The thought of changing your diet can be overwhelming. When I was being tested for Celiac just the thought of not being able to eat any product with wheat in it made me get extremely stressed out and feel like I was going to cry ( and most times I actually did cry). For me I feel like its easy to not eat those things and more now because I know I will get sick, but I know it has got to be hard for someone who thinks "I can eat whatever I want! How can I find the self control to try the Paleo Diet?"
Like I mentioned yesterday, there was a time when people didn't eat the junk we have today. There weren't farms that grew large amounts of cheap crops.There wasn't candy or pizza. People hunted and picked what they ate so naturally they were getting their exercise in. Turns out though they relaxed a lot too. They only actually worked about 15 hrs a week so they probably had a lot less stress in their lives. Now I will be the first to say that my favorite food was pizza and I couldn't imagine giving it up but there are ways to have your favorite things if you are just willing to tweak the recipe to suit your body better.
So where do you begin your transformation. Its not hard.. got some bacon and Eggs in you fridge? well there is your first breakfast.. easiest thing to make. skip the hash browns and toast you don't need that garbage.. lol let me give you a typical day for me...
Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs or an omelet
Lunch: Chicken salad- home made Paleo dressing (Add in as many veggies as you want,craisins
are good or nuts
Supper: Salmon, Asparagus, and Mixed Veggies.
Snacks: Walnuts, Oranges, Carrots, Dried fruit
Its all about listening to your body. If you are hungry, EAT. Eat till you're full. If your eating the right things your body will react in the right way. Our society has been told that Fat is bad but its a scam! I have been eating fat all week and I feel better and look better.. 8 lbs in 1 week with hardly any effort. when wast the last time you ate tons all day every day only worked out twice and lost 8 lbs in a week.. probably never.
The thing is just make sure you eat the right stuff. Don't eat anything from a package. If you dont know what the ingredients are its not good. Don't worry about counting calories, worry about ingredients. The easiest way to do this is to shop around the outside of the store and in the aisle with spices. when I go in walmart I skip the dairy aisle and go right to the meat. Avoid the processed meat and go for the real stuff. When possible with your budget go organic. Then you know the animals are fed right and you will be too. I try to get a good variety of different stuff so I don't get bored.After Meat go to the Produce. Fill your cart with color! make sure you pick up some cauliflower to replace your potatoes and rice with. If you have a food processor you can do wonders with cauliflower and the way you prepare it. Grab some garlic and fresh herbs to cook with. Replace your spaghetti with spaghetti squash. Make home made sauce for your pasta and add peppers and mushrooms and onions and spices.. It will taste better then any can of spaghetti sauce you could buy.
It might sound overwhelming but it really is easy. Don't think about what you can't eat. Think of all the things you can eat and the different creations that are out there for you to try! Food tastes so much better when it is fresh and natural. A week ago I hated peppers and onions and now like I like them. Last night while talking to my dad about living Paleo I said that when i was eating junk from a box all the time and other unhealthy things there were a lot of healthy veggies and meat that I didn't like. But now that I have only eaten real food for the last week I have absolutely NO desire to eat anything from a box. It grosses me out. I don't want chocolate or candy I don't care that I cant have Chinese food or Pizza the way I used to eat them. I care about my health and my body . Fruit tastes sweeter now, the crunch of a vegetable is way better than a potato chip, the fat in meat helps my brain (which is made up of a lot of fat) function way better.
These foods have made me happier, healthier, 1 pant size skinnier in a week and more energetic. I went from hating myself to loving myself and what is better than that. Especially as a mom. I love myself more so now I can love and care for my family more. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.
Feel free to ask questions and I will try to answer them the best I can in tomorrows blog entry! I will also try to include a recipe in tomorrows entry. Thanks for reading!
Be your best you!
-Megan
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
About Me.
As of last week I had to make some big changes in my life that I am sure many people can relate to. What I was eating was slowly killing me. My body was not functioning the way you would think a normal body should. I had not felt normal and healthy for as long as I could remember. Some days the pain was so bad that I couldn't get out of bed. Some nights it was so bad that I couldn't sleep. I got Migraines, Diarrhea (I know gross but true). I was alive but not really living. I never had the energy to do the things I needed and I felt depressed a lot of the time but couldn't put my finger on why. I was always bloated and had aches and pains all over, but here I am today feeling better than ever! I feel like I can really live now. I want to exercise, I want to spend time with my 2 wonderful kids. I want to try new things. And it is all because of my new lifestyle. It is all because of Paleo.
I have for a long time thought that I was eating healthy. I worked hard to lose weight after having each one of my kids, though I was never able to get it all off. I thought the things I was eating were good for me but it was all a scam, as I have recently learned. I should start with why I changed my way of eating to begin with.
The aches and pains and other symptoms I was having from the time I was in high school till recently were a symptom of a disease that was present in my body, unknown to me. One that I had no Idea even existed till some of my relatives and my younger sister were diagnosed with it. Celiac Disease. Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats. So the sandwich I took most days for lunch, the Dressing on my salad, the spaghetti we had once a week, all these things and more were destroying my insides and ruining my quality of life.
