Eat This And Live

I just finished reading a new book that I got at the Christian Book Store. The title is Eat This And Live by Don Colbert, M.D. I'm making a list in my sidebar this year of books as I read them and will try to give you a brief overview of the ones that aren't pure trash. That means you might get a book review once or twice this year. :)

It Was Scary! I eat all the wrong things. You eat all the wrong things. I thought I was doing so good when I switched to 1% milk, low-fat yogurt, canola oil, Splenda, etc. This book tells you the good, the bad, the ugly about all of that and more. He recommends everything organic which is certainly what we'd all like to do but how in the world do you afford it? There are just the two of us eating in this house most of the time but even so we live on social security and teacher retirement and that just goes so far. He does list some alternatives, thank goodness, but not nearly enough!

I'm not a big meat eater but my husband is. I've always known that Jerry eats too much meat, but even I do (according to Colbert) and that's saying something! I loved the fact that the author explained Biblically his reasons for making some of his recommendations and I gained a better understanding of what God told us to do, beginning with just eating growing things like plants, and then later (after Noah) with God's directions that it was ok to eat some meat. And in the New Testament Paul talks a lot about meat eating, even pork.

The day after Christmas I started on a healthier way of eating...according to me. I cut my chai tea in half (woe is me!), started adding fresh fruit much more often (Dr. Colbert recommends washing it with water with a few drops of bleach in it!), cutting out most sweets, etc. And I have to say I've already lost 4 pounds so it's helping. This book reminded me of the importance of eating nuts, blueberries, extra virgin olive oil....things I already know but don't think about very often. Of course, there's much more than this that makes sense in the book but these are some of the highlights. The price for the book was $15.99 at my store (I had a coupon though which lowered the price) but I found it for less than $11 on Amazon if you're interested.

Has it changed my way of thinking? Yes. Here are some things I plan to do:

1. Drink more water. And more water.

2. Investigate a water purifier and rarely, if ever, drink out of plastic bottles.

3. Wash fruit much more thoroughly. Try to find an economic fruit cleaner (the stuff I saw in the grocery was expensive I thought).

4. Buy double fiber bread. Check out local bakeries for Ezekial Bread.

5. Make my own salad dressing.

6. Read labels much more aggressively, looking for ingredients and not just fat & sugar content.

7. Eat more nuts and vegetables.

8. Make a list of "do buy" and "don't buy" products to keep in my purse so that I won't get confused in the grocery store.

I'm glad I bought this book. I'll keep it and use it as a reference book.

(He recommends Stevia instead of sugar. Anyone use this? Got any tips?)