Trying a New Nutritional Plan – 3.5.12

My mother started a new diet a few weeks back and was hounding me to read the book and try it along with her, but I’m so jaded about ‘diets’ that I just brushed it off and told her I wasn’t interested. Until she started throwing these random facts at me like broccoli has twice the protein, calorie for calorie, than steak. I didn’t believe her. Then she told me she’s lost 11 lbs after 2 weeks – that got my attention so I downloaded the book in my kindle since I had a gift card [and hence, it was ‘free’ to me in case it was a load of crap]. I found myself totally engrossed and I ended up reading the whole thing in 2 days and starting the plan myself last Monday. In the first week I’ve lost 5.6 lbs and I’m eating a TON of food.

The book is Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s, ‘Eat to Live‘. When I initially browsed through it at the bookstore before buying it, my first impression was that it was vegetarian propaganda. But after actually reading it I’ve realized it’s not – it just recommends eating less animal protein than the ‘standard American diet.’ [or SAD]. I didn’t think I could be satisfied eating just fruit for breakfast when I was used to having an egg with whole wheat toast, or greek yogurt with berries, but the premise of the book is that you get the most nutrients per calorie, which you’ll find in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds – and some whole grains… and you eat higher volumes of these lower calorie foods, upping both your nutrient and fiber intake. It’s that combination of fiber and nutrients that help turn your appetite signals off via receptors in your stomach and colon, so when you fill up on the right foods, you’re not as hungry. 

I also learned that the painful cramping and stomach noises, dizziness, etc., that I THOUGHT was hunger or low blood sugar is actual withdrawal symptoms – apparently your body can only detox when it’s not digesting food. But the feelings are so uncomfortable and are easily confused with ‘hunger’ – so we end up eating more, not giving our body the break it needs to process both the toxins we take in and the toxins we produce during digestion when we eat less than optimum food. And if your body is constantly digesting or trying to deal with toxins, it’s not going to burn fat very efficiently.

It’s taken almost a week for those false hunger [withdrawal] pains to subside to a dull reminder. Eventually they should disappear all together. For people like me who have dieted their whole lives and never learned to tune into their natural body signals [or forgot what they actually feel like], true hunger is a totally foreign feeling. Apparently it’s only felt in the mouth and throat – your saliva glands kick in and you feel a slight pulling sensation in the throat. I have yet to figure it out completely, but I do notice when my taste buds become more sensitive, which is another indicator of true hunger. Just as food loosing flavor is an indicator of satisfaction.

So I’m eating a ton of fruit for breakfast, snacking on raw veggies, and right now because of the weather [and the convenience] I’m eating a lot of veggie soups where greens and beans are the ‘meat’ of the recipe, and then big, colorful salads. I try to avoid most fat except healthy plant fats from nuts, avocados, flax meal… because as my body is burning off fat, it’s already on it’s own ‘high fat diet’ and doesn’t need the extra fat right now. I’ll add more healthy fats back in as I get to my ideal weight – which will be when my body stops losing weight. Apparently when you eat like this your body stops dropping weight as suddenly as it starts.

I also eat fish 2-3 times per week and have a little grass-fed steak once a week to get the omega-3’s and B12 I can’t get from plant-based food. So I am NOT a vegetarian. I might also have an egg here and there, too. The only things I’m not eating right now are dairy, wheat and sugar. Dairy doesn’t have enough nutrition to justify the calories and sugar is just terrible. Wheat and grains like barley, especially, upset my system so they’re not worth eating anymore – and I came to that conclusion before I read this book. I was also ready to give up dairy so giving it up for doing this detox plan wasn’t hard for me. Actually, it’s not hard saying goodbye to most of the unhealthy foods not allowed when you read about what they do to your body and how they play a role in all the diseases they cause.

After only a week of this I feel great. No more cravings – they actually disappeared after a day or two, which was a pleasant surprise. I sit and watch my husband eat things I used to adore like popcorn, candy, chocolate and now rather than salvating, I don’t feel anything for them, which is truly liberating. My energy is coming back – it typically takes 4 to 6 days or so to start feeling better after the initial detox period. I’m sleeping much better. I’m having no digestive issues at all, which is surprising. I assumed with all the extra fiber I’d have trouble with gas and bloating, but I don’t at all – actually much less than before. And I noticed something interesting yesterday – my tongue is changing. My dentist tells me I have a ‘geographic’ tongue – it’s always had weird cracks and blotches that change from day to day, but now the cracks are almost gone and there’s no blotchiness anymore. I’ve never had what I consider to be a ‘normal’ looking tongue, but it’s pretty close to being smooth and pink for the first time since I can remember. Some say how your tongue looks is an indicator of your health, so it makes sense.

There’s so much more to this so if you’re intrigued I suggest checking out the book for yourself. I’ll keep posting each week on my progress and how I’m feeling. The detox phase of the plan is for 6 weeks, though I can see myself eating this way the rest of my life. It just feels right for me. I may add in a bit more whole grain but I don’t see the need to add more animal protein when I get so much protein already from must more nutrient and fiber-rich foods like leafy green veggies, beans, nuts and seeds. I’m only weighing-in once a week, on Saturday mornings. I’m already excited to see what it says next week – to see if the first week was a fluke and mostly ‘water weight’ [though my stomach is flattening out really fast, so I know it’s more than that], or if it’ll slow down to a more ‘normal’ pace of 1-3 lbs per week. We’ll see…