nourish evolution trail guide.v3 copy - amazon s3evolution+trail+guide.pdf · nourish evolution....

Copyright © 2015 by Lia Huber, Nourish Network®, Inc. / NOURISH Evolution

All rights reserved. No portion of this e-book may be reproduced--mechanically, electronically or by any other means, including e-mailing, posting online or printing to distribute--without the written permission of Lia Huber.

Published by Nourish Network®, Inc. / NOURISH Evolution | Healdsburg, CA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART ONE: THE LAY OF THE LAND What to Expect From This Guide Page 1 .....................................................................................................................................

PART TWO: THE NOURISH EVOLUTION The Path from Blissfully Blind Prairie to the Land of NOURISH Page 12 .............................................................................

PART THREE: OBSTACLES, ROAD BLOCKS AND FELLOW SOJOURNERS You’re Not Alone on Your Journey 5 .................................................................................................................................

PART FOUR: THE PACKING LIST AND PLAN What to Take, What to Leave Behind, and How to Move Ahead Page 39 ...........................................................................

PARK FIVE: WHERE THE JOURNEY LEADS What’s the Next Step on Your NOURISH Evolution? Page 50.................................................................................................

PART ONE: THE LAY OF THE LAND – What to Expect from This Guide

“This isn’t a 'diet' or a 'plan,' but a radically different way of looking at the world.” — LIA HUBER

Page Copyright NOURISH Evolution | All Rights Reserved1

A Beginning

The farmer reached towards me and in his open palm, which was calloused and creased with wear, was a pea.

The gesture was innocent enough. Generous even. But I wanted nothing to do with it. Throughout my childhood I had vocally despised vegetables. The plain salads and steamed broccoli I’d adopted in adulthood on my never-ending quest to lose weight were tolerated, not enjoyed. So, no, I didn’t want to taste a pea, thank you very much.

But the man at the farmers market was so friendly. “It’s just a pea,” he said softly. “Try it.”

And so I did. Out of courtesy. I was expecting the mushy, tinny taste of the peas my mom used to sneak into perfectly good pasta salads when I wasn’t looking. But this pea tasted green and fresh. It tasted like spring. I was flabbergasted.

I bought a pound.

That night, my husband Christopher and I sat down at the table and shelled the peas together. Our talk fell into a comfortable rhythm, like when you’re on a walk together and conversation flows more naturally. It felt relaxing and good.

And then came time to cook. I looked in the fridge and found a slice of bacon. I minced it up with some shallot, then sautéed both in olive oil. When they were nice and brown, I poured in a glug of wine from the bottle I was sipping from, threw the peas in the pan and scraped up all the brown bits from the bottom.

Once the wine was gone (from the pan, not the bottle), I took the pan off the heat and swirled in a sliver of butter, then sprinkled everything with salt and pepper before tossing the peas to coat them with that light, syrupy glaze. Start to finish it took about ten minutes.

When I took a bite, everything I thought I knew about vegetables flew out the window. I simply didn’t have a vocabulary for vegetables tasting so good that I wanted seconds. They were sweet and salty and tender and bursting with freshness.

Thinking back on that meal, I have no idea what else was on the plate, in the predominant position … a chicken breast? A piece of steak? The peas stole the show then just as they do now.

As we did the dishes after dinner, I noticed how calm I felt. How the meal—the whole day—had felt like a rich, wonderful experience, not just something I had to do.


It was as if the blue sky of the market and the fresh green of the peas and the rich connection—with the farmer, with my husband—were all still coursing through me as surely as the nutrients themselves.

I share this story with you because when I look back on that moment I realize it was a glimpse through the window of what it’s like to live in the Land of NOURISH, which I’ll tell you about in a moment.

The NOURISH Evolution is paved with pivotal moments where we open ourselves to the possibility of things being different than we think they are

That moment with the farmer was a turning point, and where we’re going is paved with experiences just like it. Pivotal moments where we open ourselves to the possibility of things being different than we think they are, where we’re able to inch forward into a slightly different reality.

If you’d like to know how to make a lasting shift from processed food to real food simply by enjoying moments like the one I just told you about, without being on a diet or feeling any sense of “should,” then keep reading.

This little guide will show you the way.

If you feel like you’ve tried to change before and failed, know that you are not alone, and that you are not defective. I’ll even tell you why it’s so dang hard to do something that seems so simple.

You’re actually on a journey, you just may not know it yet. I’ll tell you stories of people who have made this journey—including my own—and then we’ll chart your course.

This guide will show you the way to make a lasting shift from processed food to real food—in real life. This journey I’ve been talking about is what I call the NOURISH Evolution. Think of it not as a “diet” or a “plan,” but a radically different way of looking at the world.


Are You Up for the Journey?

Make no mistake, by digging into this Trail Guide, you are embarking on a journey. And while the journey is by no means grueling, not everyone is ready for it.

This guide is for people who are serious about taking a hard, honest look at the way they eat, who are willing to challenge long-held assumptions and beliefs, and are open to new possibilities. It’s for people who are ready to say, “I don’t know it all, and I don’t believe it’ll be fixed by a pill or a diet.”

If that’s not you, that’s OK. Take your time, and when the light switches on, I’ll be right here for you.

But if you are ready to take the leap, I’m going to let you in on a little secret:

You’ve already taken the first step.

Now I’m going to give you a little nugget of advice to carry with you like a walking stick as you go:

Let yourself be wherever you are.

When you go on a hike, do you turn back if you come to some rough terrain? No. Do you berate yourself for taking a breather on a long climb? No, you don’t. You put one foot in front of the other and you take in the clouds dancing across the sky, and the glow of the rocks in the afternoon sun, and the way the grasses move in the meadow.

Bring that same sense of wonder and appreciation with you on this journey, and you’ll be in good stead. Each step, no matter how frustrating or seemingly insignificant, moves you forward on your NOURISH Evolution.


Where We’re Headed ... The Land of NOURISH

Let me paint you a little picture of what our destination looks like. Because if you don’t have a picture in your mind, it’ll be darn hard to recognize when you've arrived.

The destination is a place I call The Land of NOURISH. It’s where people find joy in cooking a meal with real ingredients. They feel good about the choices they’re making and what they’re putting into their bodies. They see food as a gift and mealtime as an opportunity to deepen the connection with those they love and the calm within themselves. My pea epiphany, unbeknownst to me, was a glimpse of what life would look like in the Land of NOURISH.

This is where we’re headed, and no matter your circumstances or where you are now, you can get there. Ironically, the first step has nothing to do with time or money or skills.

It’s about opening up to the possibility of what life can look like.

Let me be clear, too, about what the Land of NOURISH is not. It is not a place where the table is set every night with the good china. It is not a place where every condiment needs to be made from scratch. It is, in no way, a place you feel pressured to “impress.”

In fact, you don’t need a degree, or to quit your job, or to invest in fancy kitchen equipment or supplements to start your NOURISH Evolution. This is a come-as-you-are proposition. All you need is an open, curious mind and a willingness to let go of some things—thoughts and patterns—and have patience and persistence in developing new ones.

All you need is an open, curious mind and a willingness to let go of some things and have patience and persistence in developing new ones


Another thing you should know: Being on this journey will have a wider impact than you might anticipate. When it comes to food, the very best way you can eat for yourself—to nourish your body, cultivate healthy eating habits in your children and bring you deep contentment and joy—is the same way you would eat to save the world. Really.

And it all happens around the dinner table.

Where else can you influence others in a positive way and save the world without an ounce of additional effort?

Where else can you influence others in a positive way and save the world without an ounce of additional effort?

It’s pretty cool.

In all honesty, the forces of today’s world are stacked against you (we’ll talk more about that later). But you absolutely have all you need to win against those forces and live the way you want to.

