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...a simple No-diet Life
Hello lovely peoples! I may just be your 'country gal next door', but I must tell you that when poor health and a chubby belly opened my eyes enough I realized my 'healthy diet' wasn't making me healthy at all. Once I changed my cupboards & my buying habits that changed my LIFE! Just eating REAL FOOD balanced my weight, increased my energy and dramatically improved my health. This gave me 'happy food thoughts' and peace of mind, gifting me that 'inner glow' I'd been missing!
Choosing to be happy doesn't mean Life is perfect,
it just means we've chosen to look past Life's imperfections
With this thought in mind, I've also chosen to look past conflicting 'diet-cult-strategies' to find my happiness. Who wants to cook or 'meal prep' all day or all weekend?! Not me! Whoever convinced us we needed three 'square' meals or six small meals a day must've owned a restaurant! Eating so much, so often, keeps us thinking about food all day, exposes us to loads of toxins, produces enormous amounts of waste products and has digestion working 24/7, using vast amounts of energy. We want life and eating to be happy, satisfying and healthy! Interestingly, my healthy Paleo, Raw and Vegan friends believe their diet lifestyle is the 'right' way to eat, yet they're fundamentally at opposite ends of the spectrum in so many ways.
Because there are great ideas and good research behind many ways of eating, I've found that my dietary beliefs borrow and combine several different ideas into a lifestyle that's easy and enjoyable for me to KEEP!
I learned that when life hands you pain, it's best to clean up your act
Over the course of many years of doctor visits, tests and misdiagnosis for a painful 'auto-immune' condition my research has lead me to the following...
+ The root of many illnesses, including 'auto-immune' issues lies with chronic, stealth infections, in what I believe to be epidemic proportions. The many strains of epstein barr virus, cytomeglovirus, herpes, lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi) bacteria, mycoplasmas and fungi only name a few more common organisms to cause ongoing issues.
+ Generations living on earth today have been passed down nutrient deficient bodies, unhealthy gut flora and infections causing widespread inflammation and literally changing our genome.
+ Toxins from 'modern conveniences'; guts damaged from medications, anti-biotics, chlorine, etc.; bouts of 'food poisoning'; fake 'foods' and a food supply laden with fungal mycotoxins; 'dirty' vaccinations and lack of accurate treatments have all lowered our immune response systems making us more suceptible for co-infections and for these microbes to flourish.
+ Stubborn weight issues stem from over-eating refined starches, sugar and grains, imbalanced gut flora and malfunctioning endocrine systems (due to the above issues).
+ Lack of testing, understanding, correct diagnosis and treatment options available have fueled this painful epidemic. For example, the organism responsible for Lyme disease, takes on three different forms at any given time, of which only one is detectable with tests.
+ We must provide our own bodies what is needed to help us heal and thrive.
i decided to get my 'SELF' right & then LIFE seemed to Follow
I believe...
+ Our bodies thrive with fresh, raw fruits (anything with seeds) and gently cooked vegetables.
+ Our tummies need old-fashioned cultured and fermented foods (far superior to probiotic
capsules).
+ Eggs from happy, healthy, chickens are a near perfect food.
+ Heavy cream, butter (from grassfed cows) and other saturated and healthy fats and cold- pressed oils keep our skin and cell walls youthful.
+ Well-cooked beans do my body good.
+ Soy products shoud be fermented (such as natto, tempeh, miso, tamari).
+ Quinoa is a delightful, high-protein seed from an herb-type plant.
+ Fresh, organic corn is a vegetable in my book.
+ Grains may have been used to fill our ancestors' bellies, however, birds, not humans, have digestive systems best suited to digest grains.
+ We should greatly reduce our animal consumption.
+ There is simply no need to eat veal, lamb or bunnies and I see no reason to eat game such as deer, bison or alligator, unless great misfortune makes that necessary. While my husband (whom we warmly refer to as Animal here) has snacked on everything from squirrel to rattlesnake, I, on the other hand, was raised on small amounts of chicken and beef so those meats are very familiar to me and I feel no need to expand my carnivorous side.
+ Eating ham is just wrong because I think it would be disrespectful to our pet pig, Chuckles. And bacon? Well, on those occassions, let's just say I don't tell Chuckles about it.
"it's either ME or the HOUSE, we BOTH can't look good at the same time!"
I make SIMPLE DAILY CHOICES
1. I buy only organic produce, as fresh as possible. Aside from vast nutritional benefits, organic produce, has the ability to produce anti-fungal/viral substances which protect our cells. Produce sprayed with fungicides no longer produce these substances.
2. I enjoy coffee with heavy cream in the morning. I eat mostly raw fruits and vegetables during the daytime, using my blender to make quick juices, smoothies, soups or chopped salads. Or, I may have a sandwich on our Grain Free Bread, all of which really makes this EASY! I usually eat between the hours of 12-6pm or 2-8pm (about a 6 hour window). I've found that by allowing a longer period between my previous night's meal rests my digestive process. This is referred to as 'intermittent fasting' which has many documented health benefits. This daily regime is when I get a tremendous amount of cleansing, healing and energizing nutrients, all day, everyday! Despite current trends, I don't believe that a lifetime of poor eating habits, illness or weight issues can be reversed with a 3 day or even a 30 day 'detox'. I believe we all need an enjoyable and sustainable 'lifestyle' in order to thrive.
3. Before dinner I may have some raw cheese (it tastes just like regular cheese), natto or tempeh and a condiment platter, with real pickled and fermented (cultured) veggies such as olives, garlic, sundried tomatoes or sauerkraut/kimchi and something light and refreshing to drink.
4. I so enjoy my evening meal! It may or may not include a salad with homemade dressing or a raw, warm soup but it almost always includes simmered, baked or casserole-type veggies, potatoes or yams, a raw herb sauce or cultured veggies, our Grain Free Baguette or Rolls, well-cooked beans or quinoa or maybe an occassional serving of rice and lots of butter. I add eggs 2-3x a week, wild fish 1-2x week and Sundays are often BBQ with meat, our 'family' day. I eat until I am nice and FULL and with a content, filled belly I'm able to sleep like a baby :)
5. I have dessert whenever I want to, as long as it's something homemade (which means it will be grain, sugar and starch free, made with real, whole foods and taste naughty & unbelievably delicious!) Sugar (including coconut sugar, agave and maple syrup), when combined with flours/flour blends (including gluten-free) and starches is a recipe for disaster to our bodies! We may as well stick a Sugar IV in our arms! On the other hand, fructose from whole fruits is slower to metabolize because it must be converted into glucose before entering our cells.
6. On the weekends, for breakfast I may make 'oatmeal' with quinoa flakes or eggs and pancakes, muffins or cinnamon rolls (all grain, sugar and starch-belly free, of course).
7. If we're eating out, I simply bring My Bread or Hamburger Buns and order as clean as possible (i.e. veggies, potato, meat/fish, instead of something with lots of ingredients/sauces).
This 'lifestyle' has...simplified my meal planning and cooking and haulted a constant focus on food. No more thinking about what and when to eat next. It's made dinner time exciting and thoroughly enjoyable again! Combining this eating style with My Breads and Baked Goods makes it easier than ever to keep my blood sugar, weight, health and energy levels consistent.
I hope you'll make your choice to EAT HAPPY, you won't be sorry!