The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan That Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds

by Rip Esselstyn

Book Overview

Lose weight, lower cholesterol, significantly reduce the risk of disease, and become physically fit--in just 4 weeks.

Professional athlete-turned-firefighter Rip Esselstyn is used to responding to emergencies. So, when he learned that some of his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, TX, were in dire physical condition-several had dangerously high cholesterol levels (the highest was 344!)-he sprang into action and created a life-saving...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446506699
• ISBN13: 9780446506694
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Grand Central Life & Style
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Outline of What Healthy Whole Food Plant Based Eating Looks Like

If you start eating this way, be prepared for the social consequences - your vegan eating will suddenly become the butt of every joke whether you talk to people about it or not, and you will make people angry and jealous of you as you lose weight without even really having to try, making them feel insecure about their choices to simultaneously harm animals, the environment, and themselves (the book speaks to nutrition, not ethics, but people are going to assume it's an ethical choice for you whether it is or isn't, trust me). No calorie counting necessary when you eat whole food plant based. Your body will love you for giving it the nutrition it craves. You and your doctor will love seeing amazing blood tests. The way of eating that Rip Esselstyn outlines always sets my cholesterol straight. I guess you just have to decide if you'd rather be the weird vegan in the room who is trying to make healthier choices than the rest of our culture or die of a heart attack before your time. Great book. Life saving advice.

It works! It is a fun read.

The quick review: Rip's approached worked for me and keeps working for me two years later. ENGINE 2 DIET is fun to read, is impeccable in its scientific foundations and gives you a big bundle of fire fighter tested recipes to boot. Buy the book, take the challenge, and you'll be wondering why you had to wait so long in life to find the information and guidance. The long review: I will be 77 years old in two weeks. I met Rip some time ago and I've now been plant strong for more than two years. My weight is 180 (down from 230), my waist is 40 (down from 46), all my medical health tests are in the healthy zone and I am on zero medications. And, I need to add, I feel fine. I attribute this to my change from the standard American diet to eating plant strong, just as Rip explains in the book. And to a modest increase in exercise. I have been retired for many years so I have been able to try one system after another and research them in books and on the web in my quest to score well on medical tests and feel fine. Rip's book is a great find. It joins a few other recent highly scientifically based books on nutrient dense eating styles to point to a workable way to health via plant strong eating. Rip's book is different in that first it is fun to read (stories, quips, friendly words) and second that it offers a way that an individual can run a personal test in only a few weeks. He offers you a challenge. You take it. You see the results. You decide whether you'll change your eating. And you can change it because the "how to" (explanations) and "what" (recipes) are in ENGINE 2 DIET. He references those other scientific books in ENGINE 2 DIET if you want to probe scientific foundations. As an older person, I took the exercise message he gives and incorporated daily physical training into my life, but I toned down the activities. In discussion with Rip I have a routine that takes into account my older ligaments, my slower recovery time from older muscle tissue, and my lingering slower cardiovascular recovery time ( from a lifetime of too much standard American diet). I won't enter a triathlon contest, but by modest daily training I am strong enough and I can move enough to do just about anything else I choose. I hope Rip is successful in setting up an ongoing web support system. Support when you take the challenge really helps. And for those who see exercise in an anathema, a web site might give a workable "challenge" method to guide those of us 'slightly less than normal" into exercising in a way that is do-able and reasonably pleasant. Darrell Williams

Get this book!!!!

My husband was given this book and he's been on the Engine 2 program for over a month now. The results are amazing... He has lost 25 pounds. His Total Cholesterol was at 209 before the diet and is now down to 133!!! His blood pressure has also decreased. Overall he just feels and looks so much better. I've been eating the same foods with my husband and I am pregnant. It's been great for my energy level!! I highly recommend this book for those seeking a healthier lifestyle. The diet is so simple to follow and the benefits are quickly realized!

Welcome the era of "self care".

