How to make healthy choices every day

Cinnamon Crunch Cereal and Hemp Milk

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“It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.”
– Margaret Mead

Yup. Pretty much.
This entire shift began when I had a particularly gnarly couple of months with manic mood swings that rivaled my adolescence, acne flare-ups, bloating, low energy, night sweats, and all-round malaise. Knowing what I know, I looked at my diet first to see what could be adjusted. Everything was organic, whole, plant-based and totally “healthy” by most peoples’ standards. But it just wasn’t working anymore. I knew something had to give.

Delving in deeper, a typical day for me was a whole-grain porridge in the morning, topped with all kinds of seasonal fruit, homemade granola etc. Lunch was a couple slices of organic sourdough rye bread from the local bakery, with homemade hummus, avocado, sprouts etc. Dinner was often a mixed bowl, the base of which was brown rice, quinoa, millet or buckwheat covered in a rainbow of vegetables, homemade pickles, superfood-loaded sauce, and fresh herbs. I wasn’t eating sugar, drinking coffee, I was keeping up with my exercise and sleeping well. So what was the problem? In this case, I had a feeling it was a big ol’ grain overload.

The idea of cutting back on my morning oats, bread, and grain bowls was literally devastating to me. I cried. On multiple occasions, just talking about giving up muffins made me weep, and I felt like there was just no way I could make even more changes, or think about my diet even more than I already did.

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I have had two serious experiences with orthorexia in my life. For those of you who don’t know what orthorexia is, it is defined as an obsession with healthy eating. It is considered an eating disorder, and one that is becoming more prevalent in Western culture as healthy eating becomes increasingly “trendy”. The first bout happened the year I moved out of the house to study at university. While many of my friends were bingeing on junk food and beer, I swung in the opposite direction entirely and took advantage of the incredible meal program that was offered at school, and fueled myself with enormous salads, delicious sandwiches and wraps, veggie-heavy soups and stews, and protein-rich smoothies. I also signed up for the free fitness classes at the university gym, got hooked on kickboxing, step aerobics, boot camp drills, and the weight literally fell off me. I lost about 25 pounds that year, and for the first time in my life I felt like I was in control of the way I looked. The sudden attention from guys – which I had never had before – further stoked the fires for my desire to be even thinner, even though my initial motivation to eat this way stemmed from a desire to be healthy. As my attitude towards food morphed from friend to enemy, I flirted with a full-on eating disorder at this point, playing games with myself to see how long I could go without eating, how many exercise classes I could fit in between classes and study groups, how long I could make my bean salad from lunch last (too long!). Eventually my energy levels dropped to the point where I had a very hard time getting out of bed in the morning and I couldn’t concentrate well in school. I realized that I had taken things too far and started eating in a more balanced way again. I put the experience behind me without giving it too much thought.

The second time this resurfaced was, ironically, while studying holistic nutrition. While I was learning all about foods and how my body worked, I became almost afraid to eat, toxifying my body, or “poisoning” it with sugar, gluten, dairy and the rest. I became obsessed with detoxing and subsisted only on “clean foods”; mostly vegetables. I was stressed, my hair started falling out, my acne came back and my energy hit an all-time low. Despite my obvious physical misery, I somehow felt validated since I wasn’t putting anything “bad” in my body. Eating as healthy as possible became obsessive for me and my classmates, and we’d all proudly bring our lunches to school, subtly scrutinizing each other’s Tupperware contents. Again, food had lost its pleasure, its joy, and had become something that I saw as more of an enemy than a friend. And that really scared me.

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After graduating, I finally got a grip, and once again slowly re-established a healthy relationship to what I was eating. It is for these reasons that food is such a tender subject for me, and changing my diet dangerous territory. I spent so many years struggling to achieve a positive connection with food, and when I finally got there and it felt like such a relief. The prospect of having to go “back to that place” of thinking about food more than I already did felt unsafe for me, and slipping back into an obsessive place felt like an inevitability. Meanwhile, the negative self-talk voices were loud and overpowering, telling me how I was fat, flabby, weak, old – things that I KNEW weren’t true. But that’s the sad thing about internal monologues, they don’t need to make sense to play like broken records in our minds all day every day. It’s enough to drive a person insane. The cruel voices coupled with my extreme fear of reverting back to my old thought patterns and eating habits absolutely terrified me. I felt like I had hit a wall of hopelessness. And all I wanted to do to feel better was to eat a piece of eff-ing bread.

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The reason I suspected the grain thing was because of the unique relationship that blood sugar has to our hormones. If we’re consuming carbohydrates at a faster rate than our bodies are utilizing them for energy, that extra glucose gets stored in the fat cells of the liver, which decreases its ability to breakdown excess estrogen, and allowing it to hang around in our systems longer than it should. This excess circulating estrogen causes a whole host of symptoms, including, you guessed it: mood swings, bloating, sluggish metabolism, tender breasts, fatigue, foggy thinking, PMS, and many more less-than-desirable issues. Now, these things can be exacerbated by stress (shocker), inadequate fat and protein intake, and environmental factors, all of which I was likely suffering from.

I set out by making a plan, since I know how hard it is to make positive changes without preparation. Instead of focusing on the all the things I wanted to reduce or eliminate, I focused on the foods I could have, foods higher in fat and protein, since I knew that those things would naturally elbow out the things I would normally fall back on (I’m looking at you, banana bread). I made a list that I could refer to when I was grocery shopping for ingredients. I cooked and froze things. I stocked the fridge and pantry. I was ready.

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Within the first few days I already noticed a difference: my energy was incredibly stable, my emotions were in check, the bloating in my stomach dissipated, and I just felt good. As the days rolled on my compulsive urges to down half a dozen muffins subsided, and it was like I could clearly see that what I had actually been battling was blood sugar issues – not just “too many” grains or carbohydrates. It became clear that I had been taking my bod on a wild rollercoaster of high and low blood sugar for years, which had in turn been tossing my hormones around like a pair of sneakers in a washing machine. Stabilizing blood sugar is the first step in managing your endocrine’s system ability to do its job properly. I realized that if I was going to eat grains (or any carbohydrate-heavy food), I had to eat them in smaller amounts, balance them out thoughtfully with enough fat and protein, and make sure that I was actually using that energy instead of letting it sit around in my body. So far, things have been going incredibly well, and I am so darn proud of myself for not only identifying the issue, but actually doing something about it.

We are fluid beings with needs that evolve and change over time. Our diets need to reflect that, which is why it’s imperative to listen to our bodies and be advocates for our own health. No one knows your body better than you, and once you quiet all the noise out there telling you “how” to eat in black-and-white terms, you’ll be able to hear yourself, without judgement, and choose the way of eating that is just right for you, right now. It may be different tomorrow, and that is okay too. In sharing this all with you, I am trying to set an example, because you too have this intuition that is telling you just what you need to eat and do right now. It’s actually fun to be connected to yourself, your unique rhythms and needs. Learning about how you operate and designing a plan that caters to your exceptional self means that you can celebrate, instead of berate your body the whole month through, and experience pleasure in every stage of our cycle. I promise.

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This is undoubtedly a huge topic, and one that I plan on chipping away at over the next few blog posts. Some things I want to reiterate here are, that I do not believe that grains or carbohydrates are bad. No natural food group should be vilified, just as no macronutrient should be either. If you’re thinking about giving up carbs, I’d advise you not to. Glucose, the sugar found in carbohydrates is your brain’s primary fuel source, and when consumed responsibly, carbs will help you on your wellness journey, not hinder you. I still stand behind each and every one of the recipes that I have created for this blog, the app, and both of my cookbooks, and I believe that they are appropriate for many people to enjoy. However at this stage of my life, some of the recipes do not serve my needs any longer, and I’ve had to make small changes to them, or put them on the shelf for another time. I’m okay with that.

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Whew! Now for some notes on the recipe.

The base recipe for my Cinnamon Toast Crunch-inspired cereal is grain-free, but it does rely on almond flour, which can be expensive. If you can tolerate pseudo-grains, feel free to top up the base with buckwheat flour. This will bulk up the cereal considerably so you’ll have more for less money.

This cereal is r-i-c-h. You really only need a small amount to fuel you in the morning – not like the bottomless bowls of that we’re used to consuming in the morning without every really feeling satisfied, ya know what I mean? And paired with a luscious liquid like my Super Creamy Hemp Milk will keep you full for even longer, help stabilize your blood sugar, not to mention flood your bod with the delicate nutrients and powerful enzymes that store-bought, plant-based milk is missing. This recipe is dead simple and pretty much like cream – I shouldn’t even call it milk, since it’s so rich and thick. And since we’re thinking outside the cereal box here, don’t stop at breakfast…this milk is amazing in coffee and tea, in raw treats and baked goods, soup, smoothies, ice cream and popsicles. You’re gonna love it!

I made the cereal the first time with just almond flour and a full half-cup of applesauce. It was definitely delicious, but I loved it just as much when I cut this amount in half. If you don’t want all the sweetness, use just ¼ cup / 60ml of applesauce instead of the full amount. If you’re using buckwheat flour, you will need the full amount of the applesauce’s moisture to bind it all together. I haven’t tried a version without the coconut sugar, so if you’re not into that stuff feel free to play with the recipe on your own.

Initially, I was really afraid to come out about any of this stuff – the changes my diet is undergoing, the orthorexia, the internal voices! But I know in my gut that if I’m going through it, someone else out there is too. And the reason I wanted to start My New Roots in the first place was to create a safe space for everyone to share and support each other on our health journeys, so I have to be as transparent and honest as I feel I can be to set that example. I want to say a huge heartfelt thank-you to all of you who have stood by me all of these years and continue to do so. It feels pretty amazing to have you, and to be getting better all together.

In light and gratitude,
Sarah B.

 

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Also… There’s one spot left for the upcoming retreat in Ibiza, click here to join me for a week of total inspiration and rejuvenation!

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232 thoughts on “Cinnamon Crunch Cereal and Hemp Milk”

  • Dear Sarah, I love your recipes. When I can I take refuge in your blog looking for new ideas for a healthy and balanced diet. Thank you for your contributions to my well-being

  • Thanks for writing this. Sometimes we need that reminder to listen to our bodies and put what society is saying to the side! The cereal sounds delicious – I love cinnamon so it’s sure to be a hit.

