A phylosophy on Nutrition

There is no “one fits all”, miracle cure or magic diet 

It seems everywhere you turn, someone is selling a miracle supplement, food, or diet that will fix all of our health problems, help us lose excess weight or cure cancer.

We all have that friend that tried a diet or product that worked for them, and now they swear by it to cure any issue that might be ailing you. Extra points if it's something they can sell you or a program they've bought into that you can join as well. 

Some of us have been this person. 

I’ve been this person. 

Whether it's Vegan, Paleo, Keto, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Atkins, South beach, HCG diet, HCLF, LCHF.. the list of potential nutiritional deities to become indoctrinated with are endless.

Its human nature, and it doesn't mean that it isn't filled with the best of intentions. It’s worked for them, it’s made them feel good, so the same should apply for you; a completely different physical entity, with completely different habits, imbalances and needs.

Yes, there are lifestyle changes that can benefit us all, and most of these diets do include key markers in improved nutrient intake and lifestyle. Exercise, incorporating whole foods and an increase in nutrient densit's and antioxidants are great, and will help the average person improve physical well-being. If it takes one of these "diets" or "believe systems" to feel good, then great! They can be amazing tools.
Blind belief, however, can be harmful, especially if a diet that was temporarily beneficial, is no longer serving you. The moment that ego becomes involved, the lifestyle is no longer serving you; you are serving the lifestyle.

The average person does not understand that just because something makes them feel good, it may not do the same for others.

There is also an effect in dieting where the changes make you feel very good in the beginning. The initial change to more whole foods and a higher nutrient intake increases vitality, as well as just a simple change in what your body has been processing, gives you a break from potential food sensitivities. This effect can, in some cases, ware off, and you're left with the same imbalances as before and searching, once again, for answers.

This was my experience. I was so indoctrinated with my eating phylosophy and ideals that instead of listening to my body, I "pushed through", just like the "experts" kept telling me to. I was left chasing the feeling that I'd had in the beginning of the diet, and I've watched others do exactly the same, to the point of discomfort, pain and frustration.
What I didn't realize, was that if I could look at my diet outside of the perspective, rules and regulations in which I was first introduced to it, I could have tweaked it in a few small ways to help me continue on a healing path.
This isn't what the teachers and literature of my lifestyle tolerated as "right" so I didn't feel as though I could do anything else and be healthy.

My philosophy on the matter of nutrition (and spirituality) is very easy to some up; if it makes you feel good, do it! If it makes you feel bad, stop! Allow others to do the same without your projection or judgment. Something that's helping you should inspire feelings of fulfillment, joy, excitement, generally warm and fuzzy stuff. If a diet or way of doing something is causing more feelings of guilt, anxiety, frustration or unhealthy obsession, and these outweigh the good it isn't benefiting you any longer.

Ideally, you should have the wisdom and body-awareness to be able to eat intuitively and freely, without strict regiment or imposed rules. These "diets", however can be used as helpful and healing tools, to get you to that place of balance and awareness of your bodies true needs.

Now, I'm not saying to stop talking about what diet or supplement has worked for you or broadcasting what you are passionate about. Some of the best information that I have gotten has ben through these meathods. The right person will hear it and it will hold resonance with them. It could be the answer they've been searching for, or it could be a stepping stone in thear search. Do not, however, be discouraged or take it personally in any way when your message is rejected or ignored. It is, after all, not about you.

I have personal experience with a few more “extreme” diets, and in this post I will condense it for you. I was HCLFV (high carb low fat vegan) for about two years. I did a program called “raw til four” and the 80/10/10 diet, where you eat all raw except for a cooked vegan dinner, aiming for 80% carbs, 10% protein and 10% fat. This eating style is what introduced me to the internet “health world” I saw people on youtube with little to no education, telling thousands of people how to eat. They gave little real science about why this was best for the human body. They promised that my body would somehow adapt to carbohydrates and become lean and completely healthy if I stuck with the program for long enough. They also promised that this diet was ideal for 100% of the population, because it was our natural diet. I was desperate to be healthy, so I started the diet with blind faith, trusting that somehow this way of eating would do what was promised and “fix” me. When I started the diet, I felt amazing. I lost some weight and I felt so hydrated and energetic most of the time. This lasted for about a year, and after that I pushed on for an additional year out of pure stubbornness and desperation to be healed. This was the “miracle” diet, it HAD to work. Despite losing a bit at first, I was still overweight, I had extreme hormonal imbalance and ovarian cysts, I began to develop cystic acne all over my face, I had extreme inflammation, especially in my intestinal tract and I was suffering from chronic fatigue. I wasn't the picture of health, despite eating a strict diet.
I sought out a formal education so that I could find some answers for myself. 

