If you say “I am going on a diet” you are essentially saying that you are going to eat less for a period of time to lose weight and then go back to the way you’ve always lived, albeit with perhaps a few improvements here and there. In this case you are going to have a very different experience and get very different results than if you say “I am getting into a new diet style or lifestyle”. In this case, you are saying you will eat better quality foods in great tasting ways that promote your health and happiness, build this mindset and make it a reality in your every day life. Here you are not leaving your present reality overnight, nor living the new reality over night either. You have the option to move forward at a pace you can handle well.

This is the art of transitioning.

For some the pace of transitioning is fast, depending on their capabilities, for others this will take more time. Either way, the path to eating a Nutrient Rich diet is a transition. Get used to that word.

This is important to know when it comes to eating Nutrient Rich food, 90% or more of the time. Short of going on “Nutrient Rich Diet” for a short period of time, you will find for a host of reasons that you will be no more successful trying to make this change overnight than you will be trying to get financially successful overnight. It just doesn’t work really well; it’s too much too fast and just is as fun as when you get into a process of lifestyle change, and transition successfully.

Underlying your approach are two different time frames. One tries to overcome the effects of a poor diet and lifestyle overnight, while the other, characterized by no less of an intention for better results as soon as possible, recognizes that you’ll go as fast as you can go as long as you don’t compromise your health and happiness. This is the different between going on a diet and transitioning.

I don’t know what your experience has been but I can tell you this, if you’re like me, or the thousands of people I have worked with, you probably haven’t been very successful trying to change overweight. Yet this is what most commercial diets ask you to do. You buy the program and “go on it” overnight.

Essentially, you trying to transition to someone else’s lifestyle overnight, even if for only a short period of time.

And then, like the smoker who says this is my last cigarette, you may have said something like “I’m going to eat this last piece of chocolate cake and then I’m going to start my diet, I’m not going to eat cake any more and only eat low calorie, or low fat food or low carb foods”. I might add, drink meal replacement shakes or do what ever the common commercial solution you’re engaged in says you should do.

Clearly this idea of trying to stick to diet programs, without a fundamental decision to start eating “nutrient rich foods” as part of your lifestyle, is going to be hard. Despite the advertising and celebrity promotions and the testimonials from successful followers, diet programs do not work sustainably. It’s because life doesn’t work this way. It works if you’re aim is to win a Lamborghini or get your picture in a magazine; you heroically diet and workout for 8-12 weeks and get a quick tan in this highly motivating scenario. There is some benefit to this, but it says little for how you will be living 1 year from now, let alone the week following your effort.

I need to say there is nothing wrong with a heroic effort, IF, what you’re doing is health promoting and you are taking an aggressive approach that acknowledges what you’re doing and the potential consequences, that way you can respond accordingly. But this is not the case for most who find either they can’t stick with it or when their program is over, it’s time for things to return to normal and that usually means more of the same that got them into trouble to begin with.

For you to be successful at healthy eating, it has to be normal and natural. Not necessarily common, but something you could do normally or naturally for the rest of your life with a smile on your face.

So I want to introduce you to the concept of “transitioning”. It is the path to eating a Nutrient Rich diet. When you master the art of transitioning, you discover diet traps for what they are and learn how to avoid them and this path inevitably leads you to eating a nutrient rich diet.

Basically, the entire diet industry is a trap, focused mainly on short term weight loss goals and that usually means manipulating diet’s that don’t promote health. And if the diet does promote healthy, manipulative or obsessive ways of thinking that have little to do with the food itself, become the trap.

Truth is, you don’t have eat an unhealthy diet to lose weight, you need to learn how to Lose weight the Nutrient Rich Way. But before you can do that successfully, you really want to transition to a nutrient rich diet so that you start on a solid foundation. It’s one thing to lose weight eating healthy, but if you are trying to do that, on top of the transition from a diet that was formerly 80-90% nutrient poor, that’s is going to be one overly challenging process.

Up Next, I’ll be sharing the basic process of transitioning (transformation) most people go through.

What if I told you that I had that magic pill and was willing to share it with you?

This magical little pill has so many benefits. Some of them include purifying your blood, preventing cancer, improving circulation, strengthening your immune system, clearing blemishes, improving kidney functions, lifting your spirit and eliminating depression.

Would you want some magic?

I forgot to mention that there are no side effects to this pill.

