eating whole

Eating whole lately has been my new way of life and I sold on the lifestyle. Being controlled by food and the way it makes me feel has been something I have been dealing with it my entire life. Whether its for emotional, social, or just the desire I have been eating relatively cluelessly since I can remember. Until last year when I decided to start cutting certain things out of my diet and life. It started simply. 

I got rid of soda and anything caffeinated. It was liberating. I was back in forth feeling the guilt of drinking soda since for a while and dealing with the outrageous headache that comes along with going on and off of caffeine. It was hard a first at first especially the first few days when I had zero energy by 1 pm and thought I could not do it. However after 4 days I was good with just having water and every once in a while I will treat myself with a La Croix! (sugar free, praise) You will be stunned at how much money you save while you are out. PS Lime and Lemon are my besties and I have a ziplock bag full of them in the fridge to add to my water. 

That summer in a fit to rid my self from constant stomach aches I decided to cut dairy. Or at least cut almost all of my dairy intake. I did feel a ton better. And it was relatively easy to eat out on a dairy free diet and to still get to indulge. But a lot of the time I was indulging in processed foods and simply put bad foods. I would completely skip cooking at home for the simple connivence of getting something to go that was fried. I would cheat whenever ranch was calling me (once every few weeks). And then vacation came. I told myself that I could cheat on vacation and I cheated so hard I never stopped even when I got home. This continued until that next winter. I was in a time of transition and did not put my health as my top priorities.

Finally in the new year I approached food in a new way after hearing about one of my friends recent success with Whole30. I felt like the diet was too hard to start and I was really lying to myself. Because it was EASY. It was just getting rid of the things I needed to be rid of and really taking time to cook and enjoy the whole foods I already loved. This little diet became more of a lifestyle than anything else. And it opened my eyes to what I was putting into my body. I also had the most amazing results from eating whole. I slept like a rock and fell asleep without the aid of tv, my digestive system thanked me, I felt happier and peaceful, cooking became one of favorite things to do, my skin never looked better, I said bye to the tummy bloat, and grew a better relationship with food. 

So if I can leave you with one thing from this post is that restricing yourself may sound unrealistic and like torture but when you start focusing on your health and what you are putting into your body it doesn't become restriction it becomes better choices for yourself. 

PS my new favorite food is grapefruit if you can't tell.