  • Choosing food for breakfast is a challenge for me every day so this recipe seems to really change that for me, a recipe worth adapting!

  • I’ve just made the cereal and it’s fab! I used almond meal from making almond milk in a slow juicer (3/4 cup), minced apples that were also used to make juice (1/2 cup), buckwheat groats ground into flour (3/4 cup), and the rest of the recipe unchanged. I basically saved some scraps, that would otherwise end up in trash, and turned them into something delicious. I love how Sarah’s recipes are always new and inspiring and so so healthy! I’m having the cereal for breakfast tomorrow along with the almond milk :)).

  • Thank you for sharing this. I can relate in so many ways with a lifelong love/hate relationship to food and two bouts of eating disorders. My downfall was fertility as I was desperate to get pregnant in my late thirties. Chinese Medicine and nutrition helped me move forward and I gave up my two and half decade of vegetarianism. Everything in life is ambivalent – you need a balance of all foods – then you’ll have a healthy body.
    The reward was a healthy baby girl two years ago and a second pregnancy. The wonderful news is you can heal with food.

  • Congratulation on your honesty! And believe me I am happy that you opened this door. I am not vegan/vegetarian but I am not really a meat lover and my blood sugar is going crazy. And just last night I was sad to think that in order to control it I had to do the hi protein diet which I detest and know that is bad for my health…. so thank you thank you thank you and please keep the post coming!

  • Hey Sarah,

    I like that you wrote about orthorexia, a serious problem in the food blogging community which has become an echo chamber of orthorexic triggers. I see it manifest in raw vegans, low fat high carb vegans, paleo and probably any potential diet style. I frequently read about food bloggers who choose to avoid grains entirely because they have symptoms of gluten intolerance, think that flour products like bread and pasta have too high GIs or are concerned about GMOs. I can understand these concerns, and as you discussed that an excess of carbs can trigger hormonal problems. However does the exclusion of grains in entirety not concern you as a potential slide back into orthorexia? I see talk about “responsible carb consumption” driving people to avoid fruit or to treat quinoa as a condiment while eating massive amounts of nuts, seeds and fats. And then consuming concentrated sweeteners like coconut sugar through nut bakes? Some of these things just seem like arbitrary food rules to me, which detracts from intuitive eating. Can you share more of your thoughts on when/ why it would be necessary and/ or beneficial to replace all grains, especially whole intact grains, because maybe the breads and pastas and baked goods have become overkill? Brenda Davis, RD addresses grains quite intelligently in her video series where she explains how processing seriously alters the way we digest them. I am very happy to hear that this change of omitting grains gave you relief from feeling unwell and hope that my comment is not perceived as an argument with your path to wellness, but I do hope to read more in future blog posts.

    I have been vegan for 6 years and have gone through a few stints of feeling similarly lousy to what you described. In one instance I learnt that I was severely deficient in Vitamin D, even in spite of taking 1000 IU per day as a supplement with fatty food. In another instance, I was feeling extreme depression and anxiety, excessive thirst and my normally very steady sleep had become elusive. I never got my DHA tested, but found these symptoms went away when I started supplementing with 500 mg of DHA each day. Another thing that I’ve found is that I can easily go overboard on the nuts, seeds and healthy fats and that this causes my skin to go crazy and it also causes me to gain weight. I also went through a phase where I was getting inexplicable nose bleeds multiple times a day, and they went away immediately and completely when I left my job. I hope to offer my experience as a data point, as I found other accounts of vegan health glitches (especially Sayward Rebhal’s) provided helpful ideas that doctors and health professionals couldn’t provide.

    I really believe that when something feels wrong, it seriously is. Or that when one has to carefully manage or restrict from a whole foods plant-based diet, that a medical problem is likely underlying. It’s so frustrating that women often get the brush off when expressing these types of concerns to their doctors.

    Anyways, hope that you are feeling like yourself again and that my comments do not read as a challenge to your intuition, which was not my intention.

  • I did everything according to the directions. At 20 minutes they were burned! Just a warning before you waste ingredients. Flax seed is also overpowering– in the batter and in the one slightly less burned square I tried. If I was to attempt this recipe again, I’d do less flax and maybe more almond flour. Hope this helps–there are a lot of comments so I didn’t read all of them to see if this happened to anyone else, but wondering if anyone actually tried this recipe, or just wanted to share their stories on diet. ?

  • Thank you for the recipe! Choosing food for breakfast is a challenge for me everyday, sometimes, I just skip the meal and drink coffee 😀 Gonna try this recipe, it looks very fun.

  • Thank you so much for this post, and for the next one. I absolutely love your blog and your books. Over the past year, I have worked with a nutritionist to tweak some things in my plant-based diet that she explained were not serving me well (even though I was eating what I thought were “healthy” foods). So much of what you said matches her advice exactly. Have been trying to cut back on grains — which I love — and to be really conscious about what I eat and when, and how it may affect my blood sugar. I also rely on legumes for much protein, and I will try to be more diligent about soaking. I am so grateful for everything that you have shared, and I look forward to more of your delicious recipes.

  • Such a GREAT POST SARAH! I seriously can’t get over it! This is what was on my mind for a long time – “How should I control my grain/carbs intake, should I control it at all? Will I have any pleasure in food any more?” blah blah blah. And this post just made it all so clear! I’ve been trying to listen to my body already for a while but your words made me feel comfortable and confident in that journey! <3 Thanks you so much. I can't wait for more on that topic. 😉 And also- about your eating disorders – although I've never been said I had any, I feel like I might've been too "crazy" at some periods in my life as well. It's great to see you evolving and grounding in your "inner-wisdom". It helps people to find their own way! <3 Much love

  • What a wonderful post (and so is the one that follows). I live with a health-obsessed family of origin, and my sister and my one daughter have struggled with eating disorders/ exercise bulimia on/off for years. Frankly, I think with the exception of my youngest sister, we all, including my 90 year old mother, dabble in orthorexia. So thank you for sharing your journey.

    On another note, I am Danish, grew up in Copenhagen, lived for 10 years in Toronto, and settled in northern BC to raise my family. I went wheat-free 6 years ago, never to look back. But Christmas is difficult without a nice slice of rugbrød, so I generally give myself permission to indulge for a few days so I can enjoy my smørrebrød and Akvavit. By day 7 I am usually bloated and foggy headed enough to easily give it up.(Our last trip home, I managed to decline even Wienerbrød med Snask!
    I am so enjoying your two cookbooks – keep up the good work.

  • Thank you so much for this honest post! I never heard of a relationship between blood sugar and hormones, so I will definitely try to read more on this. And thank you so much for the recipe, I already prepared the flakes twice and I love them! I combined them with vegan coconut yoghurt, fresh prunes and figs 🙂 I never thought of making cereals by myself, so thanks for giving me this simple idea. It’s not the first time that I realise that I can make something by myself (and I guess it won’t be the last time).

    • Hello Eva!

      That is SO great to hear! Isn’t making something you thought you had to buy liberating?! Glad these are a hit 🙂 And fresh figs, here I come!

      Check out my book reccommednations in the latest post for more reading resources! Hope you find it helpful.

      xo, Sarah B

  • Sarah, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this beautifully written piece about your journey. Truthfully, I enjoyed reading it more than your usual blog posts because it made me realize that even though you are a healthy diet goddess now you still have your own difficult history. And just because I have always wanted to tell you this, as a teen I had a detrimental relationship with food. Then 4 years ago, I discovered your blog and my entire world literally turned around thanks to you. All of my gratitude goes out to you

    • Hello dear Chloe,

      Wow, thank you so much for your kind and supportive words, but more importantly coming out with this yourself. I am deeply honoured that My New Roots has played a role in you rediscovering the joy in food, as that it was it has done for me as well.

      Best of luck on your health journey. Take care of your precious heart and body, and go and inspire others to do the same!

      Love always,
      Sarah B

  • Dear Sarah,
    I am new to your blog and recently purchased both your books. Your approach to healthy cooking and eating is exactly what I need right now and this post has made it all the more clear. I love and respect everything I have achieved with my healthy eating habits but right now I am having trouble finding the right balance and not overthinking bad food choices that do happen from time to time. I want to keep enjoying food because I love to eat and not be afraid of what it might do to my results. Thank you for touching on this topic here!

  • Thank you so much for having the courage and confidence to share about orthorexia. As a dietitian and educator, I struggle with how much to share about my own eating challenges. Fearful of criticism and social stigmas. But as your post, which I keep rereading, reminds me that it is so powerful in bringing us all together so we can support each other, and overcome it. Thanks, Sarah!

    • Hi Elizabeth!

      You are so welcome! I WAS scared to come out about this, but I am so glad that I did since I actually do think it has made a change in peoples’ lives. We ARE in this together and that means sharing our true selves with others so that we can evolve and become stronger as a collective.

      Share your story! We are here for you.
      All love,
      Sarah B

  • Absolutely delish, especially with golden flaxseed meal! Thanks Sarah! (Next time I may swap out pear sauce for the apple and use cardamom for the cinnamon. Thanks for the inspiration!!)

  • I’m very excited to try this one. And yes, changing eating habits is a huge challenge. You’d think it wouldn’t be, but man, I see everyone struggling all the time and I deeply relate to you.

  • I have tried this recipe three times and have burned it each time. The first two times I think had to do with positioning the rack to high in the oven but the third time I left it in the middle rack and edges were still burned. I may have rolled it too thin but not sure 🙁 I did not use buckwheat.

    • Hey Gina,

      So sorry to hear that! Try lowering the oven temp…maybe yours runs hot 🙂 And although I haven’t tried it, a dehydrator would work well here I think!

      Hope that helps,
      Sarah B

      • Hi Sarah and Gina, I realize your comments are a few years old, but just want to let you both know I tried this in a dehydrator and it does work.

        I followed the recipe through Step 2, then rolled the dough into a large rough rectangle shape between 2 Paraflex sheets, scored into squares, and dehydrated at 110 degrees F for 6 hours. I then flipped the whole sheet over onto a dehydrating screen and peeled off the Paraflex, and dehydrated on the screen for 10 more hours. After that, I separated the squares and dehydrated them for another 12 hours.

        So it does take a bit longer, but it works!