By way of disclosure I was a participant in Rip's first pilot study. It's the one oft cited in this fantastic book. Heading into that study I felt a lot like most of you probably will as you ponder eating the Engine 2 way. I was an omnivore. I was a creature of convenience. I was worried - just what the hell am I going to eat and when am I going to cook it??? My motivation in doing the diet was threefold; to learn more about nutrition, understand what was going on with my lipid profile and just generally experiment to see if I FELT better by eating this way. Weight loss wasn't my goal, though that came as well. After four weeks on the diet I had answers: 1. Cooking takes planning. Meal planning and shopping. Rip gave me the tools to do that. They are in the book. 2. The bulk and produce section of the store are truly amazing places. With the recipes in the book you can prepare ANY type of cuisine. You will not be left craving your favorite flavors. You will become a food adventurer. You will also go from eating calorie dense and nutrient lite foods to calorie lite and nutrient dense foods. 3. You will be as regular as a "Swiss train." Need I explain? 4. You will not suffer from allergies (my seasonal allergies almost disappeared). 5. You will lose weight. In fact, already being thin I started to eat more nuts, avocados and other healthy sources of fat to maintain my weight. I saw other people shred their fat. It was really cool to see! 6. You will not crash at 3:00 everyday like I used to. Sustained energy will be yours. With or without coffee - which I still love by the way. 7. My total cholesterol dropped to 100 when I was 100% Engine 2. Pretty amazing to me. 8. You will have the tools (recipes) to save your own life. As Hippocrates once said - "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food." More recent studies solidify this notion and they are VERY well documented in this book. My experience has yielded the promise of the book - I am now a very plant strong eater that feels GREAT. I have sustained this for over two years. To interrupt our western ways of eating and look critically at the cause and effects of disease in our society is what this has become about for me. The discovery has been tons of delicious foods I never knew existed or ate very infrequently. These foods are now my staples. I appreciate and honor food like never before. So what do I get for writing this? My two young sons will have a healthy father for their lifetimes. My wife will have a healthy husband for our lifetime together. My kitchen will have a lot less grease in it. Bravo Rip for telling your story and empowering what I hope will be tens of millions of people to make "self care" their personal solution to the "health care" crisis in this country. You have shown the way. And the way is really tasty.

ENGINE 2 DIET a must

I have been eating the Engine 2 diet for five months. I've lost 35 LBS. My cholesterol dropped over 60 points. This was all after a meeting with a doctor who told me my cholesterol would only be slightly lowered by changing my diet. I had the good fortune to get a head start on the rest of the world by meeting Rip in person. He is one of the good guys. I have shared countless 'plant-strong' meals with Rip over the last five months. He lives and breathes this diet every single day. This is the first time in my life I have practiced any discipline with my diet. It's important to note changing my diet was not easy at first. The book remains an invaluable tool that guides me through the process of choosing the right ingredients at the grocery store - which is over half the battle. I have to set myself up for a win before the hunger sets in (rhyme). It also provides a nice array of fast recipes (tackle the lasagna later in the diet - it takes a bit of work). Eating out is tough on this diet. You will find the vast majority of restaurants are not run by people who want you to live a long, healthy, balanced life (not yet anyway). I would suggest forgoing the restaurant scene while you find your bearings. I've certainly saved a fair amount of money cooking my own lunch and dinner - and it's not that I don't go out to eat - it's just less often. Rip relates the detailed science behind this way of eating in terms all of us can understand. It's important to note he was raised in the household of a plant-devouring cardiologist - Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Rip's data and experience driven understanding of how our bodies react when fed a plant based diet is proof that this IS NOT another fools errand for all of us looking to lose weight and return our bodies to health. It is a diet of the truth. What would you expect from a firefighter? Stick to it for 28 days. Get some blood work done before and after. I've been able to watch twenty or so men and women start the Engine 2 diet. I can say with certainty that the average person will see dramatic numbers change with their cholesterol. Everyone will lose weight. We will all feel better and ready to take on this new uncertain world. Best of luck to everyone who wants to live a longer more comfortable life.