Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Preface:  Over the next year or two, I'll be following the weight loss journey of Stephanie, age 39, who is 200% committed to getting her health back.  Her husband died recently and she’s currently raising four young children under the ages of nine, plus attending nursing school.  Stephanie has courageously volunteered to share her thoughts and medical stats with DiseaseProof readers as she undertakes the journey to optimal health.  Welcome Stephanie!

Why have you chosen to commit to nutritarian eating?  I currently weigh 398 lbs (5’10”) and I’m tired all the time.  I cry a lot and get easily irritated and aggravated.  My knees hurt, I have constant headaches and acid reflux.  My local doctor feels that I’m unable to lose weight on my own and is urging me to have gastric bypass surgery.  I want to play at the park, ride bikes and be a fit and healthy mother for my children.  Most importantly, I want to BE HERE for them.

What are some of the events in your life that have led you to this point?  I’ve been overweight my entire life, but have steadily added more pounds each year; especially after having babies.  Last year my husband died after a battle with congestive heart failure and a failed heart transplant.  In an instant, I became a 38-year-old widowed mother of four children ages eight to three, and the stress has been overwhelming.  During this past year I have been diagnosed with premature osteoarthritis in both knees, high blood pressure, ADHD, and major depression. 

Describe a typical day for you:  My alarm goes off at 6:45 am, but I hit the snooze button four times before I drag myself out of bed.  I struggle to pull myself together and prepare the kids’ breakfasts and get them off to school.  I plan my day by prioritizing how much energy and/or steps it will take to do an activity.  It’s difficult to do much with my children, because I’m unable to move fast due to my size. 

                                           I feel like I’m a prisoner in my own body. 

• Weight  398 lbs.
• BMI  57.1
• Blood pressure  140/100
• Waist measurement  58”
• Cholesterol  180
• Triglycerides  98
• HDL  48
• LDL  112
• Fasting blood sugar  87
• currently taking anti-depressants, amphetamines for ADHD, and medication for urinary incontinence

Stephanie’s “official” starting date is November 1,  2009, and I’ll be posting her progress updates the first week of every month.  We are cheering for Stephanie and wish her all the best as she takes this courageous step to get her health and life back!    

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Preface by Emily Boller: Last fall, after a few months into my weight loss journey, friends and complete strangers would ask, “How are you losing so much weight?!”  It was a bit time consuming to explain to each person Dr. Fuhrman’s books, so I decided to schedule a public meeting room at my local library to “tell-everyone-at-once” and be done with the various questions.  Ha. 

That first little meeting room was filled, and many in attendance that day wanted me to schedule another one so they could come back and bring their family and friends.  The rest is history. 

I ended up scheduling a large meeting room in our city’s downtown library, and that room was filled.  I’ve had several “library talks” now, and Fort Wayne, Indiana is a buzz with excited people on their journeys to health!  Rod attended that first meeting, and now he shares his own weight loss story and success tips at the library talks.  Welcome to Disease Proof, Rod! 

Tell us about yourself and the events that led up to getting your health back?

I had just received the results of my annual physical.  For the fourth straight year, my cholesterol was over 215.  This time it was 231.  The doctor called and wanted me to start Lipitor.  I was not excited about putting a drug into my body that would have negative side effects.  This left me with the question, “What do I do to avoid taking medicine and reduce my cholesterol?”

In addition to having high cholesterol, my doctor told me that I was obese at 215 lbs.  Wow, what a blow to someone who considered himself an athlete and not a couch potato. 

How did you hear about the library talk?

One evening while checking my email, I received a message that was forwarded to me from my sister-in-law.  Her neighbor, Emily, had lost a lot of weight and her cholesterol level had dropped drastically without medication. That was when I realized that I had received the answer to my dilemma.

How did you feel before starting ETL?

I had low energy, constant bloating, continual cravings for food, and trouble with breathing when I tried to run a couple of miles or sleep at night.  My wife thought I had sleep apnea, and I could not get a new life insurance policy. 

How do you feel now?

My energy level is higher than ever and I seldom take a nap!  The bloating is gone, and I no longer have food cravings.  My breathing is fine now when I’m sleeping, and I qualified for the highest level of Life Insurance at the lowest premium rate.  Plus I’m currently training for a marathon, and I just completed a half-marathon in a surprisingly great time!

After approximately eight weeks of nutritarian eating, I returned to the doctor’s office to have my cholesterol rechecked.  My overall cholesterol dropped from 231 to 127; LDL cholesterol dropped from 168 to 82, and my triglycerides dropped from 142 to 56. 

I now weigh 170-175 lbs.

