4/28/10 Info on the book "Eat To LIve"

I will write about his lecture in the next day or two.  In the meantime, here's info on his breakthrough book:  "Eat To Live"

The info below is taken from Dr. Fuhrman's Web Page: http://www.drfuhrman.com/weightloss/about.aspx

About Eat To Live

When Mehmet Oz or any of New York's leading doctors has a patient whose life depends on losing weight, they call on Joel Fuhrman, M.D. In Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Dr. Fuhrman offers his healthy, effective and scientifically proven plan for shedding radical amounts of weight quickly and keeping it off. Losing weight under Dr. Fuhrman's plan is not about willpower: it is about knowledge. The key to this revolutionary diet is the idea of nutrient density, as expressed by the simple formula: Health = Nutrients/Calories When the ratio of nutrients to calories is high, fat melts away, and health is restored. Losing 20 pounds in two to three weeks is just the beginning. The more nutrient-dense food you consume, the more you will be satisfied with fewer calories, and the less you will crave fat and high-calorie foods. If you are an adult diabetic, you will likely be insulin-free in no time. If you are on heart medication, your doctor may stop your prescription. If you are planning a June wedding, you will have the dress size you dream of. Dr. Fuhrman's meal plan offers recipes for power foods and delicious meals that deliver the biggest bang for the caloric buck. He promises that you can lose at least thirty pounds in three months without ever going hungry. Moreover, after you try his Six-Week Plan, you will lose your appetite for unhealthy, overprocessed foods that account for Americans having the second-highest incidence of cancer and heart disease in the world. This is a book that will let you live longer, reduce your need for medications, and improve your health dramatically. It is a book that will change the way you want to eat, but most important of all, if you follow the Eat to Live diet, you will lose weight faster than you ever thought possible. ******* Dr. Fuhrman's Eat To Live diet-style is simply the healthiest way to eat, and as a result, it is also the most effective way to normalize your weight. No other diet can radically drop your cholesterol as proven in medical studies. No other diet can effectively drop your triglycerides, can get rid of your diabetes and can normalize your blood pressure. Eat To Live allows you to say no to heart attacks: they simply do not have to occur. When you eat this healthfully, you can expect your indigestion, reflux, allergies, asthma, arthritis and many other chronic problems to be resolved. Your food addictions disappear, and you actually develope a stronger ability to taste the natural flavors in simple foods. Eat To Live is not merely a weightloss book. This book is also targeted at those desiring to effectively prevent or reverse other chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, joint problems and high blood pressure. Also, this book is for those who just want to be in great health, maintain their youthful vigor, and physical and mental abilities into their later years. It is the real anti-aging way of eating. Eat To Live is a must read for every health conscious person in America. It will open your eyes to a totally new way of thinking about food that is sensible, simple and scientifically sound. You will never again be confused about what constitutes good nutrition, and if you are overweight, you will be thinner than you ever thought possible. There are other good diets out there, and there are many dangerous diet plans too. Some are more dangerous than others. If you are considering a risky method to lose weight, such as a meat-based diet, so that you can continue your love affair with saturated-fat-rich foods, Eat To Live may not be the diet for you.Eat To Live is a vegetable-based diet. You don't eat only vegetables, but you learn that eating a lot of high nutrient foods is the key to controlling your food cravings and your weight. If you insist that , no matter what, you cannot eat vegetables, this is not the diet for you. Eat To Live is for those who want to regain their ideal weight in the healthiest manner possible. It was not written to be the best selling book in the country. To do that, it would have to be filled myths and fraudulent information to make it palatable to the masses. I wrote it for every individual who wanted optimal advice to lose weight most effectively, for those people who want to reverse their medical conditions and for precluding the possibility of having a heart attack. It is designed to work for those who had trouble losing weight with other plans. It is designed for those who need to lose a lot of weight and who want to lose a significant amount of pounds each month in a very safe manner. It is designed to protect the health of those with serious illnesses. It is designed to save lives. Not everyone is willing to eat a diet this healthy, but Eat to Live is not just for those with steely determination and super human powers of self-denial. It is for people like you and me who enjoy eating a lot of great tasting food that just happens to be very healthy. Why can't we make the healthiest foods on the planet taste great? I am not on a diet; this just happens to be the way I like to eat because I enjoy it and want to enjoy great health, too. The majority of individuals who give Eat to Live a try for a few months say they enjoy eating this way more than their prior eating style. A truly healthful diet can be great tasting too. Taste and health are not mutually exclusive. I encourage you to learn more ... only then can you know if this is right for you. **All graphics courtesy of Dr. Fuhrman

4/28/10 Dr Fuhrman, Author of "Eat To Live" Speaking locally Tonight!

