Bacon, cheese, dark chocolate, eggs and butter......

Bacon, cheese, dark chocolate, eggs and butter.* Did I get your attention? What do these foods have in common? Besides being absolutely delicious, these are all foods I eat on a regular basis. Yep. That’s right. I am a certified nutritional professional and these are foods I eat to support my optimal health and wellbeing. I eat these foods and feel good about it. Absolutely no guilt. None. And I have great news! Depending on your own bio-individuality, these foods may be healthy options for you too! I haven’t always thought of these foods as healthful options. Except for dark chocolate, I previously believed that all these foods were artery clogging, heart disease causing foods that would make me fat and were to be avoided if I wanted to be healthy and live a long life. Butter was a disgusting substance that I used so infrequently, it was kept it in the freezer. Well now I know better. I’ve changed my ways and actually apologized to my kids for depriving them of this nourishing and delicious substance. I now eat butter almost every day. Exactly one year ago today, I began my training to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP). I had no idea how much this program was about to change my life and the lives of those closest to me. I see everything nutrition related differently now. Nothing will ever be the same. I am very grateful for this. I have learned what foods support my optimal health and which foods don't. I've learned how to really take care of myself and my family. The best part is, it's delicious! What a relief. There is so much good food in the world that has wrongly gotten a bad reputation. I have come a long way in this past year. Just over a year ago, I had been vegan for 18 months. As I’m typing this, I’ve got a batch of chicken bone broth cooking in my new instant pot.

I remember early on in my training when my teacher first mentioned the healing properties of bone broth. I thought bone broth sounded disgusting. I thought that I might not be making it or recommending it for my clients. Then I reminded myself that I had decided to go into this program with an open mind, yet think critically about the information I was presented with. So, reluctantly, I made myself open to bone broth too.

I’ve had to face and examine my beliefs about nutrition and health. Where did these beliefs even come from? Does science back them up? I've had to admit that in so many ways I was wrong, uneducated and/or misinformed.

With baby steps I have made big changes to my diet. Now I make bone broth and meat stock regularly. Turns out they were the missing ingredient to make my soups delicious! If you are my client, I will likely recommend some for you too. Please don’t let that scare you away :)

*Please note that not all bacon, cheese, dark chocolate, eggs and butter are created equal. For your health, it is important to eat the quality, properly raised/grown/prepared, real versions of these foods.