

    Oh, wow, that's pretty awesome! I can't wait to kick start this tomorrow. I'm just so desperate to get this damn weight off that I'm willing to try anything right about now.
  • Kithera
    Kithera Posts: 10 Member
    Just eating dinner. I'm really pleased to say that as of tomorrow morning I'll be done the first week. I thought it would be way harder. Dinner tonight is a cup of cooked red lentils with bovril veggie stock, and I didn't feel like messing with a ton of cutting so I I just steamed a pound of sliced up cabbage. Tossed on 1/2 ounce of pine nuts, a bunch of cracked pepper and a tiny bit of salt. I'm surprised how sweet the cabbage tastes. It really does reset your taste buds pretty quickly. And I'm absolutely stuffed all day. Haven't been hungry at all. One thing is that its teaching me to chew and actually take some time to eat. I was someone who could be finished a mean in 5 minutes flat. Now it takes me at least 1/2 hour to eat. I'm not as strict on the grains as he wants but the choices are all good and 7 pounds in a week is nothing to sneeze at.
  • 3ur0tr45h
    3ur0tr45h Posts: 12
    I love Eat To Live! My wife and I have followed it very loosely for 2-3 years but just went all in 2-3 weeks ago. She wants to reverse her food allergies and I want to lose weight. My dad also did the 6 week program and was able to drop his cholesterol 90 points and avoid medication.

    My favorites are the homemade hummus and baba ganoush we make. Here's the basics:

    1 eggplant
    Juice from 2 lemons
    2 tablespoons of Tahini
    3 cloves garlic
    Splash of vinegar, white or basalmic (to taste)
    Paprika and Cumin to taste

    Poke holes in the eggplant and roast it at 425 for 20 minutes. Then skin it and Whirl it all up in a food processor. If you want hummus, just swap the eggplant for a can of garbanzo beans with half the juice. Garnish with fresh parsley.

    If you don't add oil or salt, you can basically eat an unlimited amount of this stuff on the ETL diet. It's great as a dip and spread. I like to stuff whole wheat Pitas lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers and slather it with this. Totally stuffs me out!
  • Kithera
    Kithera Posts: 10 Member
    Thanx for the recipe - that looks awesome - I'll have to try it. Whats better the big eggplants or the tiny Japanese ones?
  • 3ur0tr45h
    3ur0tr45h Posts: 12
    Thanx for the recipe - that looks awesome - I'll have to try it. Whats better the big eggplants or the tiny Japanese ones?

    I've only ever tried it with the big ones and it is perfect! If you use the small ones, just get enough to equal the same amount as a big one and you should be good. It's super tasty!
  • maremare312
    maremare312 Posts: 1,143 Member
    The baba ganoush sounds great! I had actually written it down on my list of things I wanted to eat but hadn't gone as far as finding a recipe yet. I hadn't had any fruits yet today and I ended up eating a fruit salad with banana, orange, and strawberries sprinkled with a bit of unsweetened cocoa powder, unsweetened coconut, and ground flaxseeds. Very yummy!

    Also went out to eat with my best friend today at Baja Fresh, I got the grilled veggie "burrito" bare style in a bowl over romaine lettuce, no cheese, no sour cream, add guacamole. I piled on even more pico de gallo and salsa and it was pretty good! Cutting out cheese is definitely the hardest part for me, but I can do it :)
  • maremare312
    maremare312 Posts: 1,143 Member
    Hey peeps, just found an Eat to Live group here on MFP!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/2061-eating-to-live
  • loadedwords
    loadedwords Posts: 16 Member
    In addition to Fat Free Vegan that someone mentioned, some other bloggers with Eat to Live recipes are:
    http://healthygirlskitchen.blogspot.com/
    http://www.carrieonvegan.com/

    I don't follow Eat to Live 100% but I do try to use a lot of the principles like lots of vegetables and beans and very little oil.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,985 Member
    Lol, sounds more like "live to eat" with that amount of food to eat. That's a lot of chewing.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • superfly99
    superfly99 Posts: 18
    I started Eat to Live on Feb 20 of this year and am down 15 pounds, running 2.5 miles a day, 5-6 miles on Saturdays. I have so much more endurance and energy than ever before!

    Favorite recipe so far is one I made up...I cook a pound of chick peas in a low sodium bouillon for flavor and add carrots, onions, green tomatillos, two small red potatoes, and a whole bunch of kale chopped up. I generally make up a soup on Sundays with some type of bean and kale or other high-powered veggie and have 2 cups for lunch with my salad everyday.

    Eat to Live has worked faster for me than anything else. Good luck!
  • maremare312
    maremare312 Posts: 1,143 Member
    I started Eat to Live on Feb 20 of this year and am down 15 pounds, running 2.5 miles a day, 5-6 miles on Saturdays. I have so much more endurance and energy than ever before!

    Favorite recipe so far is one I made up...I cook a pound of chick peas in a low sodium bouillon for flavor and add carrots, onions, green tomatillos, two small red potatoes, and a whole bunch of kale chopped up. I generally make up a soup on Sundays with some type of bean and kale or other high-powered veggie and have 2 cups for lunch with my salad everyday.

    Eat to Live has worked faster for me than anything else. Good luck!

    That sounds good!
  • maremare312
    maremare312 Posts: 1,143 Member
    I'm down 9.5 pounds in my first week! I will be happy with another 15 in the next 5 weeks!
  • kathi54
    kathi54 Posts: 2
    Yes, I joined in early May of this year because of a very serious Blood Glucose level. I've been gradually losing weight over the last two years, and I still have quite a bit to loose. I'm pleased to say that since I've been following ETL, my BG is coming down, and I have lost 11 pounds.
  • spinachsmoothies
    spinachsmoothies Posts: 50
    thanks for the info - bump
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
    Eat to Live is a bit too restrictive for me to follow as a lifestyle change but I definitely incorporated a lot of the ideals into my diet over the years. And I should say that I lost 15 lbs when I first tried ETL (strictly), expanded my a diet to something a bit more manageable to myself and then gained those 15 lbs fairly quickly. I probably took too many liberties with the unlimited beans though ;)

    This is one of my favorite recipe sites and it has a ton of ETL recipes
    http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/tag/eat-to-live
  • cjc166
    cjc166 Posts: 222
    I started 6 weeks ago and have lost 27 lbs in that time. It's unbelievable how fast the weight is coming off! Also, my food cravings are gone and I'm only hungry at meal time.
  • warriorsdontbitch
    warriorsdontbitch Posts: 130 Member
    great job. i am going to start on monday. wish me luck
  • beebee0925
    beebee0925 Posts: 441 Member
    Bump

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