Nutrition is a strong secondary passion of mine and I am eager to share my knowledge with you. The ensuing information is not to be taken as medical advice, they are my personal beliefs based on hours of research and a great deal of experimentation.

There is much debate these days about what the optimal diet is, this debate is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The key is to do your own research and experiment which foods work best for you. This includes the foods that leave you feeling both satiated and keep you lean. Different foods work for different people. I believe in metabolic typing. Metabolic typing is the idea that every person is unique and requires a different percentage of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates to fuel their body. Some people have great results with full fat dairy; others do not and experience weight gain. It is up to you to listen to your body and consume the foods that keep you lean and energized. Below is a list of foods I consider to make up the optimal diet. Approximately 80% of my diet comes from this list. When I eat out, I enjoy myself. I order my favorite foods and desserts. But when grocery shopping, I try to load up my cart with as many of the foods on this list as possible. Remember, listen to your body, and you will eventually find the right balance of foods for your own unique needs.

Protein (great websites for all organic meat is grasslandbeef.com or eatwild.com)

Free Range Organic Chicken

Wild Caught Fish

Grass Fed Organic beef

Grass Fed Organic Bison

Free Range Turkey

Free Range Eggs (with the yolks, up to 14 yolks a week is fine)

Caution: low quality processed meats

Fats (for all oils I try to get extra virgin)

Avocado

Coconut oil – incredible for your body in many ways, eat it everyday, great to cook with

Olive oil – but don’t cook with it, may have carcinogenic properties at high heats, ideal for salads

Almond oil – great for cooking

Peanut oil

Raw nuts

Olives

Caution: Safflower oil, cotton seed oil, canola oil, vegetable oil

Carbs

Eli’s Bread

Ezekial Bread

Ezekial cereal

Ezekial sprouted whole grain pasta

Whole grain granola (feed, bear naked are good brands but if you could get fresh granola from a farmers market that would be ideal)

All Organic fruit

All vegetables-best are green (broccoli, spinach)

100 % whole wheat pasta

Brown rice

Quinoa

Dairy – I prefer All Raw if possible (I go to realmilk.com for local listings to find raw milk and other raw dairy)

Raw cheese – Organic Valley Raw cheese can be found in many supermarkets

Raw cottage cheese

Raw cream cheese

Raw yogurt – if I can’t get raw then I will buy “fage” or “chabani” full fat yogurt

Raw whole milk

Caution: conventional non-organic dairy is loaded with hormones and antibiotics

Good snack: Lara Bars

Esprit Wellness (Find us on Facebook)