If someone had given my 14-year-old self a diet diary of what I eat now that I’m 19, I would have laughed, squirmed and probably thrown up (all at once!).

Back then I loved nothing more than Special K cereal (original variety) with plain yoghurt (from local Adelaide business; The Yoghurt Shop) for breakfast, a wholemeal cheddar cheese and grated carrot toasted sandwich at lunchtime, and marinated baked salmon with salad and a baked potato for dinner. I’d snack on apple slinkies (where I’d make my apple into a slinky shape with a tool from the homewares store) and warm skim milk (microwave heated) with a chocolate Sipahh straw. My favourite treat was frozen banana yoghurt (also from The Yoghurt Shop) and I was partial to eating natural peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon.

My diet was what I now describe as pseudo–healthy. I had lots of dairy, wholegrains, fresh fruit, veggies and fish. I figured that the Sipahh straws were such an insignificant percentage of my overall intake, and that if frozen yoghurt was the ‘naughtiest’ food I was consuming on a regular basis, then I really wasn’t doing too badly.

Little did I know that that dairy was poor quality, homogonised and came from unhealthy cows.

The wheat was laden with a particular pesticide known as ‘Round Up” that was damaging my microbiome and perpetuating my gluten intolerance (which I was told to ignore by dietitians, gastroenterologists and even my GP, because I wasn’t a ‘true’ coeliac). I’ve since learned that those coeliac tests can be alarmingly inaccurate. Thankfully these days I just use common sense and avoid any food that gives me insomnia and heart palpitations.

Those ‘insignificant’ Sipahh straws still contributed unnecessary sugars, artificial sweeteners and flavours to my diet, and the ingredient list of my beloved frozen yoghurt was so long that it would have been healthier to eat a high quality ice-cream made with just cream, egg yolk and sugar.

I was poorly informed about nutrition and didn’t have a strong philosophy around food. I trusted mainstream nutrition experts and was a dedicated reader of healthy food guide magazine (after all it is written ‘by experts, for experts’). I was hungry for knowledge and wanted to educate, empower and look after myself. Yet, I was being fed advertising, lies, dogma and all the dangerous information that forms the basis of “politically correct nutrition”.

It wasn’t until I started following Lola Berry, the summer before my first year high school, that I was finally empowered with a new headset and philosophy around nutrition; “don’t be afraid of real foods! Your body thrives on them”. It was then that I had the idea to question food quality. To make sure that the foods I chose were as close to their original state as was possible and practical. I also started to take notice on what seemed to help me “thrive” rather than just “survive”.

Before this time I knew that fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, meats, fish and eggs, wholegrains and legumes were healthy. However I never considered the quality of the source. I didn’t think much about the preparation methods – other than that deep frying was a no-go. I was oblivious to the chemicals found in foods and was still convinced that excess fat in the diet was ‘unhealthy’.

Once I started questioning what I thought I ‘knew’, my diet and overall health improved significantly.

I started reading ingredient listings and would ignore the nutritional panel. The flow-on effect of this was eliminating all highly refined foods because the ingredient listings looked better suited to a chemistry textbook than on the back of a “food” label.

I switched to organic dairy or went without if organic (or at the very least local and non-homogenised) wasn’t an option.

I got rid of wheat and switched to organic sourdough spelt bread.

I gave up anything that had refined sugar and substituted sweet treats for honey or fruit-based desserts.

Eventually I even learned the danger of supposedly heart-healthy vegetable oil and would only use butter and coconut oil for cooking and cold-pressed olive or macadamia oils for dressing purposes.

These changes took about a year to implement fully, before I started to dive deeper and explore a range of different nutritional philosophies to see if some were better suited to my physiology than others.

This was the beginning of my unstoppable passion for real, whole, nourishing foods.

Over the following weeks, I’ll be reminiscing on how I got from A-B, navigating the deceptions and dogma, politically correct nutritional fallacies and manipulative advertising, that leaves most of us thinking that margarine is a health food and that everything is okay ‘in moderation’ (what defines “moderation“? What defines “everything“?) …

When you’re just dipping your toes in the sand of the whole food world, and starting to discover just how many lies you’ve been fed (literally) over the duration of your life, it can be depressingly overwhelming. I remember almost wanting to pretend I hadn’t heard/read/or been told something. Initially, this attitude had me taking two-steps forward and one step backwards. Eventually I became more educated and empowered about what I needed to do to heal my mind and body.

I hope that my sharing an honest account of my transition from a pseudo-healthy SAD (Standard Australian) Diet, to a nutrient-dense whole foods diet, I will encourage you to keep evolving and growing your nutritional philosophy. I never made huge changes overnight and I never went cold turkey. I made so many mistakes and at times was naïve and fell back into old ways.

Now look at me. I look forward to big bowls of this yummo pumpkin dish, crave nutrient-dense smoothies and my favourite “treat” is homemade nut butter with bananas or a creamy bowl of buckwheat porridge. I’m far more critical and I question everything. I don’t water-down by beliefs to please others or keep the peace. I am educated and empowered.

If I, the girl that used to consider choc-dipped tiny teddies with lots of Nutella “lunch” (and sadly no, I’m NOT kidding), can transition to whole foods, then anyone can.

Be brave, empowered and open minded

Hugs and Hi-5’s,

Rachie