Welcome Kathy!

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!

Yay!! I’m so happy you found Dr. Fuhrman’s work and are getting ready to start your nutritarian journey!

SALT–I no longer cook with salt. I try to use Liquid Aminos or nutritional yeast instead. When I eat out or premade foods then there is usually salt in there–but I really try to limit those two things. My #1 recommended seasoning is Costco’s No-Salt Seasoning blend–hands down my favorite (you can find it on Amazon here!) I promise you will learn the power of herbs in seasoning your food.

CHEATS–I have struggled with incorporating cheats into my lifestyle. I am a recovering binge eater, so often times and single cheat day or cheat meal will send me into a week-long tailspin of overeating. Now, when I do cheat, I try to eat the same plant-based foods but more laxed on oil and salt. My favorite cheat meal is from a local chain called Gotta Eatta Pita–I get a mixed greens and tabouleh bowl with cabbage, cucumber and tomato, eggplant (there’s the oil), hummus, spicy sauce (there’s the salt), and fallafel (deep fried garbanzo beans).

That being said, I am currently on a mission to get down to my ideal weight and am doing another strict 6 week round where I cut out any cheats.

When you do your 6 weeks, it must be at 100%. Don’t even give yourself the option to have a cheat meal. That’s the only way you’ll see the power of this lifestyle on your health and weight. Check out this blog post on cheating!

I cook separately for everyone in my family! When I first did the 6 weeks, I cooked three different meals, for every meal. You can do it! Just like you invest time in working out just for “you” you can dedicate time to cooking your own healthy food, even if it’s just for you!

Now, my hubby is pretty good about eating what I eat about 50 to 75% of the time. But my young kiddos are on a whole different planet. I pack my hubby’s lunch for work every day too. There’s a lot of cooking going on at my place! It only works because I’ve adopted weekly batch cooking!

I am writing an ebook right now on 6 weeks of Nutritarian food prep! I’m so excited about it! Make sure to stay tuned on Facebook for announcements–there will be giveaways to come! I am expecting to have it for sale just before Christmas!

FOOD BILL–Before going nutritairan I ate out a lot. A whole lot! Now that I cook at home 95% of the time, we are definitely saving. And since I started batch cooking I’m saving even more.

All I can say is your health is the #1 most important thing in life. If you decide to invest time, energy and money into this, you’re putting it in the right place (no justifications needed)!

Thank you for all your kind words and I wish you the very best life to come!

xo, Kristen

Hi Taxi!

I’m so glad you found out about Dr. Fuhrman and this blog!

So, you’re not going to like this but you have to “practice” eating fruits and vegetables. I learned this from my children’s doctor. My son wasn’t eating any veggies and she told me to have him “practice” by chewing on the veggie and spitting it out. I know this sounds extreme, and I have modified the advice for adults, but if you think about it, gaining all the weight you did by not eating fruits and veggies was also extreme.

There is no way around it, fruits and veggies help you lose weight, protect you from cancer and heart disease and repair cellular damage in your body. You can’t accept that you just won’t eat them. You need to make a valiant effort to find ways that you can incorporate them into your life–because your life depends on it. I will help you do this!

The reason you gained so much weight is because simply replacing meat with processed meat alternatives does not mean it is a health-promoting lifestyle.

START HERE: The first place you will want to start is making a smoothie. Start off small, make a half portion of this recipe. Do it in the morning, before you eat anything else–think of it like this: If I finish my smoothie then I can have whatever else I would like after that. The green smoothie is important because you want those leafy greens to nourish you first thing in the morning and this will help you curb your appetite.

PURGE PROCESSED FOODS: You next step has to be to stop eating processed foods. Processed foods have lots of oils, salt and sugar. Eating too much of them without counter-balancing them with free-radical fighting fruits and veggies leaves your system inflamed and holding on to fat. Start by making tofu, beans and seeds your primary sources of protein. I recommend these Crispy Baked Tofu Fingers as your first recipe. Since your a meat and potatoes gal you can have the tofu fingers with these Nutritarian Mashed Potatoes! Your meals can also be as simple as beans with brown rice or beans served over a baked potato.

SNEAK VEGGIES INTO YOUR DIET: Those mashed potatoes I recommended have pureed cauliflower in them. You can also make a vegan cheese sauce out of potato and carrots like this! I would also recommend trying to eat one new fresh veggie a month. Start with celery. Eat it with a drizzle of raw almond butter and a few raisins. Start with one small piece and try to get better weekly. The next month try one fresh baby carrot dipped in hummus. Take small steps!

AVOID OIL AND SALT: Oil is really the enemy when you have extra fat on your body. It only takes our bodies 3 calories to efficiently store oil in our fat cells. When you eat whole-food fats instead (like nuts, seeds and avocados) it takes the body much longer to digest and store and you use up more calories in the process! If you can avoid processed foods and not cook your food with oil, you will start to see the weight come off!

I know you can do this! You can do more than you think you can by starting small and building up! Reach out to me whenever you need to!

xo, Kristen