I love talking to my grandma. She knows stuff old people know and has seen a lot of things change in her day. She came from living on a farm and she’s pretty perceptive too.

I remember talking to her recently about my eating meat for breakfast and she came back telling me that the men would have lamb chops for breakfast before heading out for a days work on the farm. No cereal. I was intrigued.

Much of what I have been reading recently has been associated with the prevention of chronic illness due to my battle with Chronic Fatigue. The most interesting point I’ve come across alludes to the fact that excess body fat is a sign that the body is sick.

Just this week I picked up another alternative health book called ‘The Dark Side Of Fat Loss’ which talks about how a western diet is causing much of the illness prevalent in today’s society. You may not think you are ‘sick’ but do you have trouble sleeping, switching off, do you have anxiety or stomach cramps, gastric reflux, etc. These are all signs of the body in an ‘ill’ state. What does this have to do with you?

How much pre-packaged food do you eat each day?

Do you eat only whole foods most days?

Is it even possible to still eat whole foods for every meal?

Yesterday I ate only whole foods. Here’s what I ate:

Breakfast – Kangaroo burger with bacon, avocado, beetroot, capsicum, and spinach wrapped in a whole iceberg lettuce leaf.
Morning snack – Apple with some walnuts
Lunch – Grilled turkey steak with steamed vegetables
Arvo snack – Chopped banana with shredded coconut
Dinner – Lamb curry with coconut milk, asparagus, kidney beans, peas and green beans

I wasn’t starving for food or craving sugar and I had plenty of energy the whole day.

So whole foods can be done for every meal each day, but some may argue that as I work from home it’s much easier for me. In your job it may be much harder. Well it doesn’t have to be.

Breakfast takes me on average 10-15 minutes to prepare and eat. Snacks are barely worth mentioning. Lunch can be cooked in advance and heated up. In fact my steamed vegetables were cooked the night before and I did exactly that. Dinner took me around 30 minutes to finish, but will last me 4 meals. One of which I ate for breakfast today taking around 3 minutes to heat up.

Is it really that important to eat whole foods when trying to lose fat?

Well how many times have you heard of someone losing a ton of weight on a ‘shake’ or ‘meal replacement’ diet who ends up gaining back the same or more weight than when they started? They may be losing weight but they are not getting adequate nutrition to make their body work properly. If your body was healthy in the first place you wouldn’t be carrying the excess fat!

Is there proof?

Well in the 1930’s Dr Weston Price, a Cleveland based dentist, set out to study the diets of traditional, native people compared with those that rejected their traditional foods and ate according to a more ‘western diet’. The findings were spectacular.

Those who ate their traditional foods had ‘beautiful faces with beautiful cheekbones, eyes, nose, lips and everything else – the total package, the physical representation of physiologic harmony’.

Those that ate the ‘western’ influenced foods had high rates of dental cavities and signs of degenerative diseases.

When and what pre-packaged foods are beneficial for someone who needs a little convenience?

Protein shakes can be helpful and I’ll use them on a regular basis when training hard. Look for ones that have natural sweeteners in favour of artificial sweeteners.

Protein bars can help too but they are often expensive and I wouldn’t call them a health food.

Pre made salads can make life easier and are whole foods anyway, as are cooked whole chickens available at most grocery stores. One of each can sort your dinner out.

Nuts are sometimes pre-packaged and are still whole foods.

Canned vegetables can mean the difference between eating vegetables and not eating vegetables so keep some handy in case you haven’t been shopping.

Low fat dairy can help including cheese, milk and yogurt. Goats milk is one of the best.

What pre-packaged foods should I avoid?

Cereals are not beneficial to most people wanting to lose fat. They provide little protein (don’t believe the high-protein cereals) and grains don’t agree with everyone.

Bread is another grain product that can be hazardous to ones fat loss progress as some people don’t tolerate it as well. That and we often eat way too much of it. I’m currently trying to eliminate it all together and replace it with sweet potato after exercise. Remember rule number 3 is ‘other carbs only after exercise’.

Full fat dairy products such as whole milk, ice cream and flavoured yogurt.

Biscuits, cakes and most bakery food won’t do you much good, as delicious as they smell.

I’m sure you can think of a ton more.

How do you fit more whole foods into your busy life?

Plan Your Meals and Prepare Them In Advance. It’s what I wrote on a few weeks back and it makes the single biggest difference between those who succeed in losing fat and those that don’t. Make a shopping list and get to the grocery store regularly so you are prepared.

For those people who are interested in finding out more about getting over these ‘sick’ symptoms in your body or those of your family check out Sean Croxton’s book ‘The Dark Side Of Fat Loss’ where he drops some ‘truth bombs’ on you about all things Underground Wellness. I’m only a few chapters in and can’t wait to get through it all. It’s mind blowing stuff.