Thought I’d share a rather interesting effect of my natural traditional diet. Well, my husband thinks it is.
Bigger boobs.
Yep you heard me. At first I thought I was imagining it, but a few weeks after my diet changes, my bra is fitting differently. They are definitely much fuller. Hmmm… I’m guessing that because I’ve been eating lovely fats for some time now, my hormones are all nice and balanced. Perhaps this is how my body SHOULD be, they look like they did when I was 20. This is strange because I’ve been on the pill for years and am still taking a very low dose.
I’ve not put on any weight, I’ve remained at a stable weight for a long time. My body has changed though. I’ve less on my tummy and hips and also less cellulite, with fat distributed more evenly. My skin is very clear and I’ve lost those tired lines around my mouth and eyes. I’ve got more energy and am less moody. It just goes to show how much the way you are eating affects your hormones and general health!
Any thoughts? I’m NOT pregnant! Lol!
About the Author...
I've finally overcome my destructive eating habits by learning to accept myself, applying the WAPF nutritional principles daily. I'm now at a stable, healthy, slim weight, have lots of energy and no more guilt. I've been happily married for 7 years and am a graphic designer. In the near future I'm hoping to start a nutritional course and start practicing as a qualified nutritionist. At the moment it's all self education.
May 29th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Hey Louise,
ME TOO!! Pretty awesome huh?
Last time I weighed myself when I was this dress size (6) was about 4 yrs ago and I weighed 6-8kg lighter. Very happy my body has gained weight where it needs, and left me with my trim pert body I had in my 20’s. I think it might be all that lovely jersey milk I’ve been drinking…
May 30th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Hi Louise
I was really interested in reading about how the NT way of eating is good for your hormones. It helps mine to. You mentioned that your weight stays stable on NT. I do tend to put weight on for some reason? Do you find that you eat a lot of food and really slather on the butter and eat lots of animal fat with your meat? I’m not sure if my body just can’t tolerate carbs or if I am consuming too many calories, but the weight creeps up. Do you exercise daily? Just curious about what I am doing wrong. I can’t have coconut butter as it gives me the runs. I noticed that you have coconut fat before meals.
Regards
Suzanne
May 30th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Wow Karen… maybe we should do a photoshoot together! Picture it: hippie playboy bunnies… I can see it now, lichen in all the important places, a few leaves in our hair frolicking naked in the rainforest… hahaha
Suzanne: There’s a great read about hormones and how they affect weight (rather than me blathering on) and a much better explanation of how fats and proteins help balance hormones called “The Schwarzbein Principle”. This is the web http://www.schwarzbeinprinciple.com/pgs/home.html and there’s a review of the book over at WAPF here: http://www.westonaprice.org/bookreviews/schwarzbein.html. I LOVED this book, after reading mountains of crappy health books from the library, it was one of the first nutrition books that opened my eyes.
As for the way I eat now, I’m not concerned too much about how much I eat, if I’m hungry I eat, if not, I don’t. It’s very important to listen to your body… you may not be hungry, you might really be angry with your co-worker, or lonely. When I have a meal I have lots of veggies (I have about 4 colours) and a protein (fish or eggs usually) with cream sauces, cheeses, butter or coconut cream and perhaps a glass of wine. I try to get to the point where I feel satisfied but not stuffed. Pleasantly full, with no more hunger. Food is not about quickly refuelling, a chore or barely noticed, eaten in front of the TV. Meals are about spending time with my husband and enjoying and savoring (taking time to appreciate the flavours, textures and smells)… deliciousness!
Carbs… I try not to eat much sugar, just a small serving (including breads, rice, pasta and cakes etc) but eat plenty of fruit and usually some dark chocolate as my usual after dinner treat. I walk about 45 mins a day and do weights once a week.
If you have a problem with carbs, you could be low on magnesium and zinc… Definitely check with your naturopath. It might help you to supplement with chromium to help with cravings and try to eat a high protein snack like a matchbook size piece of cheese or a chicken leg (…or along those lines, same effect as coconut oil) about 30mins before a meal. That really works. I use that trick when I KNOW I’m going to be facing a party with loads of chips, dips and big hips. Helps me avoid nasty trans-fatty snacks unenlightened people eat. (Ew.) (I’m such a snob!) (haha)
Of course you just can’t eat mountains of good food, do no exercise and not eventually creep up in weight. But you can eat a lot! Move your body every day whenever you can. Take the stairs, park further away from work, carry your shopping bags instead of a trolley, talk on the phone standing up, wear comfortable shoes, get some vitamin D outside and enjoy the fresh air! I do these kinds of things daily and it doesn’t feel like exercise, it’s just second nature!
