I know there are a lot of you out there with PCOS, chronic fatigue and other health problems or you may be starting an NT diet for the first time. This is a sample of my diet from the last few days to help give you some idea of what I eat, how much and how easy it can be to prepare NT foods.
Albeit, my diet is lower in carbs than most of you may need, I’m doing this under the advice of my naturopath. There is much debate about how many carbs to include in an NT diet, Sally Fallon herself eats a diet which emphasizes mostly fats, then proteins, with only a small portion of carbohydrates. There USED to be an example diet (actually the whole board did it) where she wrote out everything she ate for three or four days… but I can’t find it on the WAPF site anymore… maybe it got deleted.
These are actual days copied straight from my diary to you with no omissions!!
I’ve left out the supplements because they are such an individual thing.
Day 1
Breakfast - 2 free range eggs, 2 pieces nitrate free bacon, 1 grilled tomato, 1/4 chargrilled capsicum, white coffee no sugar.
Lunch - Large (3 1/2 cups) salad of shredded grilled chicken breast (one fillet), red cabbage, cos lettuce, raw beetroot, sunflower seeds, apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil (so yummy, love the crunchiness).
Afternoon - Cup of tea with milk.
Dinner - 2 free range eggs, big bowl of homemade cream of cauliflower soup (in a hurry that night).
Day 2
Breakfast - 2 free range eggs scrambled, 3 slices grilled eggplant and 1 grilled tomato, white coffee no sugar.
Lunch - Grilled snapper (about 100g) with lemon butter sauce, steamed baby vegetables (1 1/2 cups).
Afternoon - Cappuccino (weakness! hehe).
Dinner - Cheese platter: assorted cheeses, pickled vegetables, olives, carrot sticks (instead of crackers), avocado, smoked salmon, mineral water in a wine glass! (friends were drinking red wine) I can’t say how much I ate for certain (over a few hours) but I ate until I was satisfied.
Supper - Cup of tea with milk.
Day 3
Breakfast - Tin of sardines on a piece of toasted rye sourdough with butter, white coffee.
Lunch - Large (3 1/2 cups) green salad with a snack size tin of tuna in extra virgin olive oil.
Afternoon - Cup of tea and a handful of walnuts (not enough protein at lunch).
Dinner - Homemade spaghetti sauce (1 1/2 cups) (ground beef with same amount of beef heart minced through) with steamed shredded silverbeet (3 big handfuls) instead of pasta.
Supper - Baked green apple with double cream.
This is just a few days, but I hope it gives you some idea of what I eat. I try not to eat any processed foods if I can help it, so I cook everything myself. Luckily, I love cooking! If I make a big meal one night, my husband and I can have leftovers for lunch or dinner the following night. This helps as a back-up, I work four days part-time and sometimes just can’t be bothered cooking. I’ll either re-heat some leftovers in the oven, or defrost a couple that I’ve frozen beforehand. Or we’ll have something simple like a Spanish omelette for our dinner.
I often use a crock pot, so great if you have to go to work! A lot of the NT recipes can be converted easily into crock pot recipes. I like to cook bone broths and stocks, soups, curries and stews in mine. So easy, so delicious. One of my favourites is ‘Lamb in red wine’. Chuck in your lamb (necks with the bone in work well for this), chunky pieces of carrot, a chopped onion, garlic, a bay leaf, sea salt and black pepper. Pour over wine and water mix 1/3 water to 2/3 wine so it just covers the meat. Leave on low all day and be welcomed by a home filled with heavenly smells! When I first made this my husband thought I had gone French on him!
Obviously I have to work on my coffee addiction… Jo knows what I mean! But I’ve just let go of one massive addiction…. SUGAR. (Sugar is like the best friend who keeps stabbing you in the back and stealing your boyfriends.) So, today I swapped coffee for dandelion tea. I’m not feeling TOO bad, but its 5pm and I’ve got a little headache, hopefully that is it.
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.
Jul 7th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I love knowing that others struggle with coffee as much as I do! I, too, am trying to eat as little starches as I can with an emphasis on veggies and fruits and lots of yummy fats! It’s so easy to do in the summer when peaches and strawberries are in abundance, my garden produces copious amounts of lettuce and swiss chard and I have two local farms from which to get fresh eggs and pasture fed chickens. It’s a good season and my body is so happy. However sugar truly is the evil friend. It taunts me in the evening, ‘Go ahead, you deserve some sugar you worked so hard today, it wont matter!’ Then… YAMMO!! Instant headache and my joints are swollen in the morning. You’d think I’d learn.
Jul 7th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Hi Lacey, I KNOW! It’s like my crack. We actually have a padlock on the biscuit jar at home!!! The only thing I can do is have little or no sugary foods around… ie: icecream. If I do buy it for visitors (organic of course…), I get the smallest container possible and if there’s some left I give it to them to take home. Stuff like that can not just sit around and remain unmolested. Isn’t it funny how we crave the things we are allergic to or that don’t agree with us the most! It should be the EIGHT deadly sins… SUGAR fits in somewhere between lust and greed…. hahaha. Your Summer diet sounds delicious! That’s one of my favourite desserts - strawberries and cream.
