Tuesday, April 26, 2011

New Goal- Nutrient Rich Diet

I just finished reading a book called Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. and thought I'd share some of its good points with you. I didn't agree with everything (like it discourages eating any animal byproducts at all, no meat, no chicken, no fish, nothing), but overall I did like the book. It's worth the rental at the library.

The premise of this "diet" is that we should be eating a nutrient rich, fiber rich, lower calorie diet while getting adequate physical activity. It seems a little common sense, but are we doing that? I know I don't ever really focus on getting "nutrients."

Since I have been doing Weight Watchers, I have been eating the things I want and just counting it into my daily points. However, the idea here is that if you eat foods that are nutrient rich, like vegetables, fruits, beans, etc, you will get full much faster and have no desire to eat the lesser quality foods like ice cream and chips and stuff. (I think I will choose to include lean proteins in the nutrient rich category). It says that 90% of your diet should be these nutrient rich foods, and then we would just automatically eat less calories. Smart.

I think this is helpful in terms of overeating. If we fill up on nutrient rich foods, then we won't feel like eating the junk food. The book says that most people who eat a calorie rich, nutrient poor diet will become compulsive eaters. It says, "By consuming so many crucial nutrients and fiber, your body's drive to overeat is blunted." This has gotta be true, I know I've never found myself eating a whole bag of carrots or anything...

Just thought I'd share my findings since I am going to try to focus on eating better foods with more nutrients and fiber, and of course keep eating veggies with every meal.

C25k: I did Week 2, Day 1 today. It was harder since it tells you to run for 90 seconds, rather than the 60 secs on Wk 1. Still not a fan. I may repeat Week 1 since towards the end, I stopped running before my 90 sec mark and since I did Wk 1 two weeks ago now. Definitely got my heart rate up and left me breathing heavy!

Attitude of Gratitude: The rain stopped for about an hour so I got to go running, and I actually did it instead of making it into an excuse not to!

7 comments:

Kelty said...

That book sounds interesting...good info! Good luck with the running...so hard!

Mommy Minded said...

I have to agree. I notice that when I am counting calories I eat processed foods if they ae lower in numbers. That cant be a good thing... I am trying the same thing! I will look for this book!

Megan
Mommyminded.blogspot.com

Dawn said...

I agree here...for about a year before I started dieting I stopped eating processed food as much and without realising it stopped binging altogether. I was eating home cooked food, too much so I never lost or gained weight but the change was very good for me without my realising, I stopped craving, sugary processed foods. I haven't had cravings since.
I'm sure this is right..if we fill up on good nutrient rich foods, the cravings do go away.
Dawn

Diandra said...

Yeah, the 'common sense' thing... the BF has started complaining about how he wants to lose weight as well (in my opinion, he doesn't have to... but he shouldn't gain any more, either ^^)... and after complaining for, like, 30 minutes before dinner last night, he then ended up munching on Easter candy and crisps later at night. When in doubt, he still ditches the fruit for a piece of cake. But hey, that's his life... as long as he doesn't annoy me with his whining. ^^

The "cruisade" of eating at least 2 portions of fruit and at least 3 portions of vegetables, by the way, has led me to automatically consume less calories... where I would have had a giant sandwich with mayonnaise and cheese and ham and eggs and... a year ago, my office lunch now consists of two carrots, 1 fennel, 1/2 cucumber and a tiny roll with tomato paste and low-fat bacon (all visible fat removed). Same with dinner... I've started adding huge amounts of vegetables to everything. In addition, I try to work out for at least 30min every day. (And I lost 11kg while doing so.)

Unknown said...

But...I eat chocolate and ice cream even when I'm not hungry. That's my big battle! But I did eat a bunch of carrots today and it's filled me up nicely!

Diet Starts Tomorrow said...

I love the name of the book, one of my favorite sayings! I definitely live to eat, which is a problem, I guess I should read that book!!

downsizers said...

I love to read. Even if there are parts of a book I don't particularly care for I always learn something. As Diandra said, just changes here and there can add up to make a difference. I know when I started low carb I just left off the obvious sugars - cookies, cakes, candy - and guess what? I didn't die or anything so then I went after the starches and now stay between 50 and 75 carbs a day. I exercise, drink the water, and the weight comes off. This is as comfortable a way as I have found to lose weight. No more of that panic, that anxious hunger. Thank you for telling us about this book.