I'm not an expert. I think I've said that before. My health journey started after my first child was born, and I've just kind of picked things up along the way. My research has mainly consisted of articles and videos people share on facebook. But I have found my niche! I think that's important for all of us to do. There are so many different types of diets out there, and many contradict each other. I've found that I can't go 100% into any of them, because they exclude some of my favorite foods, or I don't agree with some of the things they profess. So what I encourage all of you to do, as I've done, is become an expert in YOURSELF. Get to know your body, and realize what it needs to be successful at whatever you want it to do.
The first eye-opener I had was when we went to dinner with some friends and I spied a list hanging on their fridge of 12 foods you should eat every day. I don't remember everything on the list, and a lot has changed in superfood research in the last 6 years, so I'm sure I won't be able to find a decent re-creation for you. The two foods I do remember, though, were blueberries and spinach. And I remember thinking that was weird. Spinach? Blueberries? Whatever. But those are what I remembered, so I started eating more of those. I ate spinach every day when I was pregnant with #2, and I've continued that trend. I don't always get to blueberries, but when I want ice cream, I grab blueberries instead and it works.
Food is amazing. That's what I've taken away from my journey here. Food gets its energy from the sun and from minerals and nutrients in the soil. And then we eat it, so we get our energy from the sun. Isn't that awesome? The sun does so much more for our earth than just keep it warm. It gives life. Literally.
I watched a documentary a few years back that promoted the paleo diet without actually coming out and saying so. I thought it was fascinating. I mentioned it on facebook and asked for some paleo recipes from anyone who lives that way, and got a recommendation for another book instead. Which I read, and it completely changed my life.
I hope you've all had a chance to read Eat To Live by Joel Fuhrman. It's been a few years now since I read it, so I'm not going to call myself overly qualified to give a good summary, but here are a few takeaways that have stuck with me.
1. The world population is malnourished. Sure, we get enough to eat. But we don't get enough NUTRIENTS. We're killing ourselves slowly by not giving our bodies what they need to survive and thrive. When I hear the word "malnourished", I think of kids in third world countries who live off of rice and water, and not enough of it. Although we may have more meat on our bones, our bodies are functioning as well as theirs. The number one cause of death in America is heart disease, which is completely preventable. All you have to do is eat things that are actually nutritious, and don't eat so much of the foods that contain no nutritional value.
2. Foods from the earth are the only foods we should be eating. Fruits. Vegetables. Lentils. Beans. Legumes. Seeds. Nuts. Everything we need to sustain our lives comes from the sun and from the earth.
3. Now, I honestly don't remember if this came from the book or from that paleo documentary I watched. But here's the thing - we don't need to eat starchy foods. We've been hardwired to think that every meal needs protein and starch, but it doesn't. The only reason we ever ate those foods to begin with was to make it through times of famine. We live in the complete opposite of that now. We can get fruits and vegetables year round, and at decent prices. There's really no reason to eat flour, rice, oats, barley, pastas, potatoes, any of it. We don't need it. It offers our bodies calories to get us through the day, but that's it. Try to get your calories somewhere else.
4. Your stomach can only hold so many calories in a given day. If you eat bad calories, there won't be room for good calories. But here's the crazy thing - if you eat good calories, they get digested properly and quickly BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS so you have more room more quickly for more good calories. This reminds me of that old argument about how broccoli or black beans have as much protein as a steak. You do have to eat more broccoli or beans to get as much protein in a steak, but you can. And that's good. Because you'll be getting more calcium and oodles of cancer-fighting nutrients along with it. So go ahead, eat as much broccoli as you can. Eat so much broccoli that there's not even room for french fries or bread sticks.
What this all boils down to for me is the way I eat now - nutrient dense. I try to only eat foods that are the most nutrient dense, and I avoid foods that are devoid of nutrients or have little to offer. Now, I'm not perfect. I'll still have treats here and there. But the way I see it, if I can fill my body with absolutely everything it needs each day, and then there's room for some ice cream, I'm doing pretty good.
At the very least I hope what you'll do with this challenge is just eat more good things. If you're eating one serving of veggies per day, up it to 3. The book recommends 1 lb of cooked veggies and 1 lb of raw veggies every day. So just eat a big huge salad for lunch instead of pb&j. It will require more work, but come on. This is your LIFE we're talking about. Can't you invest a little time in the rest of your life?
My nutritarian lifestyle consists of me trying to get all the things my body needs every day. I've had issues with stress fractures and arthritis over the past few years, so I got checked out and found out that I'm borderline at risk for osteoporosis. That freaked me out a little. I remembered from this video I watched this one time that if your body is short on one nutrient it needs, it will leech it from another source already within your body. There's iron and calcium in your bones, so I've been ultra focused on making sure I get enough of those nutrients every day. I take a calcium supplement daily to help, and I put clay in my smoothies for the iron as well as the anti-inflammatory properties. Beyond that, I make sure I eat romaine, broccoli, or brussels sprouts every day for the calcium. I eat spinach or carrots every day for the beta carotene. I eat beans as a very lean source of protein. I use a protein powder to get me what I need for the day, and it's plant based and filled with probiotics as well. I eat another form of probiotics each day to help with digestion. I eat pineapple every day for digestion and anti-inflammatories. I eat good fats from chia and flax seeds to balance my omega 3 and omega 6 ratio (I'm sure I've ranted about that before). And beyond that, I eat good snacks from the earth. Nuts, seeds, dried fruits, veggies. I get what I need, and I try to stay away from things I don't need.