Haven’t I Been Here Before?

I know it’s tempting to think, “I’ve heard this before … I’m not falling for any more promises.”

Good. Don’t.

In fact, bring that open, curious mind I talked about earlier into this. Pretend like you’ve never tasted a pea before. Act as if you’ve never had to decide whether it was worth it to buy organic. Play as if it were the first time you’ve ever planned a meal.

The only thing I will promise you is this: If you bring that mindset into this guide, it will rock your world.


Hello. I’m Lia, and I’ll be your guide.

Before we go any further, I realize you may be wondering, who the heck is Lia to be rocking my world?

You can read more about me here, but I’ll give you my story in a nutshell.

I grew up like most of us do, eating Cheetos and bologna sandwiches, with pizza and wings as my staples when I hit high school. I despised vegetables of all kinds, other than raw carrots and French fries. When the freshman 15 hit in college—and stayed—I did what most of us do.

I went on a diet.

At the time, fat was the defacto evil, so I dutifully monitored the “calories from fat” figure on labels and eschewed any type of oil or butter or cream. I virtuously dined on pretzels and plain salads and mashed potatoes (no gravy, of course) and egg white omelets.

But every few days, I’d get frighteningly bored with my food and splurge on a Lucky Dog or po’ boy (I went to college in New Orleans) or any number of late-night delights.

The next morning, I’d feel awful—physically, yes, but more so emotionally. Why didn’t I have the willpower to just stick to the diet? Why couldn’t I just put my head down and ignore the fact that I got absolutely no joy whatsoever from the plate of steamed broccoli I forced myself to eat at dinner?

This schizophrenic battle between guilt and deprivation continued after graduation, but by my mid-20s, it was clear that my body was losing the fight. My energy began waning and my body ached terribly. Something was wrong. I just didn’t know what yet.

The schizophrenic battle between guilt and deprivation continued after graduation, but by my mid-20s, it was clear that my body was losing the fight


http://nourishevolution.com/about-lia/

That achiness and exhaustion gained a name when, just a few months after I got married, I was diagnosed with lupus. Eighteen months after that, I went through a horrible cancer scare that resulted in two surgeries and left me, at 28, unable to bear children.

Whatever I was doing with the low-fat martyrdom and falls off the bandwagon wasn’t working. In fact, it was killing me. Something had to change.

Whatever I was doing with the low-fat martyrdom and falls off the bandwagon wasn’t working. In fact, it was killing me.

The irony is, by that time, I had begun to make a name for myself as a food writer and recipe developer for magazines like Cooking Light and Health because I was such a whiz with low-fat substitutes.

So I started asking my editors for nutrition assignments in order to ask the experts directly what, exactly, I should be eating to turn things around.

Time and time and time again I heard the dreaded word: Vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables, cooked in things like (gasp) olive oil, and served with whole grains and legumes, and a bit of—not necessarily lean, but definitely wisely sourced—protein.

Lucky for me, several long-term, large-scale studies were coming to fruition around that time, and the results were boggling my mind. Vegetables and whole grains and healthy fats were proving to be as effective against heart disease and other chronic diseases as many prescription medications on the market!

One other thing these nutrition scientists all said as a sort of off-the-record postscript: Eating healthy isn’t as much about magic nutrients as it is about the whole package—whole foods and the whole experience of real food.


On the flipside, I was learning just how harmful processed food was to my body … and to the environment. It turns out that highly refined carbohydrates—like those from wheat, soy and corn found in most processed foods—cause a severe jolt to the system every time they’re consumed because the body processes them so fast and they have no nutrients to leave behind.

It started to add up. I was constantly assaulting my body with processed foods (albeit low-fat processed foods that I thought were “good” for me) and starving it of any nutrition. No wonder I felt so crappy.

Sound familiar?

In fact, the more I learned about processed foods, the less I wanted them in my life.

The more I learned about processed foods, the less I wanted them in my life

I soon found out that processed foods wreak as much havoc on the environment as they do our bodies. Foods produced within our current system—whether corn or tomatoes or beef—are grown in an industrial manner designed to prize high yields, cost efficiency and shelf life over all else. That approach relies on chemical “inputs”—fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and such—that are largely petroleum based, rather than nurturing the soil to replenish those nutrients naturally.

The result is pollution, runoff, water waste, and a whole mess of environmental calamities. Not something I felt good about buying into.

The picture those researchers were painting of vegetables and healthy fats and whole grains reminded me a lot of what life—and my plate—looked like when I’d lived in Greece in my early twenties, the summer after I’d spent the year studying in Paris.

No matter whose home we were at, the table would be filled with salads and wild greens and yogurt and small, fried fish and some sort of meat.


But I’d be freaking out about all the olive oil and the fact that the yogurt wasn’t low fat. I would marvel at how everyone could be so relaxed and present and downright celebratory when all that fat was on the table(!). I was convinced my weight would balloon by the time I went home to the States.

The irony is, I actually ended up losing weight. And aside from the constant fear of gaining weight, I felt fantastic. I woke up feeling energized day after day, and felt strong, sexy and just down-to-the-core good.

It was another glimpse of the Land of NOURISH. I just didn't know what I was seeing—yet.

So I learned from the experts what to eat and had an inkling of how that might look and feel from my memories of Greece. I just had to figure out how to make it work for me.

I still despised most vegetables.

When Christopher and I were living in San Francisco we used to go to a salad place where you could pick which toppings you wanted and they’d toss it for you. At the time, I hated beets so much that if Christopher got them in his salad, I’d make them wipe out the bowl before tossing my salad. I had a long way to go.

So I used my skills as a recipe developer to figure out how to turn those foods—those vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains, legumes and smartly sourced proteins—into dishes I’d want to eat every day. And when I became a mom in 2006 and launched NOURISH soon after, I went back to the drawing board to figure out how to fit those foods into a very full life.

The changes I’ve encountered in my body and being are nothing short of miraculous. After four years of feeling better and better, I challenged the lupus diagnosis and went off my medication with my doctor’s blessing. I do have fibromyalgia, but thankfully only experience flare-ups occasionally, and I have much more energy now than I ever had, yet am much more calm and centered.

The changes I’ve encountered in my body and being are nothing short of miraculous

I also lost close to 20 pounds and have kept it off for going on a decade without ever feeling like I was on a diet. Best of all, I get a profound joy out of eating and


feeding my family the way I do, and a deep satisfaction that I’m raising my daughter to love real food too.

What started out as one of the most challenging times of my life turned into so many blessings … and into my calling with NOURISH.

Now that you know my story, are you ready to jump into your NOURISH Evolution? Are you ready to jump into

your NOURISH Evolution?


PART TWO: THE NOURISH EVOLUTION – The Path from Blissfully Blind Prairie to the Land of NOURISH


Eight Great Ways to Stay Stuck

In a second, I'll tell you the five stages you’ll go through on your journey from processed food to real food. But first, I’m going to tell you the eight best ways to stay stuck right where you are.

1) Tell yourself (and others), “I don’t like carrots (or turnips, or broccoli, or …)” and then don’t ever try them again

2) Tell yourself (and others), "I don’t like to cook" (or a close followup, “I don’t cook”)

3) Don’t buy any vegetable or food you’re not already familiar with

4) Take the nutrition claims on labels at face value 5) Dismiss talk about GMOs and sustainability and

such as overreacting or conspiracy theories 6) Accept that “healthy” food is boring and “yummy”

food is unhealthy 7) Believe that you can’t make food taste good

unless you’re a chef 8) Believe that you can’t make smart decisions about

food unless you’ve got letters after your name or are an “expert”

If you’re not ready to let go of those attitudes yet, that’s cool. It just means you’re not quite ready to move on from Blissfully Blind Prairie. I’ve been there too. When you are ready, though, I’ll be right here for you.

