There is so much conflicting information out there about the health benefits of many foods. So it makes sense to not have too much of any one thing, but to be moderate and get lots of variety.
- Unless you are trying Beth Loiselle’s perfect whole foods plan, start making changes slowly – don’t give your body a shock by trying to change everything at once. If you gradually implement changes, you are more likely to stick with it. With the whole food transition, you will experience withdrawal symptoms, so in that case it’s best to get it all over and done with asap.
- With most dietary regimes, you don’t need to eat perfectly 100% of the time. 80-90% of whatever plan you’re trying is probably enough. The whole food plan however does need to be “perfect” for the first 6 months, so make sure you’re really committed before starting.
- Be forgiving – don’t beat yourself up if you “fall off the wagon”. Just start again.
- Plan. We plan our dinners for the week the previous weekend, and I plan my day’s meals the previous night. I know that sounds tedious, but it’s very helpful, at least in the initial stages of trying a new eating plan.
- Focus on what you can eat, not what you can’t. Find ways to incorporate more of the desirables into your diet, and some of the undesirables will drop away. You will find that your tastes change, and you prefer fresh, wholesome food. I’ve designed a whole foods cooking course to help people make the transition.
- Think outside the square. There’s no law that says you have to have cereal for breakfast, and sandwiches for lunch. My current favourite O type breakfast (in roughly Zone ratios) is 1/2 a baked kumera, with tinned salmon, followed by one of the new kiwifruit & some nuts. The first lesson in the cooking course covers breakfasts, so check that out for more options.
- Have healthy snacks available. Try a few things to see what works for you and make sure you’ve always got some in the fridge or freezer. These are covered in lesson 2 of the course.
- Substitute, don’t deprive yourself. There are all sorts of different things out there that you can try & some of them are actually quite nice.
- Dairy substitutes – see the Milk page
- Wheat is a bit harder but not impossible. Try spelt, barley, rye, rice, corn, oat, buckwheat, kamut or amaranth flours. Spelt is especially good as it is a wheat-like grain that can be used in place of wheat fairly readily (Just reduce the liquid by 1/4). See the links page for more info on it. I have recipes for several wheat free breads, pancakes, and a pizza base. Plus wheat free cakes & bikkies. Rice & corn pastas are available from health food shops and Ryvita biscuits or rice cakes make quick snacks.
- Gluten free is more difficult as that also means avoiding rye, spelt, oats, barley, buckwheat & kamut. But you can still have rice, quinoa, amaranth, tapioca, millet, and corn. And if you’re gluten intolerant, that’s a good indication that you’d do better on a higher protein, lower carb diet, and should keep your grains to a minimum.
- If you want to try the Blood Type diet, there are lots of great recipes in the book and on the website.
- You can reduce the amount of sugar in your baking by using honey instead. As honey is sweeter, you only need 1 cup of honey for each 1 1/4 cups of sugar. Reduce the liquid by 1/4 of a cup and add a pinch of baking soda. Or use an unrefined sugar like rapadura. Check out the sweeteners page for the lowdown on the good and the bad.
- Check out some wheat free baking recipes here.
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