Eating to Live not Living to Eat

I finished reading Dr. Fuhrman's book called Eat to Live on Friday. There was a ton of information. It took me about three days to finish reading it, in between everything else going on in my life. This book made sense to me. It was like someone turned on the light switch. I told my hubby that back when I was eating less meat and more veggies (5 years ago) I felt better. Then I took a nose dive and began eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. So I joined Weight Watchers. It has really helped me stay on track. I love our leader, Lynn. However, the stress from this past year at school made me lose track of myself again. So I wanted to do something to recommit myself to getting healthier. That's why I picked up the book Eat to Live. After reading this book I'm ready to eat healthy once again. Not to say I won't have a cheat day NOW and THEN. And it's okay to have a cheat day as long as I get back to eating healthy the next day or sooner.

In a nutshell, the Eat to Live plan says I can have all of the raw and cooked vegetables that I want. Dr. Fuhrman wants me to shoot for a goal of one pound of each a day. As far as fruit goes . . . wait for it . . . I can have as much fruit as I want each day, a minimum of four servings. I've never been told I can have as much fruit as I want. Usually, diets say to limit the fruit intake. Following the Eat to Live plan is what's known as being a nutritarian, getting all the nutrients my body needs from nutrient rich foods. 

Here are the Daily Guidelines:

Eat these as much as I want:

• all raw vegetables (goal 1 lb.)
• cooked green and non-green nutrient-rich vegetables (goal: 1 lb.)
• beans, legumes, bean sprouts, and tofu (goal: 1 cup)
• fresh fruit (min. 4 daily)

Limit:

• cooked starchy vegetables and whole grains (max. 1 cup)
• raw nuts and seeds (max 1 oz.)
• avocado (max 2 oz.)
• dried fruit (max 2 tbsp.)
• ground flaxseeds (max 1 tbsp.)

Do Not Eat:

• dairy
• meat / Animal products
• between-meal snacks
• fruit juice
• oils
• added salt

Yesterday was the beginning of eating to live for me. I have to admit I was a little nervous. Could I stick with it? Would I want to snack in the afternoon? If so how would I handle it? 

I began my day as I normally would with my cup of coffee and sitting on my back porch. I'm not usually a breakfast eater. By the way, Dr. Fuhrman says if I'm not hungry I don't have to eat. All though I do want to try making overnight oats in a jar. I'll talk about that later. 

For lunch, I fixed an enormous salad: a mix of greens, carrots, cucumbers, celery, sunflower seeds, and poppy seed dressing from Panera Bread. I'm not supposed to have the dressing, but according to Weight Watchers, it is only 1 point for 2 tablespoons. The sunflower seeds were 6 points. It was difficult to get through the entire salad. However, I did feel full afterward. Not stuffed - satisfied. 

For a snack, I made a smoothie in my blender. I had been outside weeding in my flower garden and thought an icy drink would hit the spot. In my mind, this replaced my breakfast since I'm not supposed to be snacking. I blended one cup of frozen blueberries, one medium banana, and one cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I sipped my smoothie while I sat in my chair enjoying the sunshine. I wonder if I got ANY vitamin D since I was covered in SPF 30. My smoothie was delicious! As far as Weight Watchers points go I only counted the almond milk. One cup is 1 point. So far so good. The hardest part of my day was yet to come.

Sitting in front of the television is a trigger for me. In other words sitting on my couch mindlessly watching my show is when I want to snack on a whole bag of chips carrot sticks. Seriously, I watch an afternoon soap, General Hospital. I usually watch my show right when I come home from school where I teach ninth graders. Today, I watched my show and nibbled on some delicious cherries. It wasn't easy. I so wanted some a whole bag of tortilla chips with hummus. I had one cup of cherries. So far I've had a banana, blueberries, and cherries. One more fruit to go for the day and I hit my minimum. Notice I haven't had any cooked veggies yet.

For dinner, I cooked some green beans and fixed another huge salad. Pretty much the same salad as lunch minus the sunflower seeds and celery. My hubby had pizza. The turd! I ate all of my green beans and most of my salad. I was feeling kind of stuffed. So I stopped eating. What a concept. 

While watching the Cavs game I wanted something to munch on so I had my fourth and final fruit of the day, cantaloupe. Yum! 

I made it! I actually did it! I know. I know. It's only the FIRST day. But I feel good. Not as nervous as I did when I first began this morning. I only used 9 WW points for the day. 

P.S. When I weighed myself this morning I lost 2.1 pounds!!! WOOT!