Here's WHY I want to loose the weight (6 lbs./week) so quickly....

[Penelope]

I think some people may be misunderstanding what the Eat to Live diet is.

 

There is no calorie restriction on this program. You can eat as many non-starchy vegetables as you want. There are also plenty of healthy fats. If it were me, and I were going to try to conceive soon, I would probably add an omega-3 supplement. And probably prenatal vitamins, including some vitamin D.

 

But really, someone who is eating this program will be getting more, much more, of the necessary nutrients than probably most of us eat. It is not depriving your body like a typical diet. In fact, it is not a crash diet at all. It is a lifestyle change.

 

I do think 40 pounds in 7 weeks is still really optimistic, though. From what I remember from the book, 20-25 pounds would be more typical for someone starting out overweight. And IMO, unless you are fighting the biological clock, it does seem wiser to wait a month or two after making the changes, to let your body stabilize. I don't know why I think that, though, and you may have very good reasons for not wanting to wait. Good luck!

[EKS]

Personally, I think you will have MORE difficulty conceiving if you are doing a crash diet during the next seven weeks.

 

This is what I was thinking.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm trying to lose 70 pounds right now. I am eating around 1600 calories a day and am exercising 6 days a week. I've lost 8 pounds in 7 weeks. Everyone is different but this is what I've learned so far.

 

1. I need the 1600 calories in order to not get sick. When I eat less, I do get sick and then my diet stalls.

 

2. I am losing weight but it fluctuates - I've lost 3 pounds three times, 1 pound twice, and have even gained one week. The fluctuation is partly because I'm gaining muscle even while I'm losing fat.

 

3. I was a lot weaker than I thought I'd be when I started. I'm having to build up to higher levels of exercise.

 

4. I'm learning to build healthy habits for eating and exercise - habits that I will hopefully keep for the rest of my life. Eating a balanced diet with enough protein and even carbs and fats is important. If you've looked at some of the other weight loss threads you will notice that sometimes people will be unbalanced and it affects them in plateaus or in fatigue.

 

5. It takes a lot more exercise than I thought to really lose weight. 30 min. a day does not cut it.

[WishboneDawn]

At 208, you're body requires more than 1700 calories to do nothing but sleep 24 hours/day and maintain your weight. To spend 2 hours doing moderate activity and nothing else, not even housework, that's 2300 calories. You're talking about dropping 1000 calories/day from what you're body will expect... IF you don't lift a finger during those other 22 hours.

 

You have to know that it would be a HUGE shock to your entire system. I can't even begin to imagine your body allowing you to exercise with such little fuel.

 

Ditto. And on top of this is the idea that you plan to do this to your body and then quickly conceive and then have a healthy pregnancy.

 

Look, there's a lot of great information on the web if you google "healthy weight loss". You can get more great information from the proper health professionals. I'd say you need to pursue those avenues and inform yourself. Enough people here have responded with alarm and worry that it should tell you something about the safety of your plans or at least point to the fact that you need to research this more.

 

ETA: All of our health concerns aside, how will so little food and so much exercise affect your mood? How will it affect your husband, other kids and homeschooling if you're often tired, sick or hungry?

Edited September 4, 2010 by WishboneDawn

[PygmyShrew]

I think some people may be misunderstanding what the Eat to Live diet is.

 

There is no calorie restriction on this program. You can eat as many non-starchy vegetables as you want. There are also plenty of healthy fats. If it were me, and I were going to try to conceive soon, I would probably add an omega-3 supplement. And probably prenatal vitamins, including some vitamin D.

 

But really, someone who is eating this program will be getting more, much more, of the necessary nutrients than probably most of us eat. It is not depriving your body like a typical diet. In fact, it is not a crash diet at all. It is a lifestyle change.

 

I do think 40 pounds in 7 weeks is still really optimistic, though. From what I remember from the book, 20-25 pounds would be more typical for someone starting out overweight. And IMO, unless you are fighting the biological clock, it does seem wiser to wait a month or two after making the changes, to let your body stabilize. I don't know why I think that, though, and you may have very good reasons for not wanting to wait. Good luck!

