Eat to Live diet by Joel Fuhrman
 

Is anyone else having success with the Eat to Live plan?

It essentially recommends a vegan diet without processed foods and limited grains, where the goal of the diet is to maximize the nutrient to calorie ratio of foods (obviously veggies, especially greens are the most nutrient dense and meats/cheeses have virtually none).

General guidelines are to make it a goal to:

• eat one pound of raw veggies per day (mostly leafy greens),
• one pound of cooked veggies per day,
• at least four fruits per day,
• at least one cup of legumes (beans/pulses) per day,
• up to one cup of soy milk or tofu per day,
• no between meal snacks,
• only eat if hungry.

A final note is that one should follow the 90% rule with this recommendation, where you should be following the recommendations 90 percent of the time with 10 percent of allowable deviations.

So, is anyone else out there having success with this diet? I love it. It has totally revolutionized my eating and I have lost 30lbs in 5 months. I frequently have cheats, but up to the point allowable in the 90% rule. I also feel this diet will be sustaiable for the long term and I look forward to striving to eat this way for the rest of my life. No more counting calories.

Please share your stories.

Thanks,
ChaiKitty

I think this is the diet that Whole Foods features. They send you e-mails that explain different aspects of the diet over a few weeks' time to introduce you to the concept and give suggestions. I got the e-mails but didn't want to switch my Weight Watcher/fitday habits over to something else. However, I can see that you can do WW (most fruits and vegetables are 'free' in WW) and this diet, too. So, I'm glad I kept the e-mails.

That's interesting, Kathy. I had no idea. That is also really great, in my opinion, since I think the diet really encourages a return to fresh produce... as opposed to a mostly processed foods diet like most American's have.

For me, I have lost weight with counting calories before (some 50-60 pounds in 2004/2005), but this new way of dieting with Dr. Fuhrman's plan of trying to eat tons of raw veggies, cooked veggies, and beans, has been really liberating. I no longer go hungry between meals -- in fact, I don't even snack between meals. I also didn't know it before, but I am also a salt addict. I always thought before that I was eating a healthy diet, but after listening to Dr. Fuhrman's books I have realized how wrong I was.

Anyhow. All the best on your journey, Kathy. Thanks for the reply. :)

-Chai

Great job on the weight loss ChaiKitty! :)

I am not doing the Eat To Live diet but that is how I eat anyways. It's the "outside aisle" shopping concept basically. I am a vegetarian so I eat some dairy.

I usually just eat when I am hungry. I do not eat breakfast because I am not hungry until I have been awake for a few hours. I just drink coffee.

I eat the veggies cooked or raw. It depends what I am in the mood for. I'm a low carber so most of my carbs come from fruit this time of year. My favorite right now is grilled pineapple! :D


I would guess that's from a scale made from the authors/WhFoods preference because eggs, Greek yogurt, dark chocolate, honey, olive oil and salmon (plus many more) are also nutrient dense "superfoods" just like select veggies and fruits. ;)

I've been on this diet for two years (and going strong or should I say "plant strong"). I went from 136lbs to 111 and have loved the diet. I've been maintaining for over a year now.

This diet has truly liberated me from my food addictions. Unlike other diets that can give you weight loss but fail to provide the nutrients your body needs, I never feel hungry nor the need to overeat and I meet all my RDAs with only occasional supplement for Vitamin D and B-12 (when I don't consume a natural dietary source). I also never get the painful stomach pains I used to have either (that I used to think were IBS)....

ChaiKitty! - You summarized the eating plan very well. The only thing I would add, is that Dr Furhman has also done work on an "ANDI" Score guild (together with Whole Foods) that gives even better data on the nutrient density of specific foods... so that people can make even better choices on what specific foods in each category are best... But that's just to make the diet even better. The basic plan is great.

I've been looking for other members using Fitday and this eating style to share a our journals. Let me know if you're interested...

stamatiaa -- woohoo! another Furhmanite! I am really excited that you mentioned that the diet has liberated you from food addictions because I am slowly starting to notice the same thing for me. I use to be on the "six small meals a day" bandwagon and could hardly go 3 hours without some sort of snack. Now I am totally free and just eat a big breakfast, lunch, and dinner full of veggies, beans, and fruit. It really makes me feel good. Giving up my coffee/caffeine is something I want to do next...

