Any given week, my family goes through over 2 dozen eggs. We eat a lot of scrambled eggs in the mornings - with the yolks - AND cooked in some sort of fat, whether it be fresh lard, saved bacon or duck fat (my personal favorite) or even tallow. On days that smoothies are in order (because, Vegas = HOT), I will add 8 raw eggs to the blender before I add other goodies. We really do go through a lot of eggs.
And as mentioned above, we do not shy away from fat. Specifically, pure animal fat in all of its glory. I buy all different types and even scoop it off finished dishes to store in a labeled jar for later use. I choose poultry with skin still on and fatty cuts of beef because we adore it. Pastured pork belly and grass-fed beef cheeks are my kind of heaven.
People that know us, also know of our love of bacon. And one year, friends even gifted my husband with a jar of bacon fat for Christmas. I think they meant it as a joke but my husband was in love. True story.
Of course, none of this means we slap giant portions of meat for every meal to eat with our bare hands. Yes, each of our meals include a good amount of clean protein but our plates also brim with a huge variety of vegetables and/or salad, usually organic. On smoothie mornings, the vegetables are just IN our glass.
We eat this way because it is healthy for our bodies and good food is what our bodies crave to be properly functional day in and day out. I know this sounds really cringe-worthy to some, especially in light of several years of media and Big Pharma telling us that a low-fat and grain-heavy diet, supplemented with various pill and vitamin concoctions, is the true path to eternal health.
The truth is, dietary fat does not make anyone fat. The human brain is actually made up of up to 60% fat. And, fat is beneficial because it is needed by the body to regulate hormones, repair tissues, preserve muscle and even improve sexual function. Saturated fat boosts our immune system and is needed for optimum liver health, as well.
So it makes sense, that in our fat-fearing society, those with the lowest fat intake may have the most health issues. Years of being fed the Food Pyramid has increased rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease in this country, and more.
As a family, we adopted a Paleo(ish) diet about 2 years ago. And when I was fed up with fruitless diagnosis after diagnosis for seemingly random issues, I adopted a stricter version and because I am awesome and my family loves me, my family went along for the ride with me. And we were floored with the results. My husband lost weight without trying and seasonal allergies and headaches for him disappeared. My teenage son, who had eczema and was beginning to get acne, had everything clear up. And my daughter no longer had tummy troubles that made her uncomfortable. My personal random issues (unexplained rashes, swelling of the arms/legs and lips, all-over body itching and cystic acne), including seasonal allergies, cleared up as well. And I lost weight. Score, right?
Even so, considering the diet my family eats on a daily basis, some may question whether our lifestyle is truly healthy. Hey, the me from 4 years ago would do the same!
Each year my husband's company hosts a Know Your Numbers program for employees and their spouses, with incentives for scoring well on 3 out of the 5 following items:
And as mentioned above, we do not shy away from fat. Specifically, pure animal fat in all of its glory. I buy all different types and even scoop it off finished dishes to store in a labeled jar for later use. I choose poultry with skin still on and fatty cuts of beef because we adore it. Pastured pork belly and grass-fed beef cheeks are my kind of heaven.
People that know us, also know of our love of bacon. And one year, friends even gifted my husband with a jar of bacon fat for Christmas. I think they meant it as a joke but my husband was in love. True story.
Of course, none of this means we slap giant portions of meat for every meal to eat with our bare hands. Yes, each of our meals include a good amount of clean protein but our plates also brim with a huge variety of vegetables and/or salad, usually organic. On smoothie mornings, the vegetables are just IN our glass.
We eat this way because it is healthy for our bodies and good food is what our bodies crave to be properly functional day in and day out. I know this sounds really cringe-worthy to some, especially in light of several years of media and Big Pharma telling us that a low-fat and grain-heavy diet, supplemented with various pill and vitamin concoctions, is the true path to eternal health.
The truth is, dietary fat does not make anyone fat. The human brain is actually made up of up to 60% fat. And, fat is beneficial because it is needed by the body to regulate hormones, repair tissues, preserve muscle and even improve sexual function. Saturated fat boosts our immune system and is needed for optimum liver health, as well.
So it makes sense, that in our fat-fearing society, those with the lowest fat intake may have the most health issues. Years of being fed the Food Pyramid has increased rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease in this country, and more.
As a family, we adopted a Paleo(ish) diet about 2 years ago. And when I was fed up with fruitless diagnosis after diagnosis for seemingly random issues, I adopted a stricter version and because I am awesome and my family loves me, my family went along for the ride with me. And we were floored with the results. My husband lost weight without trying and seasonal allergies and headaches for him disappeared. My teenage son, who had eczema and was beginning to get acne, had everything clear up. And my daughter no longer had tummy troubles that made her uncomfortable. My personal random issues (unexplained rashes, swelling of the arms/legs and lips, all-over body itching and cystic acne), including seasonal allergies, cleared up as well. And I lost weight. Score, right?
Even so, considering the diet my family eats on a daily basis, some may question whether our lifestyle is truly healthy. Hey, the me from 4 years ago would do the same!
Each year my husband's company hosts a Know Your Numbers program for employees and their spouses, with incentives for scoring well on 3 out of the 5 following items:
- Waist Circumference
- Triglycerides
- Blood Pressure
- Blood Glucose
- HDL Cholesterol
These are all very important - and conventional diet wisdom (which is only about 40 years old) dictates that I should be ready to drop of a heart attack any day now. Below is my latest screen result:
Not too shabby, right? And even though my current way of eating has addressed many issues for me, I continue to follow this lifestyle. Why? Don't I wish I can have pasta for dinner every night and eat birthday cake for breakfast? One year ago, my answer would have been a HELL YES. But now, I think of how I sleep really well and have energy all day while running full throttle. I think of how I lost weight while literally stuffing my face on delicious and satiating food. Now, I don't need tissues in my purse all the time because my nose no longer constantly runs. And I no longer have to carry an Epi-Pen.
My side of the family suffers from digestive issues, severe enough that a few members have been hospitalized more than once. And I am completely confident that I have avoided these issues due to my lifestyle. Clearly, something is going right.
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