Eating to Thrive

Having studied the subject of nutrition for quite some time, I have noticed a lot of judgement that comes from all directions. The media is full of opinions with hundreds of different diets purporting to produce miraculous results that will apparently suit everyone who tries it. Many ‘camps’ don’t seem open to the another way and the idea prevails that one size fits all.

The inspiration for this article came from a social media post comparing two high profile women. One photo was taken showing one of the ladies without makeup, having been in the jungle of ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’, and slamming her choice/style of eating, while the other showed a glamorous photo of a woman on the red carpet, fully made up and praising her choice of eating because she looked ‘healthier’. This comparison encourages an epidemic of judgement and the ‘one size fits all’ approach to eating. This kind of media does not encourage freedom of choice and doesn’t educate. It also doesn’t take into account an individual’s health challenges.

In my experience what works for one does not necessarily suit another and my article demonstrates this. In this blog post, two women, who eat very differently, talk about why it works for them and how it makes them thrive. This article is about celebrating choice and feeling empowered to explore ways of eating to find what is right for you, while listening to your body.

Celebrating choice!
Celebrating empowerment!
Listening to your body!

Karine lives in the Netherlands Antilles with her husband and baby boy.

Karine chooses a high raw diet

What does a typical day of meals look like for you?

I love to start my day with a glass of warm water with lemon! After that, I’ll have a shot E3 Live followed by a green juice. I’ll usually snack on apple, oranges or some tropical fruit mid-morning. For lunch, I’ll have a big salad with colorful
veggies, seaweed, sauerkraut, and sprouted seeds or nuts with some quinoa mixed in. Dinner could be steamed or baked veggies, sprouted homemade garbanzo hummus, and a grain such as millet or wild rice. I learned to prepare delicious raw food when I worked at Hippocrates Health Institute years ago. Dishes like, stuffed peppers, raw pizza, courgette spaghetti with pesto and for the occasional treat raw ice cream were some of my favourites. Eating to thrive and not only survive is something that I live by! Fueling my body with life giving food allows me to live life to the fullest.

Raw pizza

Why do you choose to eat this way and how did it start?

I first discovered raw food about 6 years ago, after being hugely inspired by vegan triathlete Brendan Brazier. I was doing a lot of sport and his story motivated me to eliminate all animal products in my diet and become vegan. I felt amazing literally overnight, and the discovery of raw and living foods came shortly after.

I have always loved to eat healthy, but becoming vegan and eating raw took my health to a completely different level. I knew without a doubt that that was the way that I wanted to continue eating!

For me it makes perfect sense; if cooking destroys the vital and essential nutrients that we need to stay healthy, eating our food raw does the opposite. It provides us with pure life force energy and nourishes our body in the best possible way.

What health benefits have you noticed?

I fuel my body, mind and soul with organic raw foods because it simply makes me feel great!! When I am eating at least 80% raw, I have more a lot more energy and mental focus. I have shorter recovery time after exercise, I sleep better, and I wake up refreshed ready to tackle the day’s challenges.

What kind of exercise do you do?

I love to run outside! Running is a form of meditation for me. It clears my mind and energises me! I’ll also go to the gym at least 4 times a week to lift weights and do core and plyometric exercises. I have a 7 month old baby boy, so he is my personal trainer at home.

What inspires you and brings joy to each day?

My family! They are my whole world. Being a mom is by far the greatest blessing of my life, and I am enjoying every moment with my son as much as I possibly can!

Nicole lives in California where she runs her business California Paleo Kitchens.

Nicole chooses a paleo diet

What does a typical day of meals look like for you?

I think the recurring theme of my diet is that it’s widely varied from day to day. I try my very best to listen to my body, my cravings, and align what I eat with what sounds good, what’s nutrient dense, and how much physical activity I have that day. Breakfast could be two steamed eggs with half an avocado or a coconut milk smoothie with greens, maca and berries. If I had a large dinner I may fast until 1pm or so. A huge salad with tons of different veggies, textures, flavours and toppings is one of my all time favourite lunches. Dinner can be anything – too many favourites to list but you can’t go wrong with simple whole roasted chicken and gravy with vegetables and a cauliflower or sweet potato mash.

