My Food Philosophy

I'm a firm believer that diets do not work. A diet is something you start, and then you stop, and you gain everything back that you lost.  The best way to lose weight and to be happy, healthy and strong is to make healthy a lifestyle.  This means eating whole, REAL foods, clean foods, not foods that were made in a plant somewhere with chemicals, fillers and dyes..  If you add in more vegetables and fruit to your daily diet as a habit, you will have less time to eat the crap because the nutritious, unprocessed food will have already filled you up!  Focus on what you can have, rather than what you cannot.  If your mindset is that of “I get to eat all of these wonderful, colorful vegetables and fruits, this high quality protein, and these yummy, healthy desserts” you will be much happier than if you think “I should not be having this bacon cheeseburger and cookie cake.” 

I also believe in an 80/20 or 90/10 rule.  If you eat healthy 80-90 percent of the time, then when you do go to a party and have a, well, just about anything at a party, or have a piece of cake after dinner on a Saturday night, it’s ok.  Abs are made in the kitchen, FYI.  You do not have to punish yourself or feel guilty about that piece of cake you had (remember portion control here though folks).

Listen to your body.  Your body knows a lot and it tells you things throughout the day.  If your body is telling you “I have brain fog and I’m feeling tired all the time”, or “My stomach hurts and I feel bloated, especially after I eat this food”, it’s time to change your eating habits.  

Focus on real food

This includes food from the ground such as carrots, green peppers, lettuce, kale, spinach, tomatoes and other types of vegetables.  This includes food from trees and other plants such as apples, oranges, bananas, berries and other types of fruits.  This includes things like nuts, seeds, beans and peas.  This also includes whole grains, like brown rice (not white), quinoa, millet, farro and barley.  And these foods, vegetables and fruits, are the foods most commonly missing from American’s diets.  If everyone included these foods as part of their daily dietary habits, there would be less time to eat the food like substances, and you would automatically be healthier and drop pounds.   Time after time, studies have shown how great the health benefits are from fruits and vegetables.  These foods are automatically low in calories and fat, they decrease the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, can decrease blood pressure and the change of kidney stones.  Not to mention, they protect against cancer and contain many vitamins and minerals.   “Not real” food includes anything processed such as chips, cookies, pasta, pretzels; anything that was made in a factory.  I’m not saying don’t ever eat these things, but eat them sparingly and focus on real, actual food.

Get rid of trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils.  This includes fried foods, margarine, baked goods and most snack foods like crackers, chips and packaged cookies.  These fats are solids at room temperature and solids in your arteries.  The only reason they exist is because they prolong the shelf life of food.  However they decrease your shelf life.

Get rid of processed sugar, sugary drinks and drink more water.  Sugar is a very addicting drug and is enemy #1.  It leads to a multitude of disease including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and even some cancers.   Sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners are no better.  These are chemicals.  Splenda was discovered in 1976 by scientists trying to create a new insecticide.  If it kills bugs.......I'm just saying.  If you must sweeten something, use natural sweeteners like honey,  agave nectar, real maple syrup, and use sparingly.  

I'm also a big believer in eating locally.  Farmer's markets and CSA's are all over the place now.  A CSA, or community supported agriculture, is when you pay a certain amount for a “share” of a local farm’s produce and every week you get a basket or bag of veggies and fruits.  100% of every CSA dollar goes to the farm and the farmer.  CSA’s usually cost less than half of what the same produce would cost if purchased in a grocery store.  This is also sustainable, good for the environment, and good for the animals.  Farms like these are usually family owned and treat their animals well, letting them graze on open pastures.  They are not cooped up in cages and slaughtered inhumanely, like the industrialized, factory farms that have taken over America, and not for the better.   If I were to choose one thing to eat organic, it would be my meat and dairy.  Commercially farmed and mass produced meat contain growth hormones, steroids and antibiotics.  This way the animals grow bigger, faster, and can be slaughtered faster, and in a very inhumane way.  Some experts say it's because of the steroids that our children are getting larger/more developed at a younger age  These animals suffer and when we consume them their energy is transferred to us.  Grass fed, free range animals are much happier and are healthier, therefore making us happier and healthier when we eat them.  Grass is what they are supposed to be eating, not the grain most commercial farms feed their animals.   We also eat wayyyyyyyy to much meat.   Giving up one pound of beef per year could save more water than if you stopped showering for 6 months, according to John Robbin’s book Diet for a New America. 

 Livestock accounts for 1/5th of the greenhouse gas we put into the atmosphere, more than transportation, and methane is worse than carbon dioxide,  so I suggest trying to at least make dinner a week a vegetarian one.  I've also heard of people being weekday vegetarians, or being a vegetarian/vegan before 5pm.  You can get your protein from nuts, seeds, even veggies have protein.  

Check out the documentary Vegucated if you want to see what a slaughterhouse does.  Meet Your Meat, Forks Over Knives, Food, Inc., are some other good food documentaries to watch.  Good resources for finding a farmers market or CSA close to your home are www.localharvest.org and www.eatwellguide.org.

Because of pesticides, herbicides, industrial farming and GMO's, a green pepper today isn't even as healthy as a green pepper was 50 years ago.  It's sad that this is how it is.  Money talks I guess.  That's why I do like supplementation.  I'm not saying take a supplement and go eat a cheeseburger.  Eat healthy and supplement your healthy food with other vitamins and minerals you may not be getting because of how our food industry is today.  I personally drink Shakeology but have had a lot of luck with a good organic, food based multivitamin and omega 3's.  I just like the Shakeology because it is a fast, healthy breakfast and contains a lot of superfoods, pre/probiotics, vitamins, etc.  

We can try to change things with where we spend our dollars.  It may cost a little more to eat pasture raised meat, dairy and eggs.  It may take more time to prep fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains.  But you're investing in yourself, your health and your life.  You may save thousands on doctor's visits, insulin, and bypass surgery, if you just spend a little more now on good, healthy, real food!  It's never too late to start!