  • Yes yes yes yes yes! Thank you, Sarah, for shedding light on a topic that is not discussed enough. “Orthorexia” is praised in our culture right now, which makes it even more confusing to try to find peace, health and balance around food. Keep sharing; your words are powerful 🙂

  • There is so very much I could say in response to this post, about how much I relate to and agree with what you’ve written. Your inbox is pretty full, so I’ll leave it at THANK YOU; not only for this but all you’ve shared over the years. You are my favorite. 🙂

  • Sarah,
    Thank you for sharing so openly about your experiences and struggles. It is something I recognized within myself and my own striving towards wanting to be healthier and more mindful of my diet. Your honesty and vulnerability sounds like bravery and it brings a tender light to a very human experience. Thank you kindly for your post- I’ve been following your blog for a couple of years now and so appreciate your gift.

    Off to the store to grab some groceries for this recipe- I am looking forward to making it!

    In warmth and gratitude,
    Lauren

  • Sarah – your post just hit the spot – i am on the other side – menopause & it’s the same feelings, just with some other symptoms. Especially your remark about the banana bread – yep (pumpkin, zucchini, etc) was so right. I’ve just made this cereal & it’s wonderful. You’ve helped push me to make some changes and I thank -you for your openness in sharing the hard stuff. You’ve given me some hope. Thought I was eating real healthy, but healthy is different at different times of our lives. So glad to be on your journey with you. don’t every stop learning & sharing

  • Sarah, your blog has been inspiration for so long. I love ypur reciepies and as well how you explain all about ingredients and your perosnal insights. I’ve been on a low carb diet for some time and I’ve been still using your bkog as a reference, modifying the reciepies to fit “my new body requirements”. I was wondering when you will change.I am glad that you feel all the benefits of reducing the carbs. It literally changed and saved my life and balanced my hormones, my mood… I feel so much better and realised how I was not even aware of the bad state I was in before just because after a while it became a default. I am glad that you started this new journey because you will feel better and also because we will be able to enjoy more of your new reciepies without having to change them ;). Take care and keep posting! We loved it and we will love it 🙂
    P.S. I wish I could join you for Ibiza retreat but the dates were not working with my schedule. I hope you will organize more of those events in future!
    Mili

    • Hello dear Mili!

      I am so thrilled to hear you’ve been finding inspiration here on the blog and in the books, and able to adapt them to suit your needs right now! I am going in this direction for now, so you can rejoice 😉 I hope you enjoy the new recipes and follow along.

      Much love and gratitude for the support,
      Sarah B

  • Sarah, your words have rang so true for me. Thank you so much for sharing this story. I feel like Ive been on some kind of parallel with all you have described. Thank you for being so open, real and so positive. I too am on a food journey very similar to yours. One book that has really helped me, which you may have also read is “The Body Ecology Diet” by Donna Gates. I look forward to reading more about your journey and seeing all your truly wonderful recipe creations!! Definitely trying the above recipe and Im so on the Hemp milk train 🙂

  • Hello Sarah
    A thought that I had keeps nagging at me, I am sure that you have had this checked out, but I am going to say it…all of the symptoms you mentioned can also be signs of Type II Diabetes. My father had it and it was grains that were his trigger, not the more obvious sweets. Also, it can develop in women during pregnancy. If others have already mentioned this, I apologise for repeating them and I’m sure that you know all of this too. Recently I have had a medical situation where all of the signs were right there in front of me but I was too close, and could not see the connections, so maybe I’m projecting on to you. 🙂

    • Hey Jo,

      Thank you so much for reaching out and with your concern.
      You are right that Type II diabetes has many of these issues and symptoms, but I’ve been checked and I’m okay. I really appreciate you bringing it up though! It’s good for others to hear as well 🙂

      Much love,
      Sarah B

  • So looking forward to testing this recipe out! It’s so hard to find a cereal filled with nutrient ingredients and we’ve been meaning to begin testing out a few. This one sounds incredible.

  • This brought tears to my eyes.
    Yesterday I was having with my boyfriend another one of my extended reflections (basically monologues) about my body and my journey through a bulimia and anorexia and how it was so easy to loose weight then and so hard now. Ten years ago, when going to college, I made a decision of getting control of my eating habits and loving food instead of hating it. Everything was as simple as just starting eating less and cooking my own food. I dropped 20kg in one year and was still eating carbs, bread, meat, fish, butter, cheese, basically virtually everything I wanted – but in small (very small, towards the end) amounts of it. Obviously a depression was coming in without me realising it, I excluded myself from any social activities and gained a control mania that still has it’s remains nowadays. Today, having a diet almost 100% vegan, exercising more than ever, fueling myself with positive energy and thinking and good people around me, and ironically being a true defender self-acceptance movements, I’m still not happy with my body. It seems harder than ever to loose weight, even if I listen to my body and understand what it needs. Sometimes I despair because I believe things should be simpler and can’t avoid compairing myself to my mother and other women of her and previous generations who kept their body beautiful without much thinking and grain-free or other feel-in-the-blank-free diets. But at the same time, as you said, I know we’re all different, and times are different and we are different from what we were 10 years ago. However, I still haven’t found out what’s missing.

    Anyway, thank you so much for sharing your story. It’s inspiring and gave me strenght.
    One pratical question though: how do you do when you go out to have dinner with your friends, go to a family Sunday lunch and anything socially-related around the table? I always found the hardest to balance.

    Thank you again <3
    Catarina

    • Dear Catarina,
      I have just finished reading “Why diets make us fat” by Sandra Aamodt. She tackles several of the questions you are asking here. Perhaps you might enjoy the book.
      Rosalind

  • I am grateful for this post & your work in general! What you’ve written here also makes me think I need to do some similar examination in terms of skin issues I haven’t been able to pinpoint the root cause of for years. I love your super thoughtful approach to doing this as healthy & mindfully as possible, especially as someone who is prone to similar tendencies. On a side note, I purchased Naturally Nourished after borrowing it first from the library & falling in love with it! My favorite recipe so far is the basil broccoli blended soup — I made a huge batch & froze some! 🙂 <3

  • Hi Sarah! Thank you for such an honest post. It takes courage to open up like that. You could have just posted the recipe (which, by the way looks delicious) without the explanation but I’m really glad you didn’t.
    Can’t wait to try this tasty new breakfast idea. 🙂

  • Hi Sarah, my 3 year old daughter & I love this ‘cereal’. I’ve been having it with Coconut cream & puffed millet all week. Reading some of your post I thought you might also be interested in having a look at a book I recently got my hands on. It’s called: Plant paradox, it’s by Steven R Gundry. I hope this is useful. X

  • Your story about orthorexia is so powerful. I resonate with the obsession of being thin and maintaining a “pure” lifestyle so much. So many years were spent worrying about my body, so many hours were spent calculating calories and exercising until I dropped to the ground exhausted, and so many days were spent stepping on the scale and missing out on opportunities. I’m so glad I got myself out of this regimented lifestyle! Anyways, this cinnamon crunch cereal looks delicious! I love how it has a wide variety of healthy ingredients that pack in lots of healthy fats and protein!

  • Thank you, Sarah, for providing a protein rich breakfast alternative. I’ve been way too stuck on overnight oats. The hemp milk is delicious; I counteracted the slight grassy flavour with about 2 Tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp vanilla powder and 1/8 tsp salt. Can’t wait to try the cereal.

  • Hi Sarah,

    I know you have a million responses to wade through and this might be missed but how do you suggest someone might go about addressing their orthorexia or orthorexic leanings without sacrificing a commitment to healthy eating?

    Thanks,

    A

    • Dear A,
      I echo this entirely and would ask for help Sarah! i was quite seriously Ortho/Anorexic and was hopsitalised. It took me a very long time and eating lots of peanut butter, but I still panic about food and fat consumption. I still need to put on weight, especially given i still have no periods, but medical advice is “just eat more” and “put on weight” – nothing on how to achieve this! S

  • Sarah! So so so grateful for this post. I’ve been a professional baker and an engaged eater for the past decade, and just recently have truly been feeling the grain troubles, too! I spent some time cutting out wheat, but have found that it’s really all the grains, not just the classic wheat quasi-criminal. Like you, I have had many bouts of strange brain drains around food, and at one point, found myself on a perpetual juice cleanse-binge eating cycle. I finally watched myself from the outside and realized my own lunacy, and got back to a much healthier routine. These food voices are tricky. They’re seductive and crafty, they tap into our shame mantras and our self-worth stories and our validation cravings, and it takes a lot of getting quiet with ourselves and getting real with ourselves to suss them out and work through them. Thank you so much again for writing about this. It really helps to know that we can be doing our best, even writing a nutritional blog (!), and still sometimes struggle with the ol’ brain. Please please keep us up to date about what your new eating scheme looks like as you move through it, we’re all cobbling together healthy routines and any new hacks from Denmark are so welcome! Thank you thank you <3

  • “We are fluid beings with needs that evolve and change over time. Our diets need to reflect that, which is why it’s imperative to listen to our bodies and be advocates for our own health. No one knows your body better than you, and once you quiet all the noise out there telling you “how” to eat in black-and-white terms, you’ll be able to hear yourself, without judgement, and choose the way of eating that is just right for you, right now. It may be different tomorrow, and that is okay too. In sharing this all with you, I am trying to set an example, because you too have this intuition that is telling you just what you need to eat and do right now. It’s actually fun to be connected to yourself, your unique rhythms and needs. Learning about how you operate and designing a plan that caters to your exceptional self means that you can celebrate, instead of berate your body the whole month through, and experience pleasure in every stage of our cycle. I promise.”

    That’s important shit
    I’m thank you
    I’ve had a friend email me your site and I’m glad to revisit it after losing touch for some years.
    I’m overcoming anorexia, Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, and am an a certified Holistic Nutritionist as well as athlete (ironic too, hey, but also not).

    Funny your post is the opposite but same source as mine re: carbs- I’m a high fat and pro girl and low cho.

    Setting the “safety” of comfort aside to be present with our fluctuating needs is so hard m. I’m trying to approach it with curiosity and ask myself “how can I look at this differently?” Maybe recovery can be easy?

    I’m in toronto
    I would love to meet you, I’m funny… ?
    Bless,
    Mel

  • Dear Sarah, when you bake you use both down and up heater or just down? Mine got burned at the edges after 15-20 min, I was using both heaters.
    I guess you could made raw version by dehydrating, would that work?
    Thank you for the great ideas and recipes! Dominika

    • I dehydrated the buckwheat version at 108 overnight and it’s already crunchy and delicious! Haven’t tried it with milk yet but it’s even delicious on its own.