I attended CSNN (Canadian School of Natural Nutrition), for a condensed one year program.
School challenged me, because it challenged my beliefs on nutrition and what I had thought was the right way of eating for a long time. I mean, it really challenged me. I hung onto my diet all through school and even for some time after, even though it did not all coincide with the science and fact based education I had received. 

I’m not saying veganism itself was the problem, far from it, but my philosophy of it definitely was (HCLF) and even then, just one take on the HCLF diet, that I had learned. There are a lot of people Doing this diet long-term and very successfully with scientific knowledge and body awareness to back it up. Had I not measured certain radical diet "gurus" as the gold standard for how I had to eat to be healthy, I probably could have added more fats into my diet and maintained it for a while longer. 

Upon finishing school I was full of facts and information, but no real answers. I tried many things, some worked, others didn’t. 

When things really started to come into balance for me was when I was twenty-three and a few months out of my nutrition program. I left a ten year relationship, and in all the stress and complication, nutrition fell to the way-side for the first time. I dropped my judgements on what I put into my mouth and I ate only through a filter of “how does this make me feel”. I could eat “unhealthy” foods and feel better than when I did everything “perfect”. I dropped about ten or fifteen pounds and didn’t pick nutrition back up until about a year later, when I moved to Salt Spring Island where, I worked on an organic farm. This is where I was introduced to aryuvedic medicine and principles; the woman I was apprenticing for was also trained in aryuvedic medicine, and she trained me in her knowledge while I was there.

Since then, I've been attempting to find the balance between being the care-free individual that I am and a health conscious one. I’ve dropped about twenty more pounds since then, and I have a pretty good idea about what works for me. Seeing as a lot of it lines up with teachings that are scientifically backed, I am thankful for the education that I’ve had and that it is ever expanding and shifting. It has given me the ability to understand why things have worked for me, and why it will work for many others, or why not. It also has given me the wisdom to say that just because something SHOULD be working for you, if it isn't, drop it and try something that feels GOOD. Trust that the answers will find you, if you are open and perceptive. 

Stop judging yourself for what you eat

Don’t label yourself in your own mind, it’s too much pressure. It’s not as serious as we make it, really. Eat what makes you feel good, REAL good, not just a temporary good. Re-evaluate the narrative in your head in which you tell yourself who you are. For most of my life I didn't even realize that I was telling myself who I was, simply because someone else had told me those things. 

Listen, I’ve struggled with eating disorder since I was very young. Anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, apparently I can’t pick just one. Honestly, binge eating has always been the hardest for me emotionally, because I judge myself SO MUCH when I go through these cycles. It will go away without a trace for months at a time, and BAM. It’s back and it makes me feel like I’ve failed. I’ve come to realize that this is connected in a big way to much deeper things than plain old discipline and impulse control, and often is not spurred by a desire to lose weight at all, although it can be. It's a form of control. It’s deep rooted emotional pain turned inward into self-loathing. The cycle worsens itself when I judge myself for being “weak” and allowing this to return. 

I have no real answers when it comes to disordered eating, because I'm still figuring it all out myself, but I do know that it is always prolonged and worsened when I judge myself and try and control it. I struggle daily, and for that reason, I may abruptly stop a diet or meal plan that I have been posting about. A less than healthy relationship with food and body image is so, so hard, and if you’ve been through this, you’ll understand. All I can try and do when I go through these times, is to dig as deep as I can, and try to have compassion for myself. It often helps if I take a step back and try to view myself as a third person, instead of from inside my own head.
This struggle with food has been a big part of my exploration into food as medicine and a big reason behind me seeking out my education, so for that, I can be thankful.

“Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods have made for fun.” - Alan Watts

Focus on lovely and loving things that you can do for yourself outside of food. 

When I commit to a strict way of eating, I’m so focused on food that it often triggers me, so I've learnt that if I need to stop for my own mental health, I do. 

The second that your enjoyment of the benefits is outweighed by the stress of eating a certain way, or fear of what may happen if you stop, ditch it and focus on something that makes you feel good. 

Food is great, but there are a million other ways to feed yourself that aren't related to diet. 

Focus on your spiritual health, your family, your job, your friends, expanding your social circle, planning a trip- anything that feeds you! When you are ready and feeling balanced again, come back to how you’d like to nourish yourself with food. 

