Do you wonder, what is the Weston Price Foundation?
Or are you well aware because they played a major role in your health too? I don't know where our family would be without all that I've learned from the WAPF.
Here's how my story began…
It's embarrassing to admit that we used to be a pretty heavy fast food family. This was no big deal back then and there were periods of time when we'd think nothing of “grabbing something quick” 2-3 times per week! Sadly, it wasn't just the fast food, we ate all sorts of junk here at home, too. I thought eating here meant it was homemade, even though it was often a bunch of processed “food” merely thrown together. Looking back it's hard to believe. I pray all of that junk didn't cause any health issues in our eldest son that we haven't discovered yet, and I already know that it played a role in his learning struggles early on. I also believe it was the main reason for the behavior issues in our other son when he was a toddler as well. (Click here to read about what a “fast food” meal is for us these days. It's not that difficult, I promise!)
How the real food journey began:
I've always been able to eat pretty much whatever I wanted and not gain weight. However, just as I was warned by many, in my mid to late 30's that all began to change. I decided it was time to drop 10-15 # and began the South Beach Diet that I'd heard about.
So many contradictions…
I remember reading that book and being very frustrated by how much the author contradicted himself. He'd say it was the wrong carbs (or too many) that caused weight gain and that it wasn't the good fats that were the problem, only the bad fats – I still believe all that. But then his recipes in the back would call for reduced-fat cheeses, low-fat sour cream, “egg substitutes”, or “I can't believe it's not butter” of all things! (YUCK!) He did the same thing with sugar. He'd say we should keep it at a minimum, but that natural sugars are best because they have a low-glycemic index and are way less processed/refined. He explained how the artificial sweeteners are full of scary chemicals that we know now are SO dangerous for us – I still believe all that too. Then his recipes would call for a “sugar substitute” or sugar-free jello and puddings!
My neighbor friend got the ball rolling faster.
Toward the beginning of this diet I spoke with my friend Kathy, who is very knowledgeable on health-related issues, and she suggested that information in this book may not be correct, (read what's wrong with the South Beach diet). She told me about the Weston Price Foundation website, so I woke up early that next Saturday morning and read all through the site for a couple of hours straight. I can still remember exactly where I was sitting and I remember how my world was rocked.
What I read transformed something inside of me, there's no other way to describe it.
I read information I'd never heard anywhere else at that point (but I hear it all the time now – word is spreading!), and it all made so much sense!
I got the Nourishing Traditions book (now a classic!) and that kept my motivation going wild.
For just one example of what ‘got me', I read about good fats and thought, “No wonder people try to lose weight for years on these low-fat diets and it's a constant up-hill battle that many never win!” (Unless you are among the super-disciplined, who can fight your own body as it tries to tell you what it needs.)
I read that we need good fats for every function in our body and that it's only the fats that have been introduced in the past few decades that are killing us, like margarine, unhealthy vegetable oils: corn, soybean, cottonseed, canola/rapeseed, and all trans fats. It's NOT the fats that people have been eating forever on their family farms! (Like butter, eggs, whole milk and dairy products, meat from healthy animals…)
That's just ONE of the topics I delved into that morning, and it was only the beginning. Now when people ask me, “What is the Weston Price Foundation”, it's hard not to overwhelm them with all I've learned!
Our teenager had no idea at the time how his life was about to change forever… 
I became a crazy-woman in my kitchen. Starting that day I also became a label reader. I weeded out the junk from my pantry and freezer. We bought new pans and got rid of any aluminum or Teflon. I started making much more of our food from scratch, and even annoyed my friends and family like crazy with all the new information I wanted to share.
I delved into everything probably a bit faster than most, and became very overwhelmed at times for two main reasons:
- When I was just beginning to cook healthier and learning all this new information, the list of the things I found out I was “doing wrong” grew like crazy. Whether it was the food I was buying, the way I prepared it, or the pans I cooked with, the more I learned, the more overwhelmed I became and the more I wanted to change – I can't believe the many things I'd just never even heard were unhealthy!
- The other frustrating thing was that I'd find out something was unhealthy and switch everything out in my kitchen, only to find out later I'd gotten some bad scoop and what I'd switched TO was also unhealthy! It was difficult finding the truth.
That's why I started this blog and it's also why I wrote a book, Real Food for Rookies!
I wanted to be the clear helpful resource for you that I wish I'd had in early 2004.
