“All diets work. It’s what you do after the diet that matters.”
One of my childhood best friends says this.
Isn’t it so true?
Yoyo dieting is a reality for too many and it’s not the diet that is the problem. Really, you can choose just about any program and lose weight. HGC, Whole 30, Adkins, Low Carb, Low Calorie, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach, Keto, the list goes on.
When the Diet ends. The waist is small, the skinny jeans fit, and life is good. We pat ourselves on the back. Thank the Lord that the diet is over and go back to life.
WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER THE DIET?
This is when the weight creeps back on.
The truth is that most ‘weight-loss diets’ are simply not sustainable over a long period of time.
Without even realizing it is happening, We fall into old habits and end up back where we started.
Bloated, tired, and on a diet
My eyes were opened to a new way of eating several years ago that has completely changed the way I think about food. I eat differently now than I ever have in my life and I am slimmer than I have been in a decade.
According to www.marketplace.org Processed foods make up 70% of the U.S. diet.
According to nationofchange.org and natural society 80% of processed foods in the U.S. are banned in other nations.
According to nongmoproject.org 80% of the foods available at the grocery store contain GMO’s (genetically modified ingredients).
ELIMINATE FAKE FOOD
The food sold at grocery stores today can be a dangerous business. I would argue that most of it is unhealthy. Even the so-called “health foods” can be questionable.
I have a friend who is a body-builder and one day he said, “If you took all the corn out of the grocery store you would have a hardware store.”
Ha!
What has been this new way of viewing food?
IT SO SIMPLE!
I eat real food. That’s pretty much the secret that has stood the test of time.
If it grows (is raised/ harvested/ picked) on farms. I eat it.
Notice, I didn’t say, “If I grew it, I eat it.”
I am not growing anything right now (we are renting a townhouse while we build our new homestead)!! But I am still eating like a farmer.
This is really just a throw-back to how our Great-grandparents lived.
Our great-grandparents ate food. Real food. Most of it they raised themselves. They gardened, they took care of animals, they farmed.
Around here, our philosophy on food is simple. Our goal is to eat real food, the way God made it. MOST of what we eat is the real thing. Not ALL – MOST. We aren’t perfect, neither are our diets.
We try to avoid eating the fake stuff.
One of my chief detective-moves to decide if something is “real food” or not is to ask myself: 100 years ago was this food?
Most of the processed, frozen, bagged, packaged food-like substances sold at stores can be eliminated by this one test.
NOT FOOD
Here is a list of ‘food’ today that our great-grandparents would not recognize –
- Pringles
- Pop-tarts
- Fruit Roll-ups
- Doritos
- Cheez-it
- Pizza Rolls
- Fruit Loops
- Velveeta
- Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho-ho’s
If it didn’t exist 100 years ago – It’s probably not real food.
Even if you make small changes, your body will thank you.
The truth is that I have gone months eating only foods that I obtained with my own hands. The meat I raised. Fruit & vegetables I grew. Wild edibles I picked. Wheat berries I ground into flour.
It was quite an adventure & you can read all about it if you want-
- Homesteaders Food Challenge – What it is
- Headaches, cravings, cooking & starvation – Week 1 Survival
- Can I Grow All My Own Food – A Diet is Born – Week 2
- Never Diet Again – Weight Loss, Sugar Detox & Finding your Ideal weight – Week 3
- One Month – No preservatives, no additives, no artificial ingredients, no sugar, no GMOs, nothing but homegrown goodness – Week 4
- Growing all my Food – What Country Does Your Food Come From?
- Can You Say, “NO?” Losing Weight, Feeling Healthier & Having More Energy
- 10 Days Left!!!
- 101 Days May be 98 Instead
- A New Way to Live
- Homesteaders Food Challenge Wrap up
THE FARMER’S DIET
Our philosophy on food is pretty simple. Eat real foods the way God made them. Eat meat. Eat carbs. Eat nuts. Eat legumes. Eat it all as long as they are real food.
You don’t need to skip sweets. Enjoy healthier treats in moderation made with things like: organic flour, maple syrup, cane sugar, and fresh eggs.
WHAT TO EAT
Sometimes it is easier to focus on what you should be eating instead of what to avoid.
I remember when I first decided to eat only what I grew. I spent the first couple of weeks trying to figure out what to eat. It was a learning curve and at first, I thought I might starve.
But before long I had a long list of great foods right from my farm that I could go to.
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Eggs
- Milk
- Meat
- Nuts
- Rice
- Fresh-milled Whole Grain Flour
- Beans
- Roots
- Berries
- Lard
- Butter, cheese, sour cream & other unprocessed dairy products
- Coffee
- Sugar (real cane stuff)
- Maple Syrup (again, the real stuff that comes from trees)
- Corn (non-gmo)
It has been six years since my journey into real food. I can honestly say that these are the foods that I eat most often.
Want More?
We have a Membership Program for those who want to grow their food, eat like a farmer, AND make the most nutritionally dense, healthy bread from scratch.
Even if you make small changes, your body will thank you.
XO,
Candi