Ideally, these regimented ways of eating are tools which are designed to help an individual come into touch with their body's true needs.
I had no flipping clue what my body really needed, or wanted or what even felt good, and My body didn't either, because it had never had it. It was only through years of trying new things, giving up, starting over, deciding what I liked and running with it, getting bored, trying something new- all of this process, backed with my education, in which I can now "eat intuitively" most of the time.  
You may not need this experimentation to feel you can nourish your body well, and that's awesome! But if you do, that's great too, cause, honestly, trying new things can be really fun. 

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” -Johann Wolfgang Von geothe

Why I Chose Keto

Now that I’ve been able to share a bit of my point of view and disclaimer, I’d like to go forward and share what I’ve been focusing on for myself, from a nutrition standpoint. 

This summer I was undergoing one of the most emotionally stressful situations of my life and the end of a very toxic and abusive relationship. I had PTSD and I couldn't keep any food down for months. My body was getting little to no nourishment. Physically I felt alright, and I’m knowledgeable enough about fasting practices that I chose not to panic or judge myself for what I knew was just a temporary coping mechanism. I honestly had much bigger matters on my hands than my rapidly dropping weight and inability to give my body nutrients. 

When I did eat it was nutrient dense foods, and thats all that I could control.  

Once I was removed from the source of the trauma, Things didn't return to normal as I had hoped, hence the Post in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

I was, and still am at times, constantly on edge, experiencing random panic attacks, night terrors, hypersensitivity and at sometimes complete desensitization and apathy for my own well-being.

I wasn’t myself and for a while I wasn't sure if I ever would be again. 

A really amazing friend of mine had gone through his own bout with PTSD brought about from a head injury (occupational hazard a downhill longboarder) He had mentioned a book that he was reading about nutrition for PTSD and head injury, and we had a brief discussion of the contents. 

It got me thinking, I’m a nutrition student. I can do this in my sleep. 

That’s how I decided to re-enter into ketosis via the “Keto Diet”, basically you restrict your carb intake, depending on your weight, so that your body switches from burning carbs and proteins as your main source of fuel, to fat. This diet was actually developed for brain health and to help Alzheimer's patients. It’s since been found to help an array of issues ranging from hormonal imbalance to anxiety and depression. 

I’m doing this with the goal to nourish my body and replenish all that was lost or damaged during the time that I wasn't able to take care of myself or my body properly, heal the damages of acute physical and emotional stress from the horrific events that I lived through and help my brain rebalance and heal itself, now that I am in a safe, stable and healthy environment. 

A lot of people also use this diet for weight loss as it is so effective at utilizing fat stores while retaining muscle mass. This Is a good thing, too! This hasn't been my focus coming into ketosis this time, because I’ve honestly been afraid to focus on weight loss too heavily and lose sight of what's most important, for me at this time,  but I am noticing my lost muscle mass returning. More importantly, I have noticed a night and day difference in my anxiety after only a month. Not to mention my skin is clear and improving and my focus is impressive for someone diagnosed with ADHD. 

What I'll be sharing is my take on eating "Keto" my way. I realize there are a lot of recipes out there with twists on bacon, eggs and cheese and complicated “fat bombs”, but I do things a little bit differently, and simply. Ways that I wish that I had when I first tried this diet for a short period a year ago. Ways that make me think it can actually be a sustainable way of eating, for yourself and the environment, for longer than it takes to lose ten pounds. 

No, I wont be doing Keto forever. Yes, I most likely will be incorporating it into my seasonal eating cycle in the future. 

I’m lazy when it comes to my meals, so I’m all about SIMPLE meals with NO FANCY ingredients; multipurpose, economical and accessible. 

Some of what I’ll be sharing in the future includes:

Comprehensive tips and conversation about balancing hormones 

Recipes

Meal plans

Grocery lists 

Vegan Keto “challenge” with meal plan

My favourite supplements 

My results and updates

I won't only be posting Keto related recipes and information. As we move into Summer and I change my eating, I will be posting all kinds of nutrition tips and information, especially my way of eating healthy and economically on the road. 

I will, also, be continuing to create posts not related to nutrition, but on the topics of art, writing, spirituality, stories and travel, as well as photos of my dog- always those. 

PS AS OF YESTERDAY I HAVE A BIT OF AN ANNOUNCMENT AS TO WHERE I'LL BE MOVING WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS. I WILL INCLUDE DETAILS IN MY NEXT POST 

Thank you for reading, I look forward to hearing what you guys thought!

"YOU DO NOT LIVE OFF OF THE FOOD YOU EAT, YOU LIVE OFF OF THE ENERGY IN THE FOOD YOU EAT." - Carey Reams, PHD