Unfortunately, I have not used FitDay to log my food on this diet. I usually only use the weight tracker and message boards.

But I am curious to know, do you have any vegan cookbook or blog recommendations?
I just bought the Happy Herbivore cookbook after drooling over it at Barnes and Noble for the past few weeks. But I'm always on the lookout for other easy, healthy (by Fuhrman standards) cookbooks.

By the way, thanks for the information on the ANDI score guide. I had no idea that he played a role in it's further development. That's great! :) Any way to make the diet more accessible to more people is an accomplishment in my mind.

The recipes on the Whole Foods Website look good...and include a lot of recipes for greens...which is unusual - Recipes @ Whole Foods Market | WholeFoodsMarket.com

I keep it simple - big salads with stews, bean soups, raw, steamed and roasted vegetables, greens (boiled, in stews, and raw), fresh fruit, raw seeds and nuts... small portions of wild Alaskan salmon, wild and sustainable tuna, cod, shrimp, sardines, and a very rare egg from local pastured organic eggs... Of course it’s easy to keep it simple when the produce is in season and amazing!

I also incorporate a lot of the traditional greek recipes from my family... During traditional greek Lent, all animal products and all oils are excluded from the diet during holy week...

ETL is by far the best eating plan I have every been on. I followed it to the letter from April 1st to May 31 and lost 20 pounds. I also never felt hungry. The caffeine withdraw was tough the first couple of days too. I was a heavy coffee drinker, high sodium user, and big meat eater, but ETL changed my life. For the past 6 weeks I have added a few more serving of chicken and fish a week. I will use a drop of olive oil to saute garlic and onions too, the water saute method was a little rough for me to get used to. I figured if this modification allows me to enjoy meals, I would do it. April 1st I weighed in at 212, today I am 186 and feeling better every day!

Hello gemini23nj!

Congratulations on your success. I love this diet too and the best part is that I don't want to ever stop eating this way. I don't think it's ever a good sign if you're on a diet and can't wait to get-off of it. That kind of weight loss is, IMO, unsustainable.

Did you see the Dr.'s appearance on the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead? (It’s available on Netflix.) I couldn’t believe it but even my husband was enthralled by it.

Did you see his recent PBS Special? (It's available on PBS website too, I think.) I recorded it for my sister and it really struck a cord with her. She's been struggling with her weight.

So for my ETL today, for lunch, I had a huge spinach salad (with raw broccoli, carrots, and yellow summer squash) and a great soup made from escarole greens and pinto beans (with some onions, carrots, celery, parsnips and winter squash). I also had a large serving of cooked (boiled) amaranth greens.

Thank you! I have not seen the Dr. Furman Shows, but read the reviews. I follow him on facebook and have read his books. My trainer is a huge advocate so I continue to learn each day. I just got home from the supermarket with great produce. Have a nice day!

I tried the Eat to live program with a group of women for a period of six weeks. I lost 17 pounds and 11 inches overall. Unfortunately, I was not ready to change my habits and gained all back plus. However, I learned so much from the food plan I have been able to draw on it now that I am eating a healthy diet. I eliminated sugar and eat on average around 30-40 g of fiber a day. Average day is.....
1 c cottage cheese with cinnamon and 3-4 T of applesauce and stevia for breakfast
Lunch is 4 T almond butter mixed with a T of unrefined coconut oil to which I add 1 t of unswwetened cocoa powder and stevia. A huge salad with homemade avocado dressing consisting of 1 whole avocado, red onion, garlic and spices, lemon juice and water blended in the magic bullet.The salad has all the raw veggies I can get. You name it! A bit of feta cheese for flavor added.
Dinner is a huge salad with the remaining dressing from lunch done the same way and around 9 oz. of broiled skin-on salmon.
I feel great and am down 112 pounds from last year.

Starting to Eat to Live/For Health
 

I think that what jnjgr is doing sounds more attainable than the strict 6 week slim down. I currently eat about 6-7 times a day using the macro-nutrient guide.

