Keto/ palleo enviromentally friendly diet

A change of pace in comparison to my regular blog posts!

This is about two diets that since I started following them my weight and health have become better than ever. I believe if more people adapted the lifestyle and embraced the fundamentals of these two diets. It would change the way the world works, it is not a easy life style choice as there is very little convenience involved. Which is the point its about eating fresh in season food with high natural fat content as the main fuel for your body. It is about going back to the basics before when focused on the calorie value of our food and before we were able to eat our favourite foods all year round because they have been flown from all around the world.  Now that we no longer eat with the seasons we continuously eat food that we like, unfortunately historically they are not the health lean foods. We never move with the seasons there is a reason why there are lean seasons and bountiful ones, eating with the seasons gives our diets the natural control of nutrients.

Firstly I will define the two diets:

The Ketogenic diet focuses on  high natural fat, as the main fuel for the body with a balanced amount of protein and low carbohydrate.

The Palleo diet focuses on types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables and fruit no dairy.

For me the amalgamation of both these diets works, they create a balance of the two extremes. I try stay away from the mainstream staples of potatoes, bread and pasta but with young kids that is not always practical. I use dairy as currently we need butter, cheese and cream as a great source of energy. Sugar is a big NO! We use sweetener when required and stay away from high carbohydrate fruits, due to the fact we don't need to worry about lean periods like our ancestors.

Before I started looking at the environment side of what my family eats, I had no idea how the agricultural industry operated. I watched a documentary called "Sustainable" and "in defence of food" both available on Netflix, these documentaries opened my eyes to the food we eat, how it affects our health and our planet.
The cost of local grown food is higher than the mass produced meats, vegetables and processed products, but by supporting local micro farmers who farm in ecological ways or even just local people who grow their own food in their allotment, and sell there surplus. we can change these industries, the old school financially driven institutions that care nothing about our health or the wellbeing of the animals but care greatly about their margins.

Gathering of ecologically fair trade foods can become a very rewarding way to live. Its a bit like how our ancestors lived, although it seems difficult its much easier than they way they lived. Time is an illusive commodity when living a mainstream life. Working 8 to 10 hours a day does not leave much time for finding food and there in lies the part where people give up, Rome was not built in a day. I have started small cut out one item of convenience at a time look for local sources. If they cannot be found I plan to start growing our own and sell or give away some of our surplus via my Facebook page.

Food like everything else we see is driven by marketing, they manipulate us into believing we need what we don't, now in my previous post "planning food for a minimalist family" I highlighted the importance of creating meal plans to save money, this has worked out very well for the finances now I'm working on expanding to incorporate meals sourced in sustainable and environmentally friendly ways. I searched the internet and found a site with this seasonal grow chart. The next stage of my families eating plan is to start eating more seasonal dishes. Reduce the amount of meat we eat weekly from 7 days to 5 days this will not only save us money but it is kinder to the environment. I read this article on how livestock damage the environment and it made me really take stock. My family consumes vast amount of dairy an meat, now we are not going to become vegetarians or even vegans but we are going to reduce our consumption.

Finding alternative is another time consuming endeavour, we have grown up eating commercially viable foods. We need to train ourselves to think about meals differently, which is difficult as all our knowledge comes from main stream media and books focused on the mass population. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is one of the few writers / broadcasters who fights for seasonal eating.

Minimalism is my guide to life

I consider myself a minimalist, I'm not an extremist. I use minimalism as a tool to identify what's important to me, what brings value to my life, what makes me happy and most importantly what I need.
Need is an important word. I class my needs on three plains my mind, my body and my spirit.
My mind; I consider myself an intellectual, I love learning new things and I need to develop my skills and continuously grow through practice, research and trial and error. I'm technically minded so my garage is full, of tools and projects that I  plan to use in the future to teach my two boys to be the best men they can be.
My body; I class this as everything I need to keep my body healthy, after all, it's the vessel I use to enjoy my journey of life in. Nutrition and exercise are important as I want to be around and functioning as long as I can.
My spirit; I'm not deeply spiritual but I class intangible feelings as my spirit, the feelings I have for my family and all other relationship falls under this section.
Minimalism for me is the guide I use to help me live the best life I can. I like no clutter and love living with only the things I need. I really love spending the money, I have saved by cutting out the excess on travelling with my family.
Minimalism is the best diet you ever need to eat what your body needs not what it wants. Plan your meals to avoid waste, cook what you like as everything is ok in moderation.
Our house is not just the building that protects our bodies from the elements and keeps us safe when we sleep. It's the place where our spirit is lifted, we hold all the things that are important to us in our home.  It's where we spend most of our downtime and the place we raise our children. It's not a place it's our home and although excess is not good you need it to feel homely, but not cluttered.
As a minimalist family, we as parents make sure all the fundamental basics, are there for our children. We give them the pocket money that they spend on what they want, even if we don't agree we give our advice they either take it or don't. They can make their own decisions! I'm a minimalist I'm not a cult leader!
I enjoy living a simpler life, I don't have a simple life I'm in a high-level job that has huge amounts of pressure at times. That is what I like cause at the end of my working day, I switch off and enjoy life with my kids and wife. When they get older our travel destination will get more exotic and more exciting but more rural I have no interest in luxury I want to experience the culture, beautiful destinations and amazing experiences.
Minimalism is my guide to life

Money stop wasting it

While changing my mindset from consumer robot to minimalist conservative, I have had to take a long hard look at my finances and how I spend the money I earn.
If I'm to achieve my goal of being debt free in 5 years.
In order to help me achieve this, I have set out a few rules to assist me with making the right choices.

Simple Rules I try to live by.

1. If it is not on the budget it does not get spent.
2. Don't buy another thing on credit.
3. Save for what you want rather than use credit.
4. Savings are for those emergencies we cant predict or to pay off debt
5. Experiences are important for the family as life is for living not consuming.

By following these rules I find I don't want to spend money on the things I don't really need, especially now I have to save for them. I end up thinking longer before buy that must have gadget I want, but I tend to ask myself is it going to bring me happiness, am I going to use it once or is it going to enrich my life? Then I ask is worth reducing my saving for? More often than not it is not worth it and I just don't buy it.

I use an excel spreadsheet to create my budget now I don't claim to be a genius on excel but  I have managed to create a budget that I'm able segregate my expenditure into the following categories

• Living expenses
• Luxury and unplanned expenditure
• Shop debt
• Savings
• Experiences

I use a pie chart at the end of every month to see where my money is going. By dividing it up the expenditures into percentages, I have been able to set my first goal. Which is on a base lie month to live on 50% of my wage and save 25% and spend the other 25% on experiences. but right now I'm still paying for my failed business. Which is a whole other story which I happily share with my audience "the day my life changed" & "how my business failed" two related posts you might find interesting.

By constantly reviewing and adjusting your model, you can see I'm always trying to reduce my living expenditure, luxury purchases and debt. I can speed up or slow down your progress as long as it complies with the rules you set yourself. I'm focused on paying off my debt but if I have a good month I make sure I do something with my family to remind them life is good and having things are not the memories that make a difference in your life.

I keep a goals sheet where I track all my saving and debt. This allow me to plot the day I become debt free,at the current trajectory May 2024. On that day a month after my 42nd birthday, I will have no mortgage, no car loans, no unsecured loans and no credit cards.

With my targeted base line above I will be able to live on half my wage, which means I could pursue a new career, or just work less. Right now I'm working on that blog "ambitions for the future" which I'm finding interesting as I'm trying to figure out what will make me happy.

 They say life begins at 40 for me that is becoming a reality every day I get closer to a uncorrupted life.