Law #2 – Eat as closely to natural as is practical.  Now, remember, a law is something that is fundamentally true.  It is established science that our bodies function best eating the foods that are closest to the way the Creator made them.  Even from an evolutionary standpoint, our bodies still function best on nature’s best for all of recent history.  No, we have not developed a way to subsist on biscotti and Caramel Macchiatos and live, long strong lives.  Sure we can go for a while but sooner of later our body says, “where’s the beef? – veggies, grains, fruit, etc…

So, where does that leave us?  The bare facts:

Raw or lightly steamed veggies. Fresh fruit. Get used to shopping your local produce department. Better yet head to the organic produce section. Learn to do without anything canned or industrially processed (sorry, Marie Callender pot pies are a thing of the past if you want to get well and lose weight)

Minimally processed/cooked meats and animal products. Naturally raised beef, chicken, fish, etc. and their by-products, milk and eggs. Learn to walk past the bologna and lunch meats, yes, and that lovely roasted rotisserie chicken, too.

Raw dairy products and whole eggs. Bring on the butter and whole RAW milk! Yes, you can lose weight while eating butter and whole eggs. Just make adjustments to overall caloric intake. You are missing out on some of the most “real food” when you pass up butter and eggs. It may be difficult to swallow (pardon the pun) but current medical advice is not necessarily sensible nor is it truly backed up by scientific research. More often than not, current medical convention is motivated by other things besides helping you to get and stay well (hint: the almighty dollar).

History shows otherwise. Man has eaten whole eggs and butter for millennium without a problem. So why do we have heart disease and other illness associated with modern man? Look at how our modern diet has changed to get a clue. The only logical conclusion is: processed man-made food forms.

Cereal grains like oats, barley, wheat, rice. Oatmeal with raisins. Brown rice with butter and veggies. Whole grain bread from freshly ground grain. This makes sense. Brownies, candy bars, Captain Crunch cereal, frankly, are misuses for grain and grasses (most sugar comes from a grass, by the way – sugar cane).

When a race horse is given a diet, the trainer goes out of his or her way to make sure it gets just what will feed the animal as healthfully as is practical. Nothing pre-bagged or cooked for it, either. Fried? Sugar coated? High pressure processed? No, if the trainer has any sense will he or she give this animal only the BEST and closest to how the animal’s fodder is found in nature.

What makes us think we can get by on anything less? Do we think somehow we can endure highly processed foods – that we somehow have “evolved” to a higher ability to digest man-made fats, chemical sweeteners and food forms? I’m here to tell you, no. Our bodies treat processed foods, fats, and chemical additives like any other toxin we ingest – our livers go into hyper-drive to deal with everything we throw at it. Often it is neutralized and carried away in the blood stream, through the kidneys or bowels and out.

But more often than not, these undesirables get immobilized and stowed in the nearest place it can find. How about, hmmmm, let’s just stick it in this fat cell over here – that’s a nice out of the way place to stick it. Or worse, stick it in the joints (gout? arthritis pain?)

No, like the race horse, we must eat as close to nature as is practical if we intend to have a healthy, trouble free life.

Next time…eating smaller meals.

No, I guess not. Not just because diet is such a nasty term either. Nowadays “diet” means “confusing” to me. What do you do? Do you eat high protein diet or low protein? Do you eat high carbs or low carbs? Can you have fat and what fat is good for you? Artificial sweeteners – poison? Drink water but don’t overdo it… Exercise or not to exercise.  See what I mean?

How are we to muck through the mire of weight loss facts and recognize fiction. Who do you believe? After all, Dr Soandso did years of research to prove his diet. This other Dr. prescribed her “one and Only BEST” Diet plan and saved countless lives.

Well, I am here to tell you it’s time to go back to school. It’s time to do a little research ourselves – dig into this general topic of how to lose weight safely. In case you wanted a bit of a head start, this is what I am learning in my own digging. I have broken this down into Laws for Sensible Eating.  I call them laws because for the past 10,000 years of human history they have not changed.  How man and woman converted food to fuel for their bodies has not changed.  So, we can make some assumptions based on that.  I will take these “assumptions” one at a time.

#1 Law – Eat Less.

That seems like a “duh!” But let’s think about how our bodies have behaved in the past 10,000 years of human history. This amazing “machine” is designed to stay alive even the most dire circumstances. Man has had to be resourceful for most of recorded history in getting his food. There were times of feasting after killing a deer or a young goat which may have been eaten with the roots and greens that were gathered for the occasion. More often than not man has had to go from one feast to another with several weeks in between.

Before domestication there was hunting and fishing, foraging and gathering. Wandering was a way of life for most peoples. Yes, some folks gathered into villages and cities but these were places of trade for the nomadic peoples. There were frequent hard times – times of famine. Assuming people ate when there was plenty, thus stored body fat, they could carry through a long time before true starvation set in.  Some cultures still exist today that exist on this means – whole tribes in Africa, for instance.

As we became more “civilized” we learned to tame certain animals to be raised on purpose: for food and clothing. Purposely planting and raising certain crops made it easier to stay in one locale and therefore people stopped moving on. It became easier to get more food. Meat was more accessible. Produce was plentiful. Life became easier – no more feasting/famine cycles. Starvation was getting to be less of an issue.

Nevertheless, the design of the body didn’t change – hasn’t changed in some 10,000 years, experts say. It was designed to work efficiently while eating less more sturdy exercise. It was designed to store up excess food (in the form of fat) during times of feasting in order to carry through to the next feast.

Is it any wonder that our intelligent body is only doing what it is designed to do? Store fat in times of feasting. It makes sense, right?

Did you know that no one ever, EVER died of undereating.  Think about that one.  Now I am not talking about starvation – the complete absense of food or water.  I am talking about eating less, even very little will not kill you. 

On the other hand, over eating is the #1 cause of death today, if you account for diabetes, heart disease and cancer as by-products of poor lifestyle and eating habits. 

So, eat LESS – live longer!!

I’ll give you a “taste” of what is to come… just what to eat!