  • I resonate so much with this post. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety, as well as stomach issues, and energy issues off and on my whole life. I never connected them all together until more recently. At 38 years old, this is the first time I’ve REALLY looked at my diet, as I’ve always eaten what I considered healthy, and resisted any major changes. My husband and I tried Whole30 this past month, and it really opened my eyes to these issues I’ve never connected. I am now leaning to a more plant based diet, as I’ve realized that my energy and hormones seem to stabilize dramatically. We have been reintroducing foods to know what we need to change and what needs to be booted from our diets, and I have been surprised at how quickly my body reacts to dairy and more especially sugar. I’m so glad to have blogs like yours to turn to in support of learning to follow my body’s cues and break from the norms so I can be my best self. Thank you!

  • It would be awesome to see more posts on your approach to eating this way, and see what kind of modifications you’re making with your daily meals. Just would be helpful for meal inspo 🙂

  • Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m 24 and just yesterday, my naturopath insisted that my blood sugar and insulin resistance are the cause of a weak pituitary response which has caused me to miss a period for 8 months now and develop PCOS. I’m actually vegan! So I too, cried (haha) when she told me yesterday I really must try to avoid fruits and grains for now and up the fat and protein to stabilize my blood sugar and get myself back on track. I can’t wait to try this recipe, it is just what I need!

  • That post is really inspiring, Sarah. I can relate to many of the levels you spoke about in this post, including the initial first shift in intense diet and exercise, the good feeling after losing the weight and positive outside attention-which at first tamed the inner critic until that dialogue got louder, and the obsession and challenges faced with our relationship with food. Through the years, I have had my up’s and down’s with food, self-image, and control (or feeling lack of control-inner critic coming out once again). Reading this post was a beautiful reminder to be flexible with ourselves and to continuously practice self compassion. Thank you for sharing your growth in this process that so many of us are going through.

  • Thank you for sharing your journey with us! You are so right about the importance of a healthy diet – every time my body has a light discomfort the first thing I look into is my diet!

    • Thank you so much, Sarah, for posting! I was really moved after reading this, as I was able to deeply empathize with your struggles. I feel I have certainly had difficulty with the “analysis-paralysis” aspect of healthy eating: I often need to remind myself to allow my food choices to be guided by love and compassion, as opposed to the destructive voice inside of me that strives for nutritional perfection. I just turned 30 and have a 9 month old baby boy, and can absolutely identify with the wacky hormones, and feeling like I couldn’t possibly work any harder on my diet than I do now! Your wise and compassionate guidance certainly came at the right time. I am forever grateful for your inspiration; you are a very beautiful person, inside and out.

      Thank you! ❤

  • Thanks for sharing Sarah! 🙂 I have the same thing with sugar (grains and other forms for sugar) and really avoid them these days. Do you feel legumes have the same effect on you as grains? Do you count them within the carbohydrates category?

    • Hi Louise,

      Great question. I don’t find legumes effect me like grains do, as long as they are properly prepared (soaked or sprouted beforehand). And because I don’t eat meat, legumes are really important for me as a source of protein. Although they are very high in carbohydrates as well, they are complex and don’t spike my blood sugar in the same way a rice cake does. Hope that helps!

      xo, Sarah B

  • Thanks so much for sharing! I’ve been looking for some ways to change my diet at home to accompany my kid’s holistic diet at their daycare, Petit Journey. Their meal plan has been so impressive and shown such a drastic change in my kid’s behavior that we want to try to imitate it at home too. I’m definitely going to give this a shot and see how it goes. Thanks again!

    • You are welcome, Kris! I hope that it goes well – so amazing to hear that your kids’ school is doing something right with their meal plan. Bravo!

      All my best to you and your family,
      Sarah B

  • Thanks for the awesome recipe (can’t wait to give it a go!) and for your sharing – I admire your courage. I too have suffered from this type of eating disorder in the past,similarly after studying nutrtional therapy. I’m so glad it’s being recognised and discussed openly now. I manage to keep in check by letting my intuition guide me as to what foods I need. Quite often different to what I “think” I should eat. It’s a relief to be able enjoy food again.

    I love your recipes…thanks for the stoke! Xx

    • Hey Eleri,

      That is so great to hear! Hooray for enjoying food again! Thanks for opening up <3
      Using one's intuition I think is the ONLY way to make eating really work for ourselves, as individuals. Glad you found your way.

      All love,
      Sarah B

  • Oh, Sarah, this post just makes me want to break down in tears of relief. I have struggled for years with “orthorexia,” and with obsessively trying to discern what does and doesn’t “work” for my body. Even though I love food and so appreciate thoughtful and beautiful food preparation, my joy around it has been much diminished by the struggle I’ve created.

    Over the years, I’ve found such joy in reading your blog. You have a lovely spirit, and it shines through in ever corner of this space. I have to admit, though, that I’ve wondered if you’ve ever struggled with food.

    I guess part of the wondering comes from seeing this inconsistency in myself: on the one hand is my deep love for and enjoyment of whole foods, and there is so much goodness around that. Then, on the other hand, is a darkness and constant struggle around food, as I’ve used it in attempts to control my body-mind and my life. The joy and the darkness around food seem at odds, and I often feel so divided within myself.

    You seem (and you are, I am sure) so beautiful, happy, and healthy, and I have at times thought “There’s no way this person shares in the struggle-side of healthy eating.” As much joy as your and other beloved food-blogs have brought me, I have often felt very alone in my feeling both deep nourishment– but also great pain– around food.

    I am sorry for your struggle (I truly wish no other person had to hold this), but I also just want to thank you so much for your willingness to share this part of your story. Far from invalidating the work you’ve done here, it only adds another layer of goodness, and of grace. It is a grace to know that we are not alone, and to know that– even in the dark moments and in the frustration– there is still the joy, there is still the goodness there, too.

    Sarah, thank you for teaching me about that abundant goodness. My prayer for you, for myself, and for all those who know something of this struggle, is that we would continue choosing to see nourishment and goodness, becoming allies with our bodies, with the gift of food, and with each other.

    Thank you again, so truly.

  • Thank you so much for sharing Sarah… this is quite bold of you and I think many people need to read such words. I so enjoy your blog and cookbooks and just made a batch of your walnut dressing and fig and arugula salad! It’s brave of you to share your situation and you are really doing good things for people out there who are trying to eat right, be healthy, and deal with this crazy crazy world. Thank you!

    • Thank you, Kathleen! Your words mean a lot <3

      ...and that dressing is one of my favourites, ever 😉

      Much love and gratitude,
      Sarah B

    • You’re welcome, Ellen! I will try to give these options from now on, as I’m leaning more and more that way too, but also recognize some people like sweeter!
      I hope you enjoy the recipe.

      xo,
      Sarah B

  • You are a star! Not only having the most inspirational-educational-original vegetarian blog (in my opinion) but also having this warm-natural-real-human-vibe opening up and sharing your personal path with food.
    I have learnt sooo much from your blog post & books, tested and investigated new ingredients thanks to you!! And now while I need more than ever- due also to a hormonal
    imbalance- new meal plans and discard others you go out with this!
    Amazing news and mostly amazing that you are feeling better! 🙂 Keep doing, keep going. We will follow you! Love, Caro

    • Wow Caro! Thank you so much for your encouraging words <3 It means more than you know!!! I am so honoured to hear that you've been finding inspiration on My New Roots. I will totally be creating more hormone balancing-recipes in the future and discussing them, so I'm glad you'll stick around 🙂

      xo,
      Sarah B, the real human

      • Thanks for your answer! :))) I’m happy if my words touch you in any way as you have done to me with your work! I’m not an often commenter but an early BIG FAN!!
        Real human is not to take for granted, sounds funny maybe to read it like that but you come across like a friend that is just telling you the best tips seating beside you while sharing some nice tea!
        SOOOO Looking forward to what will come! Love, Caro

  • I have a two year old that is severely allergic to tree nuts and I would love to make this for her. Would this work with only buck wheat flour? I’ve looked in to substitutes for almond flour and have thought about grinding sunflower seeds in to flour but unsure if that would work.

    • Hello Angela!

      I would definitely suggest grinding sunflower seeds. I think this would work beautifully! Let me know who it works out.

      Good luck 🙂
      Sarah B

  • Awesome post. It’s always hard to let others see your vulnerability. I’m sure this will help many people who struggle with their relationship with food. Thank you!

  • I appreciate you so, so much for talking openly about your experience with orthorexia. I started changing my diet about 10 years ago and while it was a positive change at first, it led to a pretty obsessive behaviour – I wouldn’t eat something I didn’t make myself. I read it now and it sounds nutty to me, but at the time I thought it was the right thing to do to be healthy. I also liked seeing the scale go down even when my hip bones were way too pointy, so you get the idea. I’m in my early 30’s now and my relationship with food is healthy and balanced, but it’s an experience I keep on mind.
    Also, I’m all for the wellness movement, but sometimes I can’t help but feel ‘clean eating’ (a phrase I don’t like) and all that can feel like an excuse for disordered eating. Not to say anyone promotes it, but yeah…
    Anyway, thank you for this post! I’m in the middle of figuring some stuff out myself and I’ll be following along (as always!) to keep learning from you.

    • Hey Rebecca,

      Thank you so much for such a beautiful and honest comment. It’s encouraging for me to hear from so many readers who have their own struggles with food relationships – although it also saddens me how many there are. I think we just need to be really honest with each other, and start a new, better conversation about “healthy eating”. Thank you for opening up to me, it is very brave and means a lot.
      We’re in this together <3

      All love,
      Sarah B

  • Sarah, I absolutely love your recipes and your manner of sharing them. This is yet another thoughtful and enriching article and I’ll be making the recipe in the next couple days – thank you and thank you for sharing your personal journey as well, certainly something that many if not most can relate to on one level or another. ***A grammar error though that seems pretty important : “If we’re consuming carbohydrates at a slower rate than our bodies are utilizing them for energy..”.*** don’t you mean to say “If we’re consuming carbohydrates at a FASTER RATE than our bodies are using them…”?? Just wanted to let you know so you can edit if necessary! Thanks again – all the best to you –

    • Whew! Thanks Renay! I can’t believe no one caught that before…my mom especially 😉
      I just made the correction. Big appreciation. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

      Smiles,
      Sarah B

  • Dear Sarah, Thank you for sharing and thank you for all the great recipes on the blog and in the books!
    You really do have great knowledge – what is you opinion on heating up nuts, and nut based flours like almond flour? I’ve heard you should not heat up nuts over 160 degrees Celsius, and so I;m always a bit concerned as far as almond based pastries. I would appreciate your opinion! Thank you!

