The Myth of “Normal” and our health & well-being

The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths, and the fact that millions of people share the same forms of mental pathology does not make these people sane. —Erich Fromm, The Sane Society

•Maté, Gabor. The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture (p. 1). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Because it passes as normal, does not mean that it is good or to be accepted! Gabor Mate in his excellent book “The Myth of Normal” said it best: “I will make the case that much of what passes for normal in our society is neither healthy nor natural, and that to meet modern society’s criteria for normality is, in many ways, to conform to requirements that are profoundly abnormal in regard to our Nature-given needs—which is to say, unhealthy and harmful on the physiological, mental, and even spiritual levels.”

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Are Cravings & A Snacking Habit Getting the better of You? Part 1

  • “I do well all day and then at night I go off the rails!”
  • “The children’s snacks are my weakness”
  • “I do well all week and then weekends I just can’t seem to stick to the plan.”
  • “I need a snack after dinner when we’re watching TV.”
  • “I get hungry mid-morning and need a snack.”
  • “At about 4pm I need a little pick-me-upper.”
  • “I say I’ll just eat 2 cookies and I end up eating the entire pack.”
  • “If it wasn’t for this sweet tooth I know I could lose some weight.”

Could any of the above statements been made by you? Are any of the above impacting your quality of life? Put differently, are you struggling to lose weight? Are cravings getting the better of you? If not, great! You don’t have to read any further unless you’re simply curious or unless you know someone who is struggling to lose weight and for whom cravings seem to always get the better of and you want to understand what’s going on better. But if you’re like very many of us, trying to lose weight, trying to unshackle yourself from the lure of cravings that you know are unhealthy, read on!

Continue reading Are Cravings & A Snacking Habit Getting the better of You? Part 1

Three Reasons Why Keto Is Not Working for You & How to Turn it Around.

I’ve been doing keto for a month now and I haven’t lost a pound.”

That was a comment I received from a prospective client. I immediately told her that I suspected hidden carbs as the culprit. She insisted that she ate low-carb, with the occasional fried chicken or shrimp in batter. I explained that the batter is made from wheat flour which is carb rich. She explained that she didn’t think “that little bit of flour would make a difference.” She recently shared with me a picture of her meal: fish and vegetable salad. Sounds good, right? Except that the fish was done brown-stewed style, which means it is first fried than cooked down in a ketchup rich sweet and spice sauce. Ketchup is unbelievably high in sugar. There are 11g sugar in 100g coca cola, 9 g sugar in 100g orange juice and 22g sugar in 100g ketchup. 

Continue reading Three Reasons Why Keto Is Not Working for You & How to Turn it Around.

5 Ways my Relationship with Food Changed on Keto

August 28, 2017. Almost 2 years ago… I decided (for the millionth time) to try and lose some weight. And it’s funny, because at the beginning of that same August, I cleaned out my wardrobe and ditched all my “slim” clothing. I had somehow told myself that I was going to get old, fat. I had given up apparently. Then my daughter took a picture of me in my happy place, at the beach, and I simply hated what I saw. I have always been fat, but the face that stared back at me was bloated, my neck was MIA and I almost didn’t recognize myself. I decided to give it a go again. I knew from past experience that cutting carbs was the way for me to lose weight (I simply functioned better and it had worked in the past). A 30-day trial was in order. Here’s what happened next…

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Cheating on Keto: Bad idea or nah?

“Today is a cheat day.” Why? What is it that you’re missing out on that you feel the need to go off plan? This is a controversial topic that people get quite emotional about. I have been keto since end August 2017. My son and I started keto together, and in the early days, we would play this game: “Would you cheat on keto for that? LOL! It was fun! Popeye’s chicken and patties (a delicious portable, meat filled pastry here in Jamaica) would always get a resounding YES, but we pressed on with our low-carb food, opting to relegate the Popeye’s and patties to fantasy status only. Months passed and pounds were shed and one day he reminded me of this silly game we used to play. We had simply stopped playing it because we simply didn’t crave that kind of food any more.

Continue reading Cheating on Keto: Bad idea or nah?

Keto Caribbean Style? Yes we can!

So keto is in the news these days, all over it. And for those of us living in the Caribbean I can understand why some would dismiss the benefits of this diet and ignore the success stories by labeling it as “another north American fad.” Well, I live in the Caribbean, Jamaica to be precise, and I’ve been keto since end August 2017…and counting. And I’m not alone! There’s a small but growing community of us right here in the Caribbean and the diaspora who are living the keto lifestyle, eating the delicious high octane food that characterises our region. In my latest podcast episode I cover the following topics to show how we rock keto Caribbean style

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What about snacking on keto?

Snacks. Snacking. I need snacks. How exactly does one snack on keto? Is snacking even allowed on keto? I get these questions ALL the time. First of all, let’s start by banishing the word “allowed”. We’re all adults here and none of us requires permission for what we choose to put in our mouths and bodies. What I do is provide you with information on how the choices we make impact our bodies and I may even show you how they support or sabotage your personal goals. What you actually do is up to you. So sure, you can snack and sure there are keto type snacks that you can eat and enjoy and remain on track. In this post I’ll explain what happens when we snack, give you some ideas for keto approved snacks and provide you with some recipes & links for easy to make snacks. Let’s jump in!

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The Secret to Her Success: Keto is only a part of Tanya’s weight loss story

As I’ve shared my own weight loss journey, people have opened up to me about their own struggles and journeys where weight loss is concerned. One of the common themes is one of consistency. The weight loss efforts start off with great enthusiasm. Meals are prepped, gym memberships are dusted off and salads are consumed with gusto. The first 5 lbs shed is a cause for celebration. Then that 5 lbs becomes 10 in some cases. Then it falls apart. Two months in that 15 lbs is regained and perhaps then some. Do you identify?

Continue reading The Secret to Her Success: Keto is only a part of Tanya’s weight loss story

Hey Lady: Struggling with weight gain in middle age? The keto diet may help!

I’ve always struggled with my weight. But in my younger days, I was always able to knock off 5 or 10 lbs with minimal effort. I’d simply cut back and in a week or two, I’d be good again. My last major successful weight loss was after Nicholas was born. I did Atkins, a low-carb diet, and lost weight and felt great. The changes happened pretty quickly too. Then I started allowing a little carb creep, and a taste here and a taste there, became a carby meal here and a carby meal there, and fifteen years later I hated what was staring back in the mirror at me. Photographs of me horrified me. “That could not be me” I reasoned and deleted them. All of them. I simply didn’t like how I looked, and I was beginning to have some minor but potentially serious health issues (sleep apnea, acid reflux, wheezing, etc.)

Continue reading Hey Lady: Struggling with weight gain in middle age? The keto diet may help!

Could the keto diet be the answer to PCOS?

I have been chronicling my own journey on the keto diet over the last 14 months. The keto, short for ketogenic, diet is way of eating that reduced total carbohydrate intake per day to 20g of carbs or less and promotes the consumption of high levels of healthy fats and moderate amounts of protein. How that essentially looks in my own life is that I simply don’t eat sugar, flour, rice, pasta, starchy vegetables, potatoes, ground provisions, beans and fruit. I eat healthy fats such as full fat dairy products, coconut and olive oils, butter, avocados, nuts and animal fats. I eat loads of all green veggies. I’ve curated testimonials of people who’ve successfully controlled diabetes, high blood pressure and other conditions by switching to a keto diet too.

But did you know that for the millions of women living with it, that the keto diet may be the perfect response to PCOS? Continue reading Could the keto diet be the answer to PCOS?