Eat The Butter's top ten vintage food rules:

1. Eat real food. Eggs, meat, vegetables, nuts... BUTTER, not margarine.

2. ADD natural fat -- butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and the fat found in meat.

3. Avoid vegetable oil and shortening (corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, safflower oils....)

4. RETHINK breakfast. Exchange carbs for protein and fat.

5. Cut out SUGAR. (Some substitutes like stevia are okay in moderation.)

6. Minimize grains including whole grain products such as bread, pasta, crackers, pretzels, and cereal.

7. Eliminate 'low-fat' and 'fat-free' engineered foods.

8. Snack on nuts, cheese, and avocados.

9. Drink only WATER... well, maybe some tequila or wine in moderation ;-)

10. Enjoy dark chocolate as your go-to treat. >70% cacao.

Real food. More fat.  As much as you want...

Cut out fake food, refined carbohydrates, 'drinks,' and vegetable oils...

Fine in moderation, especially if you are in maintenance mode:

Breakfast has become a carb-fest.

The low-fat dietary recommendations changed breakfast more than any other meal. It has become the all-American carb-fest. Change it back to a vintage breakfast. Eat real food, more fat, and skip the refined carbohydrates. Eating fat in the morning means that you will feel full longer and eat less throughout the day. Bacon and eggs fried in butter, anyone? Yum!

Starting your day with fruit, cereal and skim milk is what we have been instructed to do for 'heart health.'  But such a large slug of carbohydrates gets your day off to a pretty rough start from a blood sugar perspective.  And all that insulin gets your body ready to store fat -- not the best idea if you have weight to lose.  Check out the blood sugar graphs, below, and rethink breakfast!  

Higher-fat breakfast ideas.

1. Eggs with any of the following:  cheese, avocado, tomatoes, sautéed greens, sausage, bacon.
2. Ham and cheese or salmon with cream cheese.
3. Full-fat greek yogurt (plain) - add vanilla, 2 tbs heavy cream, stevia/xylitol/erythritol, berries, nuts.
4. Leftovers from dinner.
5. Bulletproof coffee (coffee blended with butter and coconut oil); nothing else! Sounds a little crazy (Butter in my coffee?), but it is creamy and delicious!
6. LCHF breakfast ideas from dietdoctor.com
7. Paleo/Primal breakfast ideas (including pancakes!) from marksdailyapple.com
8. A low-sugar, grain free granola like Paleonola

Yes.  Skip breakfast if you are not hungry.

Frequent meals and snacks are necessary when the you fuel your body with carbohydrates. When you are eating more fat, you will feel full longer and even when you are hungry, it won't be as dramatic or urgent. In general, avoid force feeding yourself or your kids. Doesn't it make sense that you should not eat when you are not hungry? Of course, there are exceptions...  if you know you will be starving at 11am, which for you means you will hit up Dunkin' Donuts for that oversized banana-nut muffin, perhaps you should eat breakfast. (Or, bring some hard boiled eggs to work....) Or, if you plan to run a 10K at 9am or plan to spend the entire morning outside pulling weeds, perhaps you will need more than just that cup of coffee to get through (comfortably) until lunch. You decide.

Organic. Pastured/grass-fed. Non-GMO. Free Range. Wild caught... What matters?

Do you find yourself a little confused in the supermarket these days? So many labels - so much to think about. What is a mother to buy?

Relax. Most (~80%) of the battle against ill health is won simply by switching to a real-food-more-fat diet. So no, it does not have to be organic to be healthy for your family. Different mothers have different access to organic produce and different grocery budgets, so suit yourself.  

If you do have room in your budget for higher-end food, here is a priority list, designed to give you the most health improvement for your grocery dollar:

1. Pastured or grass-fed butter.  (Kerrygold and Organic Valley Pastured Butter taste amazing!)
2. Pastured or grass-fed milk, cheese, and cream.
3. Grass-fed beef.   (Note:  Most of us are used to corn-fed meat, and some will find the grass-fed meat less appealing. In general, the flavor of grass-fed beef is great, but there is a textural difference and it cooks a little faster, so it can take some time to adjust. If you can find freshly ground grass-fed beef, this is a good place to start. The tenderness does not really matter in a hamburger, sloppy joe, bolognese sauce, etc. And ground beef is less expensive, too.)
4. Wild-caught fish.
5. Pastured eggs.  (Organic eggs are the next best option.)
6. Chicken, pork, and eggs raised without antibiotics.
7. Organic produce, especially the 'dirty dozen' -- apples, strawberries, celery, grapes, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, nectarines, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, snap peas, potatoes -- plus blueberries.

There are many reasons, beyond health, to shop consciously at the grocery store or farmers' market. Some mothers like to buy local. Some like to keep the treatment of animals top of mind. Some are most concerned about the environment. All of these factors play a role in the many decisions we make as we fill our carts!

Fat:  The Good, The Bad, and the So-So.

When it comes to fat, stick with vintage fats. Fats that have been around for a while. Fats that you can imagine a native person finding in nature and eating. If you can't imagine how it is made (What is corn oil, anyway?), then don't eat it. If you couldn't make it in your kitchen (How do they make soy oil, anyway?), then avoid it. Here is a list to help you navigate the ever-confusing world of fat:

The Good

These fats have been eaten by traditional societies for centuries.  Dig in!

Grass-fed butter, coconut oil, olive oil, lard and tallow from pastured animals, cheese, cream, fish/krill oil, cacao butter, coconut, avocados, olives, nuts, and nut butters.

The Bad

These modern inventions require industrial extraction (think high heat, solvents, deodorizers, and bleach) to make and have NOT been eaten by humans for centuries. Steer clear!

Corn oil, soy oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil (is that even food?), safflower oil, sunflower seed oil, and 'vegetable' oil. Also, any type of spread, margarine, or shortening. Anything that says 'trans fat', 'hydrogenated,' or 'partially hydrogenated.'

The So-So:

Peanuts, peanut oil, other nut oils, sesame seed oil, and palm or palm kernel oil.

Chocolate -- a gift from the universe.  

How fitting that chocolate is a go-to treat for vintage eaters. Chocolate is truly nature's dessert. Choose dark chocolate that is made from natural ingredients, has at least 70% cacao, and does not have candy added...  nuts or dried fruit are usually fine in your chocolate. Dark chocolate is naturally high in fat and low in carbs. Here are some favorite bars: