NUTRITION



In this section, you will find information on nutrition.  You will not find references to diets.  The word "diet" is used too often to describe a specific plan of food deprivation rather than a guideline of nutritional philosophy to help you achieve total health, which I refer to as a "way of eating".  All of these resources provide great information which may include what your body has been asking for.  See what resonates with you and feel free to ask for help in determining what will best support YOUR body.


TIP:  Clicking on the product graphics below will take you to another website where the item can be purchased.  Right-clicking on the image will give you the option of opening the new website page in a new window or tab, so you're not redirected away from this website.
Trim Healthy Mama -- This is just my favorite new thing!  This book is an amazing resource for great info and yummy, healthy recipes.  The book is huge, half of it info explaining the nutritional and health philosophy behind THM, and the other half recipes.  The authors reference all the research they put into devising their nutrition strategy and it was so fun for me because I had also read all that same research (much of which comes from books reviewed on this website!), but they put it all together in a very different way that is really working for a lot of people and giving their bodies a chance to really heal, all while eating your favorite yummy foods (although they may be put together in a slightly different way).  THM involves eating "clean", whole foods, with a food combining twist.  It is very balanced, including all food groups and macro and micro nutrients, but not necessarily at the same meal.  They give you lots of tricks and tweaks to create the meals you love within their "plan" and really make it work for you, including using ingredients you might not be aware of, or might not have thought of using in this way.  You do NOT have to purchase special ingredients to follow this plan, but it's more fun to try a few of them out.  I'm having so much fun with this, I will be adding tips and recipes that my family is enjoying in a new nutrition blog, so stay tuned.  You can buy the book at Amazon by clicking on the image, but you'll get it more quickly if you order directly from the THM website HERE.  I bought the E-book so I could save money and get it right away, and then I quickly realized I was going to want the hard copy, too, for easier recipe reference.  If you can't get both (as I now have), I recommend the hard copy.  NOTE: This book is written from a Christian perspective, with some Biblical references to back up some of the philosophies promoted in this book.  It's not oppressive, but if that's a deal-breaker for you, then be aware. For those of you for whom this is a plus, enjoy!


GreenSmoothieGirl – This is a great resource to help you incorporate more whole/living foods into your diet.  You will find video tutorials on raw foods recipes and recommendations for products to help you.  Robyn Openshaw is the GreenSmoothieGirl and her 12 Steps to Whole Foods Eating program is a great tutorial on why whole foods are better for you and how to incorporate them into your diet.  It includes tons of recipes to get you started.  It’s easy to get a feel for her energy and philosophy through her newsletter, blog, and videos, to help you decide if this is a good avenue for you to investigate.  Green smoothies are a great tool for veggie haters (like me) to eat their veggies painlessly and, arguably, in the healthiest form possible.  Her basic green smoothie recipe is easy to make, delicious, and easily varied.  And it’s been my experience that eating a super-healthy breakfast, like a green smoothie, is the single most important thing you can do to eat healthfully the rest of the day.  There’s just something about starting the day out right that motivates us to keep it going.  And because you’ve truly given your body all the real nutrition it needs, you’re less likely to experience cravings.  Many of her recipes are raw, so this will also give you a good tutorial in eating more raw foods.
The 25 Body Type System -- This is pretty cool!  Dr. Carolyn Mein discovered 25 different body types among her chiropractic patients and then used energy/muscle testing to find the types of foods and exercise that were optimal for each body type.  As with everything else, it should still be considered a suggestion, but so far in my experience, it has been right on for everyone I have tested it for.  In addition to the book, there are several other resources available on her website, including handy laminated food reference cards for each type.  Ask your body if this is true for it and check it out.  There is much helpful information available here to help you discover what types of foods and food combination are most beneficial for YOUR body.  Energy testing is quite helpful is helping to determine which body type plan is optimal for you.  There is also other valuable information included, regarding your nature and personality.  I learned a few things about myself that I intuitively sensed but had not been able to frame in a useful way.  Dr. Mein's description of my body type opened up lots of useful awareness.  I highly recommend this resource!