Tomorrow it will have been a week since I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and my life has drastically changed. It is amazing what one week can do. The diet I follow (which I consider my new lifestyle, not a diet) is called Paleo. If you have never heard of it well you are in the same position I was a week ago. You see, the evening following my appointment with my Doctor, my Aunt Kim called me up to see how I was doing and answer some of the burning questions I had on my mind. Little did I know she was going to give me some of the best advise, I feel, that I have ever been given in my life. She does not have Celiac disease,but a wheat intolerance. Her Family started living gluten free quite a while ago because her husband and children have celiac. She told me how she had all the symptoms that I had been having and decided to start this "Paleo diet".
After getting off of the phone with her I began searching whatever I could to learn about it and immediately started to eat as outlined. Basically I eat meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts- NO STARCH, NO WHEAT ( which in my case I couldn't have anyways) NO DAIRY, NO LENTILS. I know it sounds strict but when you really understand it and think about it, it doesn't feel strict at all.
The Paleo Diet is based around the diet cavemen would have eaten. Its all about Hunting and gathering. The skeptics say well what about milk, you will get osteoporosis. We need wheat in our diet, every commercial on tv about bread and cereal tells us so, well my friends studies have been done on people from that time period and they were just fine. They were taller on average than modern day people, they had more muscle, better bones, less cavities, better sight, and less disease. Until Agriculture came into the picture many of the diseases you so commonly hear about today were rare. If you want are curious and want more info I would suggest you read the book "The Paleo Solution : The Original Human Diet" by Robb Wolf. I breaks it down as far as you can and has real life stories of people living this lifestyle.
I'm sure your getting tired of reading now so let me finish by saying, I have only been doing this Paleo thing for about a week now and I have so much energy its ridiculous. I don't feel tired and sluggish all day, my head is more clear, I don't get head aches, I don't feel bloated or gassy, and no more aches and pains. I have lost 7 lbs in 6 days. My clothes fit better, My food tastes better.No junk food could EVER taste as good as I feel. If you need a change I seriously suggest trying paleo. Try it for a week and tell me you don't feel better. I feel better and don't plan on turning back!
I have for a long time thought that I was eating healthy. I worked hard to lose weight after having each one of my kids, though I was never able to get it all off. I thought the things I was eating were good for me but it was all a scam, as I have recently learned. I should start with why I changed my way of eating to begin with.
The aches and pains and other symptoms I was having from the time I was in high school till recently were a symptom of a disease that was present in my body, unknown to me. One that I had no Idea even existed till some of my relatives and my younger sister were diagnosed with it. Celiac Disease. Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats. So the sandwich I took most days for lunch, the Dressing on my salad, the spaghetti we had once a week, all these things and more were destroying my insides and ruining my quality of life.
Tomorrow it will have been a week since I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and my life has drastically changed. It is amazing what one week can do. The diet I follow (which I consider my new lifestyle, not a diet) is called Paleo. If you have never heard of it well you are in the same position I was a week ago. You see, the evening following my appointment with my Doctor, my Aunt Kim called me up to see how I was doing and answer some of the burning questions I had on my mind. Little did I know she was going to give me some of the best advise, I feel, that I have ever been given in my life. She does not have Celiac disease,but a wheat intolerance. Her Family started living gluten free quite a while ago because her husband and children have celiac. She told me how she had all the symptoms that I had been having and decided to start this "Paleo diet".
After getting off of the phone with her I began searching whatever I could to learn about it and immediately started to eat as outlined. Basically I eat meat, vegetables, fruit, and nuts- NO STARCH, NO WHEAT ( which in my case I couldn't have anyways) NO DAIRY, NO LENTILS. I know it sounds strict but when you really understand it and think about it, it doesn't feel strict at all.
The Paleo Diet is based around the diet cavemen would have eaten. Its all about Hunting and gathering. The skeptics say well what about milk, you will get osteoporosis. We need wheat in our diet, every commercial on tv about bread and cereal tells us so, well my friends studies have been done on people from that time period and they were just fine. They were taller on average than modern day people, they had more muscle, better bones, less cavities, better sight, and less disease. Until Agriculture came into the picture many of the diseases you so commonly hear about today were rare. If you want are curious and want more info I would suggest you read the book "The Paleo Solution : The Original Human Diet" by Robb Wolf. I breaks it down as far as you can and has real life stories of people living this lifestyle.
I'm sure your getting tired of reading now so let me finish by saying, I have only been doing this Paleo thing for about a week now and I have so much energy its ridiculous. I don't feel tired and sluggish all day, my head is more clear, I don't get head aches, I don't feel bloated or gassy, and no more aches and pains. I have lost 7 lbs in 6 days. My clothes fit better, My food tastes better.No junk food could EVER taste as good as I feel. If you need a change I seriously suggest trying paleo. Try it for a week and tell me you don't feel better. I feel better and don't plan on turning back!
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