I hope that this is helpful to you… if you have any specific questions about my diet or lifestyle, I’m happy to share what I know.
Louise
May 30th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Suzanne, it could also be worth looking into the Warrior Diet - not so much the products that he pushes but the times and style of eating. The Warrior Diet is based on the idea that hunter gatherers had times of feast and times of famine. Apparently we have certain hormones that are stimulated when we overeat or eat to satiation and others that are stimulated when we undereat. Because the modern dietary custom is to eat lots of regular meals, our “undereating hormones” never get stimulated. People who follow the Warrior Diet find that they lose weight if they need to and they gain weight if they need to. Years ago, Joanne Hay and I both tried the Warrior Diet. At the time, I needed to gain a bit of weight (recovering from veganism!) and Joanne wanted to lose some. We compared what were eating and it was pretty similar - sure enough, she lost and I gained!
We would have a kefir smoothie with egg yolks for breakfast and then basically graze on raw nibblies during the day (carrots, cucumbers, even lightly poached eggs). Then at night we’d feast! I’d start with a salad, then I’d have meat or fish with side vegies with butter and sauerkraut on the side. After diinner if I was still hungry, I’d have a hash brown (grated potato fried in coconut oil) and before bed, I’d have a glass of raw milk. At the time, I took digestive enzymes with my meal and I’d have beet kvass with my dinner. I gave up grains altogether for the better part of a year. My health totally came into balance as did Joanne’s.
Jun 1st, 2008 at 5:59 pm
My diet was a little different. I grazed on nitrate free pasture fed ham and chunks of cheese. Like Louise said, match box size. The diet worked quite well until my emotional state sent me after chocolate. One of the rules of to avoid carbs until after dinner. Snacking on chocolate instead of ham sent me back into a bit of a caffeine spin again, but I had lost weight and felt much better.The caffeine story is another long one, I’ll tell it one day.
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 3:34 am
My memory is hazy then Jo! But the the principles of the undereating/overeating were the same and we both feasted at night - something all the dietary books said was a no no.
Jun 2nd, 2008 at 4:46 am
Hi
You know my problem time starts at about day 18 of my cycle when I begin to get very hungry. I am on day 20 and am really famished so I am eating meat and veg with butter and limited sourdough bread. I do eat chocolate even though I take magnesium tabs. I just have to come to terms with the fact that my appetite is big premenstrually. After my period I lose my appetite and don’t really care for much food. I will try the protein snack idea before meals and I am also walking an hour a day, so I seem to lose weight at the beginning of my cycle and then maintain premenstrually. I limited my the size of my meals, but ate frequently for a week before I became premenstrual and lost 3.5 kgs. I walked for an hour each day. Some of it was water as I avoided too many carbs, but a lot of it was fat. I have shrunk. I think my body somehow liked the combo of what I was doing and let go of the weight. I will lose another bit of weight when I get my period and my appetite decreases again. So, I think the key is limited carbs and lots of walking. An hour is quite taxing for me to walk, I get tired and go off to bed early. Thanks for you advice, I will look into all the suggestions!!!
Thankfully
Suzanne
Jun 19th, 2008 at 12:02 am
hi lousie,. wow i want no exactly what you eat,an how you do it, everything you mention in the lines around eyes mouth,not so great skin, tired,moody etc etc is exactly how i am now .
so after reading your post i have hope that i can turn that around and have the positive results your having.
i really want to eat the rights things but have no idea were to start an need relatively easy food as im so busy all the time.
anyway would love to hear any advice,p.s i hate any seafood.
Jun 19th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Have you read the basics on the WAPF website? There’s lots of resources there to help you get started. Here’s the link for a great example of a healthy, nourishing diet: http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/dietguidelines.html.
But basically these are my guidelines that I try to follow daily:
1. Eat breakfast! Eggs and veggies are great, I like a Spanish omlette with red onion, capsicum, tomato, chilli, feta and olives, but a simple scramble is good if you are in a hurry. You MUST use free range lovely whole eggs! I do not eat egg whites on their own… they taste gross no matter how much you season them! Or I like sardines on sprouted grain bread with butter and a squeeze of lemon, or if I’m in a REAL hurry I grab a couple of boiled eggs (I keep them in the fridge for emergencies) or a piece of cheese and some veggie sticks to eat in the car.