I am used to a high protein diet, and participate in very strenuous exercise. With my level of activity I want to make sure that I am consuming enough real protein amino acids to preserve my muscle and organ tissue. I am thinking of only consuming a small portion of meat per day (organic free range), and supplementing with whey protein powder. I would like to find a place near me where I can get lean game meat, as I think this is the most natural and beneficial form of protein, but we will see.

Any thoughts on protein powders or protein supplementation? Any modifications to the individual nutritional needs for high activity?

Wow --- jnjgr, 112 pounds! Way to go!!! :) I just discovered FitDay, and am finding it really inspiring for changing my eating habits for healthier ones. I love the graphs & reports.

Clarification on Eat To Live
 

Hello - I am total newbie. Read Eat To Live and and am interested. For starters I am a vegetarian but do eat and love skim milk yoghurt.

I have several questions on Eat To Live and somehow could not find obvious answers.

1. If I make green smoothie, I will have to add water in the blender and was wondering whether I can have a 40-50 oz serving (as this has water too) for breakfast ?

2. There is no mention of regular water intake - I am assuming I can have as much water as I want throughout the day ?

3. Legumes - I am particularly fond of Black Bengal Gram (Indian name - Kala Chana) - is that allowed ?

Thanks for your answers in advance.

Why am I not losing any weight?
 

I've been following the Eat to Live plan for about a month. I lost five pounds the first week, but I figure that's because I gave up diet pop. I have not lost anything since. I have been weighing my food, writing down what I eat, I added one hour of exercise, and have lost two tenths of a pound since that first week. I read the book and know there's a couple of things I'm not doing right. I am not eating three meals a day. I've gotten into the habit of eating snacks, so am still doing that. Plus, it's hard to get an entire two pounds of veggies in otherwise. That's the other thing I'm not always doing....eating all the veggies required, but I try. Does anybody have a clue why I'm not losing?

Hello JuneGard, I'm not sure I would credit your 5 lb loss to skipping diet soda. Diet soda is no good, but I've never heard of anyone loosing weight so immediately by stopping it. Even so, do you want to show us what you ate the last few days? Maybe we can provide specific suggestions.

On the first two weeks of Eat to Live.
 

Hi there. I've been following the six week plan from Dr. Fuhrman's first book Eat to Live, and so far, in two weeks, I've lost 9 pounds. I have had a few cheats here and there, but it's hard to take in too many calories when you are primarily eating fruits and vegetables. I feel satisfied,great after seeing the rapid weight loss and I hope to stay motivated. I'm keeping track of my calories and they have averaged out to about 1000-1100 a day. I'm also exercising, mostly walking, 3-5 times a week for 45 min. each time.

The Fatfreevegan.com website has some fantastic and easy recipes.

Ditto for me
 

Everyone is different...

I have done ETL and I have done The raw food diet. On both diets I still can not eat unlimited quantities no matter what "they" say.

In order for me to lose on ETL I need to limit my fruit to 4 for a day and limit beans to 1 cup. I allow myself 1 serving of olive oil, 1 starchy veg or grain, one light soy milk daily. No meat, dairy, or bread like products. The only thing I can eat with wild abandon are non starchy veggies.

The more I allow myself to go outside of these guidelines the less weight I lose.:rolleyes:

I've been on the eat to live diet/lifestyle for 3 weeks now. I do still eat chicken and fish though because I just could eliminate everything all at once. I am not a big vegetable eater but I'm getting better. i have lost 20 lbs in the first 22 days and I've only been hungry twice. I'm a believer.

a new start
 

I have been on weight loss programs for much of my adult life with some success. Sadly, nothing to this point has been sustainable and at almost 45 I fear the swing of 20lbs up and down could be dangerous. I have no health problems and take no medications which is fortunate. I saw Dr Fuhrman on Dr Oz the other day and for the 1st time I felt like my knowledgebase as a Nurse was being totally respected! I ran out to buy the book and have been loving it and all the delicious foods....my only concern is that the refreshed sense of energy and discipline will wane once I reach my goal weight. That and of course my intense love of food/cooking. I have never been able to imagine living a vegan lifestyle and the thought of never eating meat again seems daunting. For now, I am totally satiated with the combination of fresh and cooked veggies along with legumes. I have pushed myself to stay commited to running and feel confidant that I will reach my goal weight by my birthday this coming January. Any and all advice from those of you who are seeing amazing results would be greatly appreciated.:)