 

Thanks, Penelope. You hit the nail on the head. It's IMPOSSIBLE to be nutritionally starved on this program. This isn't a diet where you eat soooo little volume of food that you don't have room to get nutritious foods. This is a program that allows for consumption of LIMITLESS intake of nutritious foods. For example, I drink 2 Smoothies a day (my own recipe) and JUST IN THESE I consume: 4.5 CUPS of raw leafy greens (sometimes its kale, sometimes spinach, etc.), 3 other servings of raw vegetables, 1 whole orange, 1 whole banana, 5 T. of raw nuts or seeds, 1 cup of raspberries or strawberries, 1/2 c. of grapes. And, again, this is JUST in my snacks at 10 am and around 3 pm. For my other 3 meals, I STUFF myself (completely satisfied) with whole grains, beans, avocado, veggies, fruits, tasty dressings, tofu, fish (on occasion).

I'm eating better/healthier than ever. I feel wonderful. I haven't felt hungry AT ALL. If I do feel hungry, I eat. I drink water (sometimes with lemon or lime squeezed in). Drink a cup of green tea daily. I'm consuming at least 80 grams of protein daily doing this.

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

So the main concern I have is with the protein sources of this diet. I know this is anecdotal but I know of someone who ate vegan (raw) for years. She had a healthy pregnancy or two. But when another baby came he had some developmental delays and his teeth were brown when they came in. She stresses that she didn't just eat crap...she ate the most nourishing food possible for babe preconception. Lots of nuts, avacadoes, coconut oil, superfoods, etc. What she later discovered is that your body can have large stores of the fat soluable vitamins (found in meat, dairy including butter, and esp. organ meats) but they WILL eventually get depleted on a vegan diet and you come up short. Zoo animals (lions) who were not able to reproduce in captvity were finally able to do so after given nutrient dense organ meats. They figured out what they were missing by studying lions in the wild. They go first to the organs and sometimes discard the rest of the carcass. You would be hard pressed to get enough zinc and b12 from a vegan diet.

 

Vitamins for Fetal Development: Conception to Birth [url=http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/1380-vitamins-for-fetal-development-conception-to-birth.html][/url]

 

http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/1380-vitamins-for-fetal-development-conception-to-birth.html

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

Are you familiar with the work of Weston A Price. He traveled the world studying health people groups with virutally NO tooth decay and disease and healthy babies. and recorded the similarities. He WANTED to find a group that were vegetarian but could not. His research is fascinating! I believe a vegan diet is a great thing for cleansing and as a temporary thing. I could not agree that is an optimal/most nourishing diet for a woman trying to conceive!

[PygmyShrew]

Ditto. And on top of this is the idea that you plan to do this to your body and then quickly conceive and then have a healthy pregnancy.

 

Look, there's a lot of great information on the web if you google "healthy weight loss". You can get more great information from the proper health professionals. I'd say you need to pursue those avenues and inform yourself. Enough people here have responded with alarm and worry that it should tell you something about the safety of your plans or at least point to the fact that you need to research this more.

 

ETA: All of our health concerns aside, how will so little food and so much exercise affect your mood? How will it affect your husband, other kids and homeschooling if you're often tired, sick or hungry?

 

 

I have never eaten SO MUCH (volume) and have never eaten so many healthy foods in my life. I have felt more alive and vigorous than ever (I did have caffeine headache for first 2 days when i gave up Diet Coke). So far, I've felt fabulous. I guess if I didn't, I'd be more concerned. Mood? I think I feel fine and can't tell any change. I really feel hopeful for once. My husband has done ETL for years and has wanted me to try it, so I finally agreed and began it almost 2 weeks ago and it's the first thing that has netted this much loss. I rarely have responded to much of anything else I've tried. I'm excited to have FINALLY found something that is working for me.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I have never eaten SO MUCH (volume) and have never eaten so many healthy foods in my life. I have felt more alive and vigorous than ever (I did have caffeine headache for first 2 days when i gave up Diet Coke). So far, I've felt fabulous. I guess if I didn't, I'd be more concerned. Mood? I think I feel fine and can't tell any change. I really feel hopeful for once. My husband has done ETL for years and has wanted me to try it, so I finally agreed and began it almost 2 weeks ago and it's the first thing that has netted this much loss. I rarely have responded to much of anything else I've tried. I'm excited to have FINALLY found something that is working for me.