Looking forward to seeing Dr. Fuhrman speak again tonight.  It's a free event too!  I think it's sponsored by Whole Foods so there's bound to be plug for the store at some point.  

I saw him a few years ago and found his talk very informative and encouraging.  It was his book, "Eat To Live," that opened my eyes to the connection between food and disease.  I know in the back of my mind I need to go back to being a strict vegan again.  Perhaps this will be the shot in the arm I need.  My allergies are so out of control this season.  I suspect my consumption of processed cheeses and some other dairy products has a little something to do with it!  

I'll take lots of notes tonight!  Be sure to check back again soon for a full Fuhrman report! 

Satisfied in Christ,

-Karen

4/26/10 Sugar-Free Fix And Exercise...

                                                        
Decided I would go for walks in the morning for starters and take it from there. I went with Trip before he went to work.  It was a great walk.  I didn't hurt afterward either.  Maybe eventually I'll jog a little and even lift some weights.  For now I will stick with the walking.

Had a monster of a salad today for lunch.  It had juicy cherry tomatoes I got from a friend, spinach, green leaf lettuce I got from the same friend plus onions and a little cheese with vinaigrette dressing.  My last bite of this monster sized salad had a little too much onion in it and I had a hankering for something sweet.  Of course there was nothing to be found that was sugar-free.  I wasn't about to blow it and eat sugar so I went to the grocery store and bought some sugar-free mousse, pudding and candy.  It tasted good too!  So much for self control, I didn't hold back and tried one of each.  I decided that the dulce de leche pudding was my favorite.

Weigh-in:

Breakfast:  Strawberry, mango, pinapple, rice milk smoothie
Lunch: Monster salad
Snack: 1 sugar-free pudding, 2 sugar-free mousses, 1 sugar-free candy, 3 pieces of cheese, 1 rice cake.
Dinner:  Three pieces of garlic rice bread with spaghetti sauce

Basically had a lot of mundane tasks to do today like typing, and making phone calls to work.  Glad to get all that done.   I have some more busy work to do tomorrow too.  I hope I get it all done!  Praying that all of the fruits of the spirit are abundant in me always!   "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control"  Galatians 5:22-23

Satisfied in Christ,
-Karen

4/25/10 Hitting The Weight Loss Wall...

I had a great work trip to Zurich.  Everything from the crew, the flights, the passengers, the layover and my food choices were stellar.  No complaints whatsoever.  I'm looking forward to flying Zurich all next month too.  The hotel we stay at has a very accommodating crew room for us to hang out at in addition to our private hotel rooms.  In the crew lounge there is a mini kitchen with a micro, sink and fridge, a big table to eat meals on, couches, chairs and a little terrace outside of it.  I can look forward to bringing more food with me on the trip that I can prepare at the hotel in addition to the flights.  I found out that my flight attendant buddy Susie held the same Zurich line with me.  She too is a believer in Jesus Christ and a great friend.   We not only enjoy working together, but have such great fellowship on our trips.  She too commutes to JFK out of the same airport as I.

Okay, so I've been off sugar for over a month now.  I'm pretty good about avoiding excessively fattening food for the most part like french fries and other greasy stuff.  I'm sneaking a little cheese here and there, but nothing excessive except the potato cheese soup I had in JFK.  I notice that my face is thinning out more, but the rest of my body just stays the same.  I haven't measured myself lately though.  I pretty much stopped doing my "T-Tapp" workouts and it shows.  When I T-Tapp regularly,  my metabolism is higher and I lose inches.  I haven't gained any inches in the last month or so, but the fact that I'm not losing any confirms that simply curbing my food choices isn't enough.  I'm glad I'm seeing this first hand.  I remember in my 30's when I was on weight watchers that I lost more weight when I worked out, but I still lost weight and inches when I didn't workout too.  Without the exercise, I just lost it at a slower rate.  Now in my mid forties, I see that good eating without exercise just isn't going to cut it.  My legs and arms are flabby and I just can't hide my belly any more.  It's time to get moving!