Success tips you’d like to share with others in the journey to health:

• Find someone else that wants to get their health back also so you have support, eating ideas and an exercise partner.
• Focus on what you can eat and not on what you can’t have to eat. There are so many wonderful food choices with nutritarian eating.
• Be creative. Learn what foods you can eat, and put together combinations that you like. I make a vegetable soup and chili that I eat for lunch. I even mix together the soups to change the taste or add the leftover vegetables from our evening meals (saves money too.)
• Start an exercise program or a sport you enjoy.
• Make a game out of it – I want my cholesterol to go down “this much by this amount of time.”

If you could sum up what nutritarian eating has done for you, what would it be?

Not only has the quality of my health and life improved, but nutritarian eating has given me so much freedom! It feels so good to be free!

NOTE:  A year ago Rod was obese, unhealthy and could barely jog.  Now, at the age of 46, he just completed his first marathon in 4 hours and 9 minutes; placing 416th out of 1005 runners.  We are so proud of him!

Go eating for health!

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A few days after making the commitment to eat for health I faced a challenge.  One of my children had an emergency that required immediate medical attention.  Consequently, I ended up spending the majority of the next two months away from home.

From that experience I discovered that it is possible to be a nutritarian anytime, anywhere, under any circumstance.

First of all, I put the above red cooler in the trunk of my car and kept it stocked every couple of days with fresh ice and fruits and vegetables. I stored almonds, raw sunflower seeds and cans of beans in the car; along with some utensils and a gallon of water to wash the produce.

I parked near a drain in the hospital parking garage and “prepared” each meal as needed.  I would fill a plastic sack with a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit, plus a handful of nuts or seeds; and open a can of beans and use a colander to rinse the salt off with water before dumping them into a zip lock bag.

I took my meals to the hospital cafeteria and ate well. (Now that Dr. Fuhrman’s Healthy Additions canned greens and beans have been created:  Supreme Greens, Moroccan Chickpea and VitaBeanaVegaMin, I’d include them.  They are convenient and delicious with absolutely no salt added!)

The results?  After the crisis subsided and I returned home, I was forty pounds lighter than three months earlier.

Eating for health can be successfully achieved in any situation, under any circumstance.

When one is 100% committed, he/she will always find a way to make it work. No excuses.

How do you eat for health while away from home?  Work? Do you have any tips to share?

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I recently met Isabel, who’s been a nutritarian since the first Eat to Live book was published in 2003.  The following is a brief interview that I had with her:

What was happening in your life at the time you discovered the Eat to Live book?

It was the Christmas season of 2002, and I was terribly depressed. I’m only five feet tall and weighed 203 lbs., which is a lot of extra weight to carry on my frame. My back hurt, I had migraine headaches, acne, and was a couch potato. I was facing holiday work parties, and dreaded dressing up to go anywhere because I didn’t have anything pretty to wear, and didn’t want anyone to see me obese. Plus, I had two young children and I wanted to be healthy for them.

In desperation I was surfing the internet that December and discovered that Dr. Fuhrman’s newest book, Eat to Live was going to be made available to the public in January. After reading positive reviews about it I pre-ordered it. My copy arrived on January 4, 2003.

So then what happened?

I read the book and was impressed by Dr. Fuhrman’s scientific research and knowledge, plus everything made a lot of sense. I started to follow his nutritional guidelines right away and lost 50 lbs. by that summer. However, I didn’t have much support so over time I made wrong choices and gained back 25 lbs.

At that point, I was so discouraged and afraid that I would be fat forever so I decided to join the members’ center on drfuhrman.com for the support that was lacking in my life. That decision changed everything! I learned so much from the other members; things like how important it was to plan ahead to make sure I had healthy foods to eat, and how important it was to establish a routine of food preparation. Because of the ongoing support, I was able to lose a total of 77 lbs. That was four years ago, and I have kept it off all these years

Tell us how your life has changed.

[Big laugh!]  Oh my, where do I begin?!

I feel like a new woman!

I have energy now to be active! I can do things that I had absolutely no desire to try before.  Now that I feel great, I want to help others feel better so I’m a certified personal trainer, and next week I’m testing for certification in a special exercise program.

I’m not embarrassed to wear a bathing suit in public anymore.  When I was obese I wore men’s large water shorts and a tank top.  As you can imagine I only waded up to my knees; I never swam.  

I can fit comfortably into the seat of an airplane, and I no longer dread going places.  In fact, I love to get dressed up now and go out dancing with my husband!  When we’re out, people will say, “Hi” to my husband, and look at me like I’m his new girlfriend or something!

What would you like to share to give others hope who are reading this interview?

• Join the members’ center at DrFuhrman.com for support! You need ongoing support.

• Forget the scales and “deadlines.”

• Get into a routine which will support an upward cycle of success.

• Do something to get regular exercise.

• Don’t be afraid to say, “No” at social gatherings. Health and feeling good should come before pleasing others.

• It really DOES work! If anyone is struggling or contemplating, just go for it! Do as much as you can and NEVER give up!

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