Where did the month go? I guess I was too busy having fun to pay attention to how quickly it passed. This month we attended my cousin’s beautiful, intimate wedding, hung out with my dad during his week-long visit, played sleuth tracking down some family history, attended barbeques and tromped through summer street festivals.
Looking back on the past few monthly reports, I’m afraid it looks like I’m coming up with excuses for not following Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat To Live plan perfectly and why I haven’t lost the 6 pounds I put back on since my first posts on the subject in January. There are a lot of people who read these reports and I feel a frank explanation is in order.
First, let me say that after following a lot of different diets over the years, this is one of the most pure and healthiest I’ve come across. It’s hard to describe how “clean” and vibrant you feel following this program. Another very similar diet I followed is the Forks Over Knives diet. I really should refer to both of these as “plans” rather than “diets” because they aren’t aimed only at losing weight, but also at forming a new eating life-style to achieve maximum long-term health. I highly recommend both of these plans.
Comparing the Eat To Live and Forks Over Knives Plans
These programs are so similar that it’s hard to find differences between the two. The difference I found has to do with their recommendations regarding starchy vegetables such as white potatoes, yams, squashes, parsnips, rutabagas and corn. The Forks Over Knives plan allows you to eat these freely, while Dr. Fuhrman recommends limiting them to 1 serving (1 cup) per day. In addition, Dr. Fuhrman lumps together starchy vegetables and grains like brown rice, barley, millet, oats, quinoa and buckwheat. This is because these carbohydrate-heavy foods are more calorically dense making it difficult for some people – like me – to lose or maintain weight. So whereas you could eat white baked potatoes and brown rice freely on the Forks Over Knives plan, you are limited to 1 cup of either of them – or ½ cup of one and ½ cup of the other – every day. As much as I would love to eat potatoes and rice freely, it just doesn’t work for me. All I have to do is look at a potato and it immediately jumps on my hips!
So getting back to my explanation, I guess I have to admit that as much as I love the Eat To Live plan, it’s pretty restrictive and hard to follow 100% of the time. Even though my cupboards and refrigerator are stocked with only Dr. Fuhrman approved foods (other than my husband’s animal/fish based staples which are easy for me to resist), I find myself following the Forks Over Knives approach to starchy vegetables and grains. Let’s face it – they are more filling than kale. I know Dr. Fuhrman says that eating large amounts of leafy nutrient-dense greens will fill you up so much that you won’t crave or have room for carb heavy vegetables and grains, but that just isn’t the case for me. When a carb craving hits, I’m going to reach for whole grain crackers and hummus rather than a salad. There is no doubt that Dr. Fuhrman’s plan will peel off the pounds. But I have to admit I’m having some difficulty in staying the course over the long haul.
Social Gatherings
Another one of my problems is sticking to the plan outside the comfort of my own kitchen. This month was packed with parties and barbeques. Do you really think I’m not going to sample the potato salad, cheese plate and dip the veggies in Ranch? Throughout the year, there are social functions to attend and temptations to face. But the summer months offer these up on a weekly basis (I can’t believe how packed our social calendar is/has been). And I don’t want to become the DIP (Designated Irritating Person) at parties by only drinking bottled water and loading up my plate with veggie sticks. When people go to the effort of throwing a party and stocking the buffet table with their food labors-of-love, I think it’s rude to not sample their offerings. My problem is that I go a bit farther than just sampling. Can’t. Stop. Eating. Chips & Dip!
So What’s the Plan Now?
1) Tackling Carb Cravings: Since I had success losing weight in January following the Eat To Live plan, I reviewed my daily food logs to remind myself how I got through numerous bread/carb cravings. Turns out I ate a lot of bananas, nuts, beans and cooked mushrooms because they are very filling and are allowed under the plan to be eaten liberally. I’m going to re-visit that strategy in July.
2) Parties: I’ve decided to not worry about these. Life is short. You should surround yourself with family and friends and enjoy yourself rather than mentally calculating how many fat grams may be in the veggie dip or apple pie. I’m giving myself permission to sample whatever peaks my interest on the buffet table. The key word here is “sample”, not devour shamelessly. In addition, for two days preceding each party, I’ll follow the weight loss part of the plan to counteract any potential weight gain from partaking of the goodies. I’m also giving myself permission to not worry about trying to drop the 6 pounds I gained back – at least not until Fall. My goal during this summer is to maintain a stable weight and not gain any more back. I’ll get back on the weight loss program in September.
Check back in August for the next progress report!
P.S. I would love to hear from other people who have followed either the Dr. Fuhrman or Forks Over Knives programs and what their experiences were like. Feel free to email me (use the Contact Me button in the right hand column) or use the comment section below!
Tracy says
Thank you for the summary and your honesty. I’m right there with you. I got irritated, deprived, and sometimes just dang hungry on ETL.
Amy says
I found that I need to have a plan in place to keep ahead of getting hungry. If I don’t, my blood sugar plummets and then I get a bit loopy/snarly and end up eating anything I can get my hands on. Keeping fruit easily accessible seems to work best for me. Good luck!
Tracy says
Agreed. Have you ever left a banana in a hot car? Oops. Do you happen to love a particular butter substitute? Coffee too?
Amy says
No, I haven’t left a banana in a hot car. But once I left one in the bottom of my (rather expensive) briefcase for a few weeks (yes, weeks). Have any idea how gross it is to try to clean a black, slimy banana off leather? My advice: keep the fruit on your person at all times to avoid a messy, smelly clean-up of forgotten, left-behind snacks! Regarding the butter substitute: I’m not a big consumer of butter, but for cooking, Dr. Fuhrman allows you to wipe your pan with a thin layer of olive oil. I sometimes use a dusting of cooking oil spray. Regarding coffee: I’ve never been a coffee drinker. Believe it or not, if you don’t drink energy-boosting drinks regularly, you simply don’t need anything to rev up your engine in the morning. On the rare occasions that I’m a little dragged out in the morning, I’ll add raw cacoa powder to my smoothie or eat a couple squares of dark chocolate (85% or darker). Give that a try!