Eat to Live
The 6 week plan...simplified
Since I've begun the
Eat to Live plan I already feel better: as in healthier. I wanted to write out the plan in a simple way so those of you who choose to join in can have something to follow. It can be complex eating plant based or it can be simple. It depends on how flamboyant you want to go with your meals. The
vegetarian meatballs I made, or the
mac and cheeze are a little more time consuming than a simple Eat to Live guideline salad. So for the 6 weeks, since my family is quite a bit busier and on the go, I have decided to keep it basic...so far it's working.
So you have your basic foods that are unlimited and Dr. Fuhrman encourages you to to eat as much as possible, in fact try to eat one pound a day:
*Green lettuce, kale, collard greens, snow peas, bell peppers, cucumbers, sprouts, carrots tomatoes etc.
These are just examples of vegetables, not the only ones you can enjoy. The emphasis is on leafy greens. I found the full head of lettuce or one pound of greens isn't too hard to reach if you enjoy a
green smoothie somewhere in the day.
One pound of steamed/cooked veggies daily (Again, emphasis on the green vegetables)
*string beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, bok choy, asparagus, zucchini, spinach etc.
Use everyday for flavoring: Onions and mushrooms for taste and texture. They both have shown to have great anti-cancer properties.
Beans/Legumes: 1 cup daily
You can add beans to your salads, make a bean soup with vegetable stock. This is great source of plant based protein that will help keep you full. They can be canned or uncooked. Check out this
hummus recipe for a great snack and way to get your bean serving.
Fresh Fruit (avoid canned and dried for the 6 weeks)
-No fruit juice (except for dressings)
-Frozen fruit is good
I found it fun and interesting the first time I did this plan to buy an exotic, new fruit each time. We've tried passion fruit (which honestly I'm not very passionate about) star fruit, persimmons, dragon fruit etc. Those might not be exotic to some of you but we basically stick to berries, apples, oranges and bananas in this house. The sky is the limit with fruit, but particularly focus on berries each day because of their antioxidants and disease fighting properties.
Now there are some foods to limit on the plan, don't cut them out, just tone it down.
-whole grains and cooked starchy veggies
Although Dr. Fuhrman states to eat a sweet potato or things like that over bread and pasta. You are allowed to eat these things, just sparingly. He says in Eat to Live adding some whole grain pasta on a salad is fine, or some brown rice. Oatmeal for breakfast is also a great choice, but that would be your only grain serving.
Things to eliminate (this is where the hard part comes in)
-Animal and dairy products.
-Refined sugar, artificial sweeteners
This means, no cheese, no milk, no meat* No SODA (my weakness)
-mid meal snacks (unless it's fruit or veggies)
Add a tablespoon of ground flaxseed each day, but no more than 1 oz.
Also, remember those awesome nuts and seeds, but again limit to 1 oz.
Here is an example of a day
Breakfast: Green Smoothie w/flaxseed and 1 cup of oatmeal sweetened with stevia or honey
Lunch: Large salad, topped with beans and a side of mixed fruit or a whole apple.
Dinner: Large salad with slivered almonds, two cooked veggies for a side and fruit for dessert.
When I say large salad I mean large salad...take up the plate! Dressings, blend fruit, use a little fruit juice, salsa, or low-fat, low sugar store bought dressings. I admit I struggle with the dressing department and it takes a lot to change my tastes on dressings, but they do change. Your salads should be so full of a variety of things, your tongue should not be bored!
That's the basic plan, if you want to join me comment below. I'd love to have others to provide support to one another!
*there is a 90% rule. 90% of the time you eat plant based, 10% of the time you can eat lean meats, or other animal products.
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