eat this, not that

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me to hear me say that I've struggled with my weight my entire life. I remember weighing my food on a little scale around the age of 10. From 17-19, I jumped on the low-fat diet craze that was happening in the mid 90's. I lost 60 pounds from eating little to no fat those 2 years & even though I lost weight, I now believe I wasn't eating a healthy, balanced diet. Everything I ate from salad dressing to mayo contained no fat. I gained it all back, eventually. Later on, I was even prescribed diet pills from my doctor & lost 40 pounds. I gained half of that back. Not the healthy way, either. So what is?

A google search shows over 60 million websites for "weight loss diet". Countless, conflicting beliefs all claiming to be the ultimate in a weight loss plan. No longer do I seek to be skinny, I never will be. Being healthy is the goal.

Seven years ago, Dr. Weil heavily influenced my diet, buying every one of his books & memorizing "Eight Weeks to Optimum Health". I still incorporate (or try to) much of his practices into my everyday eating, such as limited to no processed foods. However, feeling that we should get nutrients from foods & not pills, I choose not to take the many supplements he suggests.

Next to capture my attention was the Raw Diet, which is based on unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed. And none of these foods can be cooked above 116F. Believing this diet is not healthy long term, I find it useful as a 3-5 day detoxing period.


For the past couple of weeks, I've been reading "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. It's a book that Terry tried to get me to read a long time ago, but at that time I didn't want to hear anything about how eating fat was good since there were still remnants of my low-fat days reeling in my mind.
Sally Fallon claims that animal fats as well as cholesterol are both essential for a healthy diet and a healthy body. It's also about preparing foods in a traditional way, such as soaking grains overnight. This isn't a weight-loss book, but could improve overall health, so I'm ready to give it a try.
This week for the first time since 1994, red meat was on my plate for dinner. Slowly adding red meat to my diet has been on my mind for months now. I must admit the steak was delicious & I had no digestive problems after. This is a big diet change for me, but feel it's a beneficial one. I'm looking forward to adding many recipes from "Nourishing Traditions" into my diet. I'll keep you posted on how things are progressing. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!