For a health journey to succeed, you need to know where you are, where you want to go, how fast you want to go, and a map/guide to help you plan out your trip.
If you want to hike a gentle slop, some good shoes, water, and snacks are about all you need. Maybe some company to make the hike more enjoyable.
But what about a cliff. Imagine scaling a cliff without training, equipment, and a guide. What would be the success rate?
When you jump into a big diet change without a plan, it's like scaling a cliff. If you just go for it, you're likely to fall. And while you might not physically die, your spirit or will might.
For a cliff climb, you have to know where you want to go, have the resources you need to get there, the training, and someone who's done it before to guide you. You also need someone to belay you in case you fall.
The lists on this page can help you figure out what level of diet you are now. Looking at the distance to where you want to go, you can figure out how many levels it will take.
If you live a stressed life , overwhelmed with activities, demands, or problems, I would choose a path the winds up to the top of the mountain. Slow changes, like swapping out one food you like at a time, and moving one level at a time.
If you are highly motivated, need results, have a support group, and a guide who knows how to get rid of weight permanently, then by all means, start scaling that cliff.
Both approaches have their advantage, or even a mixture of the two. Cliff climbing creates confidence, a feeling of accomplishment, and fast progress. Gentle inclines are easier to find others to join you, less overwhelming, and give you time to adjust to the new altitude.
MY SUGAR LIST
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, and I'm okay with that. This list is my personal grading system based on my opinion.
Feel free to disagree.
The list goes from healthiest sources of sugar to the least, ending with most toxic:
Level 1
Raw organic veggies
Level 2
Raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Raw counter-ripened organic fruit
Frozen organic fruit
Level 3
Cooked tree/vine ripened organic fruit
cooked counter-ripened organic fruit
Raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Raw counter-ripened GMO fruit
Frozen GMO fruit
Cooked tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
cooked counter-ripened GMO fruit
Level 4
organic monk fruit-granulated
stevia
raw, organic honey
raw, unheated cane sugar juice, or granules from evaporation
organic, unprocessed maple syrup (very fluid)
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Level 6
Processed Turbinado Sugar
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Corn Syrup
Level 8
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Aspartame
Sucralose
Level 10
Prescription Uppers
Alcohol
Vaping
Level 16
Illegal drugs that are uppers, like cocaine, meth, and ecstasy
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, and I'm okay with that. This list is my personal grading system based on my opinion.
Feel free to disagree.
The list goes from healthiest sources of sugar to the least, ending with most toxic:
Level 1
Raw organic veggies
Level 2
Raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Raw counter-ripened organic fruit
Frozen organic fruit
Level 3
Cooked tree/vine ripened organic fruit
cooked counter-ripened organic fruit
Raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Raw counter-ripened GMO fruit
Frozen GMO fruit
Cooked tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
cooked counter-ripened GMO fruit
Level 4
organic monk fruit-granulated
stevia
raw, organic honey
raw, unheated cane sugar juice, or granules from evaporation
organic, unprocessed maple syrup (very fluid)
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Level 6
Processed Turbinado Sugar
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Corn Syrup
Level 8
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Aspartame
Sucralose
Level 10
Prescription Uppers
Alcohol
Vaping
Level 16
Illegal drugs that are uppers, like cocaine, meth, and ecstasy
I know some of you are wondering about levels 5, 7, 9, and 11-15. I numbered them that way on purpose, to help illustrate the difficulty in moving up from certain levels. Like moving from cooked fruit to raw fruit isn't that hard, but giving up a street drug can take counseling, a help center, support group, self-forgiveness, accountability, and more. Even moving 8 to 4 can be brutal. I would know. It took me several tries.
We see acne almost as a right of passage that shows up during teen years. But we also all eat the same awful diet, with few exceptions.
We may look around and think someone has great genetics and it's so unfair. A comforting thought to say it's out of our control, but also a disempowering one.
So why not see acne as a result of a lifestyle, something within your control, and change that lifestyle? You can even do the "shopping cart" experiment. Patterns pop up pretty fast on what lifestyle leads to a healthy body.
But if you're ready to start without needing to be convinced, I'll start with long-term solutions, and then add a few emergency solutions for quick results.
We may look around and think someone has great genetics and it's so unfair. A comforting thought to say it's out of our control, but also a disempowering one.
So why not see acne as a result of a lifestyle, something within your control, and change that lifestyle? You can even do the "shopping cart" experiment. Patterns pop up pretty fast on what lifestyle leads to a healthy body.
But if you're ready to start without needing to be convinced, I'll start with long-term solutions, and then add a few emergency solutions for quick results.
Even if I had a magical cream that made acne disappear, I wouldn't use it.
It's too crucial a clue to things going on inside.
Anytime your skin is taxed, your liver is too. If your liver is taxed, so is your digestive system, that relies on your liver. Acne is a great reminder that it's time to buckle down and eat fresh foods from the garden or farmer's market. Even then, it's important to eat the plants whole whenever possible--peels, seeds, and roots are rich in nutrients. But most don't eat the peel on a carrot. Why? It's too bitter.
How many people do you know who eat not only keep the bitter peels but even add bitter greens to their meals? Know anyone who says, "I've been craving bitters, think I'll snack on dandelion leaves"?