I also love me some chicken broth as a snack or in the morning if it’s chilly. Otherwise, I try to make my meals with at least 2-3 different vegetables, protein in proportion to my workout that day, healthy fat and a few seeds or nuts. My diet is probably best described as plant heavy Paleo. No grains, dairy, soy, gluten, refined sugar or processed foods.  I eat a lot of veggies, meat stocks, plant and animal based fats, meats/seafood, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.

Why do you choose to eat this way and how did it start?

I have always struggled with maintaining a healthy weight because I truly love food. Growing up I always seemed to have a belly pooch, terrible acne starting at age 10, and a massive sweet tooth that was out of control, despite being very athletic and active. As I reached my 20s, I was always looking for a quick fix, and eating low calorie processed foods just made me sad. When a close friend was diagnosed as a Coeliac Disease along with casein and soy allergies, we tried juice cleanses, “detoxes” and a few other eating styles.

When I discovered Paleo, I felt that it included so many of the food groups that I really enjoyed and could easily eliminate the inflammatory food groups. Getting rid of processed foods, diet foods and eating real food and ingredients just made sense to me. I loved getting creative in the kitchen and revamping dishes into healthier grain free, gluten free creations that packed a lot of flavour and nutrition into them.

What health benefits have you noticed?

The benefits for me, personally, cannot be understated. I was able to lose 21lbs eating this way over the course of a year and have kept it all off. My skin is immeasurably improved due to the removal of grains, and reduction of sugar in my diet. I discovered that a lot of my health issues could be attributed to candida overgrowth and a low sugar, somewhat low carb diet is paramount to keeping candida in check. I have a lot less belly pooch these days, and my energy levels are much more stable throughout the day then they were prior to making these changes. Changing my diet has changed the way I view our food supply, the way I shop, and how I cook, all of which contribute to me feeling really good about my overall health and awareness of how certain foods impact my system.

What kind of exercise do you do?

I workout 5 days a week consistently and do a lot of circuit training which conditions my whole body, uses body weight and weights as well as cardio (which I really hate, but do anyway). 2-3x a week my workout consists of Megaformer pilates which focuses on very slow movements with very high resistance. When I feel like I need to have my ass kicked even harder, I’ll also throw a spin class into the rotation. I try to keep it varied, and workout according to what my body is needing and feeling!

What inspires you and brings joy to each day?

Everything I do centres around my love of food and how sharing the food I create with family and clients takes care of them. It’s how I show them love. Food is my love language! A big win is when kids get on board with a healthy dish because they can be brutally honest and picky!

I’m inspired by people who are brave enough to buck tradition and build something from scratch, whether that’s a craftsman or an entrepreneur. I’m endlessly inspired by anyone who does things the right way, and doesn’t take the easy way out, unless it’s the right way out.

Little things that bring me joy; living near the beach, dirty humor, stupid inside jokes, a perfectly medium rare piece of meat, a really well done bourbon on the rocks, a night of eating, drinking and dancing with my favourite people, and quality couch time with my two puppies are a few of my favourites. 

Tell me more about your business, California Paleo Kitchens?

I started CPK when people started asking me to help them make changes to their diets, and teach them some cooking tips after seeing my personal results. Little did I know it would be a catalyst to walking away from my corporate finance job (and salary! Eek), and forging my own entrepreneurial path! I felt so good about doing work that improved people’s lives and made eating nutritiously so convenient for them.

I started with coaching and a few private chef clients, and now we’ve evolved to add a weekly meal prep service, Meal Prep Monday, that makes ready made meals, side dishes and pantry items. I am so proud of the food that we produce in partnership with our local farmers to keep it organic, non gmo, responsibly raised and prepared to my highest standards.  You can check out our menu at California Paleo Kitchens, and if you love Instagram like I do, you can catch me @PaleoKitchens.

Thank you to Karine and Nicole for their fabulous contribution to my blog.

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces, just good food from fresh ingredients.  
                          – Julia Childs

Categorised in: Health Care, Nutritious Roots Blog, Real Life