Is this thread still active? I am happy to find a Furhman thread because Dr. F.'s book is my motivation to start my Green Smoothie cleanse/fast. I am fasting because I have found in the past that is easier (for me) to not eat at all than to eat a little or change my diet - I am too used to eating a lot and often and need to make quick drastic changes! I look forward to following Dr. F's diet once my 20-ish day fast/cleanse is over.

Reading some of the post here is motivational. I just got the ETL book and I haven't started the diet but I'm seriously considering it. I'm just not sure if I want to commit to a diet eating so much veggies. I like veggies but I don't LOVE them. Plus I'm not very creative in the kitchen so I get bored very easily.

I've tried several diets in the past and I lose about 8lbs and quit due to boredom. Exept on Atkins. I lost 20lbs doing that and then I quit because it got sickening. I've gained every pound back and then some. I am the fattest I've ever been in my life. And the most out of shape ever.

I'm very reluctant to try yet another diet but I desparately need to change my lifestyle for my health's sake. I feel like I'm losing the battle with my body.

Thanks! I am very overwhelmed. I will definately check out youtube!
I went grocery shopping today and got all my veggies and beans and prepped some of them today for tomorrow. I started the plan last night at dinner time. Today I have been on full force and I already have a headache from detox. I hope the raw veggies start tasting better soon because I do not love salad AT ALL. Breakfast was good. Lunch and dinner, not so good. I missed lunch so I ate leftovers from breakfast around 3pm which made me not hungry for dinner at all. I did try to eat my salad and some lentils, but not a whole lot. I hope I can change my taste buds for salad. I don't know what happened to me because I use to LOVE salad. Now it's the last thing I would reach for. I made the Ranch dressing/Dip in the book and it was so NASTY! I ended up throwing out my whole salad and making another. Any suggestions on salad dressings?

Hey Valentine, how's it going? Any luck with a better salad dressing? You should try green smoothies to get your veggies in, you can add fruit and you don't even taste the veggies! Good luck

So happy to see this thread! Hello fellow nutritarians! :)

I bought Dr. Fuhrman's book in 2004 when I was about 165 pounds at 5'6" -- i was eating mostly junk food, doing the whole "starve myself for three days, then eat anything i want" thing which was most certainly NOT working for me, and i was lethargic and miserable. At the time I was eating tons of meat and cheese, loads of caffeine, and TONS of sugar.

It took a long time but I slowly, slowly started to incorporate the principles in the book. First I started with just incorporating greens at every meal, followed by getting rid of meat in my diet (it just sort of happened naturally, I suddenly didn't want it anymore), then getting rid of caffeine and aspartame. My next big project is sugar -- I am slowly starting to lose my desire for it.

I still don't follow the plan to the letter -- I do eat minimal dairy (maybe 2-3 servings a week) and eggs (maybe once every week or two), and don't limit my whole grain consumption as the book suggests, so I am definitely not perfect with it. But from about 2004-2007 I very slowly lost 25 pounds, and have managed to keep it off since then (I have fluctuated from 136-144 or so during that time). I've gone up to over 140 again due to my ridiculous sugar consumption of the past few years, but I am determined to phase that out too, and have slowly lost about 3 pounds so far this month in the process! :)

Deb and Valentine, I totally understand how you might be feeling overwhelemed -- I was too! My advice is to slowly remove things from the diet (or add, as in the case of greens) one by one, so it is a gradual lifestyle change -- take all the time you need! <3

CPP, I just started reading your smoothies thread, very cool! I am blender-less at present (my house burned down over the summer, argh!), but am looking to pick up a new one soon! :)

Anyhoo, just wanted to say hi! :D

i just started Monday and fell off tuesday night for dinner but am back at it today...i will say for the first two days i was eating all day to fill myself up but just fruits and veggies and the 1 cup of beans. On tues i did the same. I must say in the two days i feel a difference in my sinus and i also had a great nights sleep without any sleep aid as i normally do. I'm looking forward to a great weight loss. My children are also doing it with me 16 and 10 yrs old.

