Isn’t it great that we have choices in life. But how confusing is it to be trying to eat healthily in this day and age. Holy Shit we have some choices. Eat carbs. Don’t eat carbs. FATS ARE BAD, FATS ARE GOOD! Count calories, count macros. STOP COUNTING! Protein is good. Protein is the enemy! Fast 2 days out of 5, eat regularly. Don’t eat white foods. Eat lots of greens. I could go on and on and on.
I will give you an overview of how they are telling us to eat now.
A keto diet is well known for being a low carb diet, where the body produces ketones in the liver to be used as energy. It’s referred to as many different names – ketogenic diet, low carb diet, low carb high fat (LCHF)
WHAT CAN AND CANT I EAT?
Do Not Eat
Grains – wheat, corn, rice, cereal, etc. Sugar – honey, agave, maple syrup, etc. Fruit – apples, bananas, oranges, etc. Tubers – potato, yams, etc.
Do Eat
Meats – fish, beef, lamb, poultry, eggs, etc. Leafy Greens – spinach, kale, etc. Above ground vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, etc. High Fat Dairy – hard cheeses, high fat cream, butter, etc. Nuts and seeds – macadamias, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc. Avocado and berries – raspberries, blackberries, and other low glycemic impact berries Sweeteners – stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, and other low-carb sweeteners > Other fats – coconut oil, high-fat salad dressing, saturated fats, etc.
https://www.ruled.me/guide-keto-diet/
Whole 30
The idea of this program is to push the reset button on everything your GI tract touches—so things like metabolism, inflammation, digestion, and energy levels. Then you start to phase things back in after the first 30 days, based on what your body reacts to. I read that you’re not allowed to step on the scale as a part of this diet, which I’m very into.
WHAT YOU CAN AND CANT EAT
Yes: Eat real food.
Eat moderate portions of meat, seafood, and eggs; lots of vegetables; some fruit; plenty of natural fats; and herbs, spices, and seasonings. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re whole and unprocessed.
No: Avoid for 30 days.
Do not consume added sugar, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, date syrup, stevia, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.
Do not consume alcohol, in any form, not even for cooking. (And ideally, no tobacco products of any sort, either.)
Do not eat grains.
This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, sprouted grains, and all gluten-free pseudo-cereals like quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn, and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch, and so on. Again, read your labels.
Do not eat legumes.
This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin). Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat, or sheep’s milk products like milk, cream, cheese, kefir, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, or frozen yogurt.
Do not consume
carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.
Do not consume
baked goods junk foods, or treats with “approved” ingredients. Recreating or buying sweets, treats, and foods-with-no-brakes (even if the ingredients are technically compliant) is totally missing the point of the Whole30, and will compromise your life-changing results. These are the same foods that got you into health-trouble in the first place—and a pancake is still a pancake, even if it is made with coconut flour.
Some specific foods that fall under this rule include: pancakes, waffles, bread, tortillas, biscuits, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, pizza crust, cereal, or ice cream. No commercially-prepared chips (potato, tortilla, plantain, etc.) or French fries either. However, this list is not limited strictly to these items—there may be other foods that you find are not psychologically healthy for your Whole30.
Use your best judgment with those foods that aren’t on this list, but that you suspect are not helping you change your habits or break those cravings. Our mantra: When in doubt, leave it out. It’s only 30 days.
TAKEN FROM https://whole30.com/step-two/
A little too full on for my personal taste
PALEO DIET
The gist of this is that if cavemen didn’t eat it then neither should you, in other words when you are following the Paleo Diet, you can eat anything we could hunt or gather way back in the day – things like meats, fish, nuts, leafy greens, regional veggies, and seeds.
Great if you are not into counting calories, as the focus is on eating the right kinds of foods.
Back in the day, grains weren’t part of our diet.
When we (over)consume grains regularly, our bodies take those grains, which are composed of carbohydrates, and those carbs get turned into sugar in our system.
That sugar is then either burned as energy or stored as fat. That’s right: the grains you’re consuming are stored as fat in your body and they’re what most Paleo experts believe are the main culprit in why you’re overweight.
WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT EAT
CAN
Grass fed meats
Fish / seafood
Eggs
Fruits and Vegetables
Seeds and nuts
healthful oils
CAN NOT
Cereal grains
legumes
refined sugars
Processed food
refined oils
salts
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/
VEGAN
Vegan diets are a type of vegetarian diet, where only plant-based foods are eaten. With good planning, those following a vegan diet can cover all their nutrient bases, but there are some extra things to consider. Vegan diets include: Fruit and vegetables. Breads, cereals and grains.
WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT EAT
Can Eat
Fruit and vegetables Breads, cereals and grains Legumes (eg lentils, chickpeas, dried beans) Soy foods like tofu and tempeh Nuts and seeds.
CANNOT EAT
Meat, poultry, fish and seafood Dairy products Eggs
Often honey, plus other animal-derived ingredients or food additives
Vegans need to be considerate of getting the right amount of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
https://daa.asn.au/smart-eating-for-you/smart-eating-fast-facts/healthy-eating/vegan-diets-facts-tips-and-considerations/
INTERMITTENT FASTING
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a term for an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating.
It does not say anything about which foods you should eat, but rather when you should eat them.
In this respect, it is not a “diet” in the conventional sense. It is more accurately described as an “eating pattern.”
Common intermittent fasting methods involve daily 16 hour fasts, or fasting for 24 hours, twice per week.
Intermittent fasting has been very popular for many years and several different methods have been used.
All of them involve splitting the day or week into “eating periods” and “fasting periods.” During the fasting periods, you eat either very little or nothing at all.
These are the most popular methods:
The 16/8 Method: Also called the Leangains protocol, it involves skipping breakfast and restricting your daily eating period to 8 hours, for example from 1 pm to 9 pm. Then you “fast” for 16 hours in between.
Eat-Stop-Eat: This involves fasting for 24 hours, once or twice a week, for example by not eating from dinner one day until dinner the next day.
The 5:2 Diet: On two non-consecutive days of the week, only eat 500-600 calories. Eat normally the other 5 days. More details here.
By making you eat fewer calories, all of these methods should make you lose weight as long as you don’t compensate by eating much more during the eating periods.
I’ve personally found the 16/8 method to be the simplest, most sustainable and easiest to stick to. It is also the most popular.
There is more detailed information on the different protocols here: 6 Intermittent Fasting Methods.
BOTTOM LINE:
There are several different ways to do intermittent fasting. All of them split the day or week into “eating periods” and “fasting periods.”
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide#section2
There are loads of benefits for each way of eating or fasting. There are cons too.
When it comes to your health you have to consider what works for you and what your beliefs are. Balance is the key.
You can do your own research to work out what would suit you and your health goals best.
Because this is my blog I highly recommend intermittent fasting combined with a well balanced diet.
Although I will be road testing vegetarianism / Pescetarianism over the next few weeks and will share my journey with you all.
Erin xx