But if that’s NOT you, and if that’s not the way you want to be, read on and I’ll tell you exactly what lies between where you are and that destination we painted--The Land of NOURISH.


The Five Stages of the NOURISH Evolution

Over the past 10 years, I’ve observed, coached and spoken to thousands of people who were making the shift from processed food to real food. At some point, I began to realize there was a pattern emerging; everyone’s story was unique, yet all were moving through the same five stages.

The NOURISH Evolution charts the course from the first stage to the last.

The NOURISH Evolution charts the course from the first stage to the last.

Just like mileposts on a hiking path, these stages help you gauge where you are, how far you’ve come, and what still lies ahead. How long you spend in each stage depends both on your individual experience and how equipped and aware you are on your Evolution, which this Guide will help with. We’ll take a closer look at each on the following pages.

Blissfully Blind Prairie This is the first step, really a "pre-step" Blissfully Blind Prairie is where everyone begins, eating whatever is in the path of least resistance and having no desire to change.

Pinnacles of Should-Angst This is the stage where you glimpse the consequences of staying in Blissfully Blind Prairie. There is desire to change, but not much will, and not much know-how.

The Hump The Hump is the "something" that moves you out of the Pinnacles of Should-Angst and towards real change. Often, though not always, it's a "life event."

Peaks and Valleys of Practice This is the process of developing new habits through trial and error when making the shift from processed to real food.

The Land of NOURISH You know you’re there when your default is cooking—and enjoying—real food…within the demands and challenges of real life.


Blissfully Blind Prairie

The first of the five stages of the NOURISH Evolution is Blissfully Blind Prairie. In the modern world, this is where most of us start out, simply because it is the path of least resistance. It is the place of fast food and convenience meals and Technicolor slushies. And I'll admit, it can be fun … for a while.

You’re happy, because you’re essentially addicted to the processed food trinity of sodium, cheap fat and sugar. What’s more, the whole world supports, encourages and enables the way you eat as the accepted norm. At this point, you have no idea yet what it’s doing to your body, or any clue of the wider picture.

But then one day, you realize you’ve felt awful for a really long time, or you gain some weight, or you read an article or hear something on the radio. The light flips on and you think, “hey, maybe I should make a change.”

Mileposts of Blissfully Blind Prairie

You can tell you’re in Blissfully Blind Prairie if:

• You don’t pay attention to what you’re eating or how it makes you feel

• You tend to do most of your shopping at big-box stores and large chain grocery stores, and don’t spend much time in the produce aisles

• When you unpack your cart at the grocery store, almost everything is cans and packages

• Eating “healthy” holds about as much appeal to you as stabbing your foot with a shovel

• You see an ad for a fast food restaurant and find yourself there the following day (or hour)

• When talk turns to bigger “food issues,” you feign a coughing fit and leave the room

• Someone mentions a “Chioggia beet” and you think, “food snob”


Pinnacles of Should-Angst

When you come out of Blissfully Blind Prairie, you enter the Pinnacles of Should-Angst. This is an exhausting stretch of struggling up and down as you amass more and more baggage between the ever-present “should” and “should not,” and the angst of guilt when you inevitably fall short of what you think you "should" do.

You grab the nearest fad diet you can find and climb to the top of the first pinnacle. You feel fantastic, because you’re eating your plain salads and raw carrots and steamed broccoli. All the things you think you should be eating.

But then you remember what was back in Blissfully Blind Prairie and all you want are the “should nots.” You feel deprived, and eventually convince yourself that you deserve those should nots. So you eat them. Only the innocence of Blissfully Blind Prairie is gone and instead

of being enjoyable, those should nots plunge you into a pit of guilt. And so it goes, up and down, up and down, from feeling deprived to guilty and back again slogging through the Pinnacles of Should-Angst.

Mileposts of Pinnacles of Should-Angst

You can tell you’re in the Pinnacles of Should-Angst if:

• You evaluate every food as something you “should” or “should not” eat

• You tend to shop the center aisles of the grocery store, scanning for labels that fit your diet (i.e., “light,” “low fat,” “low carb”)

• Your innate reaction to foods on your “should” list feels like a machine is sucking out all your energy while you sit in a gray room

• Your innate reaction to foods on your “should not” list is dreamy wistfulness followed closely by bitterness that you “can’t”

• You’re so programmed to feel guilty for enjoying food that you’d feel guilty if you enjoyed a fresh peach too much

• The thought of food—of having to choose what to eat—makes your body tighten with stress

• Planning and cooking meals for you and your family leaves you exhausted


The Hump

At some point in the Pinnacles of Should-Angst--weeks, months, years later--you reach a point where you know things really need to change. That’s when you hit The Hump.

You may vault right over The Hump with an innate sense that it’s just time to change. But for most people, The Hump comes in the form of some sort of event.

Maybe you or someone you love gets a diagnosis that’s inches away from life-threatening. Maybe something happens that makes you less trusting that the “status quo” really works. Maybe you even succeed in losing weight on one of the diets you tried in the Pinnacles of Should-Angst, but now you’re thinking, “Now what?”

When you first hit The Hump, it can feel hopeless … like you’re never, ever going to experience joy with food

again. But The Hump is different than the Pinnacles of Should-Angst in that when you hit The Hump, you’re ready to take a longer-term view.

Rather than grabbing onto a diet, you seek wisdom.

Rather than look for someone else to tell you what to do, you take responsibility.

Rather than grabbing onto a diet, you seek wisdom. Rather than look for someone else to tell you what to do, you take responsibility.

Rather than thinking you know everything there is to know about the foods you’ve tried before, you approach old foods with a fresh curiosity and feel courageous enough to try entirely new foods.

Hand over hand you climb up The Hump using the toe-holds of compassion and curiosity and hope and, at the top, you see the Land of NOURISH in the distance.


Mileposts of The Hump

You can tell you’re at The Hump if:

• You feel an underlying sense of hope that you’ll be able to make a lasting change

• You question the “facts” you’ve always taken for granted and, in the process, you shed misconceptions and untruths and gain wisdom

• You stop expecting to change overnight … or even in a few months

• You’re shifting from the center aisles of the grocery store—where the processed foods live—to the outer aisles, where the produce lives

• You realize that making a shift from processed food to real food requires more than just eating differently … it requires entirely new practices and a new way of thinking

• You have less and less desire to look back to Blissfully Blind Prairie

Hand over hand you climb up The Hump with compassion and curiosity and hope and, at the top, you see the Land of NOURISH in the distance


Peaks and Valleys of Practice

You crest The Hump with that view of the Land of NOURISH in the distance and forge off into the Peaks and Valleys of Practice. You run to the farmers market and grab three bunches of kale and you’re feeling great. Until, a week later, you open your fridge and all that kale is melted to the bottom of your crisper drawer because you didn’t really know what to do with it.

But it’s OK, because now you have a long-term view. You’re patiently, compassionately cultivating new habits to integrate all you’ve learned into your daily life—what I call an Eating Practice.

If you do yoga, or pray, or meditate, this idea of a “practice” is familiar to you. You do the best you can and commit to being fully present in the moment, no matter what that moment looks like, and then give yourself kudos for showing up before starting all over again.

The great thing about the Peaks and Valleys of Practice is that it’s the other side of the coin to the “should” and “should not” of the Pinnacles of Should-Angst. Now, you want to eat the “shoulds” and have no desire to eat those “should nots.” You just have to figure out how to make it happen in real life.

Now, you want to eat the “shoulds” and have no desire to eat those “should nots.” You just have to figure out how to make it happen in real life.


