Food

Food is one of my biggest struggles.  Along with organizing and housework, food is something that I will always have to work on.  I love food!  I love food that is not good for me!  I really want to eat healthy, but I start off good, then it all goes to pot!  I think sometimes my lack of organizing really gets in my way.  I tried to do good this week and did better than I have in a while with meal planning. Today I went to the mall to do some last minute Christmas shopping and by the time I got home, I never made dinner.  I am trying to move toward a more vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, both from a animal rights perspective and a health perspective.  My husband, for various health reasons, is supposed to be eating a more plant based diet.  This is also something I have been wanting to do for sometime now, so when he was told to limit his intake of animal protein, I thought it would help me get to where I need/want to be.  It has and it hasn't.  With this being Christmas week, I haven't really pushed myself to be really good, but I really should be.  I will be doing moer menu planning after Christmas.  I have one for this week, but I just didn't fallow it today.  I don't want to give my self a break, because everytime I do, I feel like i am just giving myself an excuse to be unhealthy.  So, I am going to hold myself accountable!  I am going to start eating correctly.  I am going to make and follow a meal plan every week.  I am going to start following through with my beliefs!

This will not be the last you hear about my food journey.  There will be ups and downs, but hopefully more ups.  I am going to be accountable to myself and I am going to hold myself accountable for following through with mybeliefs and desires to be a healthy eater.  I will be eating more homemade foods and be hopefully trying new vegetariam/vegan recipes and I will be totally eliminating the foods that aer on my allergen list from my blood test.  I really should also meet with the dietician to talk about how I should be eating.  Hopefully my next posts about food will be positve ones with the changes that I want to make!

Merry Christmas!

Amy

Diet

Once again, I am writing about my diet struggles, only this time I have postive things to say.  Today was the first day that I probably ate the way I should eat.  I had no wheat, gluten, yeast, milk, or cheese which are the main foods that I am attempting to eliminate.  I am hopeful that by starting and having a good day, I will be more able to follow this diet and I'm even more hopeful that I will feel better.  Today I ate a ton of apples.  I am on my 3rd right now.  I am pretty impressed with myself, given how difficult this has been in the past.  I figure, take it one day at a time and I will get there.  The more I do well, the more I'll want to continue to do well.  I know that I still need to meet with the dietician and get more educated on what I should be eating, but I know the basics.

I know that this is not going to be an easy road to go down.  I absolutely love my bread and pasta.  I also really love ice cream and cheese, which is why I can say with almost full certainty that I have an issue with dairy.  I know how I feel after eating a lot of dairy, mainly ice cream and cheese.  I will so miss eating those foods, but I will not miss how miserable I feel after I eat them. 

I am also interested in seeing if I don't notice as many symptoms since I have been having issues for so long.  I often winder if they have just become the way life is and I don't know how to feel different.  I will admit that I have had worse symptoms in the past where they definitely caused much more harm then how I feel now.  I often wonder if it related to the stress that I was under at the time, if I was eating that much worse at that point in my life, or if my body has changed since then.

I need to plan for the next 2 days until I get paid and can really go food shopping.  I am all set for dinners, but I am not sure what I will eat for breakfast or lunch.  I do have some gluten free mixes that I should use since they are exteremely expensive and I don't want to waste money or food.  I will be spending some time attempting to educate myself on how I need to eat.  I will also try really hard not to replace what I can't have, but to eliminate the things I can't have with things that are healthier and more whole food oriented.  I know that I will need to have options for those times when the cravings set in and you need something to take the edge of without making yourself feel horrible.  I just need to make sure that I don't rely on these foods.

Please keep me in your thoughts as I attempt to eat the way I should be so that I hopefully will feel better!

Amy

Diet

As many of you know,  I am trying really hard to eat healthy.  I am trying to eat healthy on a budget, as locally as possible, and as natural as possible.  Unfortunately, this has been a pretty major struggle for me.  I have had a pretty horrible weekend, but I am back on the bandwagon and am planning on eating healthy, the way I want to.  I am planning on eating curried quinoa with veggies for dinner tonight.  I may have to put this in some egg for the kids to make it so they can eat it independently.  I really need to sit down and plan out my meals so that I can maybe stop at the grocery store on the way home from the lab today.

