Life moves so fast. It’s like once you start to get a handle on the new normal, life throws you a curve ball (or like, 17), and you’re just trying to figure out which direction is up. Um. I could really use a compass. Needless to say, I will be taking a break from this space until March 1, trying to find balance within chaos, and carving out time for a little rest and relaxation whenever humanly possible.
Until then!
I’m sitting here, with tears streaming down my face, happy tears, joyful tears, in utter amazement at all of the incredibly kind, powerful and positive comments that I received on my last post. Reading each and every one (uhh…many times) has caused my heart to swell, and I swear I’m actually beaming. Seriously. I had a post planned for today, a recipe actually, but like, how can one just continue posting about regular stuff when I just received such an outpouring of love? It was felt. Deeply.
For those of you who are new to this blog, or even to those who aren’t, I need to warn you: I’m not a niche blog. I’m simply much too spastic to post about one topic. So, if you’re coming here to check out my latest sewing project, please forgive if I post endless recipes. And if you’re coming here for a weight-loss/exercise update, or delicious grain/gluten/dairy/soy/sugar-free recipes, I apologize for frivolous posts about my new favorite fabric. I promise I’ll get back to your subject of choice soon.
Lastly, I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: I have learned so freaking much from you guys (or really I should say girls), about your passions, skills and experiences, including those who do not have blogs, and I know this is going to sound insanely cheesy, but it has made me a better person. I’m not so afraid to try new things, throw caution to the wind, and make mistakes. I get energy from you! I am so honored every time I receive a comment, so excited that someone wants to share with me. I’m a dorky, giggly mess. I truly do want to create community in this space. I want to continue learning from you, and I hope I can bring something new to you as well. I cannot express my gratitude enough. So I’ll stop here. You are the best.
PS – I had not lost any weight in 7 days, but the morning after I hit publish, my scale showed 175.8, a 2.6 pound loss. It’s gotta be from your positive energy.
PPS – For a couple weeks now I’ve been tweeting like mad. I try to tweet a photo of every meal, so this is a great way to see what a Paleo diet looks like. And if I skip a meal, it’s because I’m in public or because I’m being glutinous and eating like 17 slices of salami which I did yesterday. Sigh. No one wants to see a photo of that.
PPPS (I promise this is the last one) – I created a new category to record this journey towards health, it’s called Thrive, and located just below the banner. I know, could I get any more ambiguous?
Okay, here it is. As promised, The Food Post.
Food.
Sigh.
Oh food.
How I love thee, and hate thee.
How I savor and appreciate each and every bite; each subtle difference in flavor, texture, temperature.
Or scarf wildly,
shoveling, barely stopping to chew.
Oh food.
You are my friend, and my worst enemy.
How complicated I have made you.
How I need a change.
Over the past two and a half years I’ve drastically shifted my focus on food, from that of the non-fat, dressing-less salad mentality, to the increasingly popular traditional foods diet, where I know fat is not the enemy and making my own bone broth and soaking nuts is a near daily occurrence. I have become so much more involved with my food, whether it’s keeping a small garden (which I’m choosing not to do this year), understanding sustainable and organic agriculture, protesting the next food slated for GMO, or forcing myself to remain educated about factory farms. Though I fill myself and my family with highly nutritious, filling meals, there I am at the end of the night, exhausted, staring blankly, eating the entire contents of my fridge. Needless to say, I’m overweight. There. I said it.
Nearly three months ago, my health took a nose dive: allergies, out-of-control asthma, scary near-fainting spells, exhaustion, depression, anxiety – meltdown. My entire system was screaming at me like Susan Powter to: STOP THE MADNESS! I finally looked at myself, like really saw myself, and realized just how big I had gotten. And it freaked the shit out of me. All those late night Second Dinners as we call them, (oh God just typing that and I’m realizing the horror of it), treats and “just this once” foods made me fat. And not just fat, but sick as well. I just didn’t realize it before*. I was so used to constantly feeling like crap: bloated, gassy (yup going there), stuffed up nose, headaches, blurry vision, stiff joints, moody, and fatigued, that I accepted it as being normal. Or sometimes I was so numb from over-eating that I couldn’t even tell the severity of my symptoms. Um, that’s not normal. That’s not healthy. Time to heal.
