Today I want to write more about the approach to nutrition I take, and that I am going to be focusing on this month. 

I mentioned yesterday that one of the books that had the biggest impact on my approach to nutrition was ‘It starts with Food’ by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig. Here’s an extract from the book that I love; their nutrition elevator pitch; or ‘Nutrition in 60 Seconds’ as they call it:

Nutrition in 60 Seconds – From Melissa & Dallas Hartwig (Whole9Life.com)

“I eat real food – fresh, natural food like meat, vegetables and fruit.  I choose foods that are nutrient-dense, with lots of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, over foods that have more calories but less nutrition.  And food quality is important – I’m careful about where my meat, seafood and eggs come from, and buy organic local produce as often as possible.

This is not a “diet” – I eat as much as I need to maintain strength, energy, activity levels and a healthy body weight.  I aim for well-balanced nutrition, so I eat both animals and a significant amount of plants.  I’m not lacking carbohydrates – I just get them from vegetables and fruits instead of bread, cereal or pasta.  And my meals are probably higher in fat than you’d imagine, but fat is a healthy source of energy when it comes from high-quality foods like avocado, coconut and grass-fed beef.

Eating like this is ideal for maintaining a healthy metabolism and reducing inflammation within the body.  It’s good for body composition, energy levels, sleep quality, mental attitude and quality of life.  It helps eliminate sugar cravings and reestablishes a healthy relationship with food.  It also works to minimize your risk for a whole host of lifestyle diseases and conditions, like diabetes, heart attack, stroke and autoimmune.”

They have four Good Food Standards, believing that the food we eat should:

1. Promote a healthy psychological response
2. Promote a healthy hormonal response
3. Support a healthy gut 
4. Support immune function and minimize inflammation

The way I am going to be eating starting Monday June 7th will incorporate the above four Good Food Standards. 

In my nutrition training and in my health coach training I learnt that the two most important things you can do for your health are to remove foods that are inflammatory, and to balance blood sugar. 

These two things are critical if we want to feel at our best, since unbalanced blood sugar leads to energy highs and lows, and inflammation is at the root cause of most disease processes. 

Another thing I believe: The most powerful thing you can do to improve your health is to learn to listen to your own body.

 

The most helpful diagnostic test for food intolerance is food exclusion to achieve symptom improvement, followed by gradual food reintroduction.

For this reason, I encourage anyone wanting to improve their health and resolve symptoms (that they think may be related to something in their diet), to follow an elimination diet for 28 days minimum. After which foods can be reintroduced, until you arrive at the diet that is right for you.

After a lot of experimentation over the last few years, I know the following about myself:

• I feel best on a low carb diet of 50-100g of carbohydrates per day. 
• I do not tolerate gluten at all.
• I feel better without grains in my diet.
• I feel best when I include probiotics and prebiotics in my diet. 

You might be completely different to me. Everyone needs to experiment to see what works for them, and their unique health needs. 

You may do better with a low carb approach if:

• You have tried a lower carb diet before and felt good
• You have diabetes, prediabetes or a family history of diabetes
• You are of a more northern descent than equatorial descent

You may do better with a moderate carb approach if:

• You have tried a higher carb diet and felt good 
• You are highly active 
• You need to gain weight 
• You are of a more equatorial descent than northern descent 

However, one of the things that is really interesting to me is the idea of nutrient-density. When I eat fewer carbohydrates, less grains, and include probiotics and prebiotics, I end up eating more of the foods that are highest in nutrients. 

Tomorrow I am going to write more about this, talk about one of my favourite books (Weston Price’s epic tome: Nutrition & Physical Degeneration) and why this is most likely the key as to why I feel best when I eat like this, and is the key to each of us working out our own optimum diet. 

Happiness

Today’s #joyfuljune suggestion from Action for Happiness is: Reframe a worry and try to find a helpful way to think about it. 

We can only really worry about things over which we have control, whereas many of us worry about things that we have no control over. A quote I came across that I really like is:

“Worrying will NEVER change the outcome.” I try to think of this often. 

Looking for the Good (write down three good things that have happened or that you have noticed)

1. Yesterday I went out foraging and picked probably the last wild garlic I will pick this year. This incredible wild edible has been providing abundant free food since February. It made me aware of the changing of the seasons, spring into summer. Wild garlic is a spring plant, but yesterday I picked my first Fat Hen (Chenopodium album) of the year. This plant is one that always makes me think of summer.
   
   
2. The sun is shining again today and I am sitting in the garden writing this blog post. 
3. Our wisteria is coming into bloom and looks beautiful.
   
   

What will you remember about today, the only Thursday 3rd June 2021 we will ever have?

About Me

Hello, I’m Chloe. I’m a nutrition and health coach and I’m on a mission to inspire & support women so they can go from feeling fatigued to feeling fabulous! 

I help women who are FED up of being overweight, addicted to sugar and feeling tired ALL THE TIME to lose weight and optimise their health by fixing hormonal, digestive, autoimmune and energy issues.

My step-by-step programme, Revitalise, will help you lose weight, get back your energy, restore vitality and create lifelong health using the power of beautiful & delicious REAL FOOD. 

I’m here to make it easy for you to eat healthy, delicious food without counting calories or feeling deprived. You’ll reset your relationship with food, shift your mindset and build new habits for a complete health transformation!

Disclaimer: All information provided is for informational purposes only, and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. Please consult your GP or a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health and wellbeing. I am a nutritional educator and do not dispense medical advice nor prescribe treatment. While nutritional support can be an important complement to your medical care, a nutritional therapy program is not a substitute for the diagnosis, treatment, or care of a disease, illness, or injury by a medical provider. Nutritional evaluations and lifestyle assessments are not intended for the diagnoses of disease. 

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