  • So, so, so brave! nor just in the context of what you went through in the past but also in the context of being a health food blogger. It’s because of your openness and kindness that we all love you. Good luck on your health journey
    Kimberly

  • Hi Sarah, I have been literally following you since the beginning but have never felt compelled to write any comments until I saw this post. I find diet so fascinating and try to follow the principles of Ayurveda which stipulates disease is a manifestation of our constitutions through either the food we eat, the shows we watch, the environment we are exposed to…. it is fascinating how this can have an affect on our health. For the past few years i’ve been a bit like you maybe not feeling so right so I decided this summer I would go to india and do a treatment called Panchakarma (cleans you out from the inside and its main focus is digestion). It was through doing this process that I realised all these years I *thought* I was eating super healthy and doing everything right almost toying with going vegan and – if I put my heart and soul into it I probably could. Through this process the doctors would give me lectures on Ayurveda and during one of these lectures I had a lightbulb moment and came to realise the important of the eating saturated fats in order to produce new bile and help lymph flow through the body. Now, coming from Britain saturated fats are a definite no no we just think they are bad for us. So I am now of the belief that saturated fats and the classic example , ghee are good for us. What stood out for me is that many diseases spawn from lymph and bile and our digestive systems just not working properly. Interestingly, gluten intolerance is very uncommon in India but here in Britain it is fast growing. Anyway, I’m deviating but wanted to say THANK YOU for being real and honest and the Sarah B we have all come to love! Food is healing and I will continue to follow your ever innovative take on it….

  • Hi Sara!
    I am in the same boat! Well not exactly the same, but same enough. I am a carb and sugar addict, but my troubled relationship with food has always been closer to binge eating. I solve emotional problems with yummy treats. A couple years ago I picked up your first cookbook in a local grocery store in Victoria b.c. And it has been wonderful for me. Finally healthy food that feels decadent. I love finding the ingredients, and going through the process of making the food. It has given me more respect for my food. However, I still haven’t lost the weight I gained after having my daughter and going through a nasty divorce. I’m happy now, but still over 200lbs. I run regularly and practice Brazilian jiu jitsu, and I defiantly eat more healthily, but the darn weight won’t shift. Just last week I began a meal plan by Laura Vanderhaeghe. It’s a ketones diet, and I’ve used it before to great effect, but the food is dead boring. I’m hoping that with your similar shift in diet (towards less grain and more protein/veg) that your recipes will help me keep my goals, while keeping food interesting and enjoyable.
    Thank you so much for your words Sarah, and for sharing your struggle.

    Jessica

  • Sarah
    I didn’t even notice what I was suffering from until I read your post. Now I know a name for it. Thank you for sharing what you have gone through. It is really brave of you to share how it was. I am learning very slowly on how to manage what I ea and I found this helpful in a way.
    Please keep posting! xoxo

  • Oh man, this is coming at a perfect time for me. I’ve been struggling with my health for 2+ years due to immense stress, and we think I have endometriosis. Loving your words here and thrilled to learn more. Thank you.

  • There is so much beauty in bravery, don’t you think? You are awesome girl!
    Also, if you haven’t read yet “Woman Code” by Alisa Vitti, I highly recommend it to understand further our being and trust more in your intuition (Though, by reading your words it looks like you already have read it).
    I hope shredding that “sharing” weight is making you feel a lot better now!
    Love & Light

  • Opening up to such a huge community is really brave. Thank you, Sara, for your words and honesty. I am actually looking for exactly more recipes in this direction. Not for me but for my husband. He has been a vegetarian and part-time vegan for more than half of his life now – not a healthy one. He loves running, he loves sports, he has q quite stressful job. Not fueling his body right for many years now shows with a weak, tired and unbalanced body and mind. We are now on our way to find a diet that suits him best (at this moment in his life). Your list for grocery shopping sounds great! Love. J

    • Hello Janine,

      Thank you so much! And since there are so many people who seem hungry for this kind of eating, I’ll definitely be following up with some grocery lists and meal plans. It sounds like your husband needs a reboot 🙂 I’ll help as much as I can!

      All love,
      Sarah B

  • Hi Sarah, I’m a long-time reader of yours and really appreciate all you do. I make your recipes often. I’m so glad you put this out there, as I’ve been starting to feel that the food-blogging and “wellness” world is indeed getting obsessive, tribalistic and militant – none of which I think are good. Orthorexia is, in my opinion, a very big problem. It’s part of why I have, after years of vegetarianism, embraced a much more varied diet inclusive of everything that makes me feel good and still aligns with my values (animal products included). Big topic, here. Bee Wilson has delved into this issue quite thoroughly. Thanks again for your honesty, and I look forward to hearing more about this.

    • Hi Dani,

      You are so welcome, and I know that you are right in saying that orthorexia is a huge problem – especially in the food blogging world! Good for you for listening to your body and doing what is right for you. It takes courage to do that!
      Lots more to come…

      xo, Sarah B

  • Dear Sarah, thank you sooooo much for this. Thank you for sahring and honesty!!
    Dealing with the same problems for so many years now with the worst consequence being no energy and hard time to concentrate. Need to do something right now and your post is so boosting!! One question – could you be more precise about how you changed your diet to meet your needs of fat and proteine intake.
    Thank you so much for being you Sarah and for all the inspiration!

    • Hello Giulia!

      Yes, lots more to come. This was such a crazy post to write that I could really only scratch the surface <3

      Stay tuned, friend!
      xo, Sarah B

  • I am deeply into a book called ‘Wheat Belly’ by Dr William Davis, if what he states is correct I think we all need this quality information of how wheat is destroying our systems.We only have to look around and see how bodies are changing in shape in recent decades.
    My story is not dissimilar to yours although I’m way beyond child rearing age.My feeling is I’ve been slowly poisoning myself for years with wheat which is not what we think it is, however the manufacturers would have us believe differently. I urge everyone to read Wheat Belly and make their own conclusions. Healthy grains hmmm.

  • you may want to bring in some science. you can order tests of your blood to see if there’s a deficiency. it is low cost testing and may point you in a direction other than what intuition tells you….

  • Wonderful and very interested in this. I have a question though, do you mean to say, “If we’re consuming carbohydrates at a “faster” rate than our bodies are utilizing them for energy, that extra glucose gets stored in the fat cells of the liver…”??

  • Sarah,
    Your post and transparency had me sitting here reading nodding my head with a smile. I’ve followed your blog for many years and absolutely love your take on health and how we fuel our bodies. I found your blog after an eating disorder and being diagnosed with pcos. Instead of medication I found blogs like yours to help repair my body. So as you see your latest post hit the spot. I only wish I could attend one of your in person sessions. Best wishes ❤️

  • This cereal recipe intrigues me. I’m new to your blog – I just discovered the Life-Changing Crackers recipe a few months ago and now I’m addicected. Processed cereal is one of those foods I try to stay away from because I just can’t stop eating it if it’s in the house, yet it doesn’t satiate. This recipe looks more satisfying. I’m assuming the dough should be rolled about 2 mm thick, not 20 mm, to get dry/crispy. Excited to try it.

  • Thank you so so much for talking about this! I always appreciate the honesty and realness in your posts and I found this so valuable to read. I found this so encouraging – we so often look to other’s opinions about ‘clean eating’ and what we should be putting in our bodies instead of just listening to our bodies in the first place! Thanks for the reminder that you don’t have to be an ‘expert’ to know your own body and to notice how different foods effect you over time – and that these things will change too and we can discover new things about ourselves in the process.

    The recipe looks great too! I haven’t had cereal in a long time, can’t wait to try it! 🙂

  • Sarah,
    I have always had hypoglycemia and was tested for it when I was in my 20s. I thought everyone felt like I did and was quite surprised to find out my condition had a name and not everyone feels hunger the way I experience it after eating something sugary. I am so grateful for your recipes. They are very valuable to me. I don’t obsess about eating healthy food, but I can no longer eat meat. The thought of it turns my stomach. Thank you, Sarah, for your help.

  • Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been finding that as I’m nearing 40, I have to reduce my carbohydrate intake or deal with bloating and stomach cramps as well as massive indigestion (akin to heart burn, but my research suggests lack of acid is the main issue, so I’m not sure if it’s still called heart burn?). I’ve started tracking my food that I eat in an app and paying attention to my digestion and energy levels. Years ago I had done this and felt great with 40% carbs and the rest a mix of protein and fat. Now I’m finding I feel better with 30%. So, no need to be so worried about the fats, and I’m enjoying a higher fat intake and feeling great. Thanks for this recipe – I can’t wait to try it!

  • Thanks so much for sharing your story so we can all feel a little less alone in our struggles. You are a bright light and I’m so grateful for you and your work. Keep it up. All the x’s and o’s. Sasha

  • So interesting. Will check this out. Hadn’t considered blood sugar. Thank you.

    To clarify, when you wrote, “If we’re consuming carbohydrates at a slower rate than our bodies are utilizing them for energy, that extra glucose gets stored in the fat cells of the liver, which decreases its ability to break down excess estrogen, and allowing it to hang around in our systems longer than it should.”

    Did you mean consuming them at a “faster” rate than we can use? I don’t understand the principle if “slower” is what you actually meant.

