My Health Diet In A Nutshell

My Health Diet

While trying to improve my health and that of my family’s, I unknowingly created a diet that would be very similar to Sally Fallon and Mary Enig’s book, “Eat Fat, Lose Fat, which I would then read nearly a year later.  Not only did we improve our health, but we lost weight as an added bonus.  This is not a weight loss diet per se, as many of you who are not overweight will see.  When using foods to become healthy, weight loss management comes naturally.

Here are some of the basics to my health diet:

1. Before breakfast every morning, I take 1 tablespoon of Coconut oil, and 1 teaspoon of Garden of Life Lemon Mint Flavored Olde World Icelandic Cod Liver Oil.                                                        
2. Before every meal, I take a tablespoon of Coconut oil. I carry Coconut oil gel caps in my purse for meals away from home. I cannot emphasize how important this is for my health, and weight maintenance.  For more information on why Coconut oil is extremely healthy and why it helps maintain proper weight, go to http://www.coconutoil.com/  There you will find lots of information on saturated fats, cholesterol, etc. listed on the left side of the site.
3. The following are supplements that I take at each meal.

     For breakfast: I drink ¾ of a scoop of Garden of Life Perfect Food Super Green formula w/ ½ cup of organic apple juice. I take 1 400 i.u. gel cap of  Schiff vitamin E Complex with Mixed Tocopherols, 2 capsules of Dr. Christopher's Vital herbs, 2 tablets of Standard Process Cataplex B and 2 of Cataplex G (these are both whole food B complex.  Whole food supplements are very important to me, as so many supplements that claim to be natural are actually synthetic.  I won’t take any B vitamins that are separate from each other, nor will I take them if they are yellow or white in color. B vitamins are important for me so that my body will release built up water, and also aids in mental clarity of my mind, memory, etc.) Standard Process uses only organic foods for their products.  I order them through Discount Health on the internet. In the winter (living in Alaska) I also take 3 drops of Carlson’s 2,000 i.u.Vitamin D3 Drops, and in the summer if it is a rainy day, I will take 1 drop. I also take a probiotic supplement, 2 Digestive Enzymes from Swanson Health Products (2 of them because of my age.  The older I get, the more I need them.)  I also take 1 Chastetree Berry Fruit capsule from Swanson’s for hormonal imbalances during the change of life.  My daughter also takes these for PMS symptoms. And last but not least, I take a 1000 mg. soft gel of Barlean’s Flax Oil.

• With lunch, along with my tablespoon of Coconut oil taken 20 minutes before, I take the 2 tablets each of Cataplex B and G, 2 Digestive Enzymes, and a chastetree berry capsule if I feel that I need it, and a Flax seed oil gelcap.
• For dinner, along with my tablespoon of Coconut oil before dinner, I take 2 Digestive enzymes, 2 each of the cataplex B and G, another Vitamin E gel cap (again because of my age) another Chastetree berry capsule if needed, and a Flax seed oil gel cap.

If I need more calcium than what I am getting from raw milk which is always whole milk, as the cream helps my body to absorb the calcium, and is also the most nourishing part of the milk, I will take a couple of Standard Process Calcium Lactate tablets.  Some of the symptoms that I have that would on occasion (very rarely) alert me to the need for more calcium in my body would be leg or toe cramps, or arthritis in my right knee. I always eat something fatty such as butter with it (on a piece of homemade bread, etc.) to be sure to absorb the calcium at the same time I take the tablets.

I use only meats that come from animals that have not been given antibiotics, hormones, and do not have nitrates or nitrites added to them. I look for Beef and Buffalo meat that is well marbled with fat because this is what gives extra nutrition and important digestive enzymes to digest the meat, and also tenderizes the meat  giving intense wonderful delicious flavor.  I then cut the fat off when ready to eat. I buy Hormel Natural Choice lunchmeat and bacon that meet the previous requirements I have for meat. I usually buy the lunchmeat and bacon when on sale 2 for $7.00 and stock up by buying 10 or 12 of them and putting them in the freezer.  I buy only wild caught fish and seafood, as many farm-raised fish are given hormones in their feed.

I grind my own organic flour.  A few of my favorites are Spelt, hard white wheat (for anything that I want to raise beautifully) soft white wheat for pastries, biscuits, pie dough, etc., and Buckwheat.  I love the fact that Spelt not only has a wonderful nutty taste, but also is far superior in nutrition, and even has the B vitamin B17 in it, which has been used for cancer prevention and cure in Mexico.  Spelt was used in the 1500’s as a food all on its own for its superior healing properties, given as a mash at all meals.  Buckwheat also has a high nutrient value in it, and it doesn’t take many (usually ½ to 1 pancake) to fill us up when I make Buckwheat pancakes.

All ingredients that I can, I buy organic. It is interesting to note that when we first switched over to organic, I thought my grocery bill would be sky high.  But because our bodies assimilated the nutrients far better, our grocery bill actually stayed the same, because we needed less food.  The same thing happened when I switched the dog food over to organic for our German Shepherd.  I was a little nervous about it being so expensive, but she ended up eating about half of what she used to consume just like we did because her body assimilated the organic food better, which ended up making her food cost about the same that we were paying before.

