In January I turned a whole whopping 33 years young. However, for my birthday I did not feel young. I actually gave myself the worst birthday gift ever. I hit 200 pounds on the scale. On my 5'6" frame, lets just say there is some junk in my trunk and up front too.
I am not proud of this at all. In fact, it's kind of horrifying and liberating to admit this "out loud". The only person I've really told is my husband.
The day before my birthday I ran across this article about DIY Health on Ana White's blog. She started describing how she was NOT happy nor healthy despite eating "healthy" for a long time. In fact, her "diet" caused her to gain 20+ pounds in over a year. I related with her emotional status as well as her weight gain.. While my eating habits had NOT be healthy, I was gaining weight yearly. Significant amounts of weight. Additionally, I am on meds for PMDD which are a build up of these emotional issues the week before my period. If I forget a pill, I am UNBEARABLE. My poor family.
Then Ana mentioned Paleo. I'd seen pins on Pinterest about Paleo eating, and I laughed at the thought. I can't give up my breads and pastas! Rice, corn, and beans were out too? NO CHEESE?!!! Fergeddaboudit. But because of Ana's mention, and the fact that my mom had been talking about being gluten free for years, I started wondering if there was something to this.
I had my birthday dinner at Bombay house the next day with my family. I started talking to my mom about Paleo. I complained about not being able to have cheese, milk, or yogurt. She told me to look into "Primal" eating. Basically Paleo with dairy products.
So I went home and started reading more and more about Paleo and about Primal. I pinned and pinned and pinned items and recipes. The more I learned, the more I was shocked. All these grains {Wheat, Quinoa, Rice, Corn, Legumes} were making people not only fat, but sick. Inflammation was a HUGE side effect from these items. My husband has Fibromyalgia. Inflammation is the LAST thing this guy needs. In addition to that, I knew what foods set him off. Fast food burgers being one of the worst, but we ate out TONS. He rarely complained, but I knew it was slowly taking the life from him. Yet I did NOTHING.
I started reading up on "Primal" eating from Mark's Daily Apple. What you can eat, what you can't. He even has a shopping list and a book. {Which I have not read yet.} I started gleaning more information and pinning more recipes. I was becoming informed, and it scared the grains right out of my house.
About a week after my birthday I did a pantry purge. Anything and everything gluten and sugar got tossed. Processed foods, GONE. I couldn't have it in the house. I wanted us all to go through this together. I was not going to poison my kids while I ate healthy. Not going to happen.
My mom also got me 3 books by Maria Emmerich. I'm almost done reading "The Art of Healthy Eating: Savory". Her information as a nutrition and wellness expert is interesting and good to know. In this book she talks about "Why we get fat". How wheat and other grains turn into sugar in our body. Sugar is BAD. She talks about insulin resistance, Fibro, Crohn's Disease, hair loss, and other health issues. She talks about why eggs are good for you, including the yolk. She gives amazing recipes that are healthier for you than the regular version. Her blog is chuck full of information, but is a bit difficult to find that info. So keep digging. But I can say that she has such good information, that it is worth a look.
So how has it gone? Well, I can honestly say that I am addicted to convenience foods. Fast food happens when I'm not in the game 100%. It is HARD. Lunches are the worst. WORST I tell you! My kids are not at all supportive of our switch, and some days I'm needing an energy boost by the time it comes around that a fight is not what I want. So I cave and we get something totally horrible. If I don't plan ahead for dinner, it is the same issue. Primal and Paleo are all about PLANNING! You would think I could handle that.
So here we are. Everyday is a new day to try better. I know every day won't be perfect. I know that I struggle. I have an unhealthy addiction. So do my kids. But with information, practice, and time, I know that we can do it. Well, we can do it most of the time. I just have to make sure I plan ahead. ;)
I think later this week I'll post some of my favorite recipes, as my post today is HUGE. Sorry about that. ;)
xxoo