Likely you're hard pressed to find anyone who eats dandelions, let alone black cumin or bitter melon.
Step one to clear skin is start eating bitters. If you're behind enough, you may even want to go on a juice fast. From time to time I'll drink dandelion greens only.
Step two is trading out the bad fats for good ones. Sorry but foods fried in cheap, ultra-refined GMO oils is going to be hard on your skin. So is heavily roasted/damaged nuts (or legumes like peanuts or cocao). Add processing, like letting cocao go moldy before roasting it, then adding a ton of sugar makes chocolate an instant zit factory. Same with peanut butter.
But if you just cut out the bad fats, you leave a gap in your diet--one that's essential to satiation. So make sure to START eating raw nuts, like pecans, walnuts, cashews, pistachios as well as seeds like chia, sunflower, pumpkin, and more.
And if you are going to fry something, choose 100% cold-pressed virgin olive oil, coconut oil, grape seed oil, and avocado oil. Make sure you choose a reputable brand. Some cheat, adding a little of the real oil to overprocessed, undernourished GMO's and then label it as if it was the real deal.
Step Three Phase out bad, concentrated, processed sugar. I full on consider it a drug. Upgrade from whatever level you've been on and you'll see changes in your skin. The bigger the change, the better the results.
How many people do you know who eat not only keep the bitter peels but even add bitter greens to their meals? Know anyone who says, "I've been craving bitters, think I'll snack on dandelion leaves"?
Likely you're hard pressed to find anyone who eats dandelions, let alone black cumin or bitter melon.
Step one to clear skin is start eating bitters. If you're behind enough, you may even want to go on a juice fast. From time to time I'll drink dandelion greens only.
Step two is trading out the bad fats for good ones. Sorry but foods fried in cheap, ultra-refined GMO oils is going to be hard on your skin. So is heavily roasted/damaged nuts (or legumes like peanuts or cocao). Add processing, like letting cocao go moldy before roasting it, then adding a ton of sugar makes chocolate an instant zit factory. Same with peanut butter.
But if you just cut out the bad fats, you leave a gap in your diet--one that's essential to satiation. So make sure to START eating raw nuts, like pecans, walnuts, cashews, pistachios as well as seeds like chia, sunflower, pumpkin, and more.
And if you are going to fry something, choose 100% cold-pressed virgin olive oil, coconut oil, grape seed oil, and avocado oil. Make sure you choose a reputable brand. Some cheat, adding a little of the real oil to overprocessed, undernourished GMO's and then label it as if it was the real deal.
Step Three Phase out bad, concentrated, processed sugar. I full on consider it a drug. Upgrade from whatever level you've been on and you'll see changes in your skin. The bigger the change, the better the results.
MY SUGAR LIST
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, and I'm okay with that. This list is my personal grading system based on my opinion.
Feel free to disagree.
The list goes from healthiest sources of sugar to the least, ending with most toxic:
Level 1
Raw organic veggies
Level 2
Raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Raw counter-ripened organic fruit
Frozen organic fruit
Level 3
Cooked tree/vine ripened organic fruit
cooked counter-ripened organic fruit
Raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Raw counter-ripened GMO fruit
Frozen GMO fruit
Cooked tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
cooked counter-ripened GMO fruit
Level 4
organic monk fruit-granulated
stevia
raw, organic honey
raw, unheated cane sugar juice, or granules from evaporation
organic, unprocessed maple syrup (very fluid)
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Level 6
Processed Turbinado Sugar
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Corn Syrup
Level 8
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Aspartame
Sucralose
Level 10
Prescription Uppers
Alcohol
Vaping
Level 16
Illegal drugs that are uppers, like cocaine, meth, and ecstasy
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, and I'm okay with that. This list is my personal grading system based on my opinion.
Feel free to disagree.
The list goes from healthiest sources of sugar to the least, ending with most toxic:
Level 1
Raw organic veggies
Level 2
Raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Raw counter-ripened organic fruit
Frozen organic fruit
Level 3
Cooked tree/vine ripened organic fruit
cooked counter-ripened organic fruit
Raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Raw counter-ripened GMO fruit
Frozen GMO fruit
Cooked tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
cooked counter-ripened GMO fruit
Level 4
organic monk fruit-granulated
stevia
raw, organic honey
raw, unheated cane sugar juice, or granules from evaporation
organic, unprocessed maple syrup (very fluid)
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened organic fruit
Dried raw, tree/vine ripened GMO fruit
Level 6
Processed Turbinado Sugar
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Corn Syrup
Level 8
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Aspartame
Sucralose
Level 10
Prescription Uppers
Alcohol
Vaping
Level 16
Illegal drugs that are uppers, like cocaine, meth, and ecstasy
I know some of you are wondering about levels 5, 7, 9, and 11-15. I numbered them that way on purpose, to help illustrate the difficulty in moving up from certain levels. Like moving from cooked fruit to raw fruit isn't that hard, but giving up a street drug can take counseling, a help center, support group, self-forgiveness, accountability, and more. Even moving 8 to 4 can be brutal. I would know. It took me several tries.
