Eating Whole Foods

    As I was trying to decide what to write about I realized that a blog would be an ideal place to combine information and put it in a presentable format (kind of what blogs are for I suppose). I decided to a post or posts on each type of diet that I've been investigating. This will be a good way to get it all accumulated instead of bouncing around my head and show me my knowledge gaps. To start us off with a bang I'm going with whole/real food.
     I know I didn't mention whole/real food in my list of diets but I think it is a good place to start because lots of the other diets mention whole food. It is also more straight forward and a bit easier to see fitting into my day to day life than some of the other diets.
   Whole food believes in eating food as it would be in nature. Sounds pretty simple right? If you can't find it in nature the way it is in your food don't eat it. There seems to be some different opinions on how strict you need to be with this. Some people don't mind a little processing like grinding or fermenting while other people would rather do that at home. The general thoughts are that things found the way they are in nature is better than things that are processed, we should be able to identify the ingredients of our food and we shouldn't be increasing the nutritional content of food with parts extracted from other foods. What does this look like?

What does this look like?
You can eat:

• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Meats
• Dairy (ie. milk, unsweetened yogurt, cheese)
• Nuts, seeds
• Whole wheat products 
• Beans/legumes 
• Tea, coffee, wine, beer
• If you take sugar in your coffee or tea make sure you find an appropriate alternative

Whenever possible buy things that are organic or free range.

You can't eat:

• Fast food
• Refined grains (ie. white bread, white flour)
• Refined sugars (ie. corn syrup, cane juice, splenda)
• Deep fried foods
• Nothing with unreadable words on the ingredients label and/or more than five ingredients 

Tips for how to do this in real life.

• Buy from local bakeries. This can help find whole grain products and make sure that the ingredients are real. 
• Increase consumption of things you know are whole foods like vegetables
• Cook more meals at home
• Go to farmers markets
• Purge your pantry of processed food. Not having it available makes it easier to avoid. 

All in all whole food seems pretty simple. Eat things that are less processed and contain more real food. 

Here are the links to some of the resources I used to write this.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-defined-a-k-a-the-rules/

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/23/real.food.challenge/
http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/healthessentials/a/IdealDiet_a.htm
http://www.allyou.com/diet-fitness/diet/real-food-diet/healthy-real-food
http://www.oprah.com/food/Laura-Pensieros-Real-Food-Diet-Eating-Well
http://www.foodrenegade.com/the-basics/
http://www.katheats.com/what-is-real-food
http://www.foodrenegade.com/the-basics/
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/science-compared-every-diet-and-the-winner-is-real-food/284595/

Starting a Food Journey

     I am twenty four have no idea what I am suppose to be eating. Do I eat paleo? Raw? Keto? Low carb high fat? GAPS? Whole food? By the American health standards? If you don't know what some of those diets are don't worry, neither did I eight weeks ago. The purpose of this blog is to investigate different forms of eating and document my journey. My goal is to find a diet that allows me to feel healthy, is affordable, maintainable with my life style and makes sense.
    I started thinking about food when I moved to New Zealand eight months ago but I didn't truly start my food journey till about eight weeks ago when I went from being vaguely conscious to actively investigating. I am originally from the United States but don't particularly fit into the American food stereotype. I grew up rarely having fast food and spending many a summer afternoon nibbling out of our garden. While I have often labeled myself "healthy"; my life has been plagued my asthma, allergies, hyper mobility syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome, bloating, stomach issues, migraines, anxiety, severe PMS, sleep problems and so much more. There has never been a point in my life where I've been free of prescription medications and constant visits to doctors and physical therapists. With all of these medical conditions how can I be healthy?
     I wouldn't say I have ever been particularly health conscious. I try to eat well and exercise. I have always enjoyed exercise and do best with 5-7 hours of exercise a week. However I've never been able to obtain, much less, maintain any level of fitness. My fitness life has been plagued by injuries. Many people are happy and healthy with this level of exercise. If this works for so many people what am I doing wrong that I'm not getting the benefits?
    Over the past two months I have started to question why. Why am I so sick? Why, despite the best drugs medicine can give me do I feel awful? Why can't I get fit? Why can't I stay injury free? Three months ago my host mom started talking more about diet and it got me thinking that maybe some of my general health issues are related to my diet.
   I should explain my current situation as it will help your understanding who my host mom is and my current living situation. In 2009 I entered university. I was doing fairly well when in the spring of 2012 I suffered two minor concussions within a month. These two concussion knocked me on my bum. I had to take a semester off school, couldn't drive, suffered from anxiety and struggled to complete every day mental tasks. Many people would have walked away slightly scathed but this event changed my life. Suddenly my life plan of under grad, Americorps then grad school didn't fit so well because I was off a semester. This was the best and worst thing that had happened to me up to that point. It opened up my options. I decided I'd travel the world. I got an amazing job working as an au pair in New Zealand. I work for a family with four kids under nine years old. The parents are both doctors and triathletes. All six of them are absolutely amazing. I love it here and could rave for hours about how happy I am that I am here and with this family but I will save that for another post.
   Three months ago my host mom, Tanya, started investigating diet as preparation for a big race. The more I heard her talk the more I began to wonder about things. About two weeks into her investigation I had a list of questions a mile long. I kept asking her and she kept telling me to start investigating and see what I believe in. So that is exactly what I've been doing. I've been searching the internet, reading blogs, listening to podcasts, reading books and academic papers. Now I read the ingredient lists on the food I buy. I'm still accumulating and processing information but I think perhaps I am on to things enough that I can start talking about it and sharing my journey. This has been a rocky road and I suspect there are many more rocks to come.