Pillar One: Diet & Nutrition

Diet and Nutrition

If you were to ask me what has been the biggest change in my life since entering naturopathic school I would have to say it has been what I eat.  Over the course of the last few years I have gone from eating fast foods, frozen/processed dinners to eating real foods.   Prior to school, I did at some point stop buying frozen and processed food from chain grocery stores and started buying the frozen and processed foods from local/organic stores; but I was still buying processed foods. Prior to entering school, I counted calories.  In my mind all calories were created equally and as long as I stayed within a certain number each day my weight would not fluctuate and I considered myself living a healthy lifestyle.  Eating frozen-packaged-processed food made it easy to count calories. The calories are written right there on the package.  Easy!!!  I quickly learned in school that not all calories are the same.  Not all food is the same.  AND, with some of the stuff I was eating-could it even be considered food?  I switched from worrying about calories to concentrating on nutrient dense foods and cutting out artificial chemicals from my diet. Making these changes was not easy.  It meant I had to really learn to cook.  I had to plan ahead to determine what I had time to cook depending on my schedule for the day.  I learned to love my crock pot.  I learned to love shopping on the outer ring of the grocery store, buying organic fruits and vegetables and grass-fed meats, going to the grocery store more often, visiting the local farmers' market and embracing that I was now truly nourishing my family and myself.  By changing my diet, my energy level increased, my joints were less achy, I felt stronger and more vital. What I learned most about food in school is that food is medicine... Good quality real food can heal the body!! 

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” 

― Hippocrates

Interested in learning more about the benefits of eating real

 foods, I highly recommend the following books:

&  Real Food:  Nina Planck

&  Deep Nutrition:  Catherine Shanahan, M.D.

&  Food Rules:  Catherine Shanahan, M.D.

&  Primal Body, Primal Mind:  Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS

Many people have asked me if I recommend a certain diet.

My answer is "no."  I believe that each individual is unique. 

Depending on his/her healing and wellness goals determines 

the food necessities.  What I will say is regardless of what

diet someone chooses or needs it always starts with 

REAL FOODS!!  

New Beginnings

I realized this morning that I had not blogged since I went to Fiji several years ago. During that magical trip, I decided I was going to quit my corporate job and go back to school to become a traditional naturopathic doctor.  It seems I never made the time to post again during these recent years of schooling.  It has been quite a journey that ebbed and flowed constantly.  There were many days I didn't know if I could or wanted to complete the program.  What did I have to offer to people in ways of healing?  As my personal healing journey continued to unfold, I realized I had a story to tell and information to share to assist others-more importantly to EMPOWER others to map their own healing journey.  Traditional naturopathy provides a wealth of tools and knowledge based on the body's innate ability to heal itself.  The body wants balance.  The body wants ease.  The body wants optimal function.  The body wants vitality.  The body wants to be whole:  physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Traditional naturopathy address all four of the body's realms through its 8 pillars. Over my next few posts I will discuss each of these pillars and how they can help a body to heal.

I'm excited for this new beginning:  my sacred livelihood as a traditional naturopathic doctor!!  I'm honored to be called to this profession and look forward to sharing this passion with you through upcoming posts.