 

So if you are already doing this and feel wonderful on it - can I ask why you posted in the first place? I mean I did read the original post (and all subsequent ones) on the other thread but I understood that to be a request for advice. Did I read it wrong? Anyway - if this is what you are already doing - perhaps you could just tell us how it goes?

[PygmyShrew]

Well, firstly I only stated that I'd like to loose 6 lbs a week, not that I was going to do something radical to accomplish that -- but apparently people feel that my eating 1300 calories a day (which is what Weightwatchers would prescribe for me also........1 point = 50 calories, so at my weight I'd be asked to eat 26 points which is 1300 calories daily). By the way, Eat to Live doesn't prescribe counting calories at all; I've just done it for the past 10 days just out of curiosity. I'm eating plenty and feel satisfied and at the end of the day, it's ending up to be anywhere from 1283 to 1410 daily (just looked at my book).

Even when I MET with a license nutritionist 2 weeks ago at the local hospital's WEIGHT LOSS center, even she suggested I aim for 400 calories for breakfast, lunch, and supper and to have a 100 calorie snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon for a TOTAL goal of 1400 calories a day.

I started the Eat To Live program only within the last 2 weeks and have found (retrospectively) that I lost just under a lb a day. I had hoped I'd keep this up to meet MY goal for 10/24. Even according to Dr. Fuhrman, 5 lbs a week on this plan is a usual and healthy occurence given the fact that the person is allows to eat a great volume of nutritious food (there's NO restrictions on the amount consumed...in fact, he encourages as MUCH as you can comfortably put in your tummy).

I HONESTLY don't get why a person with 80 lbs of FAT on her body (which is readily/easily converted to glucose) is being warned about consuming 1300 calories daily. My understanding is that a person who wants to loose should eat 10 calories per lb of desired/goal weight. So...if you want to weigh 150 lbs. then you eat 1500 calories a day. If you aim to weigh 135, then eat 1350 calories. My understanding is that you DO THIS UNTIL you get to the level and THEN ADD BACK the calories you burn with exercise so that you'll quit losing and maintain THAT goal weight. So, the person who wants to weigh 135 would eat 135 x 10 calories = 1350 daily. once she reached 135, then she'd add 1350 + her exercise output (let's say 300 calories a day for exercise) === so she'd maintain her weight (assuming she kept burning the 300), by eating 1350 + 300 = 1650 daily. I remember from my NUTRITION course in college when I had to do an official calculation of what my daily calorie intake should be to maintain my (THEN) weight of 126 and I think it was around 1600 calories daily. What's up with this advice that I could LOSE WEIGHT and eat 2300 calories a day?

I'm operating from the premise that

**** consuming 1300 is healthy (which is according to all I've ever read and according to the dietician at the hosptial and according to WeightWatchers, Int'l, etc.).

and

**** that exercising two hours a day (non-strenous -- just taking a moderate walk and a moderate biking session twice daily)

and that if 1 and 2 are healthy, then who cares about the scale.

**** Thus, (in summary):

If I DIDN'T OWN A scale and I ate about 1350 calories daily and exercised a moderate walk and bike for 2 hours a day, then why should I care if this healthy lifestyle nets me 5+ lbs/week?

But, what I'm hearing from most of you is that if MY doing this continues to NET me 5+ lbs. per week then I need to either eat more or work out less until the NET loss is 2 or 3 lbs. per week. Is this an accurate summary?

[Peela]

I havent read the other replies, but losing 10% of your weight can be a seriously good thing, and perhaps you can convince your dh that that is enough for now?

I an understand your motivation and I honestly feel that at your weight, it would be ok to lose weight fairly quickly AS LONG as you intended on changing the habits that made you overweight in the first place, and are not doing it to then return to it in a year. IN other words, this is your life, and if you are motivated to have a baby, hopefully you can be motivated to actually eat well in the long term in order to be around when that baby gets married and has your grandchildren.

