Why a whole food diet?

I decided to start practicing what I preach (where nutrition is concerned) last October. After having my son a year earlier, I decided that it was time to stop having so many excuses. I wanted more energy, I wanted to sleep better, I wanted clearer thoughts again, and I wanted to be a healthy size.


I started with some simple changes (note that I said simple, not easy). As a general rule, I eat only three meals per day. I've never been comfortable with the 'eat every three hours' thing. If you're eating fibre rich foods, it's not necessary and snacking is where people tend to eat the most packaged foods. This is where blood sugar imbalances occur. I am not willing to go hungry though, so I allow myself one snack per day if necessary and I try to make it a handful of nuts and some fruit.


The other change that I made was that I stopped eating anything that I couldn't stop at one. For me, that means all sweets and some crackers (I can eat a portion of Triscuits but could easily eat the box of wheat thins!). For a friend of mine, it's bacon and chips. It's an evolving list as I go along. I've added a few things back in and taken a few more things out.


Since the end of October I've lost 24lbs, 3 inches off my chest, 4 inches off my waist, 4 inches off my hips, and 3.5 inches off my thighs.


Not bad considering that I've never gone hungry or eaten a bar or drank a shake.


Now, in the past, this weight loss would have been unnacceptable - taking 8 months to lose 24 lbs would have been too slow. I would have given up and decided that it wasn't working. Thank goodness that I had a new attitude this time.

Last week I did my monthly weight and body measurements so that I would have an accurate starting point for the whole food diet that I am embarking on for the summer. I will share with you what kind of changes happen with my body, my sleep, my energy, and my mood.


The first week (last week) of my whole food diet was a little rough. With the long weekend at the cottage and friends over for the week before, I was not prepared at all! No groceries, no meal plan for the week. This is key folks - planning makes healthy eating possible. So, I ate granola (recipe in this month's newsletter!) for breakfast, salad for lunch, and meat, rice and veggies for supper. Not exciting, but it worked.

Friday night we headed to my in-laws for the weekend. I learned another lesson - don't expect your husband to tell anyone about your new diet adventures! We arrived to pizza. Oops. Now they know what I'm not eating. I did eat the pizza since it was already ordered, payed for, and sitting there. Had it not been, I would have made myself something else.

What I will do differently next time is this - I will pack more of my own foods. I did pack my granola for breakfast, fruit and some nuts for snacks. Next time I will bring some salads too.

Already in a week, I have more energy and my bowels are very happy. Can't wait to see what this week brings!

Off to do some meal planning for this week. I've pulled a few recipes off of vegetariantimes.com to try. Stuffed tomatoes for tonight!

Yours in health,
Kerri Fullerton, ND