I think I will come up with  routine that is doable.  Start out with smaller time increments.  T-Tapp is at the top of the list, but I want to incorporate walking outside daily if possible in addition to some weight training.  Thankfully we have a Bowflex upstairs in our attic spare room.  I just need to get my husband to show me the ropes a little.  We have an elliptical as well.  I will take it slow especially since I have recurrent bursitis in my left hip in addition to arthritis in my left foot.

Weigh-in:
Inflight to Zurich:  Baked sweet potato, salad, 1 shrimp and one small piece of smoked salmon from the plane.
During Zurich layover:  Mango juice, package of shrimp from home, salad, rice cakes, rice and sun-dried tomato patty, acorn squash, two oranges, mineral water and lime.
Inflight back to JFK:  Tomato juice, baked potato and brussel sprouts from home, salad, 1 small shrimp and small piece of smoked salmon from the plane.
At JFK while waiting for my flight:  Cheesy potato soup (my most fattening choice of the trip)

So I'm home for a little over a week now.  I look forward to the new challenge of incorporating exercise regularly into my daily schedule.  I will let you know how it goes.  I've been praying and reading the word pretty regularly and can see the difference in my walk with the Lord.  Praying for continued focus, with all the fruits of the Spirit in full tow.  To God be all the Glory!

Satisfied in Christ,
Karen

4/16/10 My first work trip since committing to this weight-loss ministry.

Yesterday I got back from a three day Brussels trip which was my first work trip since I chose to eat responsibly and start this weight loss ministry.   I leaned heavily on the Lord throughout the trip by prayer.   I didn't read scripture as much as I'd like however.  The challenge to eat healthy during my work trips comes not only in the limited choices on the plane, but the psychology that goes along with an average work day.  Like with any job, there are great days, good days and not so good days.  No matter what kind of day it might be, there is always a choice to be made in either the right direction or the wrong direction.

We know when we've truly made the right choice and when we haven't.  Whatever is going on that day can greatly influence those choices if we let it.  I'm not saying I spent hours in prayer in the morning, noon and night, but I found myself often praying for strength, peace of mind and wisdom. This time I felt myself utilizing those prayerful moments differently.  During those prayers I could tell that I was being strengthened physically and mentally for any "battle" that could come my way.  Through those prayers I chose not to get defensive with one particularly critical flight attendant.  Instead the Lord just washed me with his mercy and grace.  Unfortunately later in the trip I sinned in with gossip by confiding to a couple flight attendants about the situation.  They were very kind, supportive flight attendants that were truly about team work and I'm sorry that I lured them into any negativity.

It's in our daily challenges and failings that the Lord gives us an opportunity for growth.  My continued prayer to the Lord is to "create a new work in me."  My first two work trips back seemed to go as smoothly as glass.  I felt so comforted, guided and loved by God.  This last trip wasn't as smooth as glass, but God still showed his love and comfort to me by bringing me to Him through prayer for support and direction.  Not once did I have an urge to comfort myself with the idol of food.  If I did it must have been fleeting because I do not remember it.

Weigh-in:
In-flight food choices on the first day I made were:  A baked potato & orange I brought from home, salad & banana from the plane.
On the layover:  I bought some fresh spinach, mustard dressing & corn cakes (like a rice cakes) at a local Brussels store.  For dinner I ate with some of the crew at the hotel restaurant which gave us a 50% discount.  I had asparagus soup and then half cooked tuna with asparagus.  It was delicious!  At no time was I tempted to order or eat dessert.  For breakfast the next morning I had two bananas, an orange and some of the spinach salad I'd made.
Flight home:  I baked my second potato, ate the rest of my spinach salad, some grapes from home and my last orange.


