Have your cake and lose weight too!

Have your cake and lose weight too is another diet and nutrition book focusing on eating a traditional food diet. Minimally processed, locally grown, in-season, organic foods. Unlike the Nourished Kitchen, this book is more accessible and practical.

In this book DaNelle Wolford breaks down why and how to eat healthier. She states that by eating better you can lose weight. She claims to have lost 35 pounds and cured her chronic illness. Her food suggestions allow fats and carbs in addition to real, whole foods. She doesn't eliminate any particular macro, but suggests moderation. She does recommend that you make choices that are right for you so there is no expectation to blindly follow everything she suggests. I have no doubt that she lost weight and felt better.

In theory, she is right. A better diet will help you lose weight. But what do you do if you follow her advice and still not lose weight? That happened to me. I have been following a variation of a paleo, gluten free diet for a long time and I was gaining weight. With the addition of exercise 4 times a week, the weight should have come off quickly. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated.

I eventually figured out why I couldn't lose the weight, which was an extremely damaged gut. I made some changes in my supplements while maintaining my modified Paleo diet and the weight came off. I'm sure that my case is not unique. I think DaNelle, despite her chronic illness, was able to lose weight because she was younger and did not have the metabolic problems that many people have. So just a word of caution that your success may or may not happen in the same way.

With that said, her dietary recommendations are worth taking note and trying. Eating a more traditional foods diet will likely help you improve your overall health. I did not try any of the recipes because they were similar to what I was already eating. There is also no cake recipe. Like many other reviewers state, it can be difficult to find and afford grass-fed, pasture raised meat and all organic vegetables. Like anything, just do the best you can.

I read the printed version of the book, which had printing errors. There were several pages that were extremely light and a few pages were smeared. The book is self-published, so a bit of polish would have helped improve the overall quality.