Two weeks ago I began (restarted) the Eat to Live program from the book of the same name by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. So far I have lost 13 pounds. I have pretty much followed the letter of the law, however yesterday at the annual meeting and dinner at church, I took a fall. My mistake was not bringing something healthy to eat ...and they were serving pizza and salad. "Fine," I thought, "I will just eat the salad"....For some reason all day yesterday I suffered from toxic hunger (which is the pain in the stomach you suffer when "hungry" which in truth is pain caused by your body de-toxing....True hunger does not hurt). I had two small breakfasts (because I'm up from 2:00 on so needed something extra.). Unfortunately the ladies decided to serve the sheet cake before the pizza and salad!! I was sunk. I was so hungry I caved and had a piece. It did not taste good but I didn't care. I just wanted something to put in my stomach. THEN I had salad and raw veggies.
I know this was not the end of the world. It probably won't even affect my weight. Years ago I would have really chastised myself for that "failure"....Now however, I am just going to continue the program and not look back. I learned something: when there is a church fellowship, bring your own food. I did that a couple of years ago when I was losing weight. I took a lot of flack about it from people there, but that's ok. I don't have to answer to them.
Here is a quote from Dr F.:
"Results encourage change, and results motivate. The stricter you are, the more quickly your tastes will change" And--I might add--the quicker you will detox and lose that awful tummy hunger.
There is a very good explanation in the book about the time when our stomachs are growling etc. It is then that the shift in your body goes from digesting the food in your stomach, to using up the fat on your body. And that toxic hunger occurs right about then also. So if I feed every time I feel a belly growl, my body will never have the opportunity to have its fat worked off...it will just continually digest the never ending stream of food I give it. SO my image left over from my anorexic years of little "Pac men" munching on my fat....and that the pain I feel is them chomping on me....is not too far from wrong. Thinking of that always got me through hungry times. Of course I am not trying to enable anorexics....just maybe to give you an image that may be helpful.
When I did "Eat to Live" the last time, my husband did it with me. And he quickly moved from appreciating the meals to really hating them. It was one complaint after another, so I got discouraged and stopped cooking those meals. THIS time, I'm doing it alone. He knows he needs it. He knows it's the only way he will not drop dead soon of a heart attack....and still he eats garbage. I do not understand that but I can't change it.
Anyway....cooking just to please myself has been so much easier. Sometimes my daughter will have some of my food also. She needs to get healthy too....and according to Dr F, genetic weaknesses and predilections to disease will never have to surface if you eat a healthy diet. She need never experience autoimmune disease in her future. Mentally it would do her good also. But this, as in all cases, is up to the individual. One thing I must say is that reading the books Eat to Live or Eating for Health, is terribly motivating. I do not think anyone could just do this diet without reading for themselves the evidence of its being totally based on science and nutrition, to keep them going. I've read Eat to Live at least three times now and I will continue to read it when I need a boost of enthusiasm.
If you are Sick, Fat and Tired, I highly recommend these books. All you need to do is follow the guidelines which are 1 lb of raw veggies, 1 lb of cooked veggies, one starch, a cup of beans and nuts and seeds and some mushrooms--each day. And the weight will melt off. You may not be able to eat a full 2 lbs of veggies at first....but eventually you will and the odd thing is that the MORE YOU EAT; the more weight you will lose!! There is not any need to track calories or to weigh and measure (although you may want to, to see if you are on track) and best of all, you do not have to experience hunger or limit your intake of food.
I have about 100 lbs to go. That figure is daunting....so I do not focus on it. I take it day by day and attempt to make each day a perfect day of following the program. And remarkably, seemingly without effort, the weight comes off. The doctor recommends exercise also however understands that until you lose some weight, you may not feel up to that. So if this intrigues you, buy the book or go to : www.doctorfuhrman.com and find out more for yourself. Read some of the testimonials. They are incredible.
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