Do you suffer from a serious illness? Is your quality of life undermined by chronic pain? Are you always tired? Do you struggle to lose weight? Most importantly, do you wish you could change all of this?

If so, my journey may be of interest to you.

I have always been passionate about my health, and believed that my dietary choices were smart and beneficial. I realize now that I’ve been wrong, more or less, for most of my life; I’m 41.

I’ve also been an athlete my entire life. Over the last decade, I’ve become an avid trail and long-distance runner, love doing (or, the idea of doing) P90x, and do a lot of hiking, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing with my dog-companions. Despite exercising on a regular basis and eating what I believed to be a very healthy vegetarian diet, I kept putting weight on.

I reached my highest weight of 170 pounds in December 2009. I’m 5?6?, so I was carrying 40-50 extra pounds. I was always tired, miserable in my clothes, and generally did not feel good about myself. I thought I was doing all of the right things, but I wasn’t as is obvious from the photos.

December 2009: Before becoming a nutritarian | 170 lbs

About two years ago I became aware of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and his approach to long-term health, disease prevention and cure, and weight loss through nutritional excellence. He coined the word nutritarian to describe his recommended diet-style.

So, what is a nutritarian? According to Dr. Fuhrman:

“A nutritarian is a person who strives for more micronutrients per calorie in their diet-style. A nutritarian understands that food has powerful disease-protecting and therapeutic effects and seeks to consume a broad array of micronutrients via their food choices. It is not sufficient to merely avoid fats, consume foods with a low glycemic index, or lower the intake of animal products, or eat a diet of mostly raw foods. A truly healthy diet must be micronutrient rich and the micronutrient richness must be adjusted to meet individual needs. The foods with the highest micronutrient per calorie scores are green vegetables, color vegetables, and fresh fruits. For optimal health and to combat disease, it is necessary to consume enough of these foods that deliver the highest concentration of nutrients. A nutritarian is a person whose food choices are influenced by nutritional quality.”

It was slow-going at first, but after a year of trying to be a nutritarian, and doing it about 40%, I made the commitment and became 100% nutritarian. The changes in my life have been overwhelming, from dropping 40 pounds, to having energy all day and thinking more clearly. Most important to me, however, was regaining control of my health. In addition to eliminating constant fatigue, chronic joint pain, and the risk of heart disease, I cured myself of asthma (which I had been managing with an inhaler for 15 years).

For those of you interested in regaining control of your health destiny, and losing unnecessary, unhealthy excess weight, you should know that I was able to lose nearly all of my weight primarily by following a nutritarian eating style. While I did some exercise, it was not enough to cause my dramatic weight loss. To see the results that I achieved after losing 40 pounds simply by adopting a nutritarian lifestyle check out the June 12, 2012 photos below.

A typical breakfast for me includes salad, seaberry juice, and corn on the cob.

At 135 pounds, I was feeling so confident, excited, and energetic that I decided it was time to get serious about exercising. On June 6, 2012, I decided to try P90X again. Since starting P90X, I’ve lost another 5 pounds. But, more importantly, I’ve toned up, gotten leaner, and feel more and more amazing all the time. To see my P90X results, to date, check out the photos below taken on September 6, 2012, day 77 of the 90 day program.

Sea Buckthorn, otherwise known as Seaberry, growing at SHO Farm, is an important part of my diet.

I am a student of Dr. Fuhrman’s, constantly watching him speak, listening to his webinars, and reading his articles and books. I am a true convert, just ask my family – they’ll warn you not get me started on being a nutritarian…I’ll talk your ear off! In all seriousness, I convinced my mother to adopt this diet-style as she battles relapsed Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. She’d be the first to tell anyone that eating this way has made an enormous difference in her success against the disease, so far.

You might ask why I am writing about being a nutritarian on my company’s blog. Good question.

The foundation of a nutritarian lifestyle is eating the right foods. The right foods, then, must be available 365 days of the year. Having access to the right foods is key.

How to achieve that in a way that is climatically sustainable, regenerative to our landscapes, profitable to farmers, and cost-sensitive to the consumer is what I am interested in exploring as a nutritarian who is passionate about land conservation and smart land use, and committed to fairness and equality.

These ideas will be explored in an upcoming series of blogs that will touch upon, among other things, how to identify and value land otherwise considered unusable or valueless, designing superfood crops to meet emerging market demands and that can be grown in locations and at scales that are sustainable and profitable, and how to do this on a local and regional level year-round.

I will be working closely with Melissa Hoffman, founder of LivingFuture Foundation, on these articles. She and I have partnered in this effort, and look forward to bringing our ideas to you over the next several months.

Stay tuned!

Photo Diary Of Regaining My Health & Well-Being

December 2009: Before becoming a nutritarian | P90X-Day 1 | 170 lbs

June 12, 2012: After being 100% nutritarian for 4 months | P90X-Day 1 | 135 lbs

September 6, 2012: Life as a nutritarian | P90X-Day 77 | 130 lbs

Being a nutritarian doesn’t necessarily mean giving up things you love to eat…well, not exactly. This is a vegan chocolate faux ice cream topped with toasted hazel and pecan nuts – AMAZING! It’s made with dates, nuts, goji berries, vanilla, and cocoa…really!