Week 2

Things are going pretty well on the Fuhrman 6 week meal plan.  We were out visiting this past Saturday an ended up ordering some Chinese take-out, which of course the sodium content alone was a no-no on this plan.  We stuck to vegetable entrees and vegetable fried rice, but we still fell off the wagon for that one meal.  We were back on track on Sunday.  I cooked one of the soup recipes on the Dr. Fuhrman website.  It was a quick creamy vegetable soup.  I thought it was a little bland but this was probably my craving for salt.  It might have been a little better served over some brown rice, but we are trying to avoid the rice all together (excluding Saturday's Chinese food).  Still eating a lot of salads during the week and making the homemade dressings.  My 18-month old daughter actually loves eating my salads with the dijon-date dressing...go figure!

Haven't missed the sugar, but I am missing the salt!!!

Day 5, and the first week on Dr. Fuhrman's 6 wk plan has gone pretty well.  I have been craving salty stuff like crazy though!!  Every time I wal past the bowl of peanuts in the office, my mouth almost salivates..lol.  The bags of potato chips from leftover office parties stares at me when I go in the kitchen to wash off my fruit!  I am planning to weigh in on Monday morning to see if there had been a reduction in weight over the course of the week.  After 2 weeks in Jamaica I had picked up a few extra pounds, so my starting weight was 213.2 lbs.

Day 3

Feeling ok on my salad and veggie diet.  Had a handful of nuts today and 4 pieces of fruit for breakfast, large salad for lunch, and dinner will be another salad along with some zuchini squash I steamed in a pan with some italian seasoning, chopped onion and minced garlic.  I am craving bread and salt today and not sure how to fix that craving...hmmmm.  I will just drink some more water..lol.

Eat to Live: My 6 week journey on Dr. Fuhrman's program

So while I was in Jamaica for 2 weeks, I picked up my husband's book Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.  Most of the information in Dr. Fuhrman's book wasn't new to me, but the case studies he included were so amazing and moving.  I got inspired to try his 6 week program for weight loss and my hubby is doing it with me.  My hubby has already reached his ideal weight from being vegan for over a year, so he is joining me for support only.  I still have to prepare some foods for my 18 month old daughter that we will not be able to eat, so I will definitely need all the support I can get!

The basic premises of Dr. Fuhrman's plan are no animal products, no dairy, no sugar, no fruit juice, no oils, and no salt!  In addition to these rules, you are supposed to eat 1 lb. of raw veggies ( a huge salad for example) and 1 lb. of cooked veggies every day.  The other allowed foods are beans, legumes, fresh fruits, and raw nuts and seeds.  Limited foods include breads, starchy vegetables, whole grains, cereals, potatoes, rice, pastas (no more than one serving or 1 cup per day).

So Monday July 11 was our first day on the plan.  No major problems on day one but I did crave salt late last night.  One success from day one was trying one of Dr. Fuhrman's salad dressing recipes.  The dijon date dressing was really good.  It is made from water, raw cashews, balsamic vinegar, a few different no-salt seasonings (I used salt free garlic pepper and mrs.dash), dijon mustard, dates, and minced garlic.  Yummy!  Stay tuned for more updates over the next 6 weeks.