If you're wondering about the diet results…
By the way, I modified the diet based on what I began learning and I lost 11# in a week and a half by eating plenty of healthy fats, limited amounts of healthy carbs, good protein, and lots of veggies, too. I found out that real food tastes SO much better anyway! It's been about 4 years since then, and I'm not always good about eating a limited amount of only healthy carbs (I still love sweets too much), but I do eat liberal amounts of healthy fats and my weight has stayed pretty normal.
My advice:
You will probably want to take all this a little slower than I did and not change so much in such a short period of time. Not only to save the budget, but also to save your sanity, but once I learned what I did, there was no going back to the crap we ate before!
Need help?
If you'd like some help on your journey toward a more real food lifestyle, again, check out my book Real Food for Rookies or my Real Food for Rookies online class!
More you might like:
- A note to myself 10 years ago
- Life Changes – Five Ways They're All the Same
- I'm really not a food snob!
- Have you heard of Weston A. Price?
Tell us about your “food conversion” and what got you started on this journey?
Sarah says
In 2007 my oldest child (5 at the time) was throwing up small amounts of food ALL the time. The more processed the food the worse it was. We went to a chiropractor who was trained in applied kinesiology (sp?). I had heard of Nourishing Traditions through The Bulk Herb Store and purchased a copy. I started to incorporate small aspects of it but had a hard time believing about phytic acid. My oldest improved a bit as long as she was getting adjusted at the chiropractor each week. I did not doubt there was a connection. We moved; found a chirpractor who was very extensive with supplementation. I was getting frustrated. Our daughter was on 9 supplements when everything finally fell into place . There had been many layers to work through. Within 2 weeks of the ninth supplement being added she began to test for only 1 and no longer throwing up. She was able to maintain her back being in alignment. She had a lot of toxins in her system. A local bread man that made authentic sourdough and I became well acquainted and that is all we began to use. When we travelled my daughter developed severe intestinal distress that only cleared up when we returned home and she ate 4 slices of sourdough bread a day for a week. That was when I jumped fully on board with soaking grains and sourdough. If it made that much of a difference for my girl then it must do it for all of us even if we were not as sensitive. As my sister in law has said she is our canary in a coal mine…sorry I got so long winded.
BethG says
Love reading about your food awakening, Kelly. I got to this post from your pre-real food conversion recipes post. I have lots of cream of xyz soup casserole recipes in my box and cool whip topping ones too. Someday I may be inspired to make them again when there are decent real food alternatives on the market. Until then, they’ll be collecting dust. 🙂
Anna says
Hi,
Learning and getting into the WAPF eating style is a gradual process for me. I gained close to 20lbs during 2 years in college. I started exercising to lose weight but wasn’t sure how to modify my diet. I came upon the F-Factor diet and decided to follow that. It recommends a lot of fiber (predominately from vegetables and fruits), some protein and a limited amount of carbs from any source which basically causes one to get them from fruit and whole grains. However, fat was very limited, and I pretty much ignored it. I ate whatever meat my mom cooked up, occasional lamb, butter, and full fat cheese. I lost all the weight within a year. A few years later, my mom recieved Nourishing Traditions as a Christmas gift. I was curious and read it, I thought that it sounded great, but didn’t have the time and money to incorporate many more changes into my diet. Now pregnant the first time round, I visited my family and read it again. It clicked with me. The book is ahead of the curve! I had been reading articles about food from a variety of sources, women’s health, live strong, etc. NT encouraged eggs long before they did! Saturated fat is also starting to lose its bad rap with these sources. It also personally clicked with me because cheese and butter have tasted soooo much better since becoming pregnant! Pregnancy has also made me completely abhor junk food (processed chips, sweet cereals, cookies, etc.) Now I know its because my body wants and needs thatthe good fat and not the bad fats and carbs! I am starting to incorporate more of WAPF into my and my husband’s diet, i.e. avoiding the dirty dozen, eating more eggs, making my own stocks, I look forward to eating free range meat and drinking raw milk.
KitchenKop says
What a healthy baby you’ll be having soon!!! 🙂
amy says
Thank you for your most informative site! We have auto-immune disease in our family, including two of my children having 2 different types of kidney disease. I am searching and studying for healthy eating that makes sense for us. There is so much contradictory information out there.
Thank you for the time you take getting this information out there.
peace,
amy
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hi Amy, have you checked into the GAPS Diet for healing auto-immune disorders?
