My review:
First off, I get bad headaches at least 3 times a week. Since I started the Eat Live Thrive diet 23 days ago, I have only had 1 headache!!! And it was on day 2 of the diet!!! You guys, this book has helped me so much! I highly recommend this book!
Now, this will probably be a long review but it will be an honest one. When this book became available for me to be on the launch team, I debated about joining it, because it was a diet book. But after reading more info about it, I saw that it is more of a lifestyle change rather than one of those fad diets. My Mom, my 2 sisters, and I always trying to help each other lose weight by doing a diet race where the one who loses the most at the end of the month wins $5 from everyone etc. I signed up to be on the launch team for my family. I figured this might be a way to get us all on board and to help us change the way we looked at the food we ate. When I received the book, I finished it in one sitting. I found this book to be very easy to read and full of great information. I highlighted, underlined and bookmarked many pages. And then I presented the plan to my Mom and sisters. I told them this is for a book review, I can't have you stopping the second it gets hard. I made them promise me. We all chose to do the Level 3 phase, so on March 4, one of my sisters and I both started the diet. My mom started on March 11, and my other sister on March 18. Here's how we're doing so far:
I am 5'8" and weighed 152.6 lbs. when I started 23 days ago. I now weigh 146.6 lbs. After 23 days, I am down 6 pounds and 3" overall. I do workout twice a week lifting weights. It may not look like a big jump in weight but I don't have much to lose. My goal is 140 lbs. The most important thing is how I feel. Like I said, I get bad headaches all the time! And to be headache free for 22 days is amazing!! I feel great. I don't find the diet that hard because I do like food and most of the fruit and vegetables and proteins. This book is teaching us to really look at labels and ingredients and to eat real food with none of the junk, like artificial sweeteners, flavors, and colors, high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, GMO's, and preservatives. I am in the Discovery phase of the diet, which is where you bring in a trigger food like dairy, nuts, wheat etc one at a time, so I am curious to see if I have any sensitivities or reactions to certain foods.
My mom is 5'7" and weighed 246 lbs. when she started. It has been 15 days for her and she now weighs 234.2 lbs. She is down 12.2 lbs! I am so proud of her. My mom has a bad back, so her exercise is very light. Here's what she had to say about the ELT diet: "It was very hard the first few days and I almost gave up. But I am down 12 pounds and have no cravings, I feel good, and I have plenty of energy. I would recommend this diet."
Sister #1 is 5'11" and weighed 189.0 when starting. After 23 days, she is down 7.5 lbs. and 6 inches overall, and now weighs 181.5 lbs. She also works out twice a week lifting weights and rides horses. I knew this diet would be hard for her because she does not like vegetables and most fruit. She makes a smoothie with fruit, spinach, and kale so that has helped her stick with it. On day three, I made Snickerdoodle Muffins from the recipe provided in the book, and when she got home from work she said I don't think I can do this. I pulled out the muffins and she loved them. The recipes from the book like the Snickerdoodle and Lemon poppy muffins, the Chocolate Bliss Squares, and the Pumpkin Spice Pancakes really helped her out. I believe she would have quit if these weren't available. And they are so delicious! Here's what she had to say: "The diet is hard and brutal since I am a picky eater and don't like a lot of the healthy foods, especially during the elimination phase when you can't eat potatoes, but the muffins saved me LOL. I'm down almost 8 lbs. and I feel better since I cut out junk food. I would recommend this diet to lose weight and to get healthy."
Sister #2 is 5'8" and weighed 222.2 lbs. when starting. After being on the diet 8 days, she is down 6.2 lbs. and now weighs 216.0. She also works out, but three times a week, and lifts weights. She also likes a lot of the health foods so she finds the diet pretty easy to do. She is still in the elimination phase. Here's what she had to say: "The diet is pretty easy, after the first couple days you start feeling better and you don't even think about crappy food. I only got one headache and I have way more energy. I definitely recommend making the muffins because those are life savers. They make you feel like you are eating bread and carbs. And Yes, I recommend this diet."
I am so excited about this book. I purchased one for my grandma who has struggled with her weight for a long time and she is very active. If you want to feel great, get healthy, and lose weight I would recommend this book to you. I can't promise it won't be hard, because it all depends on you and your eating habits, challenges, and struggles. Having a support group and/or friends and family to do it with you also helps.
I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah for an honest review.
Thank you to the authors, Danna and Robyn, for this book.