So I look back at this past Brussels trip with humility and gratitude.  So thankful for the opportunities to grow in the Lord by leaning on Him and not food.  Also thankful to see where I get to grow regarding my stumbling block of approval by others.  Thank you Lord!

4/11/10 A New Sense Of Independence

It's occurred to me that as I lessen the role of food in my life, the freer I feel.  I've always known that freedom from any bondage comes from Christ, but I'm really getting to understand the depth of that freedom now.  It reaches through areas of my life I never expected like how, when and what I eat each day.  It's getting easier for me to ignore the urges of certain foods or impulsive over eating.  I'm seeing the seriousness of food addiction and how it must be treated like any drug addiction.  I have to completely abstain from any of these addictive foods if I want to stay "clean" so to speak.  This is my 3rd week anniversary of no sugar.

I can't quite kick the cheese habit though.  According to Joel Fuhrman M.D., cheese is one of the most processed foods out there.   The more processed, the worse it is for you.    My main source and use of cheese is crumbled or shredded cheese as salad toppings.  I've rationalized it's use to make my salads more palatable until I find something healthier that I like better.   Soon I will move cheese out of my diet completely.  I realize that when I stumble along the way I get to dust myself off and get back on track.

By the grace of God, I'm getting healthier each day.  I've heard that my blog is encouraging some folks who've been dealing with similar addictions and struggles.  To God be all the glory!

4/10/10 Vegetable Gardening On My Mind...

I remember my dad's garden in our backyard growing up.  He enjoyed his time in the garden and we enjoyed the fruits of his labor.  We had corn, squash, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, melons, carrots, etc.  I've always wanted a garden of my own, but never had a sunny enough patch in any of my yards to have one.  Now we have a good area to grow some luscious veggies.  The ground is sloped so we have to use small terraced boxes.  It can get expensive at first so we've limited ourselves to planting just one box this season.  Lord willing we can put more in at a later date.  For starters we are going to plant four tomato plants.  Since I eat a lot of salads, it would be nice if we can also put in a planter of lettuce and spinach before too long.

How cool will it be to grow our own food!  We'll have to figure out some fencing and netting to keep out the bunnies and birds however.  I'll let you know how it goes.  If you have any gardening tips, please let me know!  Thanks!

Satisfied in Chist,

Karen

4/9/10 Is Yesterday Over Already?

As far as food choices, productivity and exercise go, yesterday was a pretty stellar day.  However, I made less extended, conscious prayer time with God.  I  see now that I was mentally preoccupied with stuff.  If I'm preoccupied or my thoughts are continually going back to a particular issue, that's a clue that it's time to come before the Lord.   I had a lot of "fleeting in and out praying, throughout the day" but not an additional extended period of time just being with my Lord and reading His Holy Word.

There is something to be said about purpose too.  What is the purpose of each day?  A purposeful day can translate into a productive day.  A productive day makes food less important.   Prayer and reading of the Word lay the foundation for that daily purpose while productivity moves it right along.

Prayer always gets me grounded and focused.  A great example of that is how I've stopped eating processed, addictive foods.  A moment of weakness may come, but remembering my commitment and prayer to the Lord gets  me back on track.  The overall discontinuation of processed food helps take away the inertia of the addictive, impulsive eating.   I'm slowly seeing a redefinition of food in my life.  Food is becoming less and less an idol for me.   Food or anything else that becomes too important in day to day life, becomes too important in life period!  God is to be first always day to day and for all eternity.  Can He remain number one if I'm so preoccupied with my personal needs such as food?  Something to think about.

Weigh-In for 4/08/10
Breakfast: Rice toast with grapeseed mayo, onion, shrimp & tomato.
Lunch:  Wasn't hungry so I skipped it.
Dinner: spinach romaine salad with sweet onion, orange pieces, chopped up smoked almonds, crumbled blue cheese and balsamic dressing.  Strawberries and decaf, sugar-free coffee drink.

Exercise: 2+ hours Mowing the lawn and the house

Today is a brand new day!

4/07/10 Busy Day..

Busy day today.  Painted the bathrooms again this morning.  Went home to change clothes then went over to Kate's school to help with lunches and read to the class.  After that it was back to the shop to paint some more then back home in time for Kate's arrival from school.  Went to the store for a few things including an ice cream cake for Kate's little half birthday celebration.