I use raw milk and cream, raw cheese, and I buy butter (which I slather on heavily any item that needs butter) from grass fed animals. It is important for weight loss that I eat 3 servings of calcium rich foods per day. My layer hens provide me with extremely healthy omega 3 eggs, and I make kefir with raw milk from kefir grains, and drink it either as a smoothie or if in a hurry, will mash up a banana and put a heaping tablespoon of strawberry freezer jam in it and stir it up.  This is incredibly delicious. I also culture my own buttermilk which is fantastic in flavor by putting ¼ to ½ cup organic buttermilk in the bottom of a quart jar, fill with raw whole milk, put the lid on loosely, and leave on the top of the refrigerator for a couple of days until it smells like heavenly tasting buttermilk. I use buttermilk in pancakes, waffles, dressing, bread, etc.  I use a lot of it. This is far better nutritionally than store bought, and can’t be matched for good flavor!  I also make Kombucha Tea for its health benefits, and weight loss help. I try to drink lots of water, as much as half my body weight in ounces.  This water is either reverse osmosis water or distilled water.

 I use raw honey because pasteurization takes out the important enzymes, also raw apple cider vinegar, raw brown rice vinegar for the same reasons, along with many wonderful gourmet vinegars. I use Celtic medium grind grey sea salt for cooking with and Celtic finely ground light grey sea salt for a finishing salt.(and for on the table) The medium grind is quite coarse.  I use it in things where I know that it will naturally dissolve. This is my preferred salt.  It is extremely good tasting all on it's own, used by many gourmet cooks the world over, (I tried a side by side test) is not as salty, and is chock full of minerals and nutrients. The fine grind sea salt is still very healthy, and was my first introduction to real, gourmet non refined sea salt. Many of the sea salt products that are found in the store have been refined, and do not have nutrients in it that this salt does.  I learned that there are salts that heal and salts that kill.  I do not use regular table salt or refined sea salt because of this. I use the salt very liberally. My rule of thumb for salt, is if it is white, I don't use it. Many of the healthy salts are grey, or pink, or have brown flecks in them.

While I still eat things like homemade freezer jam on biscuits, pancakes, or real maple syrup, maple sugar, organic brown sugar, organic evaporated cane sugar, in baked goods, I eat these things in moderation. (one very large pancake instead of two.) I also make a wonderful dessert once a week so that we aren’t tempted to give up on our diet all together.  These desserts are still healthy because I use organic ingredients that haven't been refined so that the nutrients aren't taken out, but once again, the key is moderation if the goal is good health and to lose weight.

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If I have time, I will soak my grains, or flour before using.  This makes the flour exceptionally healthy for you.  If I don’t have time, I just don’t worry about it, and I still lose the weight, and don’t get the flu or colds nearly as often as other people.

I do not get vaccinated for the flu, or anything else, as I believe (after much studying) that it causes the immune system to be compromised, and almost everybody that I know who gets a flu shot has the flu numerous times throughout the year. I can go for years without having a cold or the flu, and if I do get it, it is usually much more mild than others who come down with it. I do experience cleansing symptoms (nausea, headache, aches and pains,etc) from taking certain herbs for specific needs, if I don't drink enough water to wash the toxins from my body quickly.  These are totally different from a virus caused cold or the flu.

Once a year I do a spring cleanse, and cleanse my liver and kidneys, along with a parasite and candida cleanse.  I also take Butcher’s Broom once in awhile throughout the year as a liver and kidney cleanse, especially if I have overindulged in sweets.  (Sugar is very hard on the liver and kidneys.)  If I have a lower backache and it is not due to straining my back in some way, this is the time I will once again take Butcher’s Broom.  The first time I took Butcher’s Broom, I had a very loose stool all day, but thereafter, it is usually is just slightly loose, and not constricting in any way. Because I take Butcher’s Broom, when I have a hair analysis test for toxic metals, etc. including mercury, arsenic, aluminum, etc, my test comes back free of these heavy metals, even though I still use aluminum cookie sheets, and aluminum foil for certain things.  Maybe some day I will invest in stainless steal cookie sheets, but until then, I use what I have. I do use aluminum free deodorant, as I believe that it is important that I don't put the aluminum on my skin.  I use Lavilin underarm deodorant which is used once a week, and it kills the bacteria as they escape from the skin for an entire week. It uses herbs in it's ingredients.

So the 3 Important keys to healthy weight loss (as given in the book Eat Fat, Lose Fat) for me are these: Coconut oil approx. 20 minutes before each meal (if I don't remember, I still take it with my meal) 1 teaspoon of unrefined Cod liver oil each morning, and 3 calcium rich servings with a fat such as butter, cream, etc.

That, in a nutshell is how I lost weight a few years ago, and then we slowly quit taking the coconut oil (but still cooked and baked with it) and Cod liver oil, at the same time as my wonderful daughter who loves to bake cookies for her husband moved into the apt. in our house, and we overindulged in the sweets too heavily at the same time, causing us to gain weight.  Since my husband and I have been faithful again with the Coconut oil and Cod liver oil and we have been eating all foods in moderation instead of stuffing ourselves at every meal because it just tastes so good, my husband has lost 14 pounds in just over a month, and I have lost 10 pounds.  During this month we have also done our Spring Cleanse which was a new cleanse for us, and has an herb that in the past made me gain weight while being on it, but since we continued to take the Coconut oil and Cod Liver oil while we were on the cleanse, I did not gain weight this time, it helped me to keep off the weight that I had lost prior to the cleanse.