Nutritionally Confused???

[highlandmum]

: --- that is pretty much how I feel!

I used to follow basically a vegan diet, then found out I had gluten issues, started eating traditional foods based, then got pregnant again, started eating basically a vegetarian diet, found out I was anemic and really deficient in some minerals/vitamins, and am back on the TF. : !!!!

How in the world do you 'settle' on the style of eating you feel is right for you? Following basically a vegetarian/vegan diet always 'felt right' for me, but seemed to leave me nutritionally lacking (and yes, I was always very good with getting protein through plan sources).

UGH. I don't know. I am just frustrated I guess because I am trying to stick to a more TF diet, and trying really hard, and it just doesn't 'feel' right, but seems to be what my body needs now I guess?

[MeadowSong_]

If your nutritionally lacking on a vegan/vegetarian diet than I would say that's not the right way to go. We do a traditional type diet, I tried vegetarian it made me feel horrible. I gained weight, was always tired and cranky, and just almost felt weak. We ate beans/nuts/grains/eggs every day also. It just was not what my body needs. Traditional foods fit us best, we buy humanly raised free range meat that I can go and look at and see how it's being raised. This has helped me with the eating meat issue, because the way meat is raised was the main issue we went veg. Plus we have our own hens which just started laying so we will have plenty of eggs and next year will raise our own meat birds.

Finding what's right for you, isn't always easy. But there are ways to make it better. www.eatwild.com and www.localharvest.com can help you find locally, humanly raised meat/eggs that may help you feel better about the choices you make. That's if I'm assuming it's the meat issue that gets you.

Just an FYI, while we eat a traditional diet by definition. We only eat meat about 1 time a day. Usually for supper. Otherwise we use a lot of eggs and bone broths. One 6lb chicken makes about 5 different meals for us, so we use it more as a sidedish with veggies as our main meals Good luck, I wish you the best of luck figuring out what your body needs and coming to terms with it :

[crunchy_mama]

So- why not try to cross the two- a low meat- gf tf diet. Eat just what makes you feel right AND does well for your body.

[laohaire]

I'm similar as you! I was never vegan (though often felt I should be) but was vegetarian for moral reasons. I never thought it was inherently healthier (nor less healthy). I got interested in eating locally and that put me into contact with some local farms that provide meat (as well as dairy). As I progressed down my dietary path I became very interested in TF but also kind of balk at all the meat.

I did come to think that eating a little meat would be healthy for me, and I only eat meat from local farms where I can see the conditions of the animals and feel ok about it. It's not ethically pure imho but honestly it's the living conditions of animals that always bothered me more than the actual killing of them (though that bothers me too, don't get me wrong).

My diet doesn't qualify as TF but I certainly have borrowed much from it. One thing that has REALLY helped my health is the concept of increasing fat in my diet. I was eating very low-fat not because I was a big diet queen but my vegetarian diet didn't lead me naturally to fat. I believe my sugar addiction is in large part due to not having enough fat in my diet to really ever satisfy me. So now I put plenty of butter, cheese, olive oil and so on in my diet and feel much more satisfied and energetic and while sugary foods still taste good to me, the cravings I used to have after meals (which probably occured because the meal was not satisfying enough) have gone away totally, and I find I really have a limit to the amount of sugar I can eat (whereas before I could snarf a huge sundae with no problems).

So right now I take most of my dairy products from a local farm (not all though - this is a financial constraint unfortunately) and feel better about using them, and I definitely feel better health-wise. We eat just a little meat, not much. We haven't settled on the minimum amount of meat we think we'd want/need to feel good (DH really hardly wants any at all, I want more than he does) but it's a process. Honestly even eating the veggies local is an ethical choice (among many other issues, did you see today's news story about industrial farm workers in California dying of overheating?? not gonna happen at my friendly local veggie farm, where the owners are doing the same work - heck, more work - as the hired hands, and who care about sustainable agriculture, etc.!).

I will say that adding meat back into your diet is a process, and it does feel weird at first.

I think you can take it easy and just keep tabs on how you feel, mentally and physically, about each move you make. My ethical choices might not address your ethical needs, but there may be other options. For example, I considered raising my own chickens so I 1) knew they had a good life and 2) would be taking full responsibility for their deaths.

