It sounds like something someone would say if you met them on the streets of LA, “I’ve just been to see my nutritionist…” and I never imagined visiting one myself. I watch what I eat – low fat this and not much salt that, though I only glance at the articles I’m aware their are various diets and although I don’t adhere to just one I understand the principles.

Fat in = fat. Gotcha.

Well, maybe not. You see, a good friend was raving about this fellow he was seeing for his back. “I spent 6 months traveling the world and found someone who helped and he’s here, in Wellington!” I sounded like a good recommendation and a few other acquaintances had been to see the very same person and were still standing upright. Maybe this lone ranger might help!

For what reason do you need to see this person, you might be asking? Two things, first – Arthritis, I’ve had it for some time, picked it up when I was young ( probably from playing with the girls on the swings ) and it’s hung around. Generally it’s quiet but every now and then it rears its ugly head – usually after a good down poor or when I decide it might be a good idea to kick a ball around, possibly karma. Second – I sit inside all day, in front of a computer, with a daily exercise routine of getting up to go to the toilet or an impromptu game of foosball when the timing is right. After 12 years of this my system seems to have a skewed impression of gravity and my posture could be compared to a hundred year old yak. My previous year off traveling opened my eyes to a whole new world of walking, being outside, and the way you feel after gleefully exhausting yourself while traipsing around monuments and not staring at screens.

I missed it.

I booked myself in and dragged this slightly mushy bag of human into the fellows office the next day.

What I learned, besides the fact that Scooters are indeed safer than Motorbikes ( but I’m still going to get a bike ) is that what I thought I knew about what I was eating was in fact, wrong. And what others were telling me about what I should be eating was even worse – a LIE!

As it turns out ( and what I had suspected ) is being inside, immobile and with no sun is bad. Compounded by the fact Arthritis usually leads to depleted Vitamin D I was in a sorry state. Step 1, more Vitamin D ( or, leave work and head to the country which would be an ideal step 1 ). Apparently it’s not that simple, I could chuck all the Vitamin D down my gob as much as I’d like but my current diet would just help it shoot straight through my system and out the front door, so to speak. Without batting an eyelid and looking at me square in the face my new friend now instructed me to eat more fat. I’m not too sure how it looked to him, but I imagine if there were a soundtrack to my life ( I’ll leave that for another post ) you would have heard the record scratch.

After he picked me off the floor and I kissed him ( real butter, on my vegetables! and whole milk! ) he explained. Vitamin D is a fat soluble Vitamin, it needs fat in your system to help the body with absorption ( and not just D! ) – if your body is missing the right level of fat the Vitamin’s effect is limited. Interesting. And after spending a few minutes discussing my diet it became very apparent that as I’ve been swayed by numerous sources into thinking that limiting my fat intake is a good thing, it’s rare that the fat levels in my body are high enough to be effective. Interestingly enough, this is a by product of our society and what we perceive is correct along with unscrupulous practices by the dairy industry.

Within the discussion that evolved from this new insight a new rule as to how to pick and choose food to eat has surfaced,

“If your grandmother hasn’t heard of it, don’t eat it.”

ie. If it’s been scientifically manufactured within the last 20 years it’s probably not as good for you as what your grandparents would have eaten.

It seems so logical, and straight forward but like a guru my nutritionist has led me down a path of understanding and enlightenment. I was sold!

I’ve begun taking progress photos and will try and post some more findings as the weeks progress. I’m sure these changes take time, but I’m going for long term investment at this point.