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

My weight loss journey

I thought that I would share some of journey with you as the start date for the weight loss program Learn to eat, not to diet approaches.

I have struggled with food and weight most of my life. As I look back, my weight problems were really only perceived problems - meaning that what I had was a body image issue, not a weight issue. Nevertheless, my body image issue changed into a weight issue in my late 20's. It blossomed (along with my waist line) after my son was born a year and a half ago. I was horrified to realize that I had crossed the line into 'obesity'. My BMI was over 30.
It goes to show, that it doesn't matter what you know. I didn't have any 'new' information when I decided that I was tired of being overweight and over-consumed with food thoughts and body thoughts. I'm a Naturopathic Doctor for heaven's sake - I have more information about nutrition and healthy living than most people. So what changed?

My attitude. I finally decided that it was time to stop dieting and start living a lifestyle that would take me to my goal. I also gave up the notion of a timeline - I'm in this for the long haul, no matter how long it takes. This is forever. Abandoning a healthy lifestyle because it's not happening at the rate I'd like or because I've achieved my goal weight just won't do anymore. These lifestyle changes have to happen to keep me small, energetic, and authetic. I have lost 25 lbs so far and am still losing. I have the delightful problem right now that my pants keep falling down.

This is what has inspired the weight loss program at Rooted. I would like to inspire and coach people who are also tired of being overweight and are ready to make permenant changes in their lives.

If you can relate to my story, then you are someone who could benefit from this program. I will teach you how to live, how to eat, and how to think so that you can enjoy life again and stop the madness around diets, and deadlines.

Imagine if you hadn't given up all those times before - you'd be at your goal weight and feeling good by now.

Summer program begins on June 16th.

Fall program begins on September 8th.

See you there!

Kerri Fullerton ND