I really want to check out farmer's markets more in the western part of the state.  I feel like the farmer's markets in my area aren't real farmer's markets.  It seems like we are too much in suburbia for it to be what I am looking for.  Unfortunately, going to the western part of the state is not going to be easy for us.  I just want to see what they may be like and it may be a nice way to spend the day!

Amy

Body Ecology Diet

Today is day 1 of the body ecology diet.  I decided that I really need to do something to get my health in order.  This morning I had my tea, a blend of oolong, mate, and herbal, which now that i think about it is probably not great, but not as bad as it could be (it's a mix of raspberry and orange flavored teas).  I really enjoy my tea and it's really expensive so I want to use it.  I also had my eggs, an omelet with spinach, onions, and cheese.  The cheese isn't really on the diet, but I figure it's better than eating my traditional breakfast of total carbs and fats.  My morning snack was corn chips with hummus, which I'm not sure is truly on the diet, but again a better choice than more carbs or sugar or both.  I'm not sure about lunch but dinner is going to be chicken with broccoli.

I just ordered the newest body ecology diet book and I can't wait for it to come in.  As much as I have read about the diet already, I certainly need a refresher and I'm hoping for more recipes.  I am really hopeful that I can do this.  Unfortunately, tonight is my husband birthday and I am making a cake and I will have some!  I don't feel as bad about this since it is only my first day.  After tonight no more sugar and there will be no more sugar throughout the day.  I believe that I can have rice milk and millet puffs and my husband said that is how he dealt with sugar cravings.  I think I can get by the sugar, but I am nervous about making sure I don't eat starchy carbs.  That is truly my addiction.

Along with the diet my goal to be healthier includes exercise.  I went to a yoga and social work conference the other day and I really want to add this practice into my life.  I also want to try to walk every day, wether it is outside or on the treadmill.

This is definitely going to be a struggle, and I'm sure one with set backs, but I am going to keep going an not give up no matter what happens!

Amy

Living Naturally

So, here I am writing about how I am living naturally and a Tylenol recall comes in and it makes me think that i ma not living as naturally as I really want to or claim to.  It's amazing how when you re-evaluate your life, you realize that you are not practicing what you preach and not really living the way that you want to be living.

Because of the recall, I started looking at other ways to to what Tylenol would be doing for my children.  I got a couple of good ideas and now am thinking that I need to not keep Tylenol in the house, but need to get some essential oils that will help with teething, since that is really what we use the Tylenol for.  Not just Tylenol for the kids, but I really need to start looking at more natural ways of dealing with medical issues for the whole family.  I'll leave my husband to make his own decisions, but I need to start looking at ways to say take care of a migraine, back pain, and other issues that I find myself struggling with.

I often write about my eating and the difficulties that I am having with it.  Eating well and eating local along with feeding my family on a budget are an ongoing struggle for me.  I so desire eating well, losing weight (in a healthy way), saving money and cooking, but there are so many times that this just doesn't happen.  Sometimes, it's because I'm too tired (lazy), I crave all the things I love that are bad for me,  and just because I don't follow my own healthy desires for no good reason.  Eating healthy and local remains a goal and will most likely always be a constant struggle!

I need to get back out in the garden.  I have started my flower garden and my butterfly garden.  I need to find ways to decorate the gardens so that i don't break the bank.  I know that i can make a simple birdbath from clay pots and need to do that.  I would love to find a way to make figurines or some other decorative means for the garden.  I am thinking that I can make simple bird houses to add some fun whimsy to the gardens.  That I can do simply.  We also need to start the garden for our veggies so that we don't need to rely on the store for our produce!

I also need to find a way to start sewing more often.  I made 1 fleece cover that I love.  I need to make more so that I can use them instead of the PUL (Polyurethane Laminate).  I think it will help with the kids rashy bottoms.  It will be more breathable and with the summer coming I think it will be more comfortable for them.  I am also thinking about and have actually attempted to EC (elimination communication) the kids.  I need to be more on top of it when I am doing it.

Well, these are just a few of my goals and things that I am constantly working on!  On of the best things about this blog is that I get to write down where I am and where I want to be and some people actually read it.  It definitely helps to keep be on track.  I really like to journal also, so sometimes I blog here and sometimes I physically write in my paper journal.