My acupuncturist suggested the Gut and Psychology Syndrome diet, or GAPS, which is pretty hardcore, but is centered on healing the gut and thus healing the mind. A recalibration if you will. About four years back I got a nasty infection that resulted in six months of antibiotics. They had me try 14 different kinds. Talk about gut flora imbalance. So yeah, I’ll say it again: healing my gut is the priority. That said, after doing some research and talking it over with my acupuncturist, I am now following an advanced GAPS/Paleo diet. For the simplicity of this blog, I’m just going to refer to it as Paleo. It’s slightly less hardcore than full-out GAPS, but is similar enough to allow me to heal as well as lose weight. Win-win. So what am I eating? Vegetables, fruit, meat, fat (animal and two oils: olive and coconut) and some nuts and seeds. That’s it.
The challenge: stay away from grains, starchy vegetables (including corn), legumes, dairy, sugar, soy, alcohol, and caffeine.
Since embarking upon this Paleo adventure nine weeks ago, I haven’t been perfect (coffee coffee coffee) (wine wine wine), but that’s not what I’m after right now. Trying this new way of eating on for size, seeing how my symptoms improve and literally feeling my mind and body heal, just a bit, day in and day out, is my main focus right now. And of course, the weight loss has kept me motivated to stay fairly strict. Over these past nine weeks I’ve managed to drop over 20 pounds…I’ll show (eek – gnaws on nails) you that later this week. So. yeah. A new blogging topic has emerged. Let the journey begin!
I’m wondering, have you ever made a significant change to your (or your family’s) diet? What motivates you to eat healthy, and what does healthy eating mean to you?
*UPDATE: I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the thoughtful, encouraging and positive comments so far. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such stellar comments and for telling me about your journey as well. I feel it important to note that I am truly not viewing this as simply a fad diet to lose the pounds (though losing weight is extremely relevant for me as I’ll chat about later this week). As a whole, I agree that fad diets are freaky (which is why I’ve never done one before) and so often unhealthy. While losing the pounds is of course a huge benefit of the diet, the weight loss is secondary to healing my gut, the major source of my health concerns. While I didn’t completely stay away from junk before this, I routinely cooked with whole grains, soaked and prepared at home: whole wheat you-name-it, rice, beans, quinoa, millet, to name a few. As it stands now, my body is unable to fully absorb the nutrients from my food, thus I’m currently depleted in vitamins and minerals. Symptoms (and tests) point to both dairy intolerances and grain sensitivities, namely Celiac Disease. The latter is more difficult to diagnose without gluten in the diet and I had already taken that out of my diet when tested. At this point I’m not willing to add it back in. My body really has quite a bit of healing to do.
One of the (many) reasons why the Paleo diet appeals to me, is for its healing properties, as well as it doesn’t tout itself as a weight loss diet, but rather a lifestyle diet – because it is. The weight loss is simply a welcomed benefit. I truly am in this for the long haul. I think the most difficult aspect of Paleo for people is the absence of grains. It certainly was for me. But after following the diet for over two months now, I’m not certain humans are meant to eat grains, of any sort, gluten-containing or otherwise. Honestly. I realize some appear to tolerate grains quite well, but so many absolutely do not (like me), and still others don’t realize that more minor ailments, both physical and mental, could be helped by changes to their diets. I truly do believe that so many of our health concerns in this day and age stem from what we’re eating: genetically modified organisms, artificial ingredients, and foods, even whole foods, that some bodies just aren’t able to fully process yet in this stage of evolution. So here’s to living healthy – whatever that means for you! And I DO want to keep reading about your journeys as well, even if they don’t jive with the method I’m following.
We spent an impromptu afternoon at the coast last week. It was so nice to get out of the city for awhile, a change of pace, change of scenery, away from the endless to-do list, a chance for fresher air. My favorite part of the day was flying a kite. It was so freeing! And just totally fun and helped keep me in the moment. Funny how such a simple, silly thing like that can renew one’s spirit. The only thing about getting away, at least for me, is that once I get a taste of it, I’m hungry for more.
Speaking of hunger and food and all that, while at the coast we enjoyed a killer meal: oyster shooters (no cocktail sauce for me), bay shrimp cocktail (again sans cocktail sauce, but plenty of lemon), a glass of white wine, and an amazingly good field green salad, with tiny bits of bleu cheese and hazelnuts. So yeah, I cheated on my special diet with the dairy just a pinch, but I’ve been dairy-free again for five days. I totally deserve pats on the back for this though. Typically coast food for me consists of bowls of clam chowder, fried clam strips, etc., so I’m doing well. I neglected to take photos of the meal, probably because Babe was on my lap the entire time, stealing shrimps from my plate and trying to sneak sips of my wine, however…
…we did enjoy a very similar dinner a few weeks back, at home, which I happened to snap a few photos of.
