12 Steps to Whole Foods
Preface choosing to adopt a whole-food lifestyle—I could write a whole chapter just on that topic. I have felt very grateful for the results of that choice and ensuing choices, and I have come to feel certain in the past few years that my purpose in life is greater than just to help my children out of their chronic health problems. I feel a drive and an obligation to help others—especially parents who will feed and teach the next generation—learn and apply knowledge about whole foods that is altogether too rare in a world of convenience food. I have written this course imagining you and thinking of what your hopes and dreams are. I picture you to be someone who doesn’t always make good nutritional choices, but who wants to improve your health. As long as it isn’t too hard and as long as you still get to have fun, right? You might be a mother or father who desperately loves your children and doesn’t want to cause health problems for them with nutritional deficiencies or weight problems. How am I doing so far? This course is my effort to flatten the learning curve for everyone else, now that I’ve done it the hard way. I always wished that just one book contained all the things I wanted to learn about—mostly because people always ask me, “Tell me the one book I should read.” I have an arsenal of books that have added new facets to my knowledge of nutrition, but I have never found one definitive book or resource. Thus, 12 Steps to Whole Foods is the culmination of all the nutritional principles I find worthwhile and valuable. The thing I hear most often teaching nutrition classes or counseling people is “I’m overwhelmed—where do I start? Tell me what to eat!” You can’t eat a whole elephant in one sitting…and because I want you to have a successful experience, I suggest you don’t try to do everything at once. The premise of this book is that you can tackle one new nutrition habit a month in your quest to replace refined foods with whole-food, plant-based meals that are at least 60% raw. Find your favorite recipes within that chapter and habit and get in the zone of mastering that one simple thing. If one chapter a month is too many, slow down and take it at your own pace. If you do just the first month of this program and keep that habit for life, you’re far, far ahead of 98% of Americans! I’ll be your guide for each new habit, condensing for you the best practices from my huge library of nutrition research. I’ll give you tips to save time and money as you improve your family’s diet and, ultimately, their health and well-being. At the end of a year, you will be astonished at how you have become a whole-foods family, miles ahead of where you were a year ago, with knowledge and recipes and tools. That may be your only goal right now, but I assure you that you can also be an example, resource, and blessing to many people in your life who are struggling. Rather than reading this course through, skim it if you want. But just read one chapter before each month begins—then at the first of each month, you should have on hand anything needed for that month’s goal. After reading the chapter, you’ll know why its nutrition principle is important and how you can implement it, with recipes and ideas to get started. At the end of each month, document any changes in your health, attitude, and energy that result from the new habit in the Journal Entry section at the end of each step/chapter’s introduction. The idea is not to tackle the project of “getting healthy” all at once in January! Too many people have tried and failed, fallen off the wagon, gotten discouraged, and quit. My goal with this book is to help you take baby steps. But although they're slowly paced steps, they’re actually very significant steps that will add years to your life—and life to your years. 6 12 Steps to Whole Foods © Copyright Robyn Openshaw
Preface If you struggle with your weight and have been on countless diets, you should be assured that pounds will melt off when you begin eating and enjoying the best foods God put on the planet, in their unadulterated state. You may feel that this is the first time you have lost weight and kept it off, and not felt “deprived.” Fads—and dieting in general—should be counted part of your past, not your present and future. Or the flip side of the same coin is that if you are underweight despite eating what everyone else is eating, you may not be absorbing nutrition. It’s not just overweight people who need to address nutrition! A study released in 2007 showed that over half of people who are normal weight are “overweight” on the inside, their organs marbled with fat. The study discovered that people who are normal weight but do not exercise are at a higher risk of morbidity than overweight people who exercise regularly. This is just one of many examples of how one’s appearance on the outside, then, does not always indicate health. (Neither does the fact that you don’t often catch the bug going around necessarily, by itself, indicate good health.) You will achieve an optimal weight when your body is receiving the components it needs every day to build healthy tissues—not when you spend short periods of time suppressing calories or eating a strange, unnatural diet heavy in protein or lopsided in some other way. My experience is that every minute you spend in the kitchen preparing whole-plant foods (60% to 80% raw) will yield you two minutes in increased energy. You might find yourself tackling projects you’ve always meant to do but never had the energy for. Your expenditures of time and commitment learning about nutrition and preparing food should be considered an investment in your family’s future—not a chore. I have considered carefully how to minimize that kitchen time, because I’m a busy working mom of a big family, too. So 12 Step recipes are simple and easy to follow, without long ingredient lists and complicated steps. Best wishes for your future of a long, vibrant, energetic life! ~ Robyn Openshaw © Copyright Robyn Openshaw 12 Steps to Whole Foods 7
- Page 1 and 2: 12 Steps to Whole Foods by Robyn Op
- Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Table of Contents
- Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents Cabbage Salad Dre
- Page 7 and 8: Table of Contents Kale Recipes . .