Oh by the way I didn't get Chinese last night.  I opted for soup.  Today however in my flurry of activity I stopped by KFC for some veggies.  Gotta watch that stuff!  Other than that it's been a stellar food day.  Nothing exciting or major to report.

Pretty tired.   Gonna head for bed now.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Satisfied in Christ,
-Karen

4//6/10 Staying in the Zone...

I got more painting done today and will hopefully finish at least one of the bathrooms tomorrow Lord willing.

I wish I didn't feel so tired, but it was hard work.  I feel kinda old right now.  Wish I could take a nap or something.

Weigh-in:
I've eaten well today.  I'm in the zone so to speak!
I had too many of the small low sodium V-8s today!  Four in total.  Low in calories sure, but the sodium level  can kill ya if you keep drinkin' them!  HELLO!!!!!

Check this out, Kate and one of her car pool buddies ate a fruit roll-up on the way home from school and it smelled just like chinese food to me.  I'm seriously starting to fantasize about my next chinese meal.  Not good!  I get to stop making food into such a main event.  Eating is a necessary, but doesn't need to be a production.  Of course I will continue to plan meals for my family.  That gets to remain an important time when our family gathers around the table for dinner.   I also get to plan ahead for my personal meals too which helps keep me from impulsively grabbing anything when I'm hungry.

I enjoyed my salad and some corn on the cob with Trip at lunch today.  I had what was left of the salad later this afternoon.  Now the question is will I resist the urge to have chinese tonight?  Check back in next time to find out!  LOL!  I don't need to spend the money on it.  That's for sure!

Okay,  I've been on the computer long enough for now.

Peace,
Karen

4/06/10 Off To A Good Start Today..

While coming back from our daughter's school this morning, I listened to a great sermon on 1030 AM radio by John MacArthur.  It was very relative to what I'm studying in the Bible for this weight loss ministry.  It was just what I needed.   Thank you Lord!

I'm going back to the shop again today to continue painting the bathrooms.  I hope to get closer to finishing.  We'll see.   I already packed up a salad to share with Trip for lunch as well as some fruit and rice cake snacks.  Can't stay on the the computer writing too long today or I wont get out in time.  So far today I've had a yummy fruit smoothie and a rice cake.

Weigh-In:
Last night I ate a little meat which is what I've chosen to avoid completely.  I'm not beating myself up over it, but I'm taking ownership of the choice which doesn't help me toward my goal.  The culprit I ate was some of my daughters left-over sesame chicken.  Not only did it contain meat, but it was covered in batter, which I'm allergic to.  It's amazing how even knowing something will give me an allergic reaction doesn't keep me from eating it.  Not when I'm feeling the urge anyway.  I still haven't had any sugary desserts, candy etc, but I'm sure there was a little sugar in the sesame chicken sauce.  It was a little on the sweet side.  Hmmmm.   Praying for renewed strength and focus today!

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!  Phil. 4:13

Well, that's it for now!

Satisfied in Christ,
Karen

4/5/10 Easter was a bit of a challenge yesterday...

Anyone else resist all sugar, bread and fat yesterday?  By the skin of my teeth I managed, but food insanity was standing outside the door.  I could hear that little insane foodie say "Time for something sweet!"  Time for something salty!"  Time for something...anything..FEED ME!"  {{{{{STOP THE MADNESS!!!!!}}}}  Here I've been doing so well and suddenly I just want to throw it all out the window in one swoop...WHOOSH!  Between the processed food addiction and the emotional eating habits,  I've got my work cut out for me some days.  Just now my daughter fixed herself a bowl of ice cream and I had to pretend not to notice how good it looked.


On the writing side of things, I pulled together a lot of scripture and notes over the weekend.  I'm praying to find a female Bible scholar/mentor willing to spend some time with me weekly or bi-monthly to go over my work.  I think it's important to share what I'm writing not only to my husband, but to someone else who has also studied God's Word and has a clear understanding of what is Biblically sound and what is not.  For the most part I feel like I've got a good handle on knowing what is sound doctrine and what is not, but I understand the need also to have someone completely objective with a Biblical world view looking at it too.

