My 10 Simple Rules for a Healthy You and a Healthy Planet

Eating can be so complicated these days. If you follow the information you see in magazines, the news, and the latest fad diet book, you will be totally confused. I’ve been there…

Eating can be so complicated!  If you follow the conflicting information you see on Facebook, Twitter, magazines, TV shows, mainstream media, and the latest fad diets, you can become totally confused!  I’ve been there. In the 30 years or so that I have studied diet and nutrition, I’ve followed and studied a lot of information–and MIS-information. And using the nutrition information and research I’ve studied over the years, my medical knowledge, and myself as a guinea pig, I’ve found what works. And I want to share that with you. To simplify things. To simplify your life and your diet–and to help you be your healthiest self while helping our planet.

1. Follow a diet that your ancient ancestors ate–eat unrefined, unprocessed foods with ONE ingredient, as much as possible. Eat simply. Eat locally if possible.

2. Keep Blood Sugar Levels Stable, by minimizing or avoiding all grains (especially processed wheat and corn), and any kind of food containing sugar, including corn syrup, fructose, honey, glucose, sucrose, and all artificial sweeteners.

3. Avoid packaged, processed foods. They most certainly contain starchy processed grains, artificial ingredients and sugar in addition to contributing to environmental pollution from the manufacturing process, packaging and the health issues they create.

4. Eat plenty of healthy fats and oils, including the saturated fats in butter, coconut oil and (organic and naturally raised) animal fats, meat and whole eggs. Embrace the fats in nuts of all kinds, avocados and olive oils. Eat fat that is naturally occurring, not processed.

5. Avoid unnatural oils such as canola oil, soy oil, corn oil, sunflower and safflower oils. These oils are high in omega 6 fatty acids and add to inflammation, body fat and disease. 

6. Eat high quality protein. While most people eat a diet too high in protein, some protein is absolutely essential. There are many reasons to avoid industrially produced, unhealthy animal products, but it gets very difficult to get adequate amounts of usable protein without some type of animal protein. Animal protein is a complete and bio-available protein and contains vital nutrients including collagen, iron, zinc and all the amino acids. It is vital for active adults for energy, muscle recovery and strength.  Be thoughtful in your choices and realize you don’t need large amounts of it. Protein in your diet will help to satisfy your appetite, as well as help keeping your blood sugar low and stable. 

7. Eat only NATURALLY raised protein such as grass fed beef, free range chicken and eggs, wild caught fish and grass fed (unpasteurized if possible) dairy. These meats are far healthier than regular commercially raised meats, have more nutrients, have healthier fats in them and taste superior. If you are vegetarian, eat pasture-raised eggs and stay away from soy products except natto and tempeh that are fermented and more easily assimilated.

8.  Give your body the nutrition it needs with REAL food and your hunger will adjust. Don’t eat ‘fake’ foods! Don’t eat ‘fake’ meat. Eat large amounts of fresh, live vegetables–organic and local, if at all possible and a small amount of fresh fruit along with healthy protein and fats.  

9. Pay attention to omega 3 fats versus omega 6 fats. Omega 3 fats are those which occur in naturally raised meats (grass fed/free range), wild caught fish, organic free range eggs–and to some extent flax seeds and nuts. Omega 6 fats are those fats which come from grains, animals raised on grains, and processed ‘vegetable’ oils such as corn, soy, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed, and canola oils. You need about 2-3x more omega 3 fats compared to omega 6 fats. 

10. Beware of liquid sugar in drinks including fruit juice (even 100% fruit juices), sweetened drinks such as sweet tea, soda, sports drinks, and alcoholic beverages. 


and two more (unrelated to food, but just as important)—


11. Get out in the sunshine and fresh air as much as possible–every day if you can. Even if it’s just a few minutes around noon, it’s better than none. The vitamin D you get from real sunshine will help your mood, protect your immune system and is vital for your overall well-being.

12. Exercise on a regular basis–at 3-4 times a week, or more. Do it with a friend, it helps you stick to your plan better and is much more enjoyable.

There you have it. This is what I follow on a day to day basis. That doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally eat french fries or a cookie. Yes, I do, but I do limit them to once in a while. And you know what, they just don’t taste as good to me anymore. My body knows what good food is and that is what it craves.

I feel better now than I ever have. My mind is sharp and clear, my energy is high, and my weight stays exactly where I want it to.

Start incorporating these things into your life and you will find amazing results! 

Take care and stay healthy and lean!

 

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition.  She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health. Cat provides both corporate and individual health and wellness coaching and programs.