I really really hope you will take this challenge as a way to change your life for the better. I hope you'll see that it's not about keeping score or doing better than anyone else. It's about doing better for yourself, and feeding yourself what you need. Just try each day to eat more veggies, and you'll win.
The first eye-opener I had was when we went to dinner with some friends and I spied a list hanging on their fridge of 12 foods you should eat every day. I don't remember everything on the list, and a lot has changed in superfood research in the last 6 years, so I'm sure I won't be able to find a decent re-creation for you. The two foods I do remember, though, were blueberries and spinach. And I remember thinking that was weird. Spinach? Blueberries? Whatever. But those are what I remembered, so I started eating more of those. I ate spinach every day when I was pregnant with #2, and I've continued that trend. I don't always get to blueberries, but when I want ice cream, I grab blueberries instead and it works.
Food is amazing. That's what I've taken away from my journey here. Food gets its energy from the sun and from minerals and nutrients in the soil. And then we eat it, so we get our energy from the sun. Isn't that awesome? The sun does so much more for our earth than just keep it warm. It gives life. Literally.
I watched a documentary a few years back that promoted the paleo diet without actually coming out and saying so. I thought it was fascinating. I mentioned it on facebook and asked for some paleo recipes from anyone who lives that way, and got a recommendation for another book instead. Which I read, and it completely changed my life.
I hope you've all had a chance to read Eat To Live by Joel Fuhrman. It's been a few years now since I read it, so I'm not going to call myself overly qualified to give a good summary, but here are a few takeaways that have stuck with me.
1. The world population is malnourished. Sure, we get enough to eat. But we don't get enough NUTRIENTS. We're killing ourselves slowly by not giving our bodies what they need to survive and thrive. When I hear the word "malnourished", I think of kids in third world countries who live off of rice and water, and not enough of it. Although we may have more meat on our bones, our bodies are functioning as well as theirs. The number one cause of death in America is heart disease, which is completely preventable. All you have to do is eat things that are actually nutritious, and don't eat so much of the foods that contain no nutritional value.
2. Foods from the earth are the only foods we should be eating. Fruits. Vegetables. Lentils. Beans. Legumes. Seeds. Nuts. Everything we need to sustain our lives comes from the sun and from the earth.
3. Now, I honestly don't remember if this came from the book or from that paleo documentary I watched. But here's the thing - we don't need to eat starchy foods. We've been hardwired to think that every meal needs protein and starch, but it doesn't. The only reason we ever ate those foods to begin with was to make it through times of famine. We live in the complete opposite of that now. We can get fruits and vegetables year round, and at decent prices. There's really no reason to eat flour, rice, oats, barley, pastas, potatoes, any of it. We don't need it. It offers our bodies calories to get us through the day, but that's it. Try to get your calories somewhere else.
4. Your stomach can only hold so many calories in a given day. If you eat bad calories, there won't be room for good calories. But here's the crazy thing - if you eat good calories, they get digested properly and quickly BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS so you have more room more quickly for more good calories. This reminds me of that old argument about how broccoli or black beans have as much protein as a steak. You do have to eat more broccoli or beans to get as much protein in a steak, but you can. And that's good. Because you'll be getting more calcium and oodles of cancer-fighting nutrients along with it. So go ahead, eat as much broccoli as you can. Eat so much broccoli that there's not even room for french fries or bread sticks.
What this all boils down to for me is the way I eat now - nutrient dense. I try to only eat foods that are the most nutrient dense, and I avoid foods that are devoid of nutrients or have little to offer. Now, I'm not perfect. I'll still have treats here and there. But the way I see it, if I can fill my body with absolutely everything it needs each day, and then there's room for some ice cream, I'm doing pretty good.
At the very least I hope what you'll do with this challenge is just eat more good things. If you're eating one serving of veggies per day, up it to 3. The book recommends 1 lb of cooked veggies and 1 lb of raw veggies every day. So just eat a big huge salad for lunch instead of pb&j. It will require more work, but come on. This is your LIFE we're talking about. Can't you invest a little time in the rest of your life?
My nutritarian lifestyle consists of me trying to get all the things my body needs every day. I've had issues with stress fractures and arthritis over the past few years, so I got checked out and found out that I'm borderline at risk for osteoporosis. That freaked me out a little. I remembered from this video I watched this one time that if your body is short on one nutrient it needs, it will leech it from another source already within your body. There's iron and calcium in your bones, so I've been ultra focused on making sure I get enough of those nutrients every day. I take a calcium supplement daily to help, and I put clay in my smoothies for the iron as well as the anti-inflammatory properties. Beyond that, I make sure I eat romaine, broccoli, or brussels sprouts every day for the calcium. I eat spinach or carrots every day for the beta carotene. I eat beans as a very lean source of protein. I use a protein powder to get me what I need for the day, and it's plant based and filled with probiotics as well. I eat another form of probiotics each day to help with digestion. I eat pineapple every day for digestion and anti-inflammatories. I eat good fats from chia and flax seeds to balance my omega 3 and omega 6 ratio (I'm sure I've ranted about that before). And beyond that, I eat good snacks from the earth. Nuts, seeds, dried fruits, veggies. I get what I need, and I try to stay away from things I don't need.
I really really hope you will take this challenge as a way to change your life for the better. I hope you'll see that it's not about keeping score or doing better than anyone else. It's about doing better for yourself, and feeding yourself what you need. Just try each day to eat more veggies, and you'll win.
