The following recommendations are the best sources of food available in each category listed below. The key is to eat the best quality food to deliver the greatest quantity of nutrition. You literally are what you eat. Your body is continually rebuilding itself with the raw materials from the food you eat.

If you want to achieve vibrant health it is imperative that you eat good quality food. If you are trying to create better health, I do not recommend eating processed food, soft drinks, etc. Ideally, your food should be freshly prepared from the freshest and best available ingredients.

Livestock, poultry, and fish that are fed their natural diets and organically grown vegetables are more nutritious and have less of a negative effect on the environment than their counterparts. Do not assume anything when buying food or supplements. If a certain process, quality, or ingredient not explicitly listed on the label it will not have occurred or have included in a food item or product, i.e. not fed any animal by products, grass fed, etc.

Get in the habit of reading food labels. As a general rule the less ingredients on a food product the better. For example, a loaf of bread should have four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. If you look at most loaves of bread available in grocery stores you find a very long list of ingredients that you will most likely be unfamiliar with. See bread recommendation below.

Use common sense with any health and nutrition program. First and foremost listen to your body. How do certain foods affect your mood, digestion, energy level? We are all unique individuals with different nutritional requirements. These may change over time even for any individual. Using the principles of Metabolic Typing there are three main categories of individuals: The protein type, carbohydrate type and mixed type. For a detailed explanation read the The Metabolic Typing Diet by William Woolcott and Trish Fahey.

Animal Protein Sources

• Meat- Grass fed or Pasture raised Beef, bison, etc.
• Chicken- pasture raised if available or free-range vegetarian fed, not fed any animal by-products
• Fish- wild caught, not farm raised
• Eggs- pasture fed if available, free range, vegetarian fed omega three enhanced.

Grains

• Whole grains: should be soaked before cooking to release enzyme inhibitors and unlock nutritional value.
• Whole wheat, quinoa, barley, millet, buckwheat, brown rice
• Choose organic when available.
• Whole grains (unrefined) have infinitely more nutritional value than their refined counter parts.
• Enriched wheat is enriched because it has lost most of its nutritional value during processing. Not all the nutrients that are lost are replaced. Avoid enriched flour.

Bread

• Sprouted Grain Bread: Ezekial 4:9, Alvarado, Trader Joes Sprouted Grain bread are some examples.
• Bread made through the traditional process of fermentation. These breads rise naturally and do not require added yeast. The fermentation process breaks down the whole grains and making the nutrition more readily available. This will be more difficult to find but may be available from some specialty bread makers. You can also play with this process at home if you are interested. Look for sour dough recipes to get started
• Avoid products made with refined wheat, i.e enriched wheat flour

Legumes

• Beans should also be soaked to release enzyme inhibitors and unlock nutritional value.
• Choose organic when available

Vegetables

• Always choose organic when available
• Leafy green vegetables are among the most nutrient dense foods, EAT YOUR GREENS!
• Eat liberally, shoot to make vegetable 40-50% of your meals

Other Good food based Mineral Sources

• Bone broths made with recipes available in Nourishing Traditions
• Sea Vegetable are extremely high in minerals. They are available in health food stores and Asian markets. They can be added to soups, beans, grains, etc.

Fats

Fats are necessary part of your diet. You need fat to manufacture certain hormones in your body. Every nerve in your body is surrounded by a myelin sheath that is composed of fat. Ever cell membrane is composed of fat. The key just like every other category mentioned above is to consume good quality fats.

• The essential fatty acids that must be ingested are Omega 3 and 6. The typical American diet supplies too much Omega 6 and to little Omega 3.
• Good sources of Omega 3 are fish oil, i.e. cod liver oil, Krill oil, flax, hemp seed, borage
• Avoid Trans Fatty Acids, hydrogenated oils, and/or partially hydrogenated oils and the products made from them.
• Avoid oils and fats that have been highly heated, as in deep frying.
• Good sources of fat include coconut oil, avacado, raw butter, cold water fish, olive oil

Sweeteners

• Acceptable sweetners are Agave Nectar and RAW UNHEATED Honey
• Refined white sugar, and high fructose corn syrup, and all artificial sweetners should be avoided at all times.
• Please read Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appelton if you are interested in learning how sugar negatively affects mineral balance in the body, enzymatic activity, and digestion among other functions.

One day you are wearing your winter coat and the next day it’s sweltering hot. It comes so unexpectedly that everyone goes from their protective jackets to shorts and tank tops overnight. So much for easing in to summer attire!

We start panicking when we realize that over the long winter, we may have let ourselves go a little bit. On top of exercise and eating healthy meals there is always something more you can do to lose weight. Eat less. Using a few tricks you can still feel like you ate a hearty winter meal but in smaller summer-sized portions.

Five Tricks To Eat Less

1. Chew thoroughly and take breaks

Remember being told as a child, “Don’t play with your food!” Well maybe you should! It takes 20 minutes for your brain to be sent signals to indicate that you’re full. Taking your time to eat is beneficial in two ways. For one thing, you actually enjoy the meal instead of inhaling it like a vacuum to lint! The other reason for savoring your dinner, is that you will get full after having ate less food. So take a minute to talk to your partner and actually swallow before loading up another fork-full. Your weight loss goals will thank you!

2. Smaller Plates

“Trick” yourself in to eating less by serving supper on a small plate. If the plate is full it looks like more. If you decide to cut back on portions and still use your big plates, you will be constantly reminded that you are eating less. You don’t want any reason to justify seconds!

3. Don’t watch TV

I really burn myself on this one and I think many people would agree. Television is a distraction. Even eating throughout a 30 minute program is too long of a time to be chowing down. While watching TV you are not concentrating on your food. It’s almost like, you are not eating at all. It takes longer to feel full and you will overeat without realizing by just how much!

4. Eat Protein

Protein is filling and it keeps you satisfied for longer. I can eat a plate of brown rice and be hungry again in a couple of hours. If I throw some tofu in to the mix, I’ll be full all night. Make sure your meals are balanced with protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats.

5. Paint the kitchen blue

Here’s an interesting fact. The colour blue is an appetite suppressant. Why? Well because we are not programmed to want to eat anything blue. Our appetite response to the colour is almost non-existent. Blue food is rare in nature. No blue leafy vegetables, no blue meat. Not only that, but many things in nature that are coloured blue, are poisonous. Serve food on blue plates, paint the kitchen blue, dye food with food colouring or install a blue light in the fridge and see just how true it is!

Sometimes you have to fool yourself a little bit to change eating habits. Nobody likes to know they are getting less than what they’re used to. Use these tips to enjoy your food and not feel like you are missing out on anything! Of course, buying blue plates won’t make you lose 50lbs, but it’s all a part of the bigger process to change your lifestyle and to live a more fit and happy life.

Eat Well, Live Well!

Kaleena Lawless
Personal Training Specialist