Most New Year's resolutions are never achieved, though. Not because we don't want them but we never make a plan to attain them. I also have health goals this year and have already taken action to see them through. I have a date I want to see improvement by and have plan to get there.
So, how do you better your health this year? Here is how.
Pick a dietary plan and stick to it.
Most of us live very busy lives. That busyness makes it hard to eat right unless we have made a commitment to eat better and have a plan to follow. Here are three dietary plans you can follow and that I highly recommend.
- If you have followed our Facebook page anytime at all, I'm sure you have seen us post links to sites containing Paleo Diet recipes. This is the diet I am on. It is restrictive but has helped me lose 35 lbs. and is simple to follow.
- The Basics
- 6-8 oz of free-range or grass-fed meat with every meal
- Vegetables with every meal
- Fruits and nuts
- No Grain (this includes high fructose corn syrup - which seems to be in everything)
- No Dairy
- No legumes (including soy and peanuts, which are not nuts)
- The Premise
- Most of the foods you think are good for you cause inflammation in your system, especially your gut. If your body is constantly fighting off the food you eat it cannot fight off the real viruses and bugs you come in contact with daily. And many of these, especially the grain, can lead to illnesses like Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and diabetes.
- Most of the foods you think are good for you cause inflammation in your system, especially your gut. If your body is constantly fighting off the food you eat it cannot fight off the real viruses and bugs you come in contact with daily. And many of these, especially the grain, can lead to illnesses like Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and diabetes.
- The Primal Diet is very similar to the Paleo Diet except that it allows for dairy if your system can handle it. It is also relatively simple and easy to follow.
- The Basics
- No wheat or grain
- Raw grass-fed dairy and eggs
- Free-range or grass-fed meat every meal
- Vegetables every meal
- The Premise
- Mark Sisson, the author of "The Primal Blueprint" believes that most of the health ailments you and I face, have little to do with our genetic makeup. Instead it all has to do with diet. He also believes that a grain and sugar based diet leads to diseases like Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and diabetes. Instead you should be eating fats (Just the opposite of what the USDA says you should eat, but they are owned by the grain industry. So you should expect that).
- Mark Sisson, the author of "The Primal Blueprint" believes that most of the health ailments you and I face, have little to do with our genetic makeup. Instead it all has to do with diet. He also believes that a grain and sugar based diet leads to diseases like Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and diabetes. Instead you should be eating fats (Just the opposite of what the USDA says you should eat, but they are owned by the grain industry. So you should expect that).
- The Primal Diet is very similar to the Paleo Diet except that it allows for dairy if your system can handle it. It is also relatively simple and easy to follow.
- I put diet in quotations because this is more of a lifestyle change than a "diet". Nourishing Traditions is very broad in its scope of foods you should be eating and serving to your family. This "diet" is more for those that have the time to prepare full meals, and by time I mean days in some cases.
- The Basics
- Free-range or grass-fed meat
- Raw grass-fed dairy
- Soaked grains - this aids in breaking down the proteins that many have difficulty digesting.
- Vegetables - raw and fermented
- An emphasis on offal, broth, and bone stock
- Strong emphasis on building gut flora
- The Premise
- They hold that your diet made up of modern highly processed food is killing you and your family slowly. They encourage you to switch to food that is raised slowly and in turn has a higher nutritional value. They encourage you to consume raw dairy and fermented vegetables because they will give you beneficial bacteria and enzymes to aid in digestion. They claim that these dietary changes can help those with allergies, asthma, and even autism. They even have a book, The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care, to help you start your children out right.
- They hold that your diet made up of modern highly processed food is killing you and your family slowly. They encourage you to switch to food that is raised slowly and in turn has a higher nutritional value. They encourage you to consume raw dairy and fermented vegetables because they will give you beneficial bacteria and enzymes to aid in digestion. They claim that these dietary changes can help those with allergies, asthma, and even autism. They even have a book, The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care, to help you start your children out right.
Following any of the diets above will greatly increase the vitamins and minerals in your diet. Real food doesn't load you up with sugar and cause you to crash mid day. Real food doesn't leave you hungry within an hour of eating. Real food promotes better health.
Do you want to better your health this year? Then put the Moon-pie down and start eating real food.
Resources
Paleo Diet
Book - The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf
Website - robbwolf.com
Primal Diet
Book - The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson
Website - http://www.marksdailyapple.com
Nourishing Traditions
Books - Nourishing Traditions and The Untold Story of Milk by Sally Fallon
Website - https://www.facebook.com/westonaprice