Mileposts of the Peaks and Valleys of Practice

You can tell you’re in the Peaks and Valleys of Practice if:

• You get excited about revisiting the foods you thought you hated ... and discovering you actually love them when you prepare them a certain way

• Small setbacks don’t freak you out • Nourishing food is something you want to eat, not

something you should eat • Your taste buds begin to recalibrate to the

nuances of real food … carrots taste sweet, kale tastes earthy, mushrooms taste rich and meaty

• You’re mostly buying vegetables from grocery stores, and are beginning to experiment with sourcing more locally and seasonally

• You acknowledge each little win, and even each stumbling block, as a part of the bigger journey

• There is no longer an inner voice that reacts to new foods with, “I don’t like that,” or “I don’t eat that,” but, rather, with a curiosity to try new things

In the Peaks and Valleys of Practice, Nourishing food is something you want to eat, not something you should eat


The Land of NOURISH

It’s a subtle shift from the Peaks and Valleys of Practice to the Land of NOURISH, more a leveling out of the terrain than a completely new landscape.

You’ll find a distinct lack of boxes and packages in the Land of NOURISH, and a bevy of fresh vegetables, whole grains and legumes brought to life with healthy fats. There is meat and fish and chicken too, but more as an accompaniment than the main attraction, and you’ve carefully considered where those are coming from.

The biggest shift in the Land of NOURISH isn’t so much how you eat, but how you feel. You look forward to meals. You feel good about the food you’re eating, and your body does too. You have calm, consistent energy and a sort of joyous hum about you. The stress of the Pinnacles of Should-Angst and The Hump is gone.

The habits you cultivate in the Peaks and Valleys of Practice have become a well-worn path that you default to now, leaving the ruts of Blissfully Blind Prairie and the Pinnacles of Should-Angst far behind.

As life shifts, you might need to return to the Peaks and Valleys of Practice for a spell to work out logistics for a new stage of life. I did after becoming a mom. I knew what to eat in the Land of NOURISH, but I had to learn how to make it work with my new reality.

You may, and very easily (and enjoyably) could, remain in the Land of NOURISH for the rest of your days. Or you might use the Land of NOURISH as a starting point for other explorations—like going raw or vegan, or experimenting with preserving or homesteading—knowing that you can always return.

Mileposts of The Land of NOURISH

You can tell you’re in the Land of NOURISH if:

• You’re confident shopping for, prepping and cooking a wide variety of real foods on a regular basis, and have adopted habits that make it all an enjoyable part of life

• You tend to shop for vegetables at a farmers market or local market, or grow your own


• You choose your meat, fish and poultry carefully, paying more for sources you trust and eating a lot less

• You’re at ease improvising in the kitchen • You’re comfortable, content and just feel good

Where are YOU on your NOURISH Evolution?

The great thing is, there is no wrong answer to the question “where are you on your NOURISH Evolution?” Not even Blissfully Blind Prairie (remember when I said let yourself be wherever you are?). Nearly everyone’s NOURISH Evolution goes through the same stages, but the shape, timeline and details of everyone’s journey is different. One person might spend decades in the Pinnacles of Should-Angst; another might go from Blissfully Blind Prairie smack into The Hump.

The beauty is, when you know where you are, you can celebrate forward movement and progress without feeling undue pressure that will push you off course. In a little bit, I’m going to tell you exactly what you need to move from one stage to the next.

The Pull of the Poles

There are a lot of people who will try to tell you it’s not possible to live in the Land of NOURISH. But they’re wrong. There are also a lot of people who will try to convince you that it’s too expensive or complicated or time consuming to make choices that benefit the greater good. They’re wrong too.

Here’s the dead honest truth: By simply doing what’s best for you, you’ll be doing what’s best for your family, your community and the planet too.

Just look at the impact these two plates have—on body, being and environment —on the following page.

By simply doing what’s best for you, you’ll be doing what’s best for your family, your community and the planet too.


Typical Fast Food Meal

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Typical NOURISH Meal

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Look at the impact these two plates have—on body, being and environment

What’s a bit of an eye-opener is how much is at stake in preserving the status quo of that first plate. Food is a charged, political, emotional subject. A lot of people are guarding deep stakes, whether it's an individual defending their homestead in Blissfully Blind Prairie or corporate entities profiting from a food system that’s making both us and the planet sick.

I should warn you … the NOURISH Evolution isn’t a conventional way of thinking about food. The further towards each end of the Evolution, the more defensive people can get.

I’ve endured numerous attacks from people in Blissfully Blind Prairie defending their McDonald’s wrappers while putting me down as a “Foodie Elitist” for eating a frittata. And I’ve seen people in the Land of NOURISH roll their eyes at “those people” who shop at Costco.

So now that we all know we’re on similar journeys, albeit in different places, let’s not do that, shall we? Let’s start a new conversation where we can all support and encourage and learn from one another on our journeys.

Remember, compassion is one of the most important provisions for the journey … compassion for yourself, and for others.

Compassion is one of the most important provisions for the journey … compassion for yourself, and for others.


PART 3: OBSTACLES, ROAD BLOCKS AND FELLOW SOJOURNERS – You’re Not Alone On Your Journey


Let’s get something straight. There is no such thing as inaction. By choosing to ignore the consequences of living on—or even leaning on—processed food, you are actively increasing your risk, and the risk of your children, of succumbing to a myriad of diseases associated with poor nutrition and obesity, including what those in healthcare call “the Big Four”: cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's.

That’s not even mentioning the more immediate, day-to-day consequences: feeling stressed and lethargic and like something’s holding you back from being where you want to be. Nor the larger implications of contributing to an industrial food system that is rapidly depleting the planet of the resources to produce food at all.

But I don't mean to paint a grim and dire picture. In fact, it’s just the opposite. As you progress on your NOURISH Evolution there’s a positive ripple effect on your health, your family’s health and the health of the planet.

Once you’ve made it to the top of The Hump, the blinders come off and you see that living the way you really want to isn’t all that complicated. And it just gets easier from there. Honestly, more than half the battle is facing up to both the internal and external voices telling you it’s not possible to live in the Land of NOURISH. Once you tell them to stick a sock in it, it’s pretty smooth sailing.

More than half the battle is facing up to both the internal and external voices telling you it’s not possible to live in the Land of NOURISH. Once you tell them to stick a sock in it, it’s pretty smooth sailing.


The NOURISH Evolution is a funny thing in that until you’ve gotten over The Hump, it’s easy to roll your eyes at people further down the pike and think “that’s for them, not for me.”

Lest you fall into that trap, I wanted to introduce you to some fellow Evolutionaries, whose lives have been transformed by their NOURISH Evolutions so you could hear first hand how it feels to get from “here” to “there.”

Alicia - Peaks and Valleys of Practice

Like many of us, Alicia defaulted to frozen meals and fast food to feed her family and didn’t think twice about it for most of her life. The meals she did cook at home centered around meat … everything else was just an afterthought.

Then, in the summer of 2012, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and everything changed.

“I thought I was eating healthy,” she says. “But now I look back on all the processed foods we were eating, like mac-n-cheese and microwave popcorn, and realize how bad they were for me.”

As she investigated how to take care of and heal her body, she discovered how powerful real foods really are.

She committed to growing vegetables in her backyard and learning how to cook them. Now, about 90% of her plate is made up of vegetables.

One thing that weighs Alicia down is that, by the time she’d reached her Hump, her kids had already formed their own—unhealthy—eating habits. “I just hope I can set an example as they get older and see how committed I am to my NOURISH Evolution.”

