Talking shop with people about current diet trends comes with the territory of my job.
If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked me, “Have you ever heard of the _______ diet?” I’d be very wealthy.
I absolutely love hearing about the trials and tribulations that people experience with food.
While I have read about many of the current trending diet plans on the market, my days of “trying out” diets are long behind me. It wasn’t that long ago, however, that I was in your shoes trying out which “foodstyles,” as I like to call them, worked best for me.
I personally experimented with different “foodstyles” from a very young age because I was desperately seeking a path to healing from the medical challenges I faced.
When I was an athlete, I ate a very high-carbohydrate diet. Aside from broccoli, I’m not sure if I ever ate a green vegetable between my pasta, cereal, and bagel binges during this time. Current advocates of a high-carbohydrate diet generally recommend that the carbohydrates come from unprocessed grains and vegetables – I didn’t quite understand that when I was stuck in my bread addiction.
When I was 17, I removed dairy products from my diet at the advice of my doctor, Dr. Peter Rowe of Johns Hopkins University. A dairy-free diet removes anything and everything that comes from a cow’s udders, including yogurt, milk, butter, and any processed foods that have any version of those items in them.
After experiencing amazing results with a dairy-free diet, I caught the “food for healing” bug!!
The “food for healing” bug occurs when you make the connection between what you eat and how you feel for the first time in your life. This is an amazingly powerful awakening to the role that food plays in your health and wellbeing. I am so thankful that Dr. Rowe suggested it to me in my desperation for health.
After going dairy-free, I figured there had to be other foods that might be robbing me of the vitality I wanted to reclaim in my young life.
Low sugar became my next mission…
Got sugar addiction??? Well, I sure did! I had NO IDEA the degree to which sugar was impacting my health until I removed it from my diet and got the chance to experience my next level of healing.
Sugar is EVERYWHERE! It took some time and lots of education for me to personally get sugar out of my food plan. I was, after all, addicted to candy, processed cereals, bars, and sugary drinks. And, by the way, you don’t have to eat candy or processed foods to be a sugar addict…. Fruit sugar and carbohydrate addiction fall into this category as well.
While studying nutrition in school, I had a professor who explained the detrimental effects of sugar on the immune system. Once I heard that 1 teaspoon of sugar can impair immune function for hours, I set off on a mission to rid myself of that health-depleting ingredient.
Next came gluten-free…
A gluten-free diet removes all gluten-containing grains from the diet, like barley, wheat, and rye, as well as anything made from these grains. Gluten is a protein found in these grains and can wreak havoc on many people, most of whom don’t even know it!
Though I resisted going gluten-free years ago, it made a huge improvement in my health, just like the dairy-free life I was already living at the time.
It’s hard to believe now, but I was actually a vegan for a little over a year, too. A vegan doesn’t eat any animal products at all (not even honey), obtaining the majority of calories from plants like nuts, seeds, and grains. I did NOT experience healing during my experiment with veganism; that’s not to say that it’s not a healing diet, just that my body did not respond well to it.
I then went through a period where I tried a high-fat or “ketogenic” diet. On a ketogenic diet, the majority of your calories come from healthy fats, a moderate amount from protein, and a very low amount from carbohydrates. Again, for me, it wasn’t the most healing diet.
Finally, I got on the Paleo path. Eating Paleo is basically only eating foods that were around during the Paleolithic time period, which includes meat, root vegetables, healthy fats from nuts and seeds, fibrous vegetables, and fruits. It does NOT include grains, dairy products, or processed sugars. It is how our primal human ancestors ate.
I experienced the most healing when I committed to Paleo. However, I know it isn’t for everyone.
You might be wondering… okay, so how do you eat now? After years of experimentation, reading, and nutrition education, I created my own plan called the Power Plate Formula™ for mealtime success. It is THE system that I teach every client I work with, from Olympians to corporate executives.
The Power Plate Formula™ is a simple, memorizable formula that you can apply anywhere, anytime, and in any situation.
I describe my Power Plate Formula™ as a combination of all of the above styles of eating that can be customized to individual needs. It is a whole food-based, anti-inflammatory action plan that lasts you a lifetime.
The formula gives you a place to start getting connected to your food so that you never again have to ask, “Is ________ good for me?”
As a consumer, you have many choices, and I understand it can all be overwhelming. The goal of my food plans is to get rid of the confusion and give you a way of eating FOR LIFE… not just 30 days.
However you choose to eat, don’t forget that the ultimate determining factor in choosing a “foodstyle” is YOU.
How does it make your body feel physically? Is it something you can sustain? Is it realistic for your lifestyle and do you enjoy it?
I absolutely LOVE the way I eat now.
I want all of my clients to get the same joy and vibrant health out of their food that I do. You see, it’s not just about the outside here, guys…. It’s about your health, vitality, and capacity to be your best self possible in all areas of your life. I am committed to seeing my clients gain access to their highest level of physical and emotional health possible.
Don’t forget to check out the 5D Athlete Institute programs.