[PygmyShrew]

So if you are already doing this and feel wonderful on it - can I ask why you posted in the first place? I mean I did read the original post (and all subsequent ones) on the other thread but I understood that to be a request for advice. Did I read it wrong? Anyway - if this is what you are already doing - perhaps you could just tell us how it goes?

 

 

I guess to hear how other people would suggest that I accomplish this. My good results are very "nacent"/beginning, so I have NO idea if they'll continue. If they don't, I wanted to be armed with an arsenal of ideas on how others did it/sustained it as I didn't have time to waste with the (THEN) goal of 7 weeks until trying to conceive.

I guess also, I wanted to hear how other's felt on the subject and whether or not any agreed/disagreed with Dr. Fuhrman's claims that it's healthy to sustain these RATES of loss. I do get why you asked this.

 

I will let you know (but...this is just the quandry....now I'm wondering if I shouldn't go this route at all b/c SO FAR I am losing at this rapid rate).

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

Okay, I'm not trying to pick on you! I think you're amazing and a real inspiration and go-getter! I just want to add that the anecdotal experience that I gave above...she felt great, too! But when her baby sprouted BROWN teeth, she had some rethinking and researching to do about what was best for babe. Ever heard of the Brewer's diet? I'd be shocked if you hadn't! Dr. Brewer has helped many, many women have wonderful healthy pregnancies. I dont' agree with all his recommendations, but notice 2 eggs a day are not optional for a health pregnancy? That is because eggs have biotin (so does liver which he recommends). Those two sources are highest sources of biotin. I can be found in small amounts in other foods. Biotin is essential to a optimally healty baby. Here is his diet:

 

http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/id96.html

 

 

Trust me i'm not trying to scare you at all. It's just that I want you to make an informed decision.

[PygmyShrew]

So the main concern I have is with the protein sources of this diet. I know this is anecdotal but I know of someone who ate vegan (raw) for years. She had a healthy pregnancy or two. But when another baby came he had some developmental delays and his teeth were brown when they came in. She stresses that she didn't just eat crap...she ate the most nourishing food possible for babe preconception. Lots of nuts, avacadoes, coconut oil, superfoods, etc. What she later discovered is that your body can have large stores of the fat soluable vitamins (found in meat, dairy including butter, and esp. organ meats) but they WILL eventually get depleted on a vegan diet and you come up short. Zoo animals (lions) who were not able to reproduce in captvity were finally able to do so after given nutrient dense organ meats. They figured out what they were missing by studying lions in the wild. They go first to the organs and sometimes discard the rest of the carcass. You would be hard pressed to get enough zinc and b12 from a vegan diet.

 

Vitamins for Fetal Development: Conception to Birth

 

http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/1380-vitamins-for-fetal-development-conception-to-birth.html

 

I'll definitely check this out. Thanks. Sounds like a legit concern for sure.

[Corraleno]

.......You know I just thought about it....if I keep this up, then I could look R E A L L Y HOT by March and surprise him with a new bod by then........hmmmmmmmmmm.....how romantic....this is sounding really good.

PygmyShrew, I think this is a great plan, for many reasons. It will allow you to lose weight in a safe way, with less pressure; it will allow your body to stabilize before you try to conceive; it will give your DH a lovely surprise when he returns; and it will allow him to be part of your pregnancy from the beginning. Even if you did somehow manage to lose a ton of weight and conceive right before your DH leaves for Indonesia, that leaves you home alone with 2 small kids during the first 4 months of your pregnancy, when you are likely to be tired and pukey. Your DH will get "the news" in a phone call or email, and he'll miss almost the first half of your pregnancy. And what if, God forbid, something went wrong while he was on the other side of the world? Waiting a few more months makes so much sense for so many reasons, and you really have nothing to lose by waiting (other than a few more pounds!).

 

Jackie

[mjpeter]

Also, after having 2 sons in the middle of July (in a hot, sticky climate) I'd recommend being full term in a different season.:001_smile:

 

Best of Luck!

[HeidiKC]

I guess you've already got a lot of health advice from people and seem to be well-informed. To me, this just all seems like it could be very stressful physically and mentally - to keep it up until 10/24. Excersing 2 hours/day? Wow, and I would also worry about what would happen to your cycle. I think with the huge effort you're putting into this that it would be such a disappointment not to meet your goal, and it seems like it is going to be very hard to meet it.