Now in the Peaks and Valleys of Practice, Alicia is steeped in learning about cooking with vegetables. And she’s learning how to be more forgiving of herself when things don’t turn out perfectly. “It’s been a huge learning curve, but I’m more relaxed now and taking one step at a time. I’m realizing this is going to be a long process, but I know the long-term benefits outweigh the angst of the journey.”

Marnie – The Hump

Before Marnie reached The Hump, she felt hopeless, crazed and full of guilt … classic symptoms of being in the Pinnacles of Should-Angst!

When Marnie got fed up that the numbers on the scale wouldn’t budge and began waking in the middle of the


night due to heartburn, she smacked right up against The Hump.

The big difference, now, is that she remains hopeful when she makes a slip backwards, knowing change doesn’t happen overnight.

Marnie’s view from The Hump is a place where “eating healthfully is second nature and the first choice.” A place that’s on the other side of the Peaks and Valleys of Practice.

Jenni – Peaks and Valleys of Practice

Jenni went through a classic journey of the Pinnacles of Should-Angst, “trying every eating plan and diet and system out there.” For her, transition to The Hump didn’t come from a doctor or dire health crisis. “It simply came from feeling like crap. Period.” She knew she had to make a change in order to reclaim and improve her physical and mental health.

“I have to admit, I’m in a valley at the moment,” Jenni says. “But my body knows it’s time to make a change and get back to doing what I know I need to do. I’ve learned that eating good quality, clean foods makes me feel so much better.”

Now she’s striving to get back to a peak, like the one she was on a year ago, where she cooked daily and enjoyed making meals for her family. “It’s so easy to think, ‘I’ll just go out tonight,’ or ‘one drive through lunch is OK’. But that’s a slippery slope.”

Jenni knows, though, how much better she’ll feel—both body and mind—when she starts back up towards a peak … and that in itself is motivation. To Jenni, eating in NOURISHing way isn’t a “should,” it’s what she wants to do.

Kelly – The Land of NOURISH

At the beginning of Kelly’s journey, her meals tended towards beige … pasta, bread, and other quick options that had little color, aside from an occasional bottled pasta sauce.


When Kelly got married though, she and her husband began thinking more about food. But her kids were the real catalyst for her Evolution.

“I realized how much I disagreed with what was in bottled baby food … and I didn’t even know I had an opinion!”

Kelly took a close look at how she wanted to feed her kids, and herself, and saw the Land of NOURISH.

She began thoughtfully examining her food choices, and challenged herself to make homemade meals as appealing as the processed ones she was used to. She also started paying attention to how foods looked and tasted, where they came from and what impact they had on her body, community and the environment.

And her kids learned right along with her; as a home schooling Mom, Kelly would often integrate food into the curriculum. Today, Kelly’s kids, now grown, have a positive, healthy relationship with nourishing food.

Now that she’s in the Land of NOURISH, Kelly is focusing on improving her cooking technique. “I want to be an ever more confident cook, and to grow my own herbs. Growing something feels courageous to me.”

One of the beautiful things about being in the Land of NOURISH is that you can continue to expand while feeling content and joyful just where you are.


Back to the Big Picture

Now that you’ve heard from other Evolutionaries, let’s take a look at where we’ve been:

• Knowing the path—the NOURISH Evolution—lets you sink in to the fact that changing the way you eat is a journey, and as long as you’re making conscious, deliberate decisions, you’re making progress no matter where you are.

• Identifying which stage you’re on in your NOURISH Evolution helps you get your bearings and understand where you’ve been and what’s still ahead. It also helps you hold others at different stages of their Evolution with compassion and without judgment.

• While this is a journey only you can take, the wider impact of your Evolution is huge. Your decisions and your actions will impact not only your health and well being, but the future of your family, your community, and yes, the world.

Obstacles You’ll Likely Encounter on the Trail

Before we hit the trail, I want to tell you about a few obstacles you will likely encounter on your way. As with any journey, these are bumps you’ll need to scramble over and around. They may seem daunting at first, but they don’t have to stop you.

So take careful note so you can recognize these for what they are, neutralize their power, and move right on past.

Experts

Experts can take many forms, but most often you can recognize them by:

• A white coat, either lab, physician or chef • Letters after their name • A book (or two or three) that they’ve authored • A byline • A product/method/diet that is the “only way” to

get to your goal

Don’t get me wrong—experts in a given field can be very helpful. The researchers who educated me about what a nourishing diet looked like were instrumental in changing my life. The difference is, they were giving me information and insights, and then sending me on my


way. They weren’t implying that I couldn’t make smart decisions without them. Some experts overtly try to assert that without their guidance you’ll be lost. With others, we tacitly give them the reigns.

In both of these cases, we abdicate our responsibility and give away our power. And that’s not what Evolutionaries do.

Evolutionaries keep their eyes wide open and are accountable for their own choices and actions.

Evolutionaries keep their eyes wide open and are accountable for their own choices and actions. It’s up to you to take information in and then decide how it fits into your life and value system. The moment you follow a prescribed “eat this, not that” way of being, you’ve gone back to the Pinnacles of Should-Angst and are just waiting for a fall into the next crevasse.

Why? Because until you digest the truths that you encounter along the path and make them a part of you, you’re just following someone else’s directions, which

you’ll only do as long as they work for you and you don’t get bored.

But when the tectonic plates within you shift, your decisions and emotions and actions are bubbling up from a place that is self-generated, not externally imposed. That, my friend, is a long-haul proposition. That’s for a lifetime.

The Industrial Food Industry

You may be tempted to stick your fingers in your ears and hum “la la la, I’m not listening” during this part. But if you’re going to be an Evolutionary, you really can’t. The evidence is just too ample and too obvious to look away without consciously sticking your head in the sand.

In a nutshell, there is a bevy of very strong forces in our modern world that are deeply invested in keeping you not only oblivious to the impacts of eating “what normal people do,” but also making you a defender of the status quo.

These people try very hard to convince you that those advocating for sustainable agriculture, or greater accountability, or a more sensible subsidy system are just a bunch of wacky, overreacting radicals. They’re dead


wrong, and they’re pulling off the biggest heist in human history as they run away with our health and our future.

Here’s what they’ll try to tell you:

• Genetic modification and large-scale agriculture is the only way to feed the world. While the food industry would love for you to believe that, it is the exact opposite of the truth. Industrial agriculture depends on several petroleum-based “inputs”—synthetic fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides—and is funneled through large, centralized distribution systems. This model is terribly fragile, and has shown its weakness lately with the fluctuations in oil prices that have sent food prices skyrocketing and caused public panic when crops fail. By contrast, smaller, local food systems—by which I mean both the farms that grow the food and the distribution networks that get the food to the people—are much more efficient and resilient (meaning they’ll weather hard times better and bounce back faster). I’m not making this up … the U.N. concluded exactly that in its in-depth 2008 report on Agricultural Knowledge, Science and

Technology for Development. The Food Industry just didn’t want anyone to hear.If you’d like to know more, watch this 6-1/2 minute video by Anna Lappé on busting the myths of industrial agriculture. And for a short, concise snapshot of the industrial agriculture machine and the impact it’s having on the planet, I highly recommend the short pamphlet of Prince Charles’s speech On the Future of Food. You’ll be able to polish it off in less than an hour.

• You can trust food ads and labels to be truthful. Sorry. Not so. Food manufacturers cunningly design packaged foods and marketing campaigns to keep consumers in Blissfully Blind Prairie by exploiting people’s—especially children’s—very real addition to sugar, fat and salt. There’s science involved. There’s psychology involved. What’s not involved is a consideration for your health and well being—or the health and well-being of your family. For a quick overview, watch this 6-1/2 minute


http://apps.unep.org/publications/pmtdocuments/-Agriculture%20at%20a%20crossroads%20-%20Synthesis%20report-2009Agriculture_at_Crossroads_Synthesis_Report.pdf

http://youtu.be/uem2ceZMxYk

http://amzn.com/1609614712

http://youtu.be/PWOcP-bXuO8

video, also by Anna Lappé, on how food marketing really works.

