Have I Joined a Cult?

Have I joined some kind of foodist cult? No.
Do I think Joel Fuhrman is the Source of All Truth? No.
Was I brainwashed into trying some kind of harebrained eating scheme. Um, I don't think so.

Here's the deal. Years ago when I used to grow bonsai, the club leaders said, "If you are going to buy a book, only buy one book. If you get more than one, they will contradict each other and you will get confused."

For right now, Eat to Live is my one book. It may not be any better than any other book. But for a little while, it is my book.  So that I do not become confused.

Actually, on a personal level, my friend Jamie Rich had amazing -- and long-lived -- weight loss results with the Fuhrman method. (See below.) So I didn't just pick it out of a hat.

I am not afraid that I will become malnourished and die during this trial period. If anything, I was more malnourished during the years when I was gaining this weight.  Pizza, beer, diet coke and popcorn don't strike me as a spectacularly well-balanced diet. If I did not die then, I probably will not keel over in the next few weeks.

(Just for the record, the pizza etc. diet was more than 10 years ago. I was in a blue funk and gained 80 pounds in a year. Interestingly, it is far easier to gain weight than it is to lose it.)

What I keep in front of me is the reason that I am doing this. My knees are full of arthritis and my primary medical remedy is surgical. I want to try everything in my power to avoid that. If it takes losing weight, I am finally completely serious about it. 

And, honestly, even if I were to undergo surgery, my rehab and recovery would much easier if I were much smaller.

Little changes don't seem to work for me. I have been trying to tweak my diet and exercise for years with not much to show for it. Apparently, I need a radical shift my eating patterns for the time being while I determine what my new direction will be.

Remember, there are two phases to change. First, stop. Stop what you are doing. Second, do something different. This is my stop phase.

Right now, nutrient density makes sense to me. Sugar-free and gluten-free also recommends itself to my intelligence.

I cannot see anything wrong with eating highly nutritious foods exclusively for a while.