 

I know you don't want to wait to conceive, but my thought would be to spend the next 6 months trying to lose the weight and get into shape. Much healthier and less stressful on the mind and body and BONUS: what a NICE surprise that'll be for your husband when he gets home, and tons of compliments for you since it'll be so noticeable when he hasn't seen you. Then work on the baby thing!

 

Best of luck to you and so happy you want a healthy lifestyle!

[Tap]

I hope you find a healthy answer to your question. I can tell you, for certain, that I wouldn't want to be pg with my husband 1/2 the way around the world! If you have any complications it could be horrible to deal with if you are alone. We lost a pregnancy at 22weeks. The testing, discovery that my baby was dieing, the procedures....it would have been horrifying! We had no risk factors for the genetic issues that our daughter had, it was just random chance.

 

I hope you find the patience to wait and conceive when he gets back. The weight loss will help keep you busy and focused while he is gone, and very excited to show him your new bod when he gets back.

Edited September 4, 2010 by Tap, tap, tap

[Ohdanigirl]

I was 220lbs. when my ds11 was conceived. I exercised and worked with a nutritionist (weekly) the entire pregnancy and only gained 5 or six lbs. by his birth. I was healthier when he was born. He was 10 lbs. and very healthy, as well. I was diligent with my diet and exercise. My suggestion would be to start exercising and eating well now. Not necessarily dieting. You can have a successful pregnancy. You will just have to be careful.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I worked with the Dr. and followed all the food advice I was given during my last pregnancy. Although I was on Dr. ordered bed rest, I only gained 8ibs. Ds was almost 9. Please don't put your body through such stress.

 

Danielle

[Renee in NC]

But, what I'm hearing from most of you is that if MY doing this continues to NET me 5+ lbs. per week then I need to either eat more or work out less until the NET loss is 2 or 3 lbs. per week. Is this an accurate summary?[/font][/color]

 

I wouldn't say that at all. I *would* say that if you did Eat to Live and exercised 2 hours a day, losing a bunch of weight, and then stopped following the plan when you got pregnant, you would gain a lot of weight back. Have you figured out how to continue the plan (safely) through your pregnancy? If so, then go for it!

 

Have you been working out 2 hours a day for the last 2 weeks? If not, you may see your calorie consumption go up (because you eat as much as you need on that plan) as you exercise more. That was my experience.

[Prairie~Phlox]

Just because weight watchers and dietitians tell you that's what you consume, doesn't mean they are correct. Really there is so much more research out there now about how many calories you actually need when you are exercising that much. It is not 1300 a day I can tell you that. I would be doing more research. Sparkpeople.com is a great place to get information as well. I would be starving if I only allowed my body 1300 a day, I do various forms of exercise and I eat a lot more than that. You do want to build muscle and not have your body think you are starving it, which is what you will do whether you realize it or not.

[cathmom]

I haven't read the whole thread, but it's looking like you want to lose weight and then get pg. Let me just caution you what happened to me. I lost 30 lbs over 10 months and then got pg with my youngest. During my pregnancy (in which I ate the same as with all my other pregnancies) I rapidly gained all that weight back PLUS my normal pregnancy weight. Because of various injuries, I haven't been able to focus on losing weight again. I currently weigh 40-45 lbs more than I did when I got pg. It's horrible and I hate it.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I think some people may be misunderstanding what the Eat to Live diet is.

 

There is no calorie restriction on this program. You can eat as many non-starchy vegetables as you want. There are also plenty of healthy fats.

 

AND it is far from lacking in protein! Additionally, being alkaline is disease preventing and weight loss encouraging.

 

It would be important to be careful about how drastic a change to make just before pregnancy though. My main encouragement was to not to such extreme exercising because it has been known to lower the chance of pregnancy. And you would want to be able to, barring complications, be able to keep up with what you choose.

 

ETA: My husband LOVED coming home to me being 43 pounds and several sizes smaller! I vote for THAT :)

Edited September 4, 2010 by 2J5M9K