Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Could somebody tell me a bit more about his opinion on oil? How about coconut or olive...still forbidden?...always forbidden?

The issue is that oil has a lot of calories and relatively few nutrients. When I did Eat to Live, I didn't cut out oil entirely, but just cut back on it a whole lot -- I'd still use a little bit when I was cooking.

I have just heard so much positive info. regarding coconut oil lately...like it is a complete food full of the medium chain fatty acids (exact name?) that actually help you lose weight and be healthy.

i've been hearing a lot about coconut oil too, but nothing that explains to me how increasing my fat intake really is going to help me lose weight. just more marketing hype. I live in a place where people eat a lot of coconut oil and the ones who do hard physical labor are thin, and the ones who don't are plump. So as far as i'm concerned, i don't think it makes a difference.

I think as far as nutrition goes, we still have a lot to learn. I've been reading more and more lately that not all calories are created equal as in, certain types of foods are used differently by the body and excess calories may not always promote weight gain. I've heard mixed things about coconut oil. It certainly tastes good, so that would be great if it had all of those health benefits.

As far as the book goes, it prohibits the use of any oil.

yup. no oil, no salt, no sugar. he says that there are some fats in some foods so you get enough. you're allowed a teeny bit of avocado or nuts each day, but that's it. well, and 1 tbsp ground flax a day.

Snooozefest. I could never do that all the time. No way. I like the recipes from this book, but yeah, I like things in moderation. And, we really do need more fat than that per day.

yeah it's the dullest diet ever. it's great in theory but man it ends up with boring food.

I had to chime in to say that I bought something made by this blogger at a bakesale once and it was amazing. Everything I've made from the blog has been great too.

Despite the bore factor of the diet, I'm interested in reading this book and maybe trying some of the elements of the plan. Torque, you mentioned running every day. Did you notice any change in your athletic performance?

I am doing the Eat To Live "Life Plan" It is not as strict as the weight loss 6 week plan. I also do use a little salt and a little oil when I want. I go absolutely nuts without it. I think the overall, big picture of the plan is genius but the small details like salt and oil screw me up. So I figure I will use a little in measured amounts and do the rest as written in the book. The recipes in Eat to Live are horrendous! Awful!

unfortunately, my running ability and my E2L really grew apart- the more distance i put on (and i'm no distance master here, i'm talking couch to 5k) the more snarling hungry i became and started craving junk. i can only eat so many beans in one day (i tell you, i have roasted beans in my car for a snack. beans for lunch. beans for breakfast.) and it got tiresome. i do keep up with some aspects (lots of greens and beans, less white flour and no fried stuff no way no how) but not with the real program.

I'm starting to buy into this Eat to Live business, but I think the dude might be wrong on salt. A couple recent studies (and I think one was prominently featured in the NYTimes?) have concluded that no-salt diets are not good for you and mild salt intake is a-ok, even beneficial. So I don't know. Is the salt thing make or break for the weight loss?

i've wondered that myself because beans and veggies with no salt? rough.

Seeeriously.

Bummer. I was looking forward to trying the salad dressings. :(

I'm trying to give this a go again, since I've been eating way too much junk lately. So far, I've got a salad planned for tomorrow with a bunch of stuff from the farmers market -- Boston lettuce, yellow tomatoes, potatoes, and green beans -- with the basic baked tofu and balsamic vinagrette from AfR. I also have some eggplant, tomatoes, and a ton of basil that I'm trying to figure out what to do with -- I think I might use those to make a sauce for some whole wheat pasta, and serve that with chard cooked with white beans and lots of garlic.

Eat to Live is so much easier in the summer, when there are all the great farmers market veggies, than in the winter, when everything's shipped and tasteless.

my garden is full of lovely leafies and it's the time of the year when i start thinking about going raw (spring fever) so yeah, here we are again.

So I am going to give it another try and see if i can make it work without cutting things out 100%. I mean, yes, white flour, 100%, but not cutting out the salt, that is just NOT happening.

Anybody else still playing with E2L?

I'm thinking about going on a modified version of E2L after everything is straightened out with surgery. I really like the idea of loading up on so many fruits and veggies. However, like you said, I'm not cutting out salt, and I think I'm going to continue to use oil- just a lot less (as in, no deep frying breaded tofu for a little while).

Hehe. My problem is, in two words: GOBHI MANCHURIAN

I am trying to figure out a way to restart - but I am concerned about getting enough calories while I am breastfeeding...I was averaging about 1200 calories a day when I was following the plan before. Anybody else do this eating plan while breastfeeding?

Why did I look that up? Now I'm going to have to make it.

This 10lbs that I've put on in the last 6 months is COMPLETELY due to Mr Shankly's gobhi manchurian recipe, which i only found by accident reading a thread about corn starch. We reached a point during cauli season where we were eating deep fried cauliflower three times a week. veganism healthy, oh yes, indeed....

I usually eat close to what is recommended by ETL or at least try, but I don't consider there is anything special about it, for me it is eating healthy: eat less salt, oil, and sugar, in France we have a message from the government about it. I think my legs look red when I eat salt so I avoid it.
As for breastfeeding, I guess : more nuts, seeds, beans in addition to the soups and salads.

Is anyone still doing this? I'm in.

I've been interested in it for awhile but it didn't see myself following it 100% because I didn't care about limiting salt, and only one serving of grains made me hungry just thinking about it. Now I've actually read the book and gotten convinced and have been adapting my diet slowly over the past 1.5 weeks or so. The book makes it hard not to think about all the positives of all those greens and raw veggies. I've even managed to cut out caffeine entirely (not even caffeinated tea!) which hasn't happened since I became a coffee addict 10 years ago. The only non-ETL thing I've had this week is a couple of Japanese pickles with my rice at dinner (I have to use them up).

I haven't been on it long of course, but this week has been pretty easy prep-wise and coordinating with school. I just did all my prep work on the weekend - I made up all my salads and dressings and portioned them out into individual containers so I can grab and go (along with a piece of fruit) for lunches, cooked and froze individual portions of rice (or whatever grain), made soup and prepped veggies for morning smoothies/quick steaming with dinner. Then weekdays are super easy!

I do find myself feeling peckish mid-morning and mid-afternoon but try to fight it as I guess it's more boredom/procrastination than true hunger. Sometimes I'll snack on baby carrots if I'm going to workout and have a late lunch or dinner.

Here's an ETL blog that has some great ETL recipes I've tried (and more that I want to try): http://www.carrieonvegan.com/recipes/