my food story

food.

my want and need.

also, my enemy.

i often say i'm a food-a-holic.

and i worry that it's true.

but when i take a look at where i've been

and how far i've come in regards to my food choices

i'm astounded.

and also shocked and appalled that i didn't make any changes earlier.

case in point:

i used to eat fast food a lot.

as a kid, getting fast food was a "treat" for us.

which made me crave and want it more.

as a teen and once i could drive, my fast food intake increased.

then as a twenty-something, i would go in spurts:

i would go months where i ate it almost daily

then i'd get sick of it, and go months without it.

over and over. and over.

now after changing my eating habits to trying to eat clean,

i haven't eaten fast food (other than their chicken & occasional arby's roast beef)

in years. YEARS!

and i'm ten times happier and my body is too!

and now i shutter as i walk by my pregnant co-worker's cube every morning.

she either eats mcdonalds or a donut for breakfast.

that poor baby, it's going to start off it's life without knowing what real food,

real energy, real feeling good is.

i wish i could tell her/talk to her about it without offending her.

but i'm not good with my words, especially in speech.

i have a finicky stomach.

i come from a long line of finicky stomachs.

i used to get stomach-aches ALL. THE. TIME.

and they were BAD!

almost every time after i ate, i'd have a stomach ache.

ask my husband :) when we first met, we'd have to derail plans

or he'd have to deal with my whining after just about every meal.

i don't know how i put up with it.

well i kinda do: i didn't know any better.

i just thought that was how life was going to be for me and my stomach.

then one day something clicked & i thought "there is no way everyone lives like this. i HAVE to change something."

enter: crossfit, isagenix and paleo/malia.

gina introduced me to isagenix.

it's a cleanse/game way of eating which uses meal replacement shakes and cleanse juice with a focus on not snacking and eating only when you're supposed to eat. it also requires you to drink LOTS of water, exercise and get plenty of sleep. it also requires you to work on yourself and your other life habits by making you choose a good transformation and a bad transformation each game you play. (changing one bad habit and creating one good, new habit). the first time i did isagenix i was hooked! i lost 11 pounds in the 11 day game and felt fantastic! however, i was started to go to crossfit more and i had little to no energy for the workouts. and i would get dizzy doing 1 hour of zumba. i definitely didn't like that feeling. so the next couple of games i played i tried to throw in a couple of extra little meals/snacks and haven't really gotten a handle on the isagenix game since then. this was a year ago.

then, after getting engaged, starting a full time job and finding some crossfit buddies who were as committed to it as i was, i began going to crossfit even more. like 5 times a week. i loved it! but i needed more energy and needed to fuel my body for the intense workouts. and recoveries (being sore for 4 days after a workout while trying to do more workouts just wasn't cutting it). so i kind of gave up on isagenix (i have come back to it since a bit but have more research to do on their new game cards/eating regimines).

so i started looking into heathly and clean eating on the internet and started discussing it with al. he then proceeded to send me (and still does, bless his heart) articles of people's transformations from bodybuilder.com. they were helpful but still didn't make me change. i also started discussing eating and nutrition more with malia, in particular paleo (the caveman diet as it's called and the way a lot of crossfitters eat). i learned a lot and got a lot of great tips and tricks to put into action. but i still didn't feel right.

then malia created a wonderful paleo challenge for our gym. we were to log what we were eating on a blog and she and luke would review it. this was just the jump i needed to really try out paleo. and it worked! well sort of. i felt great and my body felt great except i still didn't have much energy like i had heard that people did while eating paleo. so i read some more on it (and in particular, iceland annie's take on paleo (she's my favorite!)) and she eats paleo-like but with some whole grains/wheat thrown in and it works for her. so i did just that. i started to throw in grains as my carbs (the carb part was what i struggled with with paleo/zone). i began eating a lot like the people in the body builder articles al sent me (huh, guess it all kind of comes down to the same thing; eating clean).

and i feel great! when i eat the right/clean way. :) i have energy. i sleep well. i don't need caffiene to keep me awake. i'm addicted to cold water (a very good thing!). as gross as it is, i poop well. i can see/feel muscles growing in places i hadn't before. i don't have stomach-aches any more and on the off chance i do have one it's no where near as severe as they used to be.

now, i'm no where perfect with my eating habits.

and my body tells that story pretty well.

but my eating habits have changed a lot.

and i feel great!

especially on the inside!

i still emotional eat like it's no body's business.

especially when i'm stressed (which has been the last couple of months for us).

i still have many times that i regret what i ate or how much i ate.

i still can't pass up a treat at work especially when it's free.

i still crave chocolate and sweets from time to time.

i still get a hankerin' for potato chips (really just something crunchy).

i still want fast food every once in a while.

but everytime after i eat those, i feel not as great and i try to take that as a lesson learned.

and, i still drink diet pop. particularily diet coke.

that will be my next feat to re-conquer once life is a little less stressful.

i have developed some good habits too tho:

i love and crave cold water like no other. if i am thirsty and can't have cold water, look out because a panic stricken vanessa is about to go crazy. :)

my body will crave veggies if i don't eat them for a while and i'm ok with that because i LOVE veggies (course, i always have).

i can recognize when my body doesn't feel well and why.

i haven't had a cold or gotten sick (other than allergy stuff) in over a year!

i'm saving money by not eating out as often.

someday soon i hope to have before and after pictures to share here.

but for now, i'm happy with the way i feel

and i know what i need to do to progress further.

i just need to implement those.

but i have the determination and drive to do it so i know i'll get there!