2. I try to walk EVERY DAY. Even if I can only get 10 minutes in, it makes my mind clear and gives me a little energy burst, much better than coffee! This is great at 2pm at work when you are starting to get brain fog, just grab your phone and take a quick walk around the block.
3. Try to cut out as much processed foods as possible. If it doesn’t look like a potato - don’t eat it! That goes for all artificial and diet foods too. Why do people insist on eating foods with no nutritional value? If it only has 60 calories, tastes like crap, will eventually give you cancer and make you hungry again in half an hour … why not just eat a fresh, crunchy apple? Spend your money on fresh organic produce whenever possible. It might seem like a lot of money, but you will save on medical bills in the long run. I don’t always buy organic, but I do whenever I can. I love going to the farmer’s markets for my veggies and meat… I’m lucky there’s one on Friday and Sunday where I live, so I can go twice! MUCH cheaper than the supermarket and I only buy what is in season, it is the cheapest and freshest. I think I save about $40 a week shopping this way.
4. ENJOY your food. Listen to your body. When you are hungry (not tired, emotional, angry or frustrated) eat, when you are satisfied, stop. Simple. Try to sit at the table and take your time to eat, your mind will register that you have eaten and are now full if you create a pattern of conscious eating.
5. Paleo style eating is much healthier than the low fat, high carb style most people follow. So I eat protein and lots of veggies with each meal and limit my fruits and grains to a very small amount each day. I might have a baked apple for dessert or a piece of sprouted grain bread with my breakfast, or perhaps a glass of wine with my dinner. I don’t really watch how much fat or protein I eat, it’s very hard to overeat these, if I do you I start feeling sick. So I have lemon butter sauces with my fish, homemade gravies with my roasts, creamy soups and coconut curries. YUM. On the other hand… it is very easy to overeat refined carbohydrates! Have you ever noticed how easy it is to eat a whole block of chocolate or half a loaf of garlic bread? Even if you simply switch the refined carbs for complex carbs… you could eat a WHOLE rockmelon for less calories than a small slice of cake! Choose bulky carbs over sugary ones.
6. Sleep. Get enough, respect your body, reduce stress as much as possible. Pamper yourself with a homemade facial like avocado and yogurt or oatmeal and honey, run a warm bath, light some candles, burn some essential oil and relax. You need some quiet ‘me time’ EVERY day. Even if you just sit quietly in a cosy room with soft lighting for 15 minutes, it is important to switch off the white noise in your mind. Swap stimulants like coffee and coke for herbal teas to give your overworked body a much needed break. I also try not to watch TV before bed, instead I listen to music or cuddle with my dogs or husband. (Hee hee, didn’t mean to put my puppies first!)
7. I make sure I am eating a wide variety of foods to get the most nutrition out of my diet. I try to use a new vegetable or fruit each week. (With some interesting results!) Consult with your naturopath if you feel your health is sub-par to asses if you are deficient in any minerals or vitamins. I supplement with cod liver oil, B3, magnesium and 5-htp at the moment. I also take chromium to help curb sugar cravings and keep my energy levels stable.
8. I try not to overeat but if I do occasionally overindulge, I take it easy the next day with soups, salads and yogurt.
The main thing I cannot stress enough is: KEEP IT SIMPLE. Simple, whole foods, prepared in a traditional way give your body the best chance to stay healthy and function optimally. Diets are a waste of time when you can eat delicious foods every day and stay trim! Make sure to move your body every day and you’ll soon see results.
Jun 20th, 2008 at 3:37 am
thankyou so much its great this website an people like you are willing to help people. i will after my holiday start my new organic life and il let you no results. its hard here in perth as not alot of organic type places. none ie ever heard of i really want organic meats but again have never heard of any{i might do some research}
i must admit though i dont think il ever completely give up chocolate :-} but il definately lower my processed foods{basically everything i eat is major processed in saying that ,im pretyy good also i drink loads of water i eat fruit an veg although prob not enough. i walk most days with my doggies also.
once again thanks very much i look forward to turning organic as im sick an tired of BEING SICK AN TIRED an i now no im the only one who can change this.
Jun 24th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
No problem Sharon, I hope your new lifestyle changes help with your condition. Even if you just eliminate as much processed foods as possible and eat less carbohydrate, you should feel more energetic.
Jun 24th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Sharon, there’s an alternative to refined sugar-laden chocolate. It’s organic, fair trade and absolutely delicious. You can get it here:
http://organictimes.com.au
I have word from the boys who run this company that they use slow dried milk powder too. All Good