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

                                Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

                               Contact me at 314-369-6400 for more information.

 

4 thoughts on “My 10 Simple Rules for a Healthy You and a Healthy Planet”

  1. Great comments and observations! You are right, eating a diet of sugary, starchy stuff will not only make you hungerier with the constant blood sugar and insulin surges, but it will most definitely lead to diabetes, heart disease, cancer or another major chronic disease. It is virtually inescapable. And additionally it is almost impossible to lose weight on that kind of diet, because as soon as your blood sugar goes up, the body transforms all the sweet and starchy stuff into fat which is them immediately stored and not burned.
    You are wise to eat the way you are eating. Eat very little starches and grains, and eat plenty of meat and veggies. This is how you lose weight and maintain your health. Keep up the great work!

  2. Great article. I have known most of these things for a long time. I have done extensive research on diet and nutrition for a number of years-due to the fact that every time I have ever quit smoking I have gained a bunch of weight really quickly, without eating any more than I did when I smoked. Too many people still fall for that extremely insensitive and overly simplistic myth about why people get overweight. “Just eat less and exercise more”, but I have known for a good while that when you focus on quality, then quantity will take care of itself. I am going to send this by email, to my friend that I am staying with, because he is one of those who believes that aforementioned myth. His diet is one of the SADdest I have ever seen. He is 65, and he is addicted to white flour, white sugar, white rice, cakes, cookies, candy, ice cream, corn sometimes, bread, and all that “good” stuff. When I try to tell him things like what you have written in your articles, he thinks that I don’t know what I am talking about. He is actually quite thin, but he lost all his teeth and got implants not too many years ago. I still have all but three of mine. As far as I know, he has never been diagnosed as diabetic, but it would not surprise me in the least if he does receive such a diagnosis at some point in the near future. He eats a great many tiny meals a day, and sometimes those meals are not so tiny. I have seen him eat as many as 15 times during a 24 hour period, but it generally averages around 8 or times, and what he eats is mostly garbage. He seems to think that if a food has any nutritional value at all, he should eat less of it, and if a food is actually an anti-nutritient, he should eat more of it. He has never said that, but that is the way I have often seen him eat. I have seen him eat a quarter of a cheese cake in one sitting, and at other times I have seen him claim he is stuffed after eating less than half a sandwich. I am 5′ 2.5″, and I am currently at around 160. That is still heavy for me, but it has been even worse a number of times in the past. I am trying to lose weight by focusing on quality, and letting quantity take care of itself. The reason I am telling you all this, is because He wants me to eat like he does. He thinks the fact that he is skinny is proof that his way is the right way, and everyone else should do it the same way. Even if he was eating healthy and low sugar and nutrient dense foods, I could never follow his example by eating 8 to 15 tiny meals a day with portion sizes like that of a toddler. If I did that, I would be hungry constantly, and I would not even be able to stop thinking about food, and I would be very edgy and nervous all the time. Diabetics have to eat every couple of hours, to keep their blood sugar from crashing, but as far as I know, I am not a diabetic. I do best on 1 to 3 satisfying meals per day. I am not talking about stuffing myself, just being sated. When I do that, I stay calmer, and I don’t even think about food after a satisfying meal, for at least 5 or 6 hours. His way simply wouldn’t work for me. If I did it his way, I would get too big to get through the front door. He once said to me…if you want to know how to lose weight, just ask the skinny guy. But, that is just wrong. If you want to know how to lose weight, you do tons of reading and research online, and lots of experimenting with your own diet to see what works for you. Plus, if you really want to aks another person-you ask people who have struggled with their weight most of their lives, and then finally found what works for them. You don’t ask someone who has always had one of those turbo charged metabolisms, and has always been able to stay skinny no matter how SAD their dietary practices were. So, maybe if I send him this list, he will pay a little bit of atttention, and stop trying to get me to follow his lead. Maybe he will actually start helping me. But, honestly, I have been eating as close to right as possible these past three or four weeks, and I do think that I have lost a little weight. But, I think the only thing that will cause him to acknowledge that I actually do know what I am talking about, is my results. When I have lost enough weight that he actually notices, maybe he will start listening to me, and then helping me. Since he has the money, and he buys the food, for a long time I basically had to eat whatever he bought, or starve. But, that has changed a little bit, so I am able to eat a little better than I was for more than 8 months.

  3. Excellent web site. Lots of helpful information here.
    I’m sending it to a few buddies ans also sharing in delicious. And naturally, thank you on your effort!

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