  • Hi Sarah, I’ve been following your blog on and off for about a year (since I stumbled upon one of your recipes for Life Changing Bread). I’m in my 50s and have been suffering with menopausal symptoms and weight gain for the last couple of years (having never had to worry much about weight control for most of my life, due to a healthy metabolism). Reading the posts of most of your followers, I’m very much NOT suffering from orthorexia, quite the opposite, sadly, where I now find myself having established a somewhat unhealthy relationship with food and wine (my off button seems to be stuck in the permanently on position!). Every morning I wake up feeling disappointed in myself and my lack of self-control, but by the time 5.30pm rolls around, I’ve already consumed lots of “but it’s only one little” treats and am looking forward to that first glass of wine. The inevitable result is an exacerbation of my menopausal symptoms (why am I surprised?) and increased joint pain (waning oestrogen and an excessively inflammatory diet).
    I’ve gone on a couple of juice cleanses over the past year and tried a Hormone re-set Diet”, all of which have helped and returned pleasing results, but I haven’t had the staying power to keep going with them after the initial 3 or 4-week program. I think the problem is that I have an addictive personality (for all the wrong things), and even though I instinctively know what I should be doing, those choc chip biscuits or glass of wine are just calling out to me.
    I know I’ve made myself sound like a complete alcoholic junk food addict, and maybe I am, but in reality, I actually also prepare for myself and my family (husband and two kids in their early teens), very healthy, balanced meals, because I’m also a good food Nazi (confused? Me too!). I just seem to get into this frenzy when a thought enters my mind – “I feel like something sweet”- for instance and then begins this whole, idiotic conversation about whether I should or shouldn’t, with “should” winning most of the time.
    I’ve resolved to keep reading your blogs because, reading this one about your struggle with finding the right balance (even though we’ve come at it from different ends of the spectrum), has struck a chord with me and if I can just calm down and remind myself that I’m actually doing this for me, and not depriving myself of “that” ( whatever “that “might be in any given context), then I may just be able to do it.
    Thanks for sharing and sorry for the lengthy diatribe. Marianne

    • It sounds like you are, like me, an “abstainer” vs being a “moderator”. We have to just say no completely or the train goes off the tracks! Have you tried doing Whole30? It’s a great way to reset, and there are plenty of groups out there to provide accountability. I have done one, and then did WholeSixes (yes, 6 days instead of 30 because I couldn’t stay away from the cookies). All the info for W30 is free online, and if you don’t end up doing the program, it will at least provide some good guidelines. I’m not affiliated with W30 at all, I’ve just seen the transformation in my own life and of my friends and want to share the love. All the best to you!

  • I am super excited to try this cereal! Do you have any other high protein breakfast ideas? Do you eat eggs? Breakfast is definitely the area where I struggle to get in protein and I always end up feeling hungry so quickly.

  • Thanks for this. I would love to hear about your favorite meals to get more fat and protein into your diet. I am struggling with adrenal burn-out because I messed too much with my blood sugar and now my hair is falling out. Any food ideas help so much because it gets monotonous sometimes 🙂 XO

  • Oh my goodness, thank you so much for creating this! My body reacts poorly to “grain overload” too; I love finding recipes like this that resemble grain-based foods but make my body so much more happy. Can’t wait to try it.

  • Hi Sarah,
    We met at your (I believe) first 2-day-workshop in Copenhagen. You literally change my eating habits. However, I am afraid I have also taken it too far at times (it is clearer now with a daughter in my arms). I feel I do not have enough time or money (both valuable resources when wanting to eat “healthy”) to totally control what is put on her plate… But should I? It’s so tiring… We are vegan and I wouldn’t change that, but “healthy” is a very unsafe for me word these days.
    On another note, I recognise myself in a lot of the symptoms you mention. I am very curious to know if the cause is the same, so I too would like to read more of your transitioning period, recipes, and notes.
    I look forward to reading your future posts.
    Much love,
    Sofia

  • Your post was amazing and so real! So glad that you are feeling more like “you” again! I’m going through something similar and have stumbled upon a book my Alissa vitro, Woman Code, that I highly recommend. She talks about how different foods during our cycle can also affect how we are feeling/symptoms and offers holistic approach to handling our cycle. What works for us in our 20s may not work in our 30s or 40s. Worth a read!! Best of luck and keep up the amazing work!

  • I’ve always loved your recipes, but am even more excited to follow along with your new focus on foods high in protein and fat. I feel best eating that way too! xo

  • Sarah, I want to echo what others have said here. Thank you for this post. Sisters (and brothers), we all struggle with food and those negative internal voices and I’m so glad you’ve created this space for us to show up to! –Lindsay (Carroll, IA)

  • Thank you Sarah – your post really resonates with me, as I’ve struggled with very similar issues – orthorexia and hormone imbalances. The latter is currently getting in the way of fertility, so your words are soooo helpful in this difficult time when I have a tendency to blame myself for everything. Really love the direction your blog is taking, and can’t wait to see what’s in store. Keep the honesty and positivity going! xx

  • Sarah, I’m glad you are willing to share your struggles. I remember when I was dealing with some difficult stuff, one evening at a church dinner I said something about it to the woman sitting next to me, and her reply was, “You mean I’m not the only one?”. I am sure that your sharing will be helpful to many. I have great respect for people who are willing to do the work needed to resolve their issues, and who are willing to share with others. Touching the lives of others is one of the most rewarding things we can do.

    The cereal and hemp milk recipes are quite interesting. I’ve never before considered making my own cereal, but now I just might have to try it.

  • Sarah, you are amazing. Thank you for being so brave, transparent, honest and TRUE. I too have struggled (and continue) to struggle with orthorexia, and a fear of being judged for changing my diet — going from vegan, to vegetarian, to consuming fish, to focusing more on protein and fat…it’s hard in this world where we literally share everything! Especially, in the “health food” world where we are constantly bombarded with photos of food and “advice” on the “perfect” ways to eat. I will continue to follow and stand by you and I really thank you for bringing all of these topics to light here in this safe space.

    Sending you so much LOVE!

  • sarah — I really appreciate you opening up about your struggles! Only in the past year have I come to terms with (and sought out help for!) eating disorder tendencies that I have, and while I have always loved food and cooking, it has been a complicated relationship. I follow so many food blogs and it is so rare for those authors to be conscious and outright about the fraught relationship with food many have. it is SO important that food bloggers like yourself — especially ones who are focused on healthy eating and nutrition — recognize and are sensitive to these tendencies, especially when they can disguise themselves as healthy habits. thank you so, so much! this is truly what it means to take care of ourselves. as someone who has benefitted greatly from your recipes, I genuinely care about you, and am so thankful for the love you put into this place. take care, friend. xo

  • Hi Sarah, and thank you for always putting yourself out there for others. This post is very timely for me, I also am a super clean eater, plant based, gluten free and hyper vigilant about food (perhaps orthorexic??). I am recently recovering from serious digestion and adrenal issues, feeling tons better but would like to cut down on grain myself and be more balanced. Homemade GF breads and baked goods are a serious go-to, and don’t know what breakfast means without oats! But, I feel embarrassed to say (because I know food) that I can’t figure out what that looks like?! So, if you could elaborate on how you came up with things to eat I would find it helpful. Thanks again, Meg

  • You wouldn’t believe that the timing of this post came right when I needed it to. It’s a funny thing how the universe intertwines itself. Good luck and thank you!

  • Thank you so much for posting about your personal struggle. I know it’s very hard to expose yourself like that. I can relate completely to everything you said and I’m incredibly grateful to you for taking this dietary change of paths! I look forward to this cereal recipe and all your future work with eagerness and gratitude. You are brilliant in my heart!

  • Thanks for the very genuine and honest post – it’s important to give air and light to issues like this, and confronting them is a very real start to the process… It’s also useful for all of us to question our relationship with food, even when we think we’re getting it right – it’s very easy to fall into patterns of behaviour and to pick the same foods all the time (I’m also eating a lot of grains, I need to investigate how they make me feel by experimenting with them further – a good nudge!).

    Sending you light and love! x

  • I appreciate you sharing about your journey. It gave words to what I had experienced. I didn’t know there was a name for it. And why I have an aversion to corralling what I eat in any way. My intention is to eat intuitively. And reminders to do so are so helpful. And this cereal looks delicious. I’m really excited to try it.

  • I have all those fun hormonal issues and have noticed lately that my blood sugar is not something I can ignore. I’m excited at the possibility of seeing more recipes sensitive this issue. There is such a wealth of beautiful vegetarian and vegan recipes centering around grains or that include lots of fruit- and that’s great- but not for all of us. I’ve been genuinely confused about how to continue eating a mostly vegan diet in a way that manages my blood sugar and still feels satisfying.

  • My first time posting. Had to. I so appreciate your honesty here! I went on my own health food journey several years ago due to medical issues and realized halfway through it that, despite good and pure intentions, food had become a god to me. When I started being able to be flexible in my diet again, and allowing “treats” in that I previously could not eat, I felt a tremendous amount of guilt after consuming them. I wondered back then if I was struggling with some sort of eating disorder.

    All this to say: I identify with you and I thank you for speaking out and I appreciate you releasing your readers to find freedom in their eating habits! Choosing to be free in how I think about food and health has been a continual journey for me. So much of it has become about surrendering.

    Thank you for being you and sharing your voice!

  • Sarah – I’ve been following your blog since I was in college (so, 5+ years now!), and I can still remember making your raw brownie with my host family’s very old food processor when I was lonely, studying abroad in Paris. I too have struggled with orthorexia, and disordered eating, and this summer I threw off the shackles of obsessive clean eating and essentially indulged without thought. I feel like crap (no surprises there), and I’m just starting to turn the corner where I feel ready to start thoughtfully modifying my diet again, but I am so afraid of slipping back into bad habits. I really appreciated this entry, and your honesty about how difficult it can be. I would love to hear more details about your transition period, and look forward to more entries. Thank you for what you do.

  • Hi Sarah,

    In the recipe you state that the thickness of the dough should be 20mm. Did you mean 2mm?

    PS. I made you buckwheat granola recipe just days before seeing this recipe, but I am definitely going to make this as well. Cheers.

  • Dear Sarah,

    We have met each other during the cooking-workshop in Amsterdam, about two years ago.

    Thank you so much for your open words and personal story.
    I can really understand your personal process and that give me so much support and confidence.
    You’re a big inspiration to me and by reading your story I feel very connected and recognizable by my own story…
    I appreciate your honestly.
    I know for sure that we’ll getting stronger in our body and mind. Keep up all the good work! And take care of yourself! Thank you so much. I’m PROUD of you!

    I hope to meet you again in Holland.

    Good luck!

    Cathelijne.

    • Hello again!

      Thank you for writing and the ongoing support. In sharing this, I really see now how many of us are in need of a change, and also someone who is being honest about their journey. Hope to see you in class again one day soon <3

      Much love,
      Sarah B

      • Thank you so much for your reply on my comment. So personal! I really hope to see you soon. Thanks again for your honestly. We can help and support each other to stay and be strong! Lots of love!