Kelly
Elizabeth says
Hi Kelly! Do you drink raw milk, which is talked about quite a bit in Weston Price? We did for a while.
KitchenKop says
Hi Elizabeth,
Yes, we do. Check these out: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/12/raw-milk-posts.html
Kelly
nicole says
I didn’t know aluminum was bad. I use aluminum foil to avoid plastic wrap all of the time. What is harmful about it? Thanks! Nicole
KitchenKop says
Hi Nicole,
If you do a google search you’ll find all sorts of warnings about aluminum, but remember it’s only if your food touches it. I’ll sometimes use foil to cover a dish in the oven, but I’ll poof it up high so it’s not touching anything. If you have any aluminum baking pans still, you can just use parchment paper to put the food on to avoid the aluminum.
Plastic wrap is best not touching the food, either, but it’s mostly for warm foods that I’m especially careful with that.
Kelly
Jennifer says
what cookware do you use?
KitchenKop says
Mostly stainless steel or cast iron. 🙂
Stepahnie says
I just discovered your site early this morning from a link posted on herbmentor.com, it was concerning kefir soda. I am excited to learn more, I am very new to the do-it-yourself culturing/fermenting. My food conversion has been very long and arduous but began the same way… some weight gain in my 30s. I have always had a fascination with nutrition and regretted not majoring in that rather than nursing, but now realize I’d have been brainwashed with all the wrong info anyway! Hindsight… Anyway, I have run the gamut from low-fat, to low-carb, to vegetarian, and even a short stint as a raw food vegan! I have finally come full circle (and then some) having recently been introduced to the Weston A. Price foundation. I thank God for such a wonderfully adaptive husband; he jokes all the time that he never know what he’s “allowed” to eat or not! I had not heard of “The Maker’s Diet” until your site, but I checked it out on Weston A. Price and it got a “thumbs up” from them, so I think that’ll be next on my list. In fact, that’s one of the things that got me thinking… I wondered; if God created it as food, how could it be bad? How could people have survived without modern processing and conveniences? And if all these things are so good, why are there so many more incidences of chronic and degenerative diseases? My sister passed away 5 years ago at age 39, from colon cancer, the first thing her doctor told us all was “get rid of your microwave ovens”. So far, I’m the only one who has taken his advice and we’ve had two more incidences of cancer in my generation. Nobody wants to hear my advice or read any books/websites that I recommend. It’s very frustrating; especially at family gatherings when we pretty much pack our own food. I could go on… Thanks again for such a wonderfully informative site!
Jennifer says
Kelly, my family (also a military family) is on the beginning of our food journey! I get overwhelmed sometimes too. I’m really trying to take this one step at a time. the biggest hurdle for me mentally? its the expense. I am so used to ultra-cheap food – and am finding the foods that we need – like the best milk, butter, eggs, meat — run between 300%-1000% more than prices I normallly pay. Of course i know this is due to the manufacturing — but its still a mental (as well as budgeting) hurdle for me! but we try to just be more mindful of what we are eating – and not wasteful (half-finished cups of kid’s milk goes back in the fridge for another day!). Anyway, just thought I’d share, I appreciate your website for info.
KitchenKop says
Hi Jennifer, I know it can be tough, but have you read these posts with ideas to help? https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/03/nourishing-frugal-healthy-meals.html
And remember all the money you’re saving with the junk you’re not buying anymore!
Keri says
Hello!! I just found your website..and WOW what a ton of information. I am a newbie to all of this and have been reading for days. What are the top five first steps you recommend to someone who is wanting to switch over their eating style?
Thanks!
KitchenKop says
Hi Keri,
Sorry I’m having trouble getting back to you with a good answer on this (getting ready to leave for the Wise Traditions conference). For now, how about you check out my rookie tips?
https://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/04/rookie-tips.html
Kelly
Dana says
I didn’t know about that SBD article at the WAPF site. Thanks for sharing it. I already didn’t like the diet because the first time I picked up the book at somebody’s house and leafed through it I thought Agatson was buying into mainstream dogma. I’d already read Atkins at that point and done my own homework, you see. (Dr. Atkins really liked Nourishing Traditions, by the way. *smile* If you don’t use any of the Atkins products and just follow the original diet it relies *heavily* on real foods and saturated fat.) What really infuriated me was the love affair the press was having with the SBD on account of its creator being a cardiologist. Duh? Atkins was one too.
