Six Weeks with Alice Clark, Dietitian

It was a wonderful time.  We knew it would be good but we didn't know just how good until it was actually happening.  Now I think I should get some of the experience on record so I can go back for a refresher later.  Furthermore, today a friend posted a lament on facebook about many years of struggling with her weight and dissatisfaction with body image.  So I'm inspired to get this information down.

Autumn Flowers from Alice

Alice was a successful Sales Representative then Sales Manager for a Fortune 500 company.  As time went on she realized she had a curiosity for the chemistry of food and how nutrients work in the body.  Also she takes a common sense approach to food.  I share this view that we should eat whole foods God provided rather than adapted or synthetic versions.  Some people call it junk-food.  I call it fake food.  Alice decided to make a career change and go back to school to become a dietitian.  She tells me she has spent 21.5 years of her life in school.

After graduation from Bastyr University in May 2014 as a dietitian, she has multiple rotations of an internship (31 full time weeks on the job practice in dietetics) to complete.  Thankfully one of those was at our local hospital and she needed a place to stay.  A former classmate had kept our phone number as an option for temporary housing.  Yay!

One of the first discussions we had over a cup of tea the evening Alice arrived was regarding the presentation she had delivered earlier that day.  It was about food as probiotics which can be successfully used instead of drugs and supplements to rebuild good bacteria after taking antibiotics.  She directed me to a website called culturedfoodlife to learn more about this subject.  Then when she went home the next weekend she brought back a jar of Yin Yang Carrots from FireFly Kitchens.  I would like to point out this is fermented food you would find in the refrigeration section of your health food store.  For example a jar off the regular shelf of the store of canned sauerkraut will be pasteurized and the probiotics will not be present.

One tablespoon of this on your salad each day will do the trick.

The good bacteria in your small intestine feeds on plant fiber. If you are juicing your vegetables, also eat some that are not juiced.  Fruit is better eaten whole than as a juice so you get the benefit of the fiber which slows down how quickly the sugar is absorbed.

Little did I know that first night that Alice would so generously discuss good health practices throughout her 6 week stay with us.  I am so grateful for all she shared.

Here are more examples:

If you frequently diet on protein and veggies without complex carbs such as garbanzo beans, lentils, split peas etc.  Your liver and kidneys will be damaged.  Don't do this!

Hard vegetables such as carrots, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beets and so on will be more bio-available if they are lightly steamed. For our family I usually roast them or pan fry with coconut oil.

The last garden harvest of the year was on November 10, 2014.  Hard frost that night.  It was so nice to get about 3 extra weeks of gardening in this year.

Eat plant sourced foods.  At least half your plate should be covered with veggies.  If you boil your vegetables, somehow figure out how to consume the water they were cooked in or you lose the nutrients.

Keep your blood sugar as even as possible by eating 5 small meals per day. This would be the diabetic diet and should include protein, complex carbohydrates such as beans, lentils and vegetables.  Skip the sugar and definitely skip the soda. I remember doing this diet faithfully when I was expecting our first child and never felt better than I did then (after the morning sickness passed that is).

There are two ways our metabolism is increased; by eating or exercising.  It is best to moderately exercise for 20 minutes after eating.

Today during a thank you phone call from Alice I spoke with her of my friend's facebook post.  She suggested two books to help people with this trouble.  "Intuitive Eating"  and "Health At Every Size"  Alice says poor body image issues are poisonous and we must first get help with it.  The gist behind these books is making small doable changes so we can be successful.  It is helpful to take the view that today I am making better choices than yesterday.

So I am inspired to eat smaller portions more frequently which include protein, complex carbs and vegetables.  I have cut down on the sugar.

Check back later.  As I remember more details I will add them here.