  • Hi Sarah,

    Ive been following your blog for years now and am really proud of you for opening up so much today. Its important to share our stories, even though it can be so terrifying. But sometimes diving into the fear is exactly what we need to do for something life-changing.
    A year ago i had issues with my hormones and discovered Alisa Vitti. My diet, lifestlye, and cycle has drastically changed for the better now. And now im super excited to see the recipes you’ll be sharing with us that will fit with her protocol. More women need to get on board with this! So thank you for spreading the word!

    • Hello Helena,

      Alisa Vitti has changed my life!!! Really. I will introduce the blog to her as I go along here 🙂 So glad you’ve found her too.

      Thank you for your kind words and support. It means more than you know.

      All love,
      Sarah B

      • Ahh, yes! I just finished reading your post, Sarah, and I was skimming through some of the comments. So much of what you wrote resonated with me– not so much the orthorexia struggles, but most definitely the hormonal issues/swings: Since I turned 40, I have been struggling with many of the same issues–bloating, mood swings/depression/anxiety, acne & rosacea flare-ups, weight gain–but all these things have gotten worse in the last 6 months or so (I am now 43). I just assumed that because I also have endometriosis, that this was just “normal” for me, especially for my age. (And my doctors also seemed to be largely unconcerned, chalking up my symptoms to “getting older/perimenopause” & offering to put me on The Pill to “even things out.” Ugh.) After some cursory research online, I came across Alisa Vitti’s book, bought it, & I’ve already been having lots of “AHA!” moments as I skim through the pages. The blood sugar/hormone levels connection makes so much sense to me, & I am hopeful that some dietary changes can help balance out my hormones & help me to start feeling like myself again. I’m really looking forward to your future posts on this complex topic– and your yummy recipes! Thank you for sharing your journey so far! As others have said, it helps just to know we are not alone! 🙂 .

      • Oh, and also, YES to this: “I realized that if I was going to eat grains (or any carbohydrate-heavy food), I had to eat them in smaller amounts, balance them out thoughtfully with enough fat and protein, and make sure that I was actually using that energy instead of letting it sit around in my body.” Sounds so simple, but easier said than done! And I think it’s not so much the grains, per se, but rather the “excess” (based on & defined by each of our own body’s needs) of simple carbohydrates (unbalanced by adequate quality proteins and healthy fats, and stripped of their fiber) that can cause the blood-sugar spikes that can affect our hormones. Definitely some food for thought (pun intended)! 🙂

  • Yay!!! So excited for this shift. It will be a great resource for me, and I’m sure many others. Much love.

  • Kudos to you for sharing your story and taking the shame away for others! The cereal looks delicious AND nutritious and it’s so important for people to have tempting healthier options.

  • One of your best posts ever! Thank you for your bravery & honesty which is a blessing to us all. I look forward to hearing more from you about this very important topic, and the new recipes that emerge from your exploration.

  • Sarah B thank you for sharing your journey so openly. I think the more we share our journeys the less loneliness and alienation there is in the world.

  • Oh Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to write this post the way that you did. I’m so happy for you to listen to your body’s needs but not demonize food in any way – this is huge. Coming from a past of anorexia and orthorexia I couldn’t align with these fears more when it comes to changing your diet. I’ve also been nervous because after trying a high fat and high protein diet free of grains for over a year I was sicker than ever, and found only complete healing a month ago by switching to a high carb and low fat plant diet. Of course all whole foods and whole grains with healthy starches, but I feel like what you are doing here is much more common amongst the people I follow right now and I’ve been afraid to share my lifestyle change to the fullest. But I feel so encouraged by what you said here – accepting that our bodies need different things at different stages in our life. This is all so new to me and I’m so grateful to have you to glean positivity and encouragement through. Thank you Sarah, I’m so thankful and happy for you! XO Ps. You just made Scott and I’s cereal dreams come true (!!!) cannot wait to make a batch friend.

  • Sarah, so appreciate the candor. I just wanted to let you know, I am on now on the other side of living mostly grain free, and it’s still a delicious world out there! I too focus on what great things I choose to eat, not what I do not. This really helps and have made some great non-grain based bread alternatives ( totes obsessed with bread..gotta have it somehow). Now if I can just cut down on the wine..but baby steps! xoxo

  • I loved reading this post because it makes me feel not-lonely. I used to suffer from anorexia and I found veganism as the best route to heal from it. After years I realized that that diet wasn’t ok for me anymore, that my body was craving something else. I don’t think my diet is perfect by any means, I know that I still have issues. But at least one (big) among them now seems to be better. So yes, I totally agree with your sentence “We are fluid beings with needs that evolve and change over time” but it’s not always so easy to listen to our body.
    Thanks so much for being so opened with us <3

  • Hi Sarah,
    As others have said, thank you for this post. I think a lot of us are striving to find what works for us, and it does always seems to be changing! Last year, I had to take antibiotics (something I always try to avoid!) which killed off a certain bacteria that breaks down the oxalates in food – so I’ve had to change my diet to reflect that, which is SO frustrating as oxalates are high in so many healthy foods (almonds, spinach, etc.) But as you said, we’re all on a health journey to find what works for us at different times in our lives. I think that too many grains affect me too, and too much sugar, so I’m looking forward to this new direction in your recipes! Thanks again for the inspiration :).

  • Thank you for this post Sarah! It comes at a perfect time for my daughter and I. I can’t tell you how many times your recipes helped us when we got stuck in ruts with food. My daughter recently learned she is sensitive to dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, coconut, tomatoes, and beans (kidney, string, pinto). This recipe looks delicious but any idea what she can substitute for the coconut oil/sugar? Avocado oil/dates? She is fine with lentils but wasn’t tested for garbanzo/chickpeas. Wondering if you happen to know if chickpeas are closer kidney beans or lentils?

  • Hi Sarah, thank you for this post, I am going through something similar. I wonder if you have any recommended literature surrounding this topic? Thanks!

  • Thank you for writing this. I can really relate. I have been chasing the ideal diet since college myself. I have my own rules at the moment, but I am always questioning them. For example, are eggs healthy or not? Which oils are best or should I avoid them all together? It depends on what you read and who you decide to trust. I am really inspired by the way that you listened to your body to take action. It’s trial and error for me, too. Maybe there are many ideal diets, not just one (given that we’re talking about whole foods, mostly plant based). I like the idea of giving ourselves permission to experiment and find what makes us feel our best. Still, I wish there was more consensus in the science. I really do want to know about eggs and oil! I hope you keep us posted on the particulars of what you are trying and how things are going.

  • Sarah–I see myself as old, fat and ugly. Self control has been falling into the cookie jar or bread bag OR BOTH while avoiding walking, the one thing that saved me from myself before. I know now from this blog that I may have been overloading on grain, my comfort food. I agree, stress is a wily enemy, and I fight the battle every day. Thank you for helping see that I am not alone in my struggle to be healthy.

  • Sarah, your post is from the heavens. Having the same issues with my diet being too grain heavy otherwise super healthy. I’m also experiencing wonderful results with cutting back and ramping up. Look very forward to more of your creativity around this shift. xxo

  • I loved your story, so many of us struggle with food for all the wrong reasons. Thanks for being a powerful voice

  • You’re the bomb Sarah.
    You always seem to post the exact thing that I’ve been needing to hear at the perfect moment.
    Thank you!
    You’re an absolute legend! ??

  • It is so important to have a healthy relationship with food and to understand how what we eat affects us – and everyone is different! Thanks for sharing your story. So many of us need to tune in with what our bodies are trying to tell us so we can all eat better and get healthier!

  • Dearest Sarah,
    This post has hit me at exactly the right time,
    I’ve been dealing with mild depression, mood swings, anxiety, agitation and more recently hot flashes which I haven’t had since post Chemo 3 years ago….
    As a healthy eater myself I have also been thinking of what changes I sadly need to make in my diet to help balance my hormones, adrenals, thyroid, so I can feel like myself again and gain back fertility.
    I think in my case it’s definitely sugar. So hard to let go of that terrible ‘friend’ but I think with the help of a few inspiring recipes such as this one, I might just be more enthused about trying it.
    Thank you so much for sharing your story and being such an inspiration.
    Big hugs, light and love to you, Or.

  • Thank you for your honesty Sarah! It’s so refreshing to see people be real and listen to their body and it’s needs. I am going through a similar thing and have cut down on carbs to see how my body feels (currently much better). I am a bit of a cereal lover so I cannot wait to make these later.
    Do you think I could switch the applesauce for mashed banana? We don’t have apple sauce in the UK.

    Thanks again, can’t wait to hear where your journey takes you.

    • I recommend you making your own apple sauce, its very easy! Just cook some peeled apples in a small amount if water, under a cover. They get mushy very quickly, you can blend them until smooth.

  • I love this post! Your findings have inspired me for a long time, and this new discovery is no different. Proud of you for opening up to the world. Excited to hear more about your specific changes.

  • Words aren’t enough to express my gratitude for this post. I’ve never heard the word orthorexia, yet it describes me. I’ve felt alone and embarrassed with my food struggle. To know there are others who have the same struggles makes it feel more manageable. I look forward to hearing about your journey, and wish you peace and happiness.

  • Hi Sarah, thank you for being so honest and open about your experiences with food. As a recovering anorexic, a lot of what you say resonates deeply with me and early on in my recovery I was told I was in danger of swapping anorexia for orthorexia – I thought the only way I could eat was to eat “clean” and avoid anything processed at all. For me the hardest part of my recovery has been coming to terms with the fact that for me right now a “healthy” diet is one with some processed foods and refined sugar as I try and learn that food is not “good” or “bad” and I have to be careful with some of the food blogs that are quite puritanical and can often make you feel wrong or bad for not cutting out dairy, grains, refined sugar etc. Instead i try to make nutritionally informed choices and feed myself primarily with whole, non- processed foods, with a sense of pragmatism and flexibility that means if one or two things a day are processed or pre-packaged that’s ok too and allows me to live a more flexible life where my food choices don’t isolate me. Your blog has been really inspiring on my journey and had taught me a lot. I cook from both your recipe books – although I often add animal protein to salads etc to work for me – and I’d love to say a huge thank you for helping me on this journey!
    For me the scariest prospect has always been the thought of eating intuitively. If someone asks me what I fancy for dinner I literally freeze – I still have no idea how to approach that and I’m still very much in a world of weekly meal plans which are rigidly adhered to. But my ultimate goal is to get to where you have: to be able to listen and respond to my body. Thank you so much for speaking out, I am not surprised you were apprehensive to do so but your honesty means a huge amount to me, and I’m sure others.
    Vicki x

  • Please be careful, Sarah. Reading your blog and others similar led me to six years of orthorexia that I am just now slowly healing from. I happened on your blog in my mid-teens and religiously gave up the foods you condemned. By the time I was 21, I was depressed and experiencing suicidal thoughts. But by God, I was eating so cleanly. Now I eat as I wish (refined sugars, eggs, dairy, gluten, meat) and I feel more alive than I have for ten years.

