About Me
My name is Ashley Louise Rothstein and I’m a glut at heart.
I often joke that I must have been a fat Latin man in a past life because in my glory days, I frequently devoured my bodyweight in burritos, tacos, nachos, chips, guac, salsa, and pretty much anything that looked like, smelled like, or resembled Mexican food. All with extra extra extra sour cream and cheese. And to finish it off, I face plowed as many chocolate chip cookies and as much chocolate ice cream (with mountains of rainbow sprinkles mixed in) that I possibly could.
Sadly, those days did not (and could not) last forever. My lifestyle caught up with me, and in early 2015, I got sick.
To feel better and attempt to reverse my strange health issues (if interested, read more about them here), I bounced around between the carnivore, keto, and paleo diets. After experiencing and studying each diet philosophy, I learned I feel my best by merging the three and following an animal-based diet that includes a good amount of meat/raw dairy/egg yolks, a moderate amount of plants, and time-restricted feeding.
But, the fat Latin man is still definitely alive inside of me, and I don’t think he is going anywhere anytime soon.
So throughout this journey, it’s been a mission for me to find a way to make my food taste good so I can satisfy this inner gluttonous dude.
For years, I’ve been going ham with creativity, trying to recreate the foods I always loved and enjoyed but within each new diet philosophy’s guidelines and parameters. And I guess over time, I somehow became a…Closet chef? Recipe developer? Food photographer? Perhaps a combination of the three.
And these days, I develop tasty, whole food, nutrient-dense, animal-based recipes that are not boring. Most of what I create is paleo, keto, and/or carnivore. I share the recipes here on the blog and on social media. I enjoy sharing about this way of eating so other people, too, can please their inner gluttonous spirits without having to sacrifice their health.
And while I love a good set of food guidelines (when approved ingredients are few and limited, it keeps me challenged and creative), the dogma behind strict dieting and rigid food rules has not been good for me over the years.
I still use Paul Saladino’s guidelines as a template because in general, it does make me feel great. But I am not anti-plant like I used to be. Over time, I’ve incorporated some foods on his “toxic” list back into my diet that I like and that make me feel good. This is why you’ll see a random ingredient here or there in my recipes that does not fall within Paul’s “animal-based” guidelines.
I love color, diversity, and variety, and find that I feel the best with animal foods and a moderate amount of plants. And in fact, while I still have some meat-heavy days, over time, I’ve evolved to eating more of a 50-50 animal food-plant food diet as I feel good with a decent amount of fiber.
When it comes to eating, learn everything, but do you!!
-Ash