Etl
 

I just started the diet last sunday. honestly i really liked it the first few days but by yesterday I was just so sick of salad and the homemade dressing I skipped dinner. Then today at lunch i tried to eat stemmed broccoli and couldn't I trying really hard to follow the diet plan. I'm currently 230lbs and I wanna work my way down to 130lbs eventually but I miss meat so much. I really really want some hamburger. And SALT! OMG! I didn't know you could literary crave salt. I just want to quit, but I removed all the other food options from the house to prevent me from falling off the wagon. Do you have any suggestions? I'm starting to feel depressed.

attempting ETL
 

hi all, great to read these comments. I have the book and am not done reading but am anxious to start. My fear is salads/fruits only and not being satiated. I am sooooo addicted to chips/salt/carbs/sugar. I'm vegetarian but do eat cheese, occaisionally eggs. How did you all just jump into it? I drink one large coffee a day. There is no time in my future where i have a stretch of time off to overcome "withdrawals/fatigue" associated with changing a diet so drastically. Any suggestions? Thanks, I look forward to posting my experience.

Etl
 

starting eat to live tomorrow. how did everyone survive the cold turkey standard diet to vegetables and fruits? i'm nervous about my caffeine withdrawal. thanks

hi everyone, I am new and just received the ETL book from Amazon. On Dec 8 I ordered the NutriBullet from tv, I guess it took a week to get here and my life has changed forever..in a great way! about the same time ( or maybe before? ) I saw Dr F on the Dr Oz show and was very impressed. when my Nutri Bullet arrived I started making green drinks for breakfast & lunch, and snacks and eating 3/4 veggie 1/4 fish dinners.

When I make green drinks I add Olive oil so I stay satiated, when I make a salad in a bowl I use olive oil & vinegar for the dressing..or balsamic oil & vinegar, delicious! I am trying to incorporate more fruits but manage well on a cup of mixed frozen fruits and one banana per day. There is much I can't eat because I get kidney stones, but I am learning what combinations work well for me. Romaine and banana, cucumber, celery and apple are terrific! the banana makes it creamy so I make 2 smoothies one after another and knock them back before my brain registers as too full:)

I stopped eating red meat a year ago, stopped wheat when I realized it was a major trigger for my depression and have been drinking almond milk for calcium. I do this 90% of the time since mid December and feel soooo much better!! I have lost 35 lbs in the last year just making changes in bad habits but this green drink "habit" makes me feel relaxed and strong and just plain better about myself. I want to lose another 35 lbs this year.

This is all overwhelming if I try to do everything at once so I am taking it in small chunks. I use 2 tsp of sugar instead of 10, big change! I hope to cut back on that but not until after Easter, unless it happens sooner. No pressure.

When I make toasted salmon sandwiches for my husband I just wrap the salmon in Romaine leaves for me since I don't eat bread, it is kind of fun and just as filling. I make a Dutch oven of chicken minestrone soup..I know it has chicken in it but we love it and I am gradually cutting back the chicken and replacing it with beans. Baby steps, but we are going in the right direction :)

I can't go 100% into this right away or I will bomb, and I know it. I am doing really well with all the changes I have made, I literally have made changes I feel confident are for the long term. I know I meant to mention a change I made to my green drinks was adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil so I don't get hungry afterwards, I do this twice in a row and it works well.

Looking forward to hearing about each of you :)

cheers,

Nancy

Hi all! I'm new here! I'm a vegetarian, will be a vegan soon probably. I don't do the ETL diet (my parents think I'm too young for it, since I'm 17). My mom read about the diet, and she and my dad did it for a few weeks last year. My dad's a bit overweight, and he drinks a lot of coffee/diet coke, so he had a hard time with it, especially since he loves meat. He suffered a lot of withdrawals for the first week. But he lost weight from this, and his going to the gym most days. My mom doesn't often work out, but she goes for walks. She had some withdrawals as well, and drinks a lot of coffee. But she also lost weight. They stopped the diet when they got bored, but my mom is now a vegetarian, and my dad's just starting the diet again now (he gained the weight back) and working out.

