Tina's Story

The day I bought Eat To Live dramatically changed my life. My cardiologist gave me an eating plan to lose weight. No carbs, no dairy, beef only once a month, salad, beans, oatmeal, fruits. He then said there’s a book called Eat To Live. If you follow that plan, you will lose twenty pounds in six weeks. I returned to his office eight weeks later twenty pounds lighter.

I never thought I could follow a diet that excluded animal products and still be satisfied and healthy. Getting my head around the idea that you can eat meals without meat was one of the biggest challenges in this process. The next biggest challenge was trying to figure out what to eat instead. I had a blender that I never removed from the box so I got that out and began learning how to make smoothies. The spinach, blueberry, banana, ground flax seed and cinnamon smoothie have become my morning ritual. That and a handful of raw cashews is all I need in the morning. I very quickly upgraded to a Vitamix blender, and it has been one of the best investments I have ever made. I use it every day. The salad has also become a staple of my diet.

Following Dr. Fuhrman's advice to “think big” my salads gradually became larger and very satisfying. I never imagined that I would come to crave a salad. I am sure to include lots of raw veggies and almost always a piece of fruit. When I lost eighteen pounds I signed up for the six week holiday challenge, joined the DrFurhman.com website and began reading the forums. Hearing other people discuss their personal challenges and successes really helped keep me on the path.

A few days before Thanksgiving my best friend asked me how this plan works. I gave her my copy of Eat To Live and helped her begin her own journey. She has since lost thirty pounds and has helped keep me motivated on this healthier path. During the holiday challenge, she and I shopped together and ate together. We tried different soups and salads. We learned how to shop for foods that were healthier options. We navigated through the holidays confident that we were making so many healthy choices in what we were eating that we could indulge in some holiday food offerings without feeling we were going to derail our entire healthy eating plan. We were both amazed that we could have changed so much that the drive through of the fast food restaurant was such a distant memory.

I am fifty years old and have had a cardiac pacemaker since I was thirty one years old.  I had to have my pacemaker generator replaced and while sitting in the prep area waiting to go to the Cath Lab for my procedure I began talking to the nurse about the way I eat. The following day when I was recovering in my room, that nurse came to me and told me that she asked my cardiologist about my eating plan so he took out a sheet of paper and wrote it out for her. She was copying it for some of the other people working there. The word is getting out there one person at a time. I began this journey weighing 224 pounds. Today I weigh 195 pounds. I feel great and look better than I have in years. I still have a way to go before I reach my ideal weight, but for the first time in my life, I know I will get there. When I reach my ideal weight, I would like to come to Dr. Fuhrman's office and shake his hand for writing such an important book. Thanks so much.