My thoughts on HCLF
I get a lot of questions asking me about whether I do High Carb, Low Fat. The short answer is no I definitely do not. The long answer is that I first had to Google what that meant, and that took me down a weird rabbit hole of people eating thirty bananas a day, wars between HCLF enthusiast’s and a whole lot of rules about macro’s.
Nothing against anyone who thrives on this diet – and there does seem to be an extremely loyal following – but there is no way this could work for me. I have a very sensitive digestion, and eating raw food is a nightmare for me… Been there, tried that, got so many stomachaches. I have a Vata temperament, and a lot of food allergies, so I gravitate towards moist, cooked, oily foods. I don’t eat a huge amount of fruit, and the ones I do eat I have sporadically depending on the season and my location. There is no way I could get my days worth of calories primarily off fruit, my stomach would peace out on me very quickly. I rely on seeds, nuts and legumes to make sure I get enough nourishment on a daily basis; and I find they are the best sources of protein to support my all my strength based workouts (I train hard) – and I rely on oils and avocado’s to ensure my hair, skin and nails are up to the job of modeling. Plus all those things are delicious!
I don’t like “diet plans” or rules when it comes to eating. I have always had trouble sticking to other people’s ideas of what works, and always end up going back to what I know and like best. If I am in a tropical climate then I usually do end up eating more sea vegetables and fruit, but if I am on top of a mountain in the snow, I will eat more hearty warming veggie stews. To me that is intuitive eating, and that is a factor missing in a lot of people’s diets these days – they eat when they are emotional, and they are out of sync with their environments.
To each their own. I love having a way of eating that is right for me, and I think that everyone should try out as many options in the plant-based world until they find what speaks to their own temperament. And I also think that we should not be shunning or shaming people for their right to tweak their diet – the bitchiness within the plant-based world is so petty and ridiculous. It makes me sad to think of how many people have been turned off because of the wars that are waged between different classes of vegans.