- Page 9 and 10: Table of Contents Parmesan Flax Cra
- Page 11 and 12: Table of Contents Nut Milk (3) . .
- Page 13 and 14: About the Author Robyn Openshaw gre
- Page 15 and 16: Now she has 12 Steps to Whole Foods
- Page 17 and 18: The 12 Steps program is a well rese
- Page 19 and 20: Over the years, I have learned a lo
- Page 21 and 22: I knew a “whole-foods diet” was
- Page 23 and 24: Foreword By family physician Denise
- Page 25 and 26: Foreword GSG nutrition is compatibl
- Page 27: Preface You’ve always wanted to e
- Page 31 and 32: Introduction What Is the Goal of Th
- Page 33 and 34: Introduction Finally, have a basic
- Page 35 and 36: Introduction Nutrition is no differ
- Page 37 and 38: Introduction Keep your talk about n
- Page 39 and 40: Introduction sugary foods for even
- Page 41 and 42: Introduction Don’t I Need to Eat
- Page 43 and 44: Introduction Fourth, I strongly rec
- Page 45 and 46: Introduction Document any “cleans
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- Page 49 and 50: Introduction business, family—the
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- Page 75 and 76: CHAPTER 2 Making Salad the Star You
- Page 77 and 78: Making Salad the Star This month, u
Preface<br />
If you struggle with your weight and have been on countless diets, you should be assured that pounds will melt<br />
off when you begin eating and enjoying the best foods God put on the planet, in their unadulterated state. You<br />
may feel that this is the first time you have lost weight and kept it off, and not felt “deprived.” Fads—and<br />
dieting in general—should be counted part of your past, not your present and future.<br />
Or the flip side of the same coin is that if you are underweight despite eating what everyone else is eating, you<br />
may not be absorbing nutrition. It’s not just overweight people who need <strong>to</strong> address nutrition! A study released<br />
in 2007 showed that over half of people who are normal weight are “overweight” on the inside, their organs<br />
marbled with fat. The study discovered that people who are normal weight but do not exercise are at a higher<br />
risk of morbidity than overweight people who exercise regularly.<br />
This is just one of many examples of how one’s appearance on the outside, then, does not always indicate<br />
health. (Neither does the fact that you don’t often catch the bug going around necessarily, by itself, indicate<br />
good health.) You will achieve an optimal weight when your body is receiving the components it needs every<br />
day <strong>to</strong> build healthy tissues—not when you spend short periods of time suppressing calories or eating a strange,<br />
unnatural diet heavy in protein or lopsided in some other way.<br />
My experience is that every minute you spend in the kitchen preparing whole-plant foods (60% <strong>to</strong> 80% raw)<br />
will yield you two minutes in increased energy. You might find yourself tackling projects you’ve always meant<br />
<strong>to</strong> do but never had the energy for.<br />
Your expenditures of time and commitment learning about nutrition and preparing food should be considered<br />
an investment in your family’s future—not a chore. I have considered carefully how <strong>to</strong> minimize that kitchen<br />
time, because I’m a busy working mom of a big family, <strong>to</strong>o. So <strong>12</strong> Step recipes are simple and easy <strong>to</strong> follow,<br />
without long ingredient lists and complicated steps.<br />
Best wishes for your future of a long, vibrant, energetic life!<br />
~ Robyn Openshaw<br />
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw <strong>12</strong> <strong>Steps</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Whole</strong> <strong>Foods</strong> 7
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