You’d have to be a fool to turn it down.

You don’t need to visit a doctor, get a prescription orvisit a pharmacy for this magic pill. You simply need to go to the grocery store and buy some dark leafy greens. You heard right! Dark leafy greens give you all of the above benefits and more.

So why are so many American devoid of these amazing plants in their diet?

Maybe it’s because of the way vegetables are viewed.

The last commercial on TV that I saw last night made me want to throw tomatoes at the screen although I would never throw my beautiful tomatoes. But I admit, I was quite angry and frustrated at what I was witnessing on national television.  Here’s how it went down. A Mom and Dad were trying to hide the fact that there were some added veggies (heaven forbid) in the “canned dinner” (disgusting-proceesed- chemicalized- made- in- a- factory- mush) they were feeding their children. So if that weren’t bad enough, suggesting that if the kids FOUND OUT!! – they would be horrified and not eat the mush!

Or maybe it was the commercial of the girl eating a peach at her desk, suggesting that is was too messy (some juice squirted out of the peach as she bit into it) and offering the peach in a nice pretty sugarized drink instead.

Or maybe it’s those cookbooks that suggest you disguise and hide those beautiful vegetables so that the kids won’t know they are eating them.

So why the deception and perception that vegetables are disgusting and fruits are messy?

Research and facts show that you can’t get better nutrition than in fruits and vegetables. They are nutrient rich. It is, in my opinion, criminal to suggest that we need to hide their beauty and taste in some fake way. Shouldn’t we be teaching that there are simply, quick, and easy ways to prepare vegetables. Shouldn’t we be showing that they are delectable, delicious and make you feel good?  Why would we deceive?  This brings to mind the quote by Goethe, “We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves”. The information and the facts are right in front of us. We as a nation need to fight back and we can do that with our money. We should be spending our money on the products that promote our health and longevity instead of with the companies that would choose to deceive us.

Vegetables are sacred to me.  I love them. I worship them. Hell, I would marry KALE if I could. Every time I eat kale, I feel so good- energetic, powerful, and strong!    I want to share that message with the world, instead of hiding and disguising them in other dishes.

So don’t leaf me out. Include me in every meal. Here are some suggestions to integrate some leaves into your life:

1. TAKE A VISIT -Visit your local Asian Market. Buys something you’ve never tried before. Maybe it’s bok choy (see attached simple, quick and easy recipe for nutrient rich bok choy apple salad).
2. TRADE PLACES – Try adding meat (if you eat it) as the condiment and side dish to a huge bowl of salad. Instead of the other way around.
3. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX – Make it your goal to buy most of your products without a box. What kinds of foods can you eat that are as close to their natural state as possible? Spinach, arugula, romaine, boston, swisschard, kale leafs can all be chopped up into an amazing salad and eaten raw. How simple quick and easy is that?  There are no excuses and best of all, no detrimental side effects.

But first, as you watch this, keep these 3 myths and untruths in mind that we’ll get into in greater detail in future posts:

1) Just because Paleo man may have eaten lots of animal meat, ( I don’t know for sure how much they ate; I wasn’t there. Were you?) doesn’t mean that is how we should eat to live today. There is value to nutritional science that focuses on the nutrient density of a food, and epidemiological studies that give us a clear picture over time of what promotes health and what doesn’t. And, common sense about the environment of our bodies, let alone the planet, that tells us that eating too much animal food (even if it comes from organically raised, grass rich pastures)  is not the foundation of a healthy eating plan.

That is why understanding nutrient density and eating the most nutrient rich foods first, upwards of 80-90% or more is the key to your health and longevity first and foremost, as well as your performance and your success living at or near your ideal weight.

Too often, people gravitate to a meat-based diet when they have a Paleolithic view and then start getting into what Michael Pollan calls “macronutrient wars”. This may be the single biggest war of nutritionism and the most misunderstood “gray areas” of healthy eating and living, ever.

2) There is also a picture of a cauliflower used in the video, which is used in a way that would make you think it was bad, or the opposite of having a brain. I don’t know what the intention was, but I would have used a brick or a blob mass of fat instead, because that cauliflower is one of the many foods that’s going to become part of your nutrient rich diet, in a great tasting way of course.

3) To expand upon what I stated in point number 1. Organically raised, pasture grassed, grass fed beef… while better than agrifactory raised animal products, does not make it a nutrient rich food or a food category that you want to eat in significant quantities.