Jul 7th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
hi girls. i have the same problem as always all your advice is really helpful BUT
there in no where in perth that i no of to buy organic anything. i hate eating drug fed meat. i dont really eat red meat im addicted to chicken.
so its so hard to follow organic nt lifestyle if you have no idea were to get it from. can i also ask ana do you exersize alot? i can handle eating well but its getting my but moving that it a constant struggle i walk alot but thats it.
if you no of anyone in perth western australia id love to hear about them
Jul 7th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Sharon, no I don’t exercise much at all. I try to do weight training twice a week and walk for at least 15 mins every day, although I try to get in 45 mins when I can. In NT there’s a section about washing produce if you can’t get organic…. I’ll have a look tonight to see if I can find it for you. It’s important to at least eat free range chicken, there’s been a lot of bad press about chickens being pumped full of antibiotics and other drugs to make them grow fast… but it’s up for debate. Much safer to avoid these things. As for beef and lamb, you should be able to find grassfed relatively easily, ask your local butcher to source it for you. Maybe try a little minced lamb or beef first? What about starting a little veggie patch? I’ve got a tiny potted one in a tub with mixed salad greens at the moment. I used to have a big patch, but I’m down to just a herb garden for now.
Jul 8th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
In australia we are pretty lucky that our chooks and cows cant be fed steroids etc as far as I know. They can be fed antibiotics (which are growth promotant) but only if there is a medical reason to use them (pretty easy to find a medical reason, you just need one sick chook to justify treating the flock) but on the whole the quality of our meats is pretty good. Just always go for free range (for the chickens sake as well as our own!) and organic where possible.
hope that helps
Jul 9th, 2008 at 2:35 am
hi sharon if you are looking for organic produce in perth peaches in freo have a good selection. Barleyfield beef also offer pasture fed meat and I think they do chicken as well, they have a web address http://www.barleyfieldbeef .com.au I used to order my meat through them until we moved over to victoria 12 months ago hope this helps
Jul 9th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Hi lauralee, where abouts do you get your pasture fed beef or organic meats from in victoria out of interest. Ive seen them at places like macro but they are very expensive.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
sharon the web address is http://www.barleyfield.com.au oops!!! sorry about that.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
hi thanks alot lauralee finally somewhere i can go
much apprecited/keep them coming perth people if you no of any places.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
hi Jad, I have just found a company called gippsland lean beef (www.gippslandleanbeef.com.au) that pasture feed and do not use antibiotics or growth promotants. They are based near yarram and will deliver your order to you. I have just ordered a pack off of them and i believe it is coming next week. I live in south gippy but i am pretty sure they deliver to the city as well, check out the web site for more info .
Jul 10th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Hi there, I’m the group co-ordinator for a co-operative of WA farmers who have joined together to market their fully certified organic and biodynamic meat. At present we are only equipped to sell whole animals to butcher shops, a full list can be found on our (soon to be) web site. You can email on organicmeats@iinet.net.au to find a butcher in your local area. We also encourage consumers to get a group of like minded people together and buy your own animal direct form the Co-op, and organise with a butcher of your choice to have them process it for you. Lost of butchers are happy to do so, it is a win/win for them. Our producers are from all over the south of the state (so far), some large, and some very small, this is a way to support these people who are so passionate about what they do, but oftentimes struggle to make a living from it.
Anybody, any questions, please feel free to email me……Donna
Jul 11th, 2008 at 3:39 am
Thanks for sharing your menu with us Louise. I remember seeing the one on the WAPF website. I was surprised that they weren’t all perfectly adhering to the WAPF guidelines but then realised that it’s not a “diet” it’s a way of life and you need to adopt the changes in a comfortable timeframe.
I bought Nourishing Traditions two or three years ago and I have never looked back. But the changes came about gradually. The latest change for me is taking cod liver oil. I had tried to take it a number of times over the years but found it too strong. Now I mix it with equal parts kombucha (which is quite acid and tart) and follow up with a glass of kombucha and it’s not a problem too me anymore!
It has been relatively easy for me to go off the standard sort of diet because I live in a remote area and my husband and I produce a lot of our own food. I dont’ have to go to the shops that often so those addictive “foods” aren’t in my face every day tempting me.
Jul 13th, 2008 at 2:40 am
while we are on the subject of raw and organic food does anybody use aphrodites raw milk?? I have been trying to source raw milk and I found these guys on the net. I am just wondering what it is like and if anyone uses it or does anybody know of a herdshare in south gippsland??
Aug 6th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Aphrodites milk is great. We use to get Cleopatra’s bath milk, but the Aphrodites is a lot nicer and keeps longer
Aug 6th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
thanks beth… how do you get aphrodites milk?? the only places I can find are in the city. Do you know if they deliver??