I spoke with one of our employees today and she was very supportive of this blog.  Trip had told her about it and she checked it out.  Besides this blog being a sanity and accountability check for me during this journey, I'm hoping in some way it supports other folks going through similar struggles with food.  Please feel free to share this blog with anyone you feel might benefit from it.

ACCOUNTABILITY FOOD RECORD FOR THE DAY (So far):
First let me say that I'm not listing these foods expecting others to eat just like me.  Writing down what I eat helps keep it real if you know what I mean.  Of course if you want to try any of these food items, go for it!  I will list recipes too when possible in case anyone is interested.  :-)

*Yummy breakfast smoothie made of fresh bananas, frozen pineapple, orange juice and rice milk with tablespoon of flax seed.
*3 pieces of rice bread toast with grapeseed mayo, sliced onion and tomato.
*Enjoyed a salad today made of spinach, green leaf lettuce, chopped smoked almonds, orange pieces and thinly sliced sweet onion.  I used Kraft's Light Sicilian Roasted Gralic Balsamic Vinaigrette as dressing.  Delish!
Snacks:
1 orange
2 small cans of low sodium V-8 Juice.

4/01/10 Too much gratification out there..

People think because they don't have a cigarette, drug, alcohol, gambling, etc habit that they are free of addiction in their lives.  However, they are fooling themselves.  Sugar and processed foods are addictive.  I find myself constantly needing to substitute healthier items for bad ones.  I'm not quite able to change the food language inside my brain yet.  I find myself trying to create some kind of addiction to the substitutes as well.  I really get to be grounded spiritually at the beginning of each day in order to be truly effective in this process.

Here is an eye opening article I read this week about the severity of food addiction:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/28/fatty.foods.brain/

Well, It's late and I can barely keep my eyes open.

Peace to all!
-Karen

4/02/10 Use me Lord...

Yesterday I continued painting the two new bathrooms the city had us install in order to offer space to more renters in our office building.  I was sweating like a pig.  So out of shape still.  It was a real aerobic work-out.  The later it got in the day the faster I had to go to make my personal deadline before carpooling.  I pretty much met my deadline of having all the primer up in both bathrooms except for a small strip behind the doors that will require a brush.  Monday I will go back, brush on that last bit of primer and then get to the painting.  I may sound like a trouper doing this so we can save the money, but I haven't totally done this without complaint.  In case you didn't already know this, I am not the sweetest quietest spirit sometimes.  The Lord still has a lot of work to do in me.  I wish I was a quicker study, but I'll get there.  At least I'm identifying it I suppose.

On the way to carpool, I saw an obese, young man about high school age walking on the sidewalk.  I'm not exaggerating or trying to be disrespectful, but he was waddling more than walking.  That short instant of me looking at him struggling to walk really got to me.  I started to cry.  my heart just flooded for the struggle he must be battling with his weight.  I know there are folks that try to convince themselves and others that they are happy with their overweight/obese bodies and selves, but don't you believe them.  It's just a cover up to deny the true pain of their struggle inside.  I may not be obese, but I know the pain and frustration in not winning the battle over food.  Even now with my fresh resolve and understanding of what I need to do to kick this destructive addiction to food, can be daunting.  Being 30-40 lbs overweight may not sound like a big deal, but the struggle is just as real for me as it is for someone with 50, 100lbs or more to lose. If I don't ground myself in prayer and the Holy Word daily, I'm setting myself up for defeat.  I realize it's important to take this one day at a time, but I also get to remember that it's an accumulation of days that must be won consistently as well.

Today I saw an obese person on TV and my heart melted again.  It's like the Lord has really taken this ministry to a deeper, personal level for me.  It is so apparent now that my journey in this is not just my journey at all.  I'm struggling, fighting and winning this battle of food addiction for folks I don't even know yet.  I know the Lord can truly use this time to show me how to make a difference for others with the same strongholds.  I look to you Lord for your leading.  All glory and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Thank you Lord taking our punishment on the cross and freeing us from the bondage of sin.

"Then Jesus explained: 'My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.' " John 4:34 (NLT)

Satisfied in Christ,
-Karen
(Good Friday)