Man, i could make this post a long long post just blabbing on about the things i have been learning about food and our bodies and wellness. I am obsessed with the topic right now. I love it. I am going to try and cut down everything in a quick short version without too much detail...FIRST...
1. I was feeling sluggish, TIRED, OLD, and not well. No motivation. Just yucky. My health was feeling yucky...there were things i was going to the doctor for to resolve, and some things ive been dealing with for years. I had been soooo sick and tired of dealing with these things. I had been praying and praying to get all this figured out. I just wanted to feel well.
2.I asked my HEALTH CONSCIOUS, HEALTHY EATING, GREEN EATING friend..."What do i do?!" She recommended that i read "Eat to Live". So i did.
3.(Angelic singing)....A light came on! The heavens opened(being dramatic here). This book changed my life and my eating. I knew this was my answer. I knew it. It felt so right in every fiber of my being that there was no way i couldn't take action.
4. I 've tried changing our way of eating several times over the years...Nothing worked. Not everyone in the house was on the same page OR ready for it. :) SO, it didn't work. THIS TIME....they all agreed without complaint. WHAT?!?!?! SINCE WHEN?!?! The heavens opened AGAIN. bahaha! Seriously though. That was a miracle in itself!! hahahaha!I couldn't believe that my first healthy meal was liked by ALL. ANOTHER miracle. It was all fitting together PERFECTLY like a darn puzzle. It only confirmed what i was already feeling about this being right. :) I sound like a crazy person, but i feel so passionate about this now.
5.What's the plan?! Basically, no more cheeses, meats or eggs, oils, sugars. Does that sound terrible? Well, i left out that 10% of what we eat during the week CAN be WHATEVER we want. SOOOO, that means TWO meals out of the week we can eat WHATEVER meal we choose, not related to this new healthy lifestyle. :) And i think that's great because it really helps stay on track when you KNOW that you DO get to indulge in those unhealthy promoting foods sometimes. :) Most of our days we are TANKING down vegetables, greens, fruits, beans, and some nuts. And we can eat ONE serving of WHOLE grains a day(or one cup).
6.Juicing is a wonderful thing to help get all the intake of nutrients and vitamins you need in a day without having to POUND more vegetables in ONE day than you probably want to. Sometimes it's hard to take down, particularly when we use collard greens, but we do it.
7. RESULTS of this new way of lifestyle: I LOVE IT. I feel more energy than i have in soooo long. I feel FABULOUS. I feel HEALTHY! It's been two weeks and i have lost 7 lbs. Shane has lost nearly 10 lbs. I haven't experienced ANY of my stomach pains(fingers crossed) since starting. That's enough to make me keep on this way forever. I love not having all those stomach issues! It helps make me a happier person!
8. Struggles? What struggles? haha! It has definitely had it's hard moments. Your body goes through a withdrawal period when trying to take yourself off all those meats and cheeses and sugars. And it's kind of like PMS symptoms for some people. Headaches for some. Fatigue for some. We experienced all those(for only a few days), but stayed strong!!! It was hard though. I think we are past that now. thank goodness.
9. My sweet husband is amazing. He has a great love affair with food. He is what most of us are...an emotional eater. So, since he couldn't turn to food in times of need anymore...guess what his NEW drug of choice is?!!? CLEANING!!!! oh. my. gosh. I am serious, and i LOVE it. NOW, instead of eating, he turns to cleaning...and that's a lot! He goes crazy with it sometimes....i try to tell him to just SIT down. :) hahaha! BUT if this is what helps him learn a new way of dealing with emotional eating then i will gladly let him do it. You should see it. It's another miracle! hahahaha! i love him.
10. Prayers answered. WOW. Sometimes the Lord takes awhile, but i am glad it came. :) The good thing is that it's PERFECT timing for ALL of us. We are all on board! For the first time ever! The timing was right, the place was right.
11. Costly? Yes, for us it is. Our produce over here is a lot more expensive than back in America. It's making our monthly bill for food A LOT more, it seems. BUT it's worth it! It's worth every penny. AND i cannot WAIT until we have our OWN garden one day! :) To give you an idea....Well, i really don't know the price of produce in America anymore. It's been so long since ive been there. sad. :(
Anyway... We spend nearly $4.00 for a pound of bell peppers. About $3.69 for a pound of apples. A small container of strawberries is about $4.00-$5.00. I never buy strawberries. PLUS they aren't even good strawberries. Such a rip off. Depending on the time of year, a small bag of potatoes costs nearly $10.00....we don't eat potatoes hardly at all anymore. What are the prices of these in America now? The cheapest leafy green is collard greens and mustard greens, which have such a strong taste. I buy those more lately because they are so cheap, but it's a taste you definitely have to get used to . If i buy a big bag of carrots, it's cheapest that way because then i can bring them home and clean and chop them up into easy snack pieces. The herbs are so pricey. A teeny tiny plastic container full of about two twigs of basil is almost $4.00 , BUT off base you can get a HUGE bag of basil for about 100 yen, which is about $1.50...somewhere around there. That's the best thing i have noticed for produce here. I love basil.
We have only been doing this for two weeks, so it's still a work in progress. I have to slowly bring my kids into this because they have struggled with a few dinners i have made. But if i stay persistent and slowly eek them in then they will definitely get used to it. I mean, get this...i asked the boys what meal they wanted on friday night....that's our night when i fix any meal they want. Tanner said "What about chicken salad. you know, lettuce with the chicken on it." hahaha! I was shocked he said that. I guess he misses meat. :) Actually , this friday i am making enchiladas with homemade tortillas and homemade salsa! yum! The other meal(our second meal of the week where we can eat what we want) during the week is saved for nights in case we go out to dinner OR go to a friends, etc.
I am learning what meals we LIKE and don't like. I make sure to write down all the meals that will work for us. I will just keep compiling the list and keep trying new foods until we figure it out. I've never been more motivated to do this for my health and my family's health. :)
And one thing i have realized....knowledge is power. The more i read and understood , through his explaining, what the american western diet is doing to people(killing them), and what plant based food and whole foods CAN do for us, i gained an understanding that calls for action. Understanding WHY i should be eating this way is what CREATES the change. Most people don't understand how they should be eating because we hear so many differing views, opinions, confusing ads, etc. But this all made perfect sense to me and i finally understood, and i had to take action. I may be sounding very dramatic to you right now. :) BUT i am just so excited about this.
I could explain why this way of eating is best, but that would take forever. Just look into reading Dr. Fuhrman's books and Dr. Robbins books. And watch some food documentaries. It will change you.
4 years ago
1 comment:
Okay, woman. I need to read these books. I'm a little scared to because I know it'd be such a huge change and I HATE cooking so I will hate changing every meal BUT I know it would be so good for us! :) hahaha. I'm whiny. :)
Post a Comment