In 1999, my intention was to improve my health by reversing my many medical problems through nutrition, and using only natural, non-manufactured foods. I never thought weight loss was a possibility, because dieting was never a consideration. I knew that improved nutrition could not be accomplished this way. Imagine my surprise when, in less than four months, I was able to leave my wheelchair and stand, was feeling better, and actually losing weight. That "tired for no good reason" was gone. My beginning weight loss was even more remarkable because I was unable to exercise. I've received e-mails from people who say they too noticed that they lost weight without exercising while eating all natural, non-manufactured foods. It took about 2 1/2 years for me to lose around 200 pounds. I never dieted, ate well-balanced, healthy, natural meals and snacks. The length of time it took didn't bother me and was actually enjoyable because I felt better every day. I also knew I was establishing a way of eating for life. I knew that once my body stabilized its' weight, I would stop losing and continue to eat this natural way. I learned what portions of a variety of natural foods that were needed for myself in order to maintain my normal weight. I want to mention something about motivation. I found I couldn't lose weight just for the sake of losing weight. I needed a goal to reach that could only be attained by losing weight. For me, my goals were to walk again, be self-sufficient and avoid going to a nursing home. In order to do these things, I had to lose weight and improve my health.

The benefits of my recipes containing nutritional changes, really staggered me. I came to realize why diets never work. I believe it's because all diets use the conventional foods available. In the summer of 2003, medical experts on TV said that studies were being done to see if obesity was caused by "disease" or "decision". I believe the answer is neither. I believe obesity is caused by man-made foods with man-made ingredients and additives. People do make the decision to eat manufactured foods and these foods do eventually cause disease. But I also believe that people don't realize that all they need to do is avoid these foods and eat natural foods. Diets may use whole wheat instead of white flour, or less sugar or less fat, but it doesn't matter because you're still eating these harmful foods. Altered foods have been stripped of nutrition. Many diets eliminate a major food group. Anytime you do this, weight loss will occur. But when that food group is included again, the weight returns. The same thing happens when you limit calories, and then resume a normal caloric intake. Dieting is really harmful to the body. The reason people gain weight is because the bodies of most people can't handle manufactured, refined, processed foods and additives. Most also can't handle wheat in any form, refined white sugar, and the bad fats. Bad fats include: the saturated fat and skin on meat, chicken etc., the trans fatty acids and hydrogenated oils, margarines, other oils, solid shortenings, too much butter, fried foods, crackers, and baked goods that contain these. As of 2003, food regulators are requiring manufactured and commercially produced foods to list the trans fatty acids. Some examples of the good fats are olive oil, salmon, mackerel, and nuts, especially walnuts. These are called omega 3 fatty acids.

My recipes eliminate 90% or more of the harmful foods. Our livers can filter out a small amount of harmful foods, but not a large amount. I use lean meats, organic beef or bison, pork, fish, chicken and turkey, and remove most of the fat. I use the most nutritious and well-liked vegetables and fruits, preparing them in a natural, healthy way. In my desserts I use natural flours such as: brown rice flour, honey instead of sugar, and the most nutritious fruits, nuts, plus unsweetened chocolate and some spices. Honey is fructose, the same as fruit. The ingredients I use are familiar to everyone and contain a variety of the nutrients we need. Natural food is delicious! You can enjoy it for life. Your body will love it too. I ate a well-balanced variety of my recipes in normal portions, never counted calories, and slowly lost weight. If you eat 3 meals daily plus snacks, this will help maintain normal portions with a normal appetite.

People often ask me what to do if the last few pounds become stubborn, even on a natural diet. When I say "diet" I mean a daily way of eating. Your weight loss slows because your body fights you for it. You can do reasonable exercise, or temporarily increase your current exercise. Choose an exercise that compliments your personality and preference. Moving to music is great. Or you can change the type of natural foods you eat for a short time, which is what I did. By that I mean, you don't count calories or change your good nutrition. You eat highly nutritious foods in good amounts that are naturally lower in calories. For example, fill your plate with one reasonable size of any lean meat, fish etc., and fill the rest of the plate with as many vegetables (excluding white potatoes) and fruits as you can eat. I've never known anyone who gained weight eating vegetables. Your body will feel full and not hold onto the weight. You'll then continue to lose weight while keeping good nutrition. By eating healthy, cravings disappear. A natural supplement that will help some overweight people is CLA. It is a naturally occurring form of the essential fatty acids. CLA helps block fat cells from filling up with fat by interfering with a fat-storing enzyme. It is also believed to help burn fat by increasing the sensitivity of cells to insulin and helping increase muscle mass. Your body can't build good muscle without good nutrition. You must have really good nutrition and avoid manufactured foods to begin weight loss. Then, CLA may help to reduce body fat and increase muscle retention. Poor nutrition and eliminating food groups just won't work. I purchase CLA softgels under the brand name of Natural Factors. Follow the directions.

You can curb your appetite naturally by eating a small handful of walnuts 20 to 30 minutes before a meal. The natural, healthy omega 3 fat in the nuts helps to suppress your appetite.

Triglyceride levels (fat in blood) are especially high in overweight people. Mine were over 600 and fell to 98 in less than a year using my recipes. Always take a good multivitamin daily. The best quality vitamins are the kind found in health food stores or from websites that carry them. I use Bob's Red Mill whole grain flours (A link to purchase CalMax online is on my "Links " page).

I used myself as guinea pig to see if I could truthfully call my cookbooks "eat all you want - no weight gain". I knew that if I avoided most manufactured foods and additives, used my ingredients instead of bad fats, sugar and wheat, I lost weight. But I wanted to know if it was possible to gain weight on my recipes. I found that while anything is possible, gaining weight using my recipes was not probable. I experimented on myself to determine this. While creating recipes in my kitchen, I gave away many of my creative endeavours to my family and neighbors. But I also ate a lot of them myself. Off and on for over a year, I occasionally consumed at least 3000 calories daily by forcing myself to eat more than I wanted. I did not gain weight. This was because the calories were from foods in their natural state and had not been manufactured. But when I tried drinking a regular 12 ounce soft drink, every day for 7 days, and eating a fast food meal 3 times in that week, I literally gained more than 10 pounds. But when I "ate all that I wanted" 3 meals a day with snacks for 7 days using my recipes, I did not gain weight. That told me all I needed to know.

It is important for you to know that eating natural foods will produce weight loss and health improvements only if you consistently eat them at least 90% of the time. You must avoid the harmful, manufactured foods 90% of the time. If you have one Coke once a week or one fast food meal once a week, that's enough to ruin any positive results from a natural diet. I do however, have a soft drink or junk food on birthdays or special occasions. If you keep yourself full and satisfied using my recipes, you'll find you won't desire the bad things. I carry my cookies or muffins with me in case I have a snack attack. I never let myself get hungry. I never let myself get thirsty either. I drink plenty of healthy fluids between eating. Sometimes when you feel hungry, what your body really wants are fluids. Add club soda to natural fruit juices for a soda pop substitute. By eating 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks daily, you feel full and will actually eat smaller portions. The absence of a major illness doesn't necessarily mean you're healthy. When I worked in nursing homes, I observed that there was a noticeable absence of obese elderly patients. Eating natural with my recipes can be maintained for life. My cookbooks contain the best nutrition for adults and children and will keep weight stable. Your body will right itself when optimum health and best weight are reached. You can easily adjust a variety of natural foods to maintain a desired weight. You will not keep losing weight. The right nutrition will work every time.

What kind of fuel are you putting in your body?