    We DO NOT know our bodies best. We are PRESENT with them the most and have the possibility of knowing them well. But how we assess the needs of our bodies can be colored by emotions, fears and outside knowledge. There is SCIENCE concerning the true needs of our bodies, and that is THE MAIN method for gaining an understanding of them. Not how your body “feels.” Because feelings change, and feelings can be influenced.

    I really and truly wish you the best, but I think you need to understand the influence you have.

  • Thank you Sarah, for your story. I am currently going through a similar phase. Your words were just what I needed to read.

  • Dear Sarah, Thanks so much for such an important, honest and personal post. I’m an Eating Psychology coach and this is exactly what I work on with my clients: we need to listen to our bodies and experiment, as there’s no absolute right way of eating, especially as you pointed it out: “we’re fluid beings,” and that’s OK. We need to welcome the fact that our bodies keep changing, instead of frustration, we should look into kindness for ourselves. Thank you so very much for charging your blog with such a powerful message!

  • Dear Sarah,
    thank you so much for sharing this. I am experiencing a lot of the symptoms you described above. Also I kind of lost my appetite and hunger which makes eating mindfully quite difficult for me at the moment.
    Please do tell us more about the way you changed your diet and how it helped you 🙂

  • Hi Sarah, thank you for sharing your story and experience. It is very helpful. I also study in Integrative Nutrition and like you said it is difficult sometime to understand what is wrong when you are doing all the right thing, eating well and still feel some problems. Everyone is different, but trying and understanding what it is is very important. It is very inspiring for me to read your text and thank you for it. Also, I will try your cereal this week, it looks very good and I like to have different option for breakfast. I follow you since many years now and I am always a fan of your blog. I am from Montreal and we are going to Copenhague in September and for sure I will think about you when I will be there. Nicole

  • Sarah, thank you for your candid, genuine post regarding your own experiences with food. You’re so right- food is a deeper issue than simple nutrition. You’re story is helpful. I can personally relate with several pieces of it and appreciate reading the words in somebody else’s “handwriting”. Thank you for your openness.

    On a related note, as one who generally enjoys your instagram food photos (I’m an amateur photographer) and sometimes reads the recipes )but not a cook by any stretch of the imagination) it helps to hear the other side of your story. By sharing some of the challenges you (and so many others) face on this journey to be your healthiest self it makes it all more real- and, therefore, possible. Nice job!

  • Thank you so much for sharing so personally, articulately and wisely. I too have a history of eating disorders, but food is love and finding a loving approach is individual and key to all our growths. Thanks for being honest and pls continue with your beautiful work. Biggest fan and heartfelt supporter

  • Thank you so mich for sharing, Sarah!! It’s just the support/advice/information I needed right now. I’ve also experienced my gruesome share of shaky hormone levels and there lovely side effects and while I managed to help myself a lot with several changes in my diet, I just seemed to encounter a phase where further steps seem to be required. And there you are. :)) So glad not to be the only one out there! All the best for you & thank you, thank you, thank you!

  • Hi Sarah,

    You are and have been my GO TO blog for diet and food ideas, because you are like a magician and angel with all things food – thank you. I wanted to suggest, as a fellow foodie and purist, that you may like to consider the mind / body or more specifically the thoughts / emotions connection that actually underlay our state of wellbeing. Whilst food and our intake of “energy” is vital to our wellbeing, so our day to day thoughts & emotions & belief systems play a core role in our wellbeing. I have personally “cured” or remedied several body issues that I thought were food related ( like the grain / gluten scenario ) by examining and working out the core emotions & thoughts relating to the body system impacted. If you are at all interested in exploring this level, you might check out “Your Body Is Telling You: Love Yourself” by Lise Bourdain or “You Can Heal Your Life” by L Hay. They are all based upon rather ancient systems of insight into our total being.

    Thanks again for being such an inspiration!

    In wellness, Alice Garden

  • Thank you Sarah, your post came at the perfect time.. I will be sharing with my 16 year old daughter to read. Lisa 🙂

  • Sarah! I. Love. You. Thank you for your real ness and paying this. Reading about your experience with orthorexia in uni up until now almost describes me to a “t”. I have been dealing with gut issues for years and over the past months have been getting acne- FUN. (I’m 32 so it’s not exactly welcome… and being as “healthy” as I am it also comes as a bit of a shock). I used to be a vegetarian with an eating disorder and to heal my leaky guy a few years ago I went on a high fat low carb diet with lots of animal protein and bone broth etc. I really did feel amazing… I eventually got bored of it and figured I was better so have gone back to a more veggie way of eating with more grains… and have terrible breakouts, acidity, bloating, and generally a miserable gut. Reading your post inspired me and made me feel less alone and also realise that maybe more fat less grain and starch might just be a fact of life for me if I want to feel good. Ugh.. it’s a really hard pill to swallow. But thank you so much for this post and your honesty… it’s overall very motivating and helpful.

  • Really looking forward to learning more about your changes! And thank you so much for sharing about your struggles and journey. I have been experiencing similar symptoms to you and have been feeling at a loss for what to do. Feeling more hopeful now – thank you again!
    xoxo

  • Have been in this boat a few times, so know how it feels! I’ve battled with acne and mood swings most of my young adult life and it came back to haunt me in my 40’s so I had to adjust my diet pretty much like you’ve been saying: upping protein and fats and lowering carbs, basically stabilizing my blood sugar that was and still is very sensitive to swings (not all of us are and you are so right to point this out!). I have found that many of my friends and clients deal with the same issues in their 40’s and beyond. I gift your books to all my clients (I’m a health coach) on our first session and love them. I would so welcome a book or even many blog posts with recipes that incorporate those new recipes of yours. A lot of us are in the same boat and need to stabilize our blood sugars for our hormone’s balance. With much love and admiration, thank you for all that you do.

  • Thank you very much for your honesty. I can relate to what you shared and it’s nice to feel we have this in common. I look forward to trying these recipes!

  • Thank you for this very helpful story/analysis of health symptoms, Sarah. I am trying to do a similar diagnosis, but I don’t have your knowledge and skills (and patience)! I eat very healthy (I think), and consume limited (whole) grains, but I still carry extra weight and I am struggling to get pregnant, probably because I just eat too much, and may be taxing my liver in the same way (allowing extra estrogen to float around – causing fibroids). I will keep experimenting in this direction.

    I think you have a typo – do you mean “faster” instead of “slower” when you talk about the rate at which we eat carbohydrates compared to hour our body uses them? Or, perhaps I’m confused. 🙂

    Wishing you wellness and happiness

  • These look amazing! Thank you for sharing so much of your journey with us all you are so brave and inspiring x

  • Thank you so much Sarah for your openness, recipes and beautiful words throughout these years. Your honesty has helped me and a lot of people, and this blog post resonates so much. I have been reading your blog since I was 15 and recently found your recent book in the basement of a bookstore in Bucharest, Romania (to join the first installment ;)). Much love!!
    Maria
    x

  • Sarah, I have been reading your blog for a year, but this is the first time I am commenting. Thank you so much for this post! I think that one thing that is always true is that our greatest challenges in life also hold our greatest potential. So it makes so much sense to me that someone who teaches others as beautifully and expertly about food and nutrition as you also would go through difficult times with that subject. Thank you for sharing your experience, it really makes me feel that you walk the talk, and I trust a teacher who admits her humanness much more than a “perfect” version.

  • Nice listening to your food ‘stories’. Thank you. Always something to think about.
    I would be interested to know why you chose not to use buckwheat since it is not a grain. Also why you have used applesauce and coconut sugar – both of which are high fructose. The liver is involved in the conversion of all fructose to glucose, so your liver will still be working hard. It also forms visceral fat around organs. An unrefined molassas sugar may serve the liver better. Not sure about an alternative to applesauce? Do you have any ideas. Thanks for sharing Sarah.

  • Dear Sarah,
    Thank you for being brave and sharing your experiences. Keeping it real is how we can support each other and live healthier lives. I would encourage you to continue being brave, be real and share your lovely self.
    Sincerely Jules
    ps Cereal looks yum!

  • Thank you for this blogpost! And for your blog! It is amazing!
    I think this blogpost is very relevant for women with PCOS, as PCOS is often triggered by blood sugar issues!
    In my experience just reducing the emount of grains and cutting out sugar helps already…even to get pregnant?

  • Hi Sarah, love your realness and thoughts in this post. Can you get a little bit more specific about HOW you incorporate more fat in your diet? In your IG-Story the other day you named the fatballs…what else are you eating?

  • Sarah, thank you so much for this post. You’ve been so brave sharing your experience and I 100% feel you, it’s something I’ve been dealing with for some time now, thinking that what I am doing maybe it’s not working anymore and being afraid of actually listening to all the signs that I’ve been (admittedly) negleting. I’m so proud of you! I feel inspired to finally sit with myself and letting my instinct show me the way. One question- now that you’re eating higher amounts of protein are you still going to eat vegeterian so mostly protein from legumes and nuts/seeds or you’ll introduce some meat? That’s pretty much what I’m dwelling on now:D Thank you so much for all the inspiration!

  • Thanks for sharing, Sarah! I know the challenges of trying to change your diet when you have a history of disordered eating and restrictionz. I appreciate your realness and am excited to see your new recipes! 🙂

  • So touched by your honest words, thanks for sharing, Sarah. I’ve been reading and learning a lot about blood sugar and hormones too, especially in the last 2-3 years during my pregnancy story. This crunch definitely looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it. Thank you for being you!

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