Good nutrition doesn’t have to be boring or sad looking anymore. What to do? Vegan? Intermittent fasting? Ketogenic? Paleo? Gluten-free? Dash? Volumetric? Low-carb? Protein shake? A famous app? Why do some people get sick after going to one of those diets?
You can certainly find what fits your needs. If your goal is to lose weight rapidly you might have tried more drastic stuff. My goal is not around weight but wellbeing. Anyway, people always ask me what I eat to be slim. They also ask how much exercise I do. It is not so much about training but healthy eating habits. Everyone will lose excess weight by making few and key changes.
Afraid of changes? You might be already thinking on tasty carbs, sweet treats, or your lovely cheese… Mmmm Trust me I know the idea of walking out of them is scary. I believe that extremes are not good and that wellbeing and happiness are based on balance. Is this starting to sound more attractive?
I began this journey of improving my nutrition by intuition, by listening to my body. I grew with barbecues every weekend and loved black pudding, sausages, and all the stuff. From one day to the other, I got sick and started throwing up immediately after having those. The first time, I thought it was a bacteria or that kind of beer I had. Same thing next week. The third time, I had some grilled meat and more veggies and yucca (a beer too) and everything went well for me. Sausages, chorizo and morcilla are not appealing to me anymore; my body doesn’t like them and my brain had to accept what my stomach was saying.
A couple years later, a random person told me my acne could disappear if I stopped having dairy… it was really REALLY frightening. Every delicious plate has tons of cheese on top or is swimming on cream! At first I didn’t take the advice. Eventually, my mirror convinced me to give it a try. I reduced the amount of cheese I had and opted for lactose free, low fat milk. Since I didn’t see any improvement in my skin I went completely dairy free and the miracle was done.
Do I miss cheese? At the beginning, yes. I don’t buy dairy products and that temptation is not in my home. Nevertheless, if I am invited to your table and the very star of the night is that recipe full of cheese and cream you prepare only once a year I will have it with excitement and enjoy it! Careful! Exceptions are not every other day, not even every other week or the problems will be back. That is my experience.
Everyone is different. Maybe for you black beans are impossible, despite of all the health benefits. That is why I state that there is not a single formula for all. I also think when we eliminate completely a food that we love, sooner or later we end up having a huge amount of it.
So, instead of being labeled under one category or brand, I have chosen for my own in a conscious way. Human body is wise; it complains through discomfort, diseases, cravings and more. Whenever I have one of those I practice insight. Is a pain due to excess of yoga practice or because of stress? Is an emotion affecting my health? What nutrient my body requires when I have this craving? And so on.
Finally, regenerative nutrition came to my life. Medical doctors uttering that any disease can be healed only changing nutrition. Likewise, Hippocrates said many years ago: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”. Basically, we are better without fat, sugars and chemicals. Fats obstruct blood channels and all acidic ingest end up destroying the digestive system to the point we can no longer absorb enough of the good nutrients. Where to begin? By detoxing, getting clean. I added more veggies and fruits to my plate and stop having wheat, fats, food in cans, and any kind of sweeteners. Luckily, I have always enjoyed fresh fruit juices without any additional sugar (they already have fructose), but now I add lemon and a piece of one or two vegetables and have my drink 20 minutes before the meal.
Second step is regeneration. Like baby steps, we have baby food: only two foods per meal. I learned to prepare a drink made of seeds (including almonds and nuts) I use instead of milk; this one is delicious and full of nutrients.
With veganism I educated myself of the properties of every food to get balanced nutrition and adequate protein consumption. Most vegans take supplements for certain vitamins. I confess I am not afraid of getting shrimp for B12 and because they are delicious. Beyond this, I joined my lovely vegan friends in preparing delightful combinations and presenting them beautifully.
Colors are important not only for an attractive dish, but in order to get all the benefits nature can give us. Usually an illness is related to the lack of consumption of certain food. Analogously, for a person with high blood pressure going keto would be dangerous; and an anemic should be very well informed if want to go vegan.
When I post my food on social media I share vegan plates that I prepare myself. I like you to know options, gorgeousness, and palatability of the produce. Even when I go to a barbecue I bring onions, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant to cook on the grill, and they have to be plenty because everybody gets captivated by them when I give them a splash of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and boom!