While I’ve had oyster shooters in the past, I’ve never actually purchased them and prepared them at home. I kind of felt like a bad ass asking for them from the fish monger (I know, I lead a thrilling life – ha!), until I had to ask whether or not I needed to shuck them myself. The oysters I got were preshucked and pasterized using this ultra high-tech pressure technology thing, though I’d really like to get my hands, or mouth rather, on raw oysters at some point.
What got me on the oyster kick in the first place was Kat’s post about foods to help heal adrenal fatigue, which is something that I am very much battling with myself. Kat’s blog focuses on the GAPS diet (or, SCD diet), which is one of the healing diets I am considering. Right now I’m essentially eating a Paleo or advanced GAPS diet, which if you’re like “what the wha?” I totally get. I do recommend a quick gander if you’re looking for ways to heal with food, or simply want a change (and challenge). Both diets are quite hard core, though I’ve read that it’s literally been a life saver for some. I’ve been trying to keep that in mind whenever I get a whiff of fresh baked bread, or my neighbor describes, in detail, the stuffed shells she made for dinner. Damn.her. *I think I can, I think I can, I think I can*
PS – For the record, I’ve lost about 10 lbs. since I started this journey less than a month ago. I’ve had just a bit more energy, and days where my mood has been just a touch lighter. Bambino steps…
You might be wondering, “so is this a food blog now, or what?” Uhh…yes and no. This blog will always be a reflection of my current fixations, and right now, that happens to be food. Seriously, all my Internet time (which has decreased significantly by the way, because, you know, I’m actually cooking now), has been dedicated to researching nutrition, healing remedies, diets, etc. To be honest it’s been a bit overwhelming, as there is a lot of information out there, so as I navigate the choppy nutrition waters, I want to share with you what I’m currently eating. I’m nearing the point where I’m about to drop anchor (aka – settle on a specific diet for awhile), so please stay tuned. And also stay tuned for more sewing madness, as I’ve managed to do a bit of that as well.
What I will divulge now, is that at the gentle suggestion of my acupuncturist, I have given up all grains (eek!), dairy and sugar, with the exception of honey. I also decided to give up alcohol, caffeine and soy, and PS, soy seems to be hidden in everything. In all honesty, this morning I had a cup of jo, so, I haven’t been perfect and I’m not about to tout myself as such. It’s been about a month since I’ve been taking this pretty seriously and so far, even with my minor slip-ups, it has changed my life, and oh, I’ve lost weight. Woot! Oh God, I have so much more to say about this! Ack! I’m kind of a wild maniac about food right now, but instead of writing one 5,000 word post, I must pace myself. This is a blog about baby steps you know. So without further ado, here is my most favorite breakfast as of late:
Soft Poached Eggs, Sauteed Veggies and Sauerkraut
Say what? Yes. And it.is.awesome. I’m talking, awesome. And not to mention fairly cheap, filling, super nutritious and healing.
To drink: 1 cup bone (beef or chicken) broth. I’ve been making this for months now. It is a wonderfully healing food, full of vitamins and minerals, is cheap and crazy flavorful. I’ll be sure to share a how-to in the future, until then, here’s why broth is so beneficial.
Directions: Heat coconut oil in a large pan. While that heats up, measure out a cup of bone broth and heat on low in a small saucepan. Once the oil has heated, add vegetables and sautee, making sure to first add the harder, firmer veggies, ending with the more delicate veggies (like spinach, if using). Part way through cooking, sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over veggies, add pepper and/or herbs and spices. Don’t be afraid – be creative and just have fun! Transfer veggies to your plate. Using the same pan, fill with water and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Once near boiling, carefully crack eggs into pan, and turn down heat to low. Once the whites of the eggs are cooked through (a minute or two), use a slotted spoon to transfer to plate, on top of veggies. Sprinkle with sea vegetables. Add a bit of sauerkraut to the side. Transfer now hot bone broth to a mug, and add a pinch of sea salt to draw out the minerals. Mangia!
Do you follow a special diet? What works for you and why do you follow it? Health benefits? Food allergies or intolerances? Illness? Weight gain, loss or management? Do tell.
Bambino Step: Saturated fats are good for you. Truth. To add more good fat into your diet, try substituting coconut oil in lieu of polyunsaturated oils, such as canola, safflower, corn or soy. Coconut oil should be cold-PRESSED, unrefined, whole, and preferably organic.
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