My grandma is a diabetic, and she lives about an hour and fifteen minutes away from me. She wanted to lose weight last year before the family reunion in summer, and she wasn't able to go to the gym often. I told her about the diet. I was surprised when she said she was going to do it (she was reluctant before). She did use some kind of spritzer for salads (not supposed to), but she stuck very well to the diet otherwise, and she already uses Almond Breeze instead of milk. However, for some holidays, she did go off the diet (birthdays, Easter, etc). But after that, she always went back on. She stopped the diet in August, but eats much healthier now. She is thinking about going back on the diet after Easter because she lost so much weight. She wants her boyfriend to do the diet as well, because he has kidney problems and doesn't eat healthily (too much meat and dairy and fat, not enough veggies), and he doesn't go the the gym often (he does walk though). My grandma goes to the gym every other day, she's kind of a health nut, lol. But I was amazed to learn that her usual diabetic symptoms decreased after the withdrawals were done! She also had to use milk of magnesia prior to her diet because of her constipation issues, but when she was on the diet, she stopped using milk of magnesia and could "go normally". She loved the diet and loves eating fruits/veggies, since she has her own garden anyways. I think I'll try it soon.

trying ETL again.
 

I've been trying to eat to live for several years, but have been torn between it and Dr Gundry's diet plan, Diet Evolution. He recommends no fruit at first, saying that it activates insulin. Which makes sense, since fruit is naturally only available in summer, when we're storing fat for winter famines.
But so many people are losing on ETL that I'm giving it another try. My labs are great, but the weight doesn't come off.
I joined Biggest Loser at work, so have a little money invested in losing weight! So hope this will work this time. I'm trying to stick to it religiously for the first 6 to 8 weeks.

I've never heard of ETL before this post but I ate a very similar vegan diet for three weeks recently after watching some documentaries about eating a whole food plant based diet. I was never hunger and felt great. My food shopping and cooking time went way up but it was worth it. I was more regular than I wanted to be but it was workable.

I have added in some meat and dairy recently because I was losing weight too fast. I don't want to loss too much muscle mass, and have too much excess skin folds if I can help it, which from what I have read can be a result of really fast weight loss.

I may go back to eating much less or no animal products once I lose more weight and need less calories.

6 weeks in
 

I'm just finishing out my first 6 weeks of more or less following the Eat to Live diet. I say more or less because I've used my share of non ETL salad dressings, and some oil for stir fry. That was the compromise I had to make with myself. If I was going to increase my veggie intake I needed to make them as palatable as possible. :-)

I am an unlikely nutritarian in that I'm not especially fond of vegetables and even less so of beans! It is true that that tastes do change as you stick with it, and lentils are a really good gateway to eating beans. Another thing that I've found is that the more salad I eat, the better I feel and the quicker I lose the weight - especially now that I'm using much lower calorie dressings.

So I started off wanting to drop 25lbs, get control over my food cravings, and just generally feel better. In the first six weeks, I took off 15 of those pounds, quickly eliminated the food cravings, and I definitely feel better. I'm so much less preoccupied with food, and for the first time in my adult life, I'm no longer addicted to caffeine. ETL has exceeded all of my expectation and will definitely become a lifestyle choice for me.

Starting ETL today!
 

Am excited to commit to this way of eating! Thought I'd join this forum to stay as motivated months from now. Question--is almond milk allowed? I've read the book cover to cover but can't find a definitive answer. Since I'm on the six week plan, I'm assuming "no".

not sure
 

I like the diet very much. However, instead of losing weight on it, I'm gaining about a kilo a week. Any ideas?

Low-Fat Dairy
 

Why is low-fat dairy not allowed during the first six weeks? What is so fattening or unhealthy about 1% Cottage Cheese? It is only 150 calories total. Aside from the two pieces of whole wheat bread I'm eating, everything else I eat is a fruit or a vegetable. And I walk vigorously over an hour a day. And I am still gaining weight.

Isn't this a limited-fats diet? That's where calories really add up.