[Magelet]

For me, I eat a fairly TF diet. I've never been interested in vegetarianism or veganism, because even as an omnivore, I would get periods where I desperately needed more red meat.

For me, I'm quite sure that a fairly TF diet is right for me, because of how I feel. Both spiritually, I recognize the "truth" that this diet holds for me, and more importantly my health. I've attained and maintained a healthy weight easily, my strength and stamina are shockingly good given how little exercise I get, my mental issues have gone from debilitating to so insignificant as to be almost gone most days, instead of debilitating most days, I feel slightly more awake and aware and less fatiqued (pretty good given sleep amounts and current stressors) and I deal with stress much better. I have made a few lifestyle changes more recently (about 6 months after starting to eat this way). While I've been doing even better because of them, I started feeling better the week I started eating as much dairy fat as I wanted, and its just been progress from there.

That's how I know this is the right diet for me. My DP's health is also improving drastically, (this diet is only 3 months old for him) with needed weight loss (but at a nice slow healthy rate, like mine was), decrease in mental health issues, increased stamina and strength despite decreased exercise, almost a complete healing of extreme lactointolerance. (he used to be in the bathroom for a day after 1 bite of pizza with cheese. two days ago he drank a glass of milk and cream (he's been fine with cream cheese and yogurt for over a month, but milk gave him issues) and no problems!) His insomnia is reduced, and he's overall much healthier.

It may not be the right diet for everyone, but I'm VERY convinced its the right diet for us, and I do think its a good way of eating for most people.

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by highlandmum

Following basically a vegetarian/vegan diet always 'felt right' for me, but seemed to leave me nutritionally lacking

How so? Which nutrients did you feel lacking? Perhaps, we could help to brainstorm alternatives with you. Have you tried herbal infusions, pastured eggs, maybe just some CLO, kefir or fermented vegetables?


Pat

[jimblejamble]

If I were to label my diet, it'd be the Mediterranean diet, although there are a few differences--no red wine, very little dairy (it makes me sooo stuffy and aggravates my allergies), and I am not a fan of fish. But my diet includes lots of grains, vegetables, fruit, nuts, beans, and small amounts of meat and sweets. This diet has given me the best health.

http://www.safe-and-easy-weightloss....midGraphic.jpg

[Ruthla]

Perhaps you'd do well on a low-meat diet rather than completely meat-free or a heavy meat/high fat/low carb diet.

Also, what's your blood type? We do NOT all have the same nutritional needs, and Dr. D'Adamo has done extensive research on figuring out what foods are best for what body type. All of his books are great, but the Genotype Diet book can be a bit confusing to implement. I'd recomend starting with any one of his Blood type Diet books- Eat Right 4 Your Type, Live Right 4 Your Type (the one I own), Eat Right 4 Your Baby, or any of the "Health Library" books (but pick one book, you don't need to read all of them! The dietary advice is pretty similar in all of them.) I'd suggest getting "live right" or the "eat right 4 your baby" book from your library to start out with.

See if the advice for you blood type resonates with you. If it doesn't, feel free to ignore it. But this just might be the answer you're looking for to customize your diet.

[Liquesce]

It sounds a lot like you're trying really hard to find a kind of a nutritional identity which is leaving you with just pretty extreme options ... vegan to TF is quite the leap to make. Why not just a solid, basic, primarily whole foods diet rather than the labels pendulum?

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by Liquesce

It sounds a lot like you're trying really hard to find a kind of a nutritional identity which is leaving you with just pretty extreme options ... vegan to TF is quite the leap to make. Why not just a solid, basic, primarily whole foods diet rather than the labels pendulum?

My friend refers to herself as a 'flexitarian'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexitarianism She eats raw, mostly (75%). And occasional pastured eggs and chicken, raw dairy. Always whole foods, and ferments as routine.

Pat

[bella_stranger]

nutritionally confused--- I think we've all been there at some time or another, I know I have! I like the idea of eating what our ancestors did, the theory being that it is what our bodies most likely evolved on and thrived on. I have almost entirely northern european ancestry, so I have gone waaay back to pre-agrarian times and eat a mostly organic diet of fresh meat, seafood, nuts, berries, mushrooms, greens, turnips, eggs, and quality animal fats (lard, tallow, etc). This made the most sense to me, and my body loves it too