I always have had an interest in health. Unfortunately, my attempt to find out information on the subject has been limited to politically correct and corrupted sources. I never imagined that our country’s nutrition education system had been corrupted by political agendas. Naively I believed that the food pyramid, government health organizations, status quo medical professionals, etc all had my best interest – WRONG! Here is my personal story of how I became to believe this is just not true! (Journey Through Infertility – part 1 and part 2)
I received my degree in Elementary Education but I had a minor in Health and Psychology. I always attempted to keep a balance in my health. Although I fluctuated in my weight somewhat, I don’t think I was ever excessively overweight. I went through periods of experimentation with different diets . . . sometimes for weight loss, but often it was just for a desire to nourish my body in the most healthy way that I could.
In the back of my head, I always knew that somehow there must be a more natural solution than low-fat. How else did traditional cultures survive with fatty meats and oils yet manage to stay lean? So I did try the Atkins diet with great success and lost a lot of weight. But the process of adding carbs back into my diet did not go as smoothly as the loss of weight. And I gained back more than I lost. I went a little ‘carb crazy’. (For the record — Atkins is not all bad – but some of the bars and allowances for artificial sweeteners is WAAAAAY off base for a real food lifestyle).
I then entered a weight management program that gave balance to your food intake. Portion sizing and “grazing” were highly encouraged. With the meal plan and training program I was really toned and felt physically energized. I managed to maintain this plan for a long time.
But here is the one thing you MUST know about me. I have been married 14 years and have yet to be able to get pregnant (with the exception of one ectopic pregnancy). I have had 4 surgeries to date:
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Endometriosis laparoscopy
- Tube removal and endometriosis laparoscopy
- Abdominal myomectomy for fibroids (this was the worst one yet)
Western medicine was losing its charm for me. Shouldn’t my body be able to heal naturally if I am eating “well”? I became really unsettled with the concept that “some people just have a harder time conceiving than others”. Those who have been infertile long enough start to psychoanalyze everything and I was no different.
“Why is infertility so prevalent these days?” “Do other countries have the same rate of infertility?”
I experimented with organic foods and buying from the local “health food stores”. At one point I ate a lot of soy thinking it was the miracle food. I later found that soy was creating even more of a hormone imbalance. Little did I know that soy is found in many forms and in many places that I never imagined including grain-fed beef!
Through talking with some girlfriends about health issues in their own families we all began a journey to find natural solutions for us and our families. This blog is about our journey. Although our approaches are slightly different, they are all based upon the same idea: NOTHING UNNATURAL or PROCESSED. The basic principals for me are based upon the WESTON A PRICE model, and I am currently the Hagerstown, MD local chapter leader for the WAPF. You will hear me blog about WAPF a lot. My approach consists of:
- High quality fat consumption with at least 40% of caloric intake from good fats – no hydrogenated vegetable oils
- Organic grass-fed and pastured raised beef, pork, and chicken from local sources – hormone and antibiotic free
- NO SOY – which means I make everything myself – including condiments, breads, etc
- Sprouted grains or soaked flours only and used sparingly – I am not PALEO, but I don’t believe in some of the WAPF over promotion of grains either, even if properly prepared.
- RAW MILK is GOOD – I will not drink or use pasteurized milk ever again. Be sure that you know how your cows are raised if you are buying raw milk. Raw milk from healthy cows fixed some really big issues for me right after I began the WAPF lifestyle diet.
- No refined salts – I used Celtic sea salt
- No white sugars or refined sugars – use date sugar, sucanat, or pure maple syrup, and local raw honey sparingly
- Organic vegetables and fruit. If possible grown in my own garden.
- No calorie or fat intake counting ever! If I am eating what my body will use for energy I never need to worry about this and so far it has been spot on! The FOOD PYRAMID is WRONG FOLKS! Healthy FATS, PROPER MEATS, and DAIRY are where it’s at. Think TRADITIONAL CULTURES! They lived off the land without the use of chemicals or hormones. We think we have come so far, but we have really messed up our food chain by “chemically engineering” the health of everything GOD created as GOOD!
Can you tell I am passionate ok, a FREAK about this? Well, I will admit that it is not for everyone. I will also acknowledge that I dove right in and went extreme instead of easing into it because I felt I had to. My last surgery was in February 2011. I was so anemic that that Dr. did not know how I was managing life. Although I needed the surgery I was almost not able to have it because of the anemia. Now I am done with the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet). LOW FAT? HECK NO! I will slowly start to dissect how I am managing my own transformation. I will also try to explain in my best layman’s terms why this is important to me. I started at the end of April 2011. Here is my journey . . . .
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