What’s not involved is a consideration for your health and well being, or the health and well being of your family.

I don’t tell you these things to spark a conspiracy theory. I just want to you have a clear picture of the way things really are.

If this is the first time you’re hearing these things, you might feel defensive or even angry. I know. Personally, I felt like I got kicked in the stomach when I found out about some of these things. I had read bits and pieces of the environmental story here and there, but didn’t get the full picture until I was at my first sustainability conference several years ago.

I was floored.

“You mean having an abundance of diversity actually makes farming more efficient?”

“You’re saying we’re federally subsidizing the same commodity crops that go into processed foods?”

“Aren’t those processed foods directly related to the soaring obesity and disease rates in our country?”

“So you’re telling me we’re tilting the playing field towards companies that are making our nation sick?”

I asked so many questions that I was asked to moderate a panel a few months later at the renowned University of California at Davis on food accessibility, affordability and nutrition. I could fill a book with what I learned (and one of my panelists, Oren Hesterman, did fill a book with what he knows).

What struck me was that, like the nutrition researchers, these scientists weren’t trying to rile me up or rally a cause. They were just presenting data. And that data was rocking my world.

I learned that the sooner you can accept that this is the way things really are, the sooner you can move forward on your Evolution by making decisions that are rooted in reality, instead of a mass-accepted façade.


http://youtu.be/PWOcP-bXuO8

http://amzn.com/1610391020

The sooner you can accept that this is the way things really are, the sooner you can move forward on your Evolution by making decisions that are rooted in reality, instead of a mass-accepted façade.

Have you ever seen The Matrix? Let’s just say you’ve taken the red pill.

The Foodie Elitists

Foodie Elitists can oftentimes come off as condescending, and can inspire feelings of ignorance or inferiority. Here are a few ways you can identify a Foodie Elitist:

• They toss around highly specialized food terms as if you, too, should know what they mean

• They often give the origin and pedigree of various ingredients

• They rattle off a list of authors and authorities they expect you to be familiar with, which often include Michael Pollan and Dan Barber, as a sort of social caste shake-down

• Their meals tend to look like—or at least sound like—like a spread from a magazine or an Alice Waters cookbook

Before I delve any deeper into the Foodie Elitists, I have to confess that I'm often labeled one. But don’t write me off just yet, because I can give you some insight into what’s going on behind the scenes.


I can’t tell you how many times people have dismissed my entire NOURISH Evolution—and the miracle that I’m healthy, and feel good in my body, and enjoy what I eat—with a wave of their hand and the declaration, “whatever, you’re a foodie.”

It drives me nuts.

And people like Michael Pollan and Alice Waters, God love them, are making it worse. It can feel like you’re being condescended to if you don’t know the significance of a certain farm or recognize the name of an heirloom tomato. It can feel demeaning to admit you don’t know what the heck an heirloom tomato is! I get it.

As someone who is often lumped into the Foodie Elitist crowd, let me give some advice on how to deal with a Foodie Elitist:

1) Recognize that the person’s enthusiasm for (heritage pigs, Auracana eggs, heirloom tomatoes, etc., etc., etc.) is not meant to make you feel inferior or ignorant for not having the same knowledge or passion (and if it is, shame on them). Rather, it’s just that they’re excited about having discovered something really cool and are eager to share their discovery.

2) It is by no means mandatory that you adopt that person’s ardor for (fermenting, native yeasts, perennial wheat, etc., etc., etc.) in order to move ahead on your NOURISH Evolution.

Let me give you an example.

I’ve been interested in raising chickens since I lived in Greece 20 years ago, but we’ve never had the space to have our own. Then, three years ago, our neighbor asked if I wanted to get chickens together and keep them in her yard.

Heck yea, shebang! We pored over chicken magazines together, researched which breeds to buy, and even bought them with our daughters on Mother’s Day. It was, and continues to be, a really special experience.

Yet when we finally got the chicks, I held off talking about it on NOURISH because I was afraid people would think I was implying that having chickens was necessary to being NOURISHed (it’s not). I was afraid they would feel I was being a Foodie Elitist.


I tell you this so you understand that when I talk about my chickens, or about spending an hour picking out which heirloom tomatoes to plant, it’s because these are things I love doing. They’re my hobbies, my interests, just as you might be interested in jazz or photography or knitting. I’m not pressuring you to be like me, I’m simply sharing a passion.

There’s no need to adopt another person’s passion to move ahead on your NOURISH Evolution

Bottom line … if any Foodie Elitist tries to make you feel badly about not being interested or passionate about their interests and passions, politely say “I respect where you’re coming from, and I’m on my own path, thank you.” Conversely, be aware that they may simply be—and likely are—just sharing their passion, in which case, listen in if you like while recognizing that they, too, are on an Evolution.

The Beloved Saboteurs

Oftentimes, the biggest hurdles we’ll encounter on our journey will be the ones closest to us. It’s hard to make a change when those around you want to stay entrenched in the status quo.

It’s hard to make a change when those around you want to stay in the status quo.

In some situations, you want so badly for those you love to start their own Evolutions that you drop hints, and coerce, and nudge. Let me just say … don’t. Everyone’s lantern comes on in their own time in Blissfully Blind Prairie, and the more you push, the more they’ll resist.

But there’s another situation too, when you’re sharing your Evolution with others simply because it’s rocking your world and people feel like you’re judging them. Even though it has nothing to do with them.

Back in 2000, when we were still reeling from my health troubles, Christopher and I packed up our Ford Explorer


and took seven months to drive to Costa Rica and back. It was a profoundly healing, life-altering experience for both of us.

Yet more than a few people close to us acted angry and defensive, as if we were somehow judging them by acting on our dream. At first, it hurt. But then I realized that they weren’t really reacting to me. They were frightened or intimidated by something stirring within them. It was their stuff, not mine.

When you run across saboteurs in your inner circle, understand that they’re sabotaging you out of their own fears, not because you’re wrong. And recognize that they are still in Blissfully Blind Prairie.

The New Normal

As you can see by these pages, the world is deeply divided over food. There are powerful influences constantly trying to sway your thoughts and actions in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. As you climb The Hump on your NOURISH Evolution and head towards the Land of NOURISH, it can feel like you’re swimming upstream.

You are.

I was once at a conference where there was a panel that included both an entrepreneur who was doing incredible things with sustainably farmed fish and an executive from a large grocery store chain.

I raised my hand and asked where I could find the entrepreneur’s fish, because I was excited to buy some. The entrepreneur turned to the grocery store exec and said, we really need grocery stores to carry it so people can find it. And the grocery store exec said, there’s no way they would carry it until people bought it from their store.

I piped back up, “You mean, you won’t carry something that tastes great, is affordable and is healthy for the environment because people aren’t buying it from your stores yet? But how are they going to buy it from your stores if you don’t offer it to them?” He countered with the politics and “the way things are done” in deciding what does and does not go onto grocery store shelves.

There are many, many forces beyond our control filtering what we have easy, affordable access to … and what we do not.


The Land of NOURISH is not the land of status quo.

The Land of NOURISH is not the land of status quo. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be reached, and it doesn’t mean it’s difficult to dwell there permanently. As more and more people converge on the trail towards the Land of NOURISH, the path will become more clear and straight, and the direction of the status quo will shift.

So let’s lace up our boots and get to the trail, shall we?


