"Eat To Live" folks... talk to me!

materialsgirl

materialsgirl

Cathlete
I just started reading Eat To Live by Dr. Fuhrman. I know a lot of people here have read this book and live by the concepts presented in this book. I was wondering how many of you made radical changes to your eating after reading this book, and what kind of results did you see from making those changes? I'm just having a hard time believing that this way of eating can do everything he claims. Losing 20 pounds in 1 month? Boy I'd sure love to, but I didn't think it was possible or safe. Did any of you have such dramatic results from changing your eating style? Do any of you still eat any meat? Like I said, I JUST started reading it (I'm on the first chapter), but I'm really curious if the claims are for real. I like the idea of eating highly nutrient dense foods - it makes sense, whether or not you want to lose weight. But if this will help me break my plateau, that's even better.

So... talk to me! :D
 
RE:

Emily,
When I read this book I was already living by many of the principles. I'd been a vegetarian since birth and the only things I really decided to do were to cute down on the artificial sugars, grains, and become vegan. Also, I didn't have 20 pounds to lose, so the results that I saw were more in the way that I felt rather than looked. I've had less runny nose/allergy, tired, bloated days and way more energy. The same for my husband who has pretty bad allergies. Although, when I'm very careful with this way of eating I do see more definition. My husband though got read snippets from many sections of the book and he decided to make the changes with me. I had already converted him to vegtarianism when were married 4 years ago but he was sugar fiend who used to run, but battled a series of injuries and had put on considerable weight. He has currently lost 40 pounds and we've been living this way (mostly;-))since about March/April. He still hasn't been able to work out the way that he would like b/c of a stress fracture in his foot, but he has dropped from around 180 to around 140, size 36 to a size 32, by just making the dietary changes.
I'm happy to answer any other questions you might have, just let me know.
HTH,
Mattea
 
RE:

Hi Emily!

I did change my diet after reading the book. I was doing Atkins, and my weight loss had not only stalled out, but I was beginning to gain weight. I have to admit that I do not follow his guidelines religiously, but I do eat mostly plant products now and try to eat clean. I lost about 10 pounds in a month, so, I suppose if you follow his rapid weight-loss plan and you have a lot of weight to loose, it may be possible to loose 20 pounds in a month.

I still have about 25 pounds more to loose, but I am trying to make changes that I can make permanent. I am happy with the changes I have made and am also happy with my progress. I haven't measured recently, but I can tell a big difference with my clothing.

Let us know what you decide to do!
 
RE:

Mattea and Linda - thanks for your responses. Sounds like the plan really does work. Mattea, your husband's weight loss is amazing! Before I started reading this book, I thought I only really needed to lose 10 pounds. But according to Dr. Fuhman's ideal weight calculations, I really need to lose about 20 pounds. Yikes! I've never weighed so little, not even in high school, so I am not sure it is realistic... but maybe it is, and I've just never been very healthy before.
 
RE:

Emily,
I don't know, I'm about 10 pounds overweight according to Dr. Fuhrman, but I like the way I look, have some nicely developing muscle tone (especially when I eat clean:) ) and I think that if I weighed what he says I should that I would look terrible. My build is medium and I have a good deal of muscle, so I'm attributing my slightly higher weight to that. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Although he briefly addresses the diets of athletes and very active people in his book, the plan and the book are not really geared just for them, but for the general person who needs to be much healthier and is very likely overfat not just "overweight." I still think BF% is a more accurate guide to your overall health than an arbitrary number. Can you tell I don't like someone telling me I have to lose weight?:p
Mattea
 
RE:

I have to go back and see what he says about ideal weight...no doubt it'll be way lower than what I think my ideal is. Ah well...

**Edited to add: OK, at 5'7 he wants me at 123 pounds - ain't gonna happen. That'd put me at 13% bodyfat, which is way low.**

As to the book: I like it a lot - it makes sense. I like that it IS a plan for life, not just a "lose two dress sizes" plan. I like that he's not trying to sell me any of his personal vitamins, supplements, meal replacements or workouts with the book. It really is one of the more intelligent, well-explained eating-plan books I've read and makes a strong case for eating vegan or at least vegetarian.

I dabble in vegan eating, usually for a week or two when I've been eating unhealthy foods and can't break the cycle (unhealthy for me = processed flour, sugar, fats). The first time I tried it I lost 8 pounds in 8 days, was never hungry and felt great. I've been on another short-term vegan plan, this one for 10 days while DH is out of town. I'm on day 5, down 5 pounds and have not had my menstrual weight gain of 2-4 pounds of water weight even though I'm on my period. I also haven't had any significant cramps or my regular headache.

I don't know that I have the discipline to eat this way all the time, but I like the book and I like what the eating plan does for my body.

Allison
 
RE:

You might also want to try some searches on this subject. We talked about it alot last year. I started in May of 2004 with my DH. I did drastically change to Vegan. Might have eaten vegetarian the first week. I lost about 17 lbs in 6 weeks. My DH lost 30. I did loose about 5 more but gained them back at X-mas. I am still very happy with the results and this WOE. Now even more for ethical resons and not health alone. I also read 3 other good books that helped. "The Food Revolution" by John Robbins (thanks Gina!) and "Mad Cowboy" by Howard Lyman. He is a cattle rancher turned Vegan!! I also bought about 5 more Vegan/Vegetarian cookbokks which definitely helped with variety....:)...Carole
 
RE:

>Emily,
>I don't know, I'm about 10 pounds overweight according to Dr.
>Fuhrman, but I like the way I look, have some nicely
>developing muscle tone (especially when I eat clean:) ) and I
>think that if I weighed what he says I should that I would
>look terrible.

I agree that his idea of what a healthy weight is seems rather low. According to him, I should weight around 112 pounds or something. Yeah..right! I can remember a time when I was in college and weighed 114 pounds. I felt too thin (and didn't stay at that weight for long: it was at a time when I was experimenting with juice fasting and raw foods, and I went a bit overboard. Though I felt really healthy, and the wisdom teeth I had just had removed had healed much faster than the dentist thought they would, I just felt "skinny" as well).

I've read Fuhrman's book, and agree with much of it, but I don't follow his program. And I do think that some of the things he says are misleadiing, like when he compairs the protein content of broccoli to beef. Yes, broccoli is 20-some percent protein, but you'd have to eat a heck of a lot of it to get a lot of protein.

I've been a vegan for about 15 years, and a vegetarian since 1976, so I already was doing a lot of what he recommends. But I'd add some soy products, more beans and plant protein sources to his dietary plan.
 
RE:

Thanks everyone for your input! This is really fascinating. I have just started the chapter on The Dark Side of Animal Protein, and I gotta say - I'm ready to cut out all the meat from my diet already! :eek: I casually suggested to DH that maybe we could eat more vegetarian meals, and his response was "Oh, but I like meat". I'm thinking "You wouldn't like meat so much if you read this book!"

Well, back to snacking on my carrots... :)
 
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