The Schwarzbein Principle – If you have even the slightest notion that your metabolism is in need of healing, this is an important avenue of study.  Dr. Schwarzbein is all about healing your endocrine system to balance all your hormones.  You can incorporate the guidelines of the SP into any other way of eating mentioned here (and I have!).  Dr. Schwarzbein debunks all the "low-fat" and "low-carb" diets and teaches you that the key to balancing your hormones and metabolism is to balance your diet.  Our bodies need ALL the food groups and trying to cut one throws our metabolism out of balance and puts stress on our hormonal system, causes certain hormones to work overtime to try to balance others that are struggling.  Eventually, the system is going to collapse.  The Schwarzbein Principle teaches you how to adjust your eating, exercise, and even sleep habits in a way that allows your body to come into balance and heal itself.
Mastering Leptin – Let's face it, folks, as long as "diet experts" have been advising people to eat several small meals all day long, Americans have been getting fatter and fatter.  If eating constantly all day long was the key to healthy, slim bodies, Americans would be the leanest, healthiest people on the planet -- but we're NOT.  Byron Richards is a board certified clinical nutritionist with well over 20 years experience in the field.  He is the top expert on the leptin hormone, having carefully studied all the clinical research done by drug companies in their attempts to chemically manipulate leptin.  Since leptin is a master hormone, which is integrally tied in to how our bodies deal with fat, understanding how it works and how to work with it is valuable information.  The program outlined in Mastering Leptin consists of 5 “rules” or principles that help us influence how leptin operates in our bodies.  It works well with other ways of eating, including (and especially) The Schwarzbein Principle.  The book is exhaustive and goes into very detailed explanations of the chemical reactions in our bodies.  Fortunately, there are good summaries at the end of every chapter, in case your eyes glaze over mid-chapter.  It’s very technical, but it really does help to understand why his program works.  The book is not very well-indexed, so make sure you have a highlighter and sticky flags on hand to mark favorite passages, otherwise you’ll never find them again.  If you just want instructions without the details, check out The Leptin Diet.
The Virgin Diet isn't exactly a diet at all.  It's actually a way to help you determine whether food intolerances are sabotaging your health and fat loss efforts.  From a purely physical perspective, it's the best way to find out if foods are making you feel yucky, by removing the most likely suspects and then challenging one at a time to see if symptoms return.  JJ Virgin provides great ideas on how to substitute for offending foods and tips for tracking down the problems, including recipes to help you through the process.  This a great place to start and it is my personal experience, and experience with clients I have coached, that energetic processes can then be used to help your body clear its intolerances so that offending foods are no longer a problem.  I highly recommend checking this out to see if you have issues in this area.  If you do, you can contact me for further information regarding permanently clearing food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities.

Nourishing Traditions – The subtitle of this book is very telling and somewhat humorous:  The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.  This book gives lots of information about the concept of the ancestral diet, in other words, the way our ancestors ate for thousands of years before technology and automation got involved.  Biblical principles are brought into the discussion, and many recipes given.  The way of eating described in this book does heavily rely on clean, organic, carefully raised animal products, but you certainly have the option of deciding if and how you choose to include those in your diet.  At least you will receive detailed information on what to look for and how to prepare these foods in the most healthful way possible.  Even if you choose not to consume animal products, this is still a valuable source of information on healthy preparation of plant-based foods.

Sue Gregg Cookbooks – If you like the ideas put forth in Nourishing Traditions, but feel at a loss to apply them to your everyday cooking experience, these are the cookbooks for you.  They are written in teaching format, essentially for beginners, and have LOTS of family-friendly recipes.  The introduction to Whole Grains is especially helpful for learning how to apply the concept of soaking grains and the author gives substitutions for using every imaginable grain (and possibly some you’ve never heard of), as well as for dairy and eggs, making the recipes easy to adapt for allergies and sensitivities.  The lunch and dinner recipes do use a lot of meat, but if you do use meat, it gives you the healthiest ways to prepare it.  I use them occasionally and I always cut the amount of meat in the recipes, usually by doubling (or tripling) everything but the meat.   Her blender batter waffle and pancake recipe uses your choice of a long list of whole grains (not flour) and turns it into batter in your blender.  You let it soak overnight or all day, and you've got an incredibly easy and healthy meal.  Try the free version, or one of her other recipes on her website, and see what you think.
Leanne Ely Cookbooks – If you just want some recipes for the type of quick, easy comfort food you love, made with healthier ingredients than you’re used to, Leanne’s recipes are a great place to start.  She teaches you about the healthier ingredients and why/how they’re used.  The recipes are quick and delicious; even your kids can enjoy preparing some of them, and they’ll love eating most of them.  She does use meat in most entrees, but I've had great success with easily cutting the amount in half and/or subbing a meat analog or extra beans.  Yummy!  This is a really great first step if you're shy about changing your family's diet.  They'll probably just think your cooking improved!  And if you use Leanne's recipes and add in a green smoothie every day, you'll soon be enjoying great health benefits with resistance from anyone's taste buds.

Both of these books contain the same type of recipes.  Healthy Foods has more helpful info to learn about how to substitute healthier options and how and why to use certain ingredients.  It's better formatted and easier to use.  The Frantic Family Cookbook has equivalent recipes, but the book is not as well put-together and has less how-to's.

You may be familiar with Leanne from FLY Lady.  She's the one who provides the Menu-Mailer recipes and shopping lists for Super Fling Boogies.  Her Saving Dinner series of books uses the Menu-Mailer format, including a week's worth of recipes and the shopping list and planning helps to go along with it.  If you like those, you can always sign up for her Menu-Mailer service.

These two cookbooks shown here are just recipe collections, and excellent ones at that.
Chocolate Covered Katie -- So, I know how you are, desserts are your real Achilles' heel when it comes to eating healthy.  You'll be reasonable all day, then blow it on some awful fast-food ice cream thingy in a cup, or raid the frozen dessert or candy aisle at the grocery store, right?  Well, here's the absolute hands-down BEST resource I've found for healthy, yes, you read that right -- HEALTHY and totally DELICIOUS desserts.  Chocolate Covered Katie is a total genius at dreaming up "roll your eyes back in your head"-yummy desserts.  They're all vegan, although you can always substitute back the other way, if you want, with dairy versions, but you absolutely have to try these recipes.  Many of them are balanced  enough to be eaten as your meal.  Check it out; your taste buds will be thanking you shortly!
These videos are great resources to get a basic understanding of not only how our bodies react to foods, but also the economy and industry of foods.  Especially good for those who respond better to the visual explanation than to reading a book for information.  All of these should inspire you and get you motivated to take charge of what you eat and how you spend your food dollars.