PART 4: THE PACKING LIST AND PLAN – What to Take, What to Leave Behind, and How to Move Ahead


Provisioning

We’ve come a long way! We’ve gotten familiar with the terrain, identified the destination, met some fellow Evolutionaries who have been on the journey themselves, and prepared for some obstacles we’ll likely encounter so they won’t impede our progress.

We’re almost ready to hit the trail … but first we need some provisions.

What to Bring on the Journey

• Mindfulness – You’ll be amazed at what a huge impact simply paying attention makes … on how you eat, how you feel and how you act.

• Curiosity – This is one of the most important provisions you’ll need on your Evolution. Each time you encounter a vegetable, pretend it’s the first time you’ve ever tried it. When you’re faced with something you’re unfamiliar with, go in with the enthusiasm of learning something new.

• Openness – In addition to being curious, be open. Be open to having your priorities shift. Be open to re-evaluating where you spend your time and money. Be open to exploring a new way to shop.

Be open to others around you changing as you’re changing. Treat your NOURISH Evolution like a blank slate.

• Compassion – Change happens through a series of small tweaks to very ingrained habits, both in the way you think and the way you act. Old habits don’t die easily. It has taken a long time for those habits to take hold, and it will take time and effort to cultivate new ones. Be compassionate on yourself during the process.

• Patience – We’ve been programmed to expect change to happen overnight. It doesn’t. Change takes time, so cut yourself some slack and recognize that you are making forward movement.

• Hope – Believe in yourself. Phooey to the naysayers … you can dwell in the Land of NOURISH, and you can inspire others to do so as well.


What to Leave Behind

• Judgment – We’ve talked about this. No judging yourself, no judging others. It’s a journey, and we each have our own story.

• A Bandwagon Mentality – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, being on a NOURISH Evolution requires you to have your eyes wide open. As much as I want you to wave your banner and become an Evolutionary, I don’t want you to do so just because I say so. Do it because you’re moved to. Do it because you feel in your gut it’s the right thing to do. Do it because you choose to declare your Evolution.

• Assumptions – Sadly, most of what we’ve learned through osmosis and the media about food and health is at best misleading and at worst, just plain wrong. The best approach is to come to your NOURISH Evolution with a total beginner’s mind, leaving behind the “but I heard” or “but I always thought” and starting from scratch.

Become a NOURISH Evolutionary because you’re moved to. Do it because you feel in your gut it’s the right thing to do. Do it because you choose to declare your Evolution.


The Plan

Now that you know what to pack and what to leave behind, let’s hit the trail. Here’s the plan for moving through the five stages of the NOURISH Evolution:

1. Take Notice

The very first step on your NOURISH Evolution, no matter which stage you’re at, is to start paying attention. Become aware of your negative thoughts, your habits, your stumbling blocks, your embedded beliefs and assumptions.

Before you become aware, all of those things just tumble about, creating a strong current that sweeps you along with it whether you want it to or not. When you start taking notice, you can sift through your thoughts and actions and make more deliberate choices on all fronts.

These little things make a big difference. Eating just one extra cup of vegetables a day can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 20%. Eating just 35 mini pretzel twists a day can add 22 pounds by the end of a year.

Which would you prefer?

When I work with private clients, they often tell me that the biggest hit of instant gratification they got through the whole process is the first step of paying attention. You’ll be amazed at how much of a ripple effect it has on your life.

One step you can take right now: Keep a Food Journal

Keep a food journal for two weeks (get my printable NOURISH Evolution Meal Tracker here for free), writing down everything you eat, how you eat it (rushed? standing up? sitting down?) and how you feel before and after.

Be honest with yourself.

This is just for you, and it’s not meant to invoke judgment. It’s meant to get you to the “eyes wide open.” (Hint: Take a pic of everything you put in your mouth with your phone before you eat it, then sit down at the end of the day and recap.)


https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/nourishevolution/NOURISH+Evolution+Meal+Tracker.pdf

2. Know What to Pay Attention To (and What Not To)

The media is constantly telling you to look here, look there. But here’s a little secret: What they’re waving in front of your face isn’t necessarily something you should pay attention to, it’s just something they think will get your attention.

One of the big motivations for me to start NOURISH back in 2009 was that I was having my world rocked by incredibly simple, even mundane facts (remember what I told you the food scientists were telling me?) that my editors didn’t find sexy enough to write about. So I essentially built my own platform to shout out how incredible life can be living in the Land of NOURISH.

What the media is waving isn’t necessarily something you should pay attention to, it’s something they think will get your attention.

I did get a few articles published about my revelations in some major magazines, though. One piece was a first-person memoir on the lessons I learned while living in Greece. I talked about eating fresh vegetables made even better by healthy fats. I talked about enjoying the experience itself, and how the sum of the meal is more than the individual nutrients we’re ingesting (just like those scientists were telling me … it's more about the whole meal than the individual parts).

The article turned out great, except for the fact that the head notes to the recipes all followed the standard format of the magazine where they pulled out one nutrient in each dish to tout its benefits. “Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, which is …”. OMG. TMI.

I actually found it amusing. The whole point of the article was to approach “healthy” food from a more holistic viewpoint; that we don’t have to be nutritionists to know that a plate of spinach sautéed in olive oil is healthy and good and nourishing for us. Yet they spun it so it felt like studying for a spelling test, where you had to memorize a list of nutrients to make an informed choice.


There’s a baseline of information that is helpful and good to know, that’s fortifying and sticks around for a long time. And then there’s the unrelenting stream of TMI that we get hammered with day after day.

Leave that stuff behind and focus on what’s important. Here’s what’s important:

Loads and loads of data show that basing your diet on a vast array of vegetables prepared with unsaturated fats like olive oil and served with whole grains and legumes and wisely chosen protein will do you a lot of good, both in the short term and over the long haul.

How good? Studies consistently show that when eating this way:

• LDL (the bad cholesterol) levels drop rather quickly while HDL (the protective cholesterol) rises

• People lose more weight and keep it off longer • The risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer

and even dementia decreases, in some cases quite dramatically

• You’ll live longer with a better quality of life

I’m not kidding.

The right information makes nourishing food your ally. Too much information just overwhelms you into indecision and apathy.

The right information makes nourishing food your ally. Too much information just overwhelms you into indecision and apathy.

One step you can take right now: Stop looking at labels and start buying foods that don’t come in packages.

Notice what assumptions you bring in … that fat will make you fat? That leafy greens will be too much work for a quick dinner? Keep a journal of your assumptions.


3. Rule the Kitchen

I’m going to tell it to you straight: You’re not going to get to the Land of NOURISH by eating out or grabbing takeout on a regular basis. If you’re going to reach the Land of NOURISH, you’ve got to get comfortable in the kitchen.

To get comfortable in the kitchen, you’ve got to gain proficiency in three areas: shopping for real food, prepping real food and cooking real food.

Note that I say “real food” in each of the three, because shopping, prepping and cooking real food looks very different than shopping for, prepping and cooking processed food.

I recently met with the superintendent of a local school district about overhauling the school lunch program to focus on real food. Being an outsider to the institutional food system, I was shocked to discover that it wasn’t as simple as swapping out the recipes they were using.

The entire industrial-sized kitchen—the entire system—was set up to reheat processed frozen foods. Purchasing was a sheet of check boxes from a firmly-entrenched purveyor with “meal” choices that had been pre-qualified by the government for reimbursement. Plus, the

employees weren’t trained, or even skilled, in preparing and cooking actual food, like chard and quinoa and the like.

The point is, the same thing applies on an individual level.

Making a shift from processed to real foods does require an overhaul of how you shop, prep and cook, and that requires you to pull out that compassion, openness and patience you brought with you. Once those new habits and knowledge become engrained, the “new system” is no more complicated than what you’re doing now.

One step you can take now: Learn how to zip greens (like kale) and mince garlic in seconds.