Anyway. Thanks for sharing your story… I still have a long way to go.
KitchenKop says
Hi JeanMarie,
Wow, almost 100% non-processed, that is awesome! Wish I could say that! I’m glad the site has helped you. Keep commenting, I’d love to hear more from you. 🙂
Kelly
Jeanmarie says
Kelly, I’ve been reading your site from time to time over the past few weeks and really delved in today. I appreciate you sharing your story. I stumbled upon Nourishing Traditions at a Whole Foods Market in about 2004 and it changed my life. I’ve been doing it much more slowly than you did. When I first read NT for some reason I skipped the whole first section on basic nutritional information, WAP-style, and started reading recipes, but everything seemed to require me to make something else first, so it was frustrating and confusing. Then I saw a demo by Sandor Katz on making sauerkraut and started with that, then made kombucha, then kefir, and still ate processed crap far too often. But living on a farm the past year, and growing my own veggies the past few months without a job, I’m getting close to 100% nonprocessed food. I get a lot of fulfillment making my own food, not just a meal, but foundational foods like bone broth and lacto-fermented veggies (and fruits!). Perusing your site and similar ones has really helped keep me excited about all this lately, so thank-you! I’ve put on a few pounds (from cheating on store-bought ice cream etc.) and am paring back carbs now to get in fighting shape, so thanks for the inspiration.
Kelly says
Hi Char, fun to hear from you, tell hubby thanks for spreading the word for me! I hear ya on the candy thing…tomorrow it starts to mysteriously disappear……..
Char Young says
Hi Kelly,
My husband (www.catholicfoodie.com) found your site & I’m just skimming through your posts. He found it through Lisa H. Anyway, so glad to have found you & I’m really looking to reading more. From what I’ve read so far, it seems we’re on the same page with food philosophy. We converted to whole foods 2 years ago. (I think I need to read up on the aluminum & teflon though.) I have become much more relaxed with the kids when we are away from home, but keep things here as strict as possible. That said, my house is full of traditional Easter candy at the moment—ugh! I must let the “grands” do their grandparenting thing!
Kelly says
Wish I could get to the point where sweets were “too sweet” for me…can’t imagine it!
TrailGrrl says
Every time my sister goes back on SBD she loses a bunch of weight and then gains it back even worse. I think you really can’t believe that smashed up cauliflower is any substitute for real mashed potatoes made with butter and cream.
I used to to Body for Life and have probably tried every high-end protein drink, meal replacement, and bar that is out there. It worked for a while, but let’s face it, the food is all processed.
When I hit 40 things just changed. My tolerance for carbs I think went way down, and it took more work to stay fit. I stopped processed foods and upped my natural fats from meats and other sources. I see the word “soy” and in my mind I think “crap.” I originally got to WAPF by reading Ross Enaimit’s boxing forum. Ross is extremely well built and muscular yet with washboard abs and he doesn’t do any protein powders or artificial foods. He got all his info from the WAPF forums. I started to take what they were saying more seriously then.
I can’t even eat the bars that are just made with fruit and nuts anymore (larabar, clif nectar, etc.) because they are just too sweet for me now that I have returned to real food. Traveling in Europe and eating local foods but not gaining any weight makes you realize how much garbage is being sneaked into our foods in the U.S.
TrailGrrl
Vera says
Years ago we used to buy SBD protein bars. Then recently I saw the ingredients list at the supermarket. Soy..soy…more soy… And corn syrup. And hydrogenated oils. And they say that stuff is good for you! Gross.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Karen,
Great job on the weight loss!!! And even better is the improved mental health – priceless. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Kelly
Anonymous says
Wow…I didn’t know all of that about the South Beach Diet. Go figure. It promotes itself as a healthy, veggie-full program. The word “diet” turned me off. And, Sally Fallon’s work turn me straight to what’s good.
Thank you, Kelly, for giving me the short version of the SBDiet. I’m going to forward it to my friends. Sheesh. Chemicals, low fat and not enough good fats….same ol’ same ol low fat dogma that has ruled out press for 30 years. I hope people wake up to what doesn’t work so they can find out what does! I’m down 21 pounds myself…yahoo. Even better, my mental health is astronomically better.
Hugs and thank you for working so hard on our behalf.
Karen in Merida, Yucatan
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