One possible reason we have agrifactories is because when animal foods are available in significant quantities, and people don’t have to kill them first hand like Paleo man had to do, people tend to want them more. Especially if they have not yet had the experience of eating Nutrient Rich foods in great tasting ways. Animal foods are super stimulating foods. They are intoxicating just like alcohol and chocolate. And natural farms would never meet (meat) the demand we have today. So promoting significant meat consumption, while beating up agrifactories, presents a dilemma. Re read point number 1.

And before you think I’ m a soldier for veganism or vegetarianism, keep in mind I’m neither. If anything I’m a nutritarian, and I do eat small quantities of animal foods from time to time for reasons other than nutrition.

Enjoy this video it’s great!

What are your thoughts?

What the heck is that anyway?

Yet, it is in a lot of our refined, processed, American food items and most of us are not even aware of what we are eating.

Look at this list:

whole grain rolled oats, high fructose corn syrup, oat bran concentrate, brown sugar, oat flour, dried fruit treated with sulfur dioxide to promote color retention, margarine (partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, salt, mono and diclycerides, soy lecithin, EDTA, annatto color, artificial flavor, vitamin A, mopalmitate), malodextrin, glycerin, modified food starch, corn syrup, rice flour, dried whole eggs, malted barley extract, calcium bicarbonate, water, salt, cinnamon, artificial flavors, sorbitol, corn cereal, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, wheat flour, sodium bicarbonate, corn flour, malic acid, malt barley, soy, sodium alginate, enzyme modified soy protein, tumeric color, natural mixed tocopherols, yellow 6, calcuim phosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, artificial color, niacinimide, vitamin A palmitate, potassium sorbate, BHT, reduced iron, soduim phosphate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid !

Yes. This is all one product’s ingredients. It’s a very popular, very refined and processed oat bar. Can you even imagine eating all of these ingredients? I have no idea what some of them even are. I don’t ever want to put any fake crap in my body.  But that’s what you get if you are unaware. I haven’t even begun to tell you what that stuff does to your body.

If you want an oat bar ~ you CAN have one.  How about taking 5 minutes and mixing up  a banana,  applesauce, walnuts, oats, and raisins. Can’t get much simpler or more nutrient rich than that.  Tomorrow I will be sharing a video with you and showing you just how easy it is to prepare Nutrient Rich oat bars.

Simplicity RULES.

TIP: Think of this simple rule when choosing to eat. If it doesn’t have a label, its probably nutrient rich. THERE ARE NO LABELS ON AN APPLE and in all Nutrient Rich Recipes the ingredients are all whole foods.

Make “Real Food” Your Health Food, “Health Food” Your Junk food and Put Junk In the Garbage!

Who needs junk food when most health foods are really refined foods that are loaded with all kinds of unnatural stuff?

I would venture to say that 90% of all health foods are really junk foods and nothing more than junk foods in disguise with “all natural” marketing on the package.

If it was all natural, it likely wouldn’t be in the package.

Now I’m not an idealist and I know that distinctions in meaning need to be clearly made. 

So let me explain.

Real “nutrient rich” food, in its natural state, is healthy food. You don’t have to look at it as health food, but it naturally promotes health.

Health food, is usually never as ‘nutrient rich’ as real food and in most cases is really junk food (see below), because it is far from food in it’s natural state, even if it came from natural sources at one point.

I say “likely”, or “in most cases”, because healthy foods are usually refined, meaning many nutrients have been stripped out of the food.  Some quote “health  foods” though are “processed”, but haven’t had vital nutrients stripped out.

For example, a real food bar or meal replacement may actually have more nutrients than a real food meal, even though it is processed.  Still, meal replacements need to be eaten in conjunction with real whole nutrient rich food.

Another example is a traditional hummus. Everyone loves hummus – processed chick peas or garbanzo beans. It’s a processed food, often sold as health food, but because it’s not refined it’s still considered real whole ‘Nutrient Rich’ food.

Fragmented foods, overly cooked foods, those foods that have as many unnatural substances added etc, while they may be healthier or better than traditional junk food, are still junk! These are foodstuffs that have strayed so far from their natural state, that their effect is similar to junk food.

Many “health” cereals fit that bill.

Whenever I want a good hit of  junk food, (and I do sometimes) all I need to do is look for a health food store or the healthy section of most stores and I can find some worthy junk food.