Watch these videos for how. Zipping greens. Mincing Garlic.

And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t put this out there, check out Cook the Seasons. I’ve designed cook the seasons—a revolutionary, customizable meal planning program that puts seasonal veggies at the center of the plate—to build in these practices as you go through a season.


http://nourishnetwork.com/2011/09/29/zip-some-greens/

http://nourishnetwork.com/2009/11/02/video-how-to-mince-garlic/

http://cooktheseasons.com

4. Learn How to Make Real Food Work in YOUR Real Life

Once you have the basics down–your core knowledge and skills–then it’s time to start developing new habits to integrate it all into your daily life; the Eating Practice I mentioned earlier.

With an Eating Practice, you do the best you can and commit to being fully present in the moment--no matter what that moment looks like--and then give yourself kudos for showing up before starting all over again.

So what if you didn’t know what to make with that tofu you bought the other day when you were feeling adventurous? You can try it some other time with more of a plan.

So what if those carrots that wooed you at the farmers market went limp in the crisper drawer before you could use them? The next time you’ll know what to do.

You may have noticed a recurring theme in that last paragraph: Plan. Part of breaking out of old ruts and developing new habits is being adventurous and curious about trying new things. The other part is learning to plan what you’re going to do with what you have and what you buy.

Part of breaking out of old ruts and developing new habits is being adventurous and curious about trying new things.

Becoming proficient in some simple meal-planning skills will save you time, money and headaches. I’m a big fan of what I call “component cooking,” where you make a variety of components ahead of time—like a pot of beans, some whole grains, prepped greens and maybe a roast chicken—and then combine them in different ways throughout the week.


Oftentimes, this will require making “strategic” leftovers: doubling a vinaigrette recipe, grilling or roasting an extra heap of vegetables, washing two heads of lettuce instead of one.

I have a trio of lists to keep it all organized. My What’s Fresh list (I have this one on a chalkboard), with everything that’s in the fridge—and the garden—that I need to use that week. My Shopping List for any missing ingredients I need to buy to round out my menus, and my Basic Pantry List to check before I shop to see if there are any staples I need to replenish.

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Component cooking. Learning to love lists. They’re practices, they’re habits, they’re rhythms … and they’re key to dwelling in the Land of NOURISH.

Component cooking. Learning to love lists. They’re practices, they’re habits, they’re rhythms … and they’re key to dwelling in the Land of NOURISH.

One thing you can do right now: Make a double batch of sautéed Swiss Chard with Garlic.

Use your new skills from Step 4 to make the chard, then use it throughout the week in tortillas with scrambled eggs, tossed with pasta with some chile flakes … any way you like. And I’ll say it again … Cook the Seasons.


http://nourishnetwork.com/2011/03/28/swiss-chard-with-grated-garlic/

http://www.cooktheseasons.com

Here’s how:

Zip the leaves from 2 bunches of Swiss chard, stack them on a cutting board and cut or tear (great for kids to help you with!) them into bite-sized pieces. Fill a large bowl with water and swish the chard around in it, then transfer the chard a handful at a time to a large sauté pan.

Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, until chard is semi-wilted. While the chard is cooking, mince or grate 2 cloves of garlic.

Uncover the pan, toss the chard and let the water burn off (if there’s a lot, go ahead and pour it out). Reduce the heat to medium.

Pour a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into the pan and toss with the garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, tossing frequently, until the garlic is fragrant and the chard is nice and wilted.

Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and enjoy!

5. Learn to Improvise

As you move through your Peaks and Valleys of Practice, you’ll gain confidence both in your decision-making and cooking skills. You’ll also find it takes a lot less time to prep and cook food than before, and you’re spending a whole lot less brain power angsting over whether you’re doing it right or whether it will be good enough.

You trust that you are and it will.

As you move into the Land of NOURISH, it’s time to spread your wings. Delve deeper into the seasonal aspect of the way you eat. Experiment more with local foods. Go off-road—and off-recipe—and see what combinations you come up with yourself.

When you get here, you’ll find yourself having fun with food, and feeling more connected—with yourself, the people who grow your food, and those you share it with—than you ever have before.

That’s when you know you’re in the Land of NOURISH.


One thing you can do right now: Challenge yourself.

Open up your pantry and find a spice or ingredient that’s been there a while (but isn’t stale or rancid). Now, using what’s on your What’s Fresh List, make up a meal—and have fun doing it!


PART 5: WHERE THE JOURNEY LEADS – What’s the Next Step on Your NOURISH Evolution?


So what do you say? Are you ready to begin your NOURISH Evolution … to become an Evolutionary?

Awesome.

Then I challenge you to declare it. Download and print out this Declaration of Evolution. It holds affirmations and reminders that will help you stick to your journey, no matter where you are. Then sign it, hang it on your fridge and let your friends know that you’re an Evolutionary and where you are on your journey.

And if you’d like to get more delectable veggies on your plate, become more confident in the kitchen, gain time while easing stress, and work on your Eating Practice all at the same time, by all means get on the waitlist for the next Cook the Seasons. I’ve taken everything I’ve talked about here in this Trail Guide and made it tangible and actionable in the kitchen with Cook the Seasons. So have at it — I’d love to have you there!

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http://nourishevolution.com/declaration-sign-up/

http://www.cooktheseasons.com

One thing I find intriguing is that when you get to the Land of NOURISH, you look around and realize that you’re impacting others around you just by being the way you are.

My mission with NOURISH is to inspire and equip people to make a lasting shift from processed food to real food in real life. This guide is part of that inspiration, and I hope you’ve found it to be just that.

Now I’d like to ask you a favor.

If you’ve found this guide helpful or eye-opening (or both), please pass it on to as many friends as you can—by e-mail, by word of mouth, on Facebook, Twitter … you name it. Because I’ve got a bigger vision in mind.

“I’m learning to love #realfood ... in real life! Vive the #NOURISHEvolution! http://bit.ly/1vPScAi”

If you’re one of those friends this has been forwarded to and you’d like to get a fresh recipe and inspiration from me each week, sign up for my free weekly e-mail here.

I so appreciate your help with the “inspiring” part of my NOURISH mission! ☺

The “equipping” part comes from the programs and tools I’m creating, coming in 2015, which are aimed at giving you just what you need for each stage of your Evolution. So stay tuned.

But There’s More …

Before I let you go, I wanted to give you my grand vision for where I’d like to take the NOURISH Evolution.

I want to start a movement, a shift … dare I say, an evolution in how we think and talk about food, amongst ourselves, our communities and in the world. I want us to take back the kitchen from the Experts and the Foodie Elite and the Industrial Food Industry and reclaim the right to a simple, pleasurable, nourishing meal.


http://liahuber.ontraport.com/f/1/22788/4/a1581aef24c0222921615e277a23ef73

The NOURISH Evolution gives us a common map and language to honestly evaluate where we are and talk about where we want to be, without falling prey to judgment or unnecessary complications.

My ultimate goal is to inspire and equip enough Evolutionaries around the globe to create a tipping point in the way the world eats.

My ultimate goal with the NOURISH Evolution is to inspire and equip enough Evolutionaries around the globe to create a tipping point in the way the world eats.

Will you help me by spreading the word?

We have the opportunity to impact our health, our families, our communities and the world by being deliberate about making simple shifts to our thoughts and habits.

It’s a big deal. And it’s exciting.

And it starts with you and me.

You have the path. You have your provisions. You have a plan.

Now what step are you going to take next?

Thank you so much for joining me for this brief spell on the NOURISH Evolution. I’m excited about what the future holds for us all.


nourish evolution trail guide.v3 copy - amazon s3evolution+trail+guide.pdf · nourish evolution....

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