Thoughts on Nutrition

I have sort of derailed my journal because I am reading a book "Why We Get Fat", and my mind is blown. I am going to continue to record what I am eating, and the exercise I am doing, but from this point forward I will be doing things a little differently, and my goal will be to FINALLY eat enough and stop starving myself for the sake of conventional wisdom and a lifetime of misinformation in health and nutrition. I only have a little time to read (usually the evening before bed) so I am not finished reading it yet (although I have been listening to constant debates, webinars, podcasts, etc. about the theories in the book since I started it), and I am sure I will continue to be dumbfounded by the revelations but I just can't help wanting to talk about it NOW. I mentioned earlier that I would share my opinion on what an optimal human diet is after the past 5 years of independent recreational research I have put in to it. Since I had my first child, Autumn, I have been unable to lose weight, and not through lack of willpower, determination, or effort. Because of this I have been reading as much about nutrition, fitness and weight-loss as I have time for between my children and husband, my business and playing roller derby. I am so obsessed and fascinated with it that I occasionally daydream about becoming a nutritionist. Before reading this book, I felt that the best possible human diet consisted only of raw organic produce (as local as possible) and lean, grass-fed and free range meat (basically animals that eat the diet they are intended to eat) and the portion should be ¾ live food to ¼ lean protein. I enjoy being active and felt this was necessary to be fit and healthy. I thought grains of all kinds should be avoided all together and think that sugar and white flour are poison. I also thought that occasionally treating oneself to thinks like sugar and white bread was ok. “Everything in moderation” as we have been told so many times before. I have been eating a lean low calorie diet for the past 5 years and getting plenty of exercise so I know there is more to being overweight than eating less and exercising more, and I started this blog to prove to drs, nutritionists, etc that I was doing what conventional wisdom tells us to do to lose weight. I still think organic greens, and animals that eat their natural diet are great, and more than ever I think that refined sugar and white flour are poison, to the point that even though I have always loved these things, the idea of eating them is currently revolting. I will wait until I finish “Why We Get Fat” to explain the actual changes in what I think is an optimal human diet, what changed my mind, and how Gary Taubes put the nail in the coffin for me when it comes to refined sugar, and flour, and most carbohydrates. ♥ Erica

Breakfast This morning and Dinner from last night... And what I am reading now...

Dinner Last Night:
3 Tacos: Home made shredded chicken, Avocado, Salsa, Lots of Greens, Cheese, In a homemade blue corn tortilla shell.

Breakfast:
2 1/2 Boiled eggs, Fresh Green Veggie Juice, and in a little while I will have some coffee.


Last night I started reading "Why We Get Fat" which my brother read a few years ago and suggested.

Which you can buy here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307474259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392217967&sr=8-1&keywords=why+do+we+get+fat

I was planning to read a book Called "beyond paleo" that I bought a little while ago, but I couldn't find it. I bought this around the same time, and have not read it either. While I was looking for it, I realized that I have read A LOT of fitness and nutrition books in the last few years. From what I have read, it seems that vegan and vegetarian lifestyles are not really healthy (that it is possible to do it well if you are doing it for ethical reasons, but if you are doing it to be healthy there is no point) . I have only read the first chapter of this book, but it seems like that is where this book is going, Too. I think when I finish this book, I am going to go ahead and go out of my way to find a book that supports the health benefits of a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle. I feel like I have a decent grasp on nutrition (and  in a future post I will explain what I think is an ideal human diet from my current research). Realizing how one sides most of the books I have read are makes me think I may not know as much as I think. Honestly, what is and isn't healthy changes so much it is hard to know what to think. 

♥Erica