Junk food?

Who needs that, when we are surrounded with pseudo healthy foods that are often as rich as a standard chocolate bar or shake?

This Atkins Day Break is a great example. Although, you can usually find health food that is far less junkier than this!

I for one will go find a dark chocolate covered greens bar if I’m really looking for something junkie.

The point here is, “change your definition” of junk food and make “health” food your junk food if you need it.

You don’t need junk food, when you could just as easily eat your basic health food bar. I was in whole foods the other day and noticed all the chocolate covered greens bars they have amongst an array of choices.

These food bars are as good as any chocolate bar I’ve ever tasted and are way better for you. Hasta la vista Snickers.

Now of course, I have to finish this post off by saying, eat at least 90% real nutrient rich foods and real nutrient rich food bars, nutrient rich meals, replacements etc and your need for junk will go by way of the highway.

There are so many nutrient rich foods that are so tasty in their natural state, soon enough you won’t need much health food or junk food. A medjool date for example is natures snicker bar. A ripe persimmons is natures syrup and there are countless other examples.

This is the most successful mindset when transitioning to a nutrient rich diet and deciding to eat for health,  performance and natural weight loss.

That’s a resolution that can work!

John Allen Mollenhauer

See our last post: Do the Holidays the Nutrient Rich Way – Happy Thanksgiving!

Why do most have to go on a diet in the New Year, eating less food than they want and need? The answer is simple. They eat so many nutrient-poor, calorie-rich foods during the holidays, they overeat excessively, and it’s only natural to want to deal with the most obvious symptom; overweight. It’s what happens when you overload your body with food that doesn’t “serve” your needs other than great taste.

But what if you prepared Nutrient Rich meals which are more appropriate in calories and promote your health? Imagine eating foods, meals and a holiday menu that was great tasting, and you actually felt better after you ate? This can happen for you when what you eat is Nutrient Rich!

Everyone will benefit when you choose to create, buy and serve Nutrient-Rich recipes, rich in quality real food or whole food ingredients. From snacks to baking, there is a Nutrient Rich equivalent for almost every food you are eating right now.

Below are examples of ways to make your holiday meal great tasting and healthier for the entire family.

Instead of eating meals heavy with calorie rich, nutrient poor animal byproducts and ultra refined food stuffs, eat smaller amounts of animal products and discover the dozens, actually unlimited number of ways to eat plant based menus. Plant foods are more Nutrient Rich than animal foods because they are higher on the food chain and don’t contain stuff your body doesn’t need.

Instead of ice cream, eat vice cream – real food ice creams that are made from cashews, water, maple syrup and vanilla, for example.

Rather than seasoning the sweet potatoes with butter or margarine, add orange, pineapple, apples, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon, lime, to add even more flavor.

Enjoy freshly baked bread by itself – there is no need to spread on the artery clogging butter when whole grain breads and healthy spreads are all around us. You can use raw nut butters, apple butter spreads and others.
If you choose to leave some of your favorite recipes as is, eating smaller portions will likely not happen. So make the majority of your meals with Nutrient Rich Recipes, and you won’t have to get as full. You’ll get fulfilled faster eating Nutrient Rich and hunger shuts off. You also won’t have to deprive yourself of the great tasting foods that are important to you and the holiday spirit.

Don’t worry, during the holidays you will likely overeat and gain a few pounds no matter what you eat because everything centers on food. But eating Nutrient Rich, you’ll be healthier, feel better, and be happier. You can then Lose weight the Nutrient Rich Way™ with simple adjustments, and there is no dieting required.

Make only one commitment his holiday season. Raise your standard and eat better quality food. Eat Rich, Nutrient Rich foods, not poor foods that will wreak havoc on your body… Start the New Year with the confidence and knowing you celebrated well.

Check out the Nutrient Rich Food and Recipe Database!

Best, JAM

One of the leading authorities in PerformanceLifestyle® training and coaching, John Allen Mollenhauer (aka John Allen or JAM) is helping an ever-expanding achiever base optimize their lifestyles for better health and success results.

Based on the PerformanceLifestyle® philosophy, he is the founder of the Lifestyle Coaching Center in Livingston, NJ and  leading lifestyle solutions like www.nutrientrich.com Eat Better, Not Less! He teaches that improving your physical fitness and nutrition, losing weight and managing your energy levels