{"id":33764,"date":"2015-09-30T20:25:28","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T00:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=33764"},"modified":"2015-09-30T20:31:35","modified_gmt":"2015-10-01T00:31:35","slug":"eat-like-a-chef-seamus-mullens-high-fat-low-carb-lifestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/it\/journal\/eat-like-a-chef-seamus-mullens-high-fat-low-carb-lifestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"Eat Like a Chef: Seamus Mullen\u2019s High-Fat, Low-Carb Lifestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article\u00a0is part of a\u00a0new series,\u00a0From the Wanderlust Kitchen<\/a><\/strong>, celebrating real, good food. Receive a digital cookbook of this season\u2019s recipes from chef Seamus Mullen and Wanderlust Hollywood by\u00a0signing up here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Seamus Mullen is the kind of chef who walks the talk.<\/p>\n

After experiencing severe pain flare-ups in his joints<\/a> in his 20s and 30s, Seamus, the executive chef at Wanderlust Hollywood<\/a>, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. A major part of his path to recovery has been overhauling his diet.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a tricky word, diet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to think of diet at a noun, not as a verb,\u201d Seamus says. \u201cIt\u2019s not something you do<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather, Seamus thinks of diet as a lifestyle, a way of thinking about food and health habits that carries over from day-to-day, month-to-month. In order to get healthy\u2014and stay healthy\u2014Seamus has developed a diet-as-a-lifestyle that works for him. \u201cIt really is what I like to call a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to shift the idea of indulgence to one where after you indulge you feel good about yourself.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To get there, he had to work backwards. \u201cI started looking at the things that I liked cooking with most<\/a>, and I started to realize that those things were really good for me,\u201d he says\u2014foods rich in high-quality fats like wild fish, coconuts<\/a>, avocados<\/a>, and olives and olive oil<\/a>. He concentrated on eating more of what made him feel good and cutting out things that didn\u2019t, namely sugar, alcohol, grains, and processed foods. \u201cI realized that there\u2019s no value in eating something that\u2019s going to make me feel like crap,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Now that he\u2019s fully adopted this new way of eating, Seamus is very vigilant about what he puts into his body. The key, he says, is that his diet doesn\u2019t feel restrictive. It\u2019s healthy, but that doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t delicious, even indulgent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to shift the idea of indulgence to one where after you indulge you feel good about yourself,\u201d he says. \u201cEggs<\/a> are indulgent, spring peas at the height of the season are indulgent, fresh strawberries are indulgent, excellent bacon is indulgent. But those are all things that are very good for you and really are about celebrating food and enjoying flavor.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is what he means by diet-as-a-lifestyle. Think about foods that are good for your body and full of flavor, including foods that have quality fats and a natural sweetness, and celebrate them. It\u2019s a philosophy he\u2019s seen work firsthand, transforming him<\/a> from being practically bedridden to an incredibly active person.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can live a really indulgent, healthy, happy life with food, and, at the same time, you can watch\u2014and feel\u2014your body change in a very positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n

See Seamus’s food philosophy in action by checking out these recipes<\/a> from the caf\u00e9 at Wanderlust Hollywood.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Hungry for more from\u00a0the Wanderlust Kitchen?<\/h3>\n

Sign up for seasonal recipes, digital cookbooks, and inspiring interviews.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n