Let’s start from the beginning… If you told me 7 years ago that I had to abstain from grains, sugar, alcohol, gluten, nightshades & many of the packaged foods that made my day to day life more convenient. No way! Wasn’t happening. Especially the sugar & alcohol part. I was so convinced that I ate healthy enough. That there was nothing to be done about my skin condition. I had settled into a life of mediocre health with occasional debilitating days. Hidradenitis Suppurativa isn’t the kind of disease people talk about. Inverted acne, large, painful & in very sensitive areas. I never talked about it. I suffered in silence. I settled.
Fast forward to today, armed with the knowledge of autoimmune diseases, the guts’ role in immune health and how foods can trigger autoimmune responses- I changed. I’ve been eliminating foods from my diet for over a year now and have found that gluten, nightshades & refined sugar cause reactions. I’m not in 100% remission– but it’s better, much better. Maybe it speaks to how I have evolved as a person, a mother. I don’t even consider my trigger foods anymore. Maybe it’s because my relationship with myself has evolved too. I finally feel I’m worth it.
As I turn 30, I wanted to bring in this new decade of my life in optimal health. Now that my son was finally weaned, I wanted to get my body back. So many reasons. Especially as a person who has always been big. Healthy, active, but always slightly (sometimes not so slightly) overweight. This is it, this is the time to finally break that cycle. I want to be fit for me, I want to be able to all the things my son wants to do & not be restricted; by the HS, weight or self-esteem.
What Whole30 showed me was the flaw in my habits. I thought I had it all figured out when it came to food. I’ve been working in farm to table kitchens for years, I come from a family of talented cooks & health-conscious food aficionados. I know food. I know what to eat. What I didn’t see, or didn’t want to, was all the mindless snacking. Whole30 made me hyper-vigilant of what I put in my body– and it immediately eliminated the bites of my son’s snack, the taste of my husbands lunch, the late night munchies, all the little bites. While I cooked, or cleared the table while packing snacks to go on a hike.
So many little bites that added up to “feeling stuck” with my weight, to never seeing results, yo-yoing. Never feeling really hungry. I ate a lot. I ate too often. In the last 30 days my diet has totally changed. I am eating high fat, high protein meals, 3 meals a day. No snacks, maybe 1 fruit between a meal. I’m not starving- ever- but I am hungry when I sit down to eat. It feels great. I feels great to be out and about 3 hours after lunch and still feel satisfied, knowing I have not eaten anything else. I see results. In my face, my skin, my body.
I’ve decided to continue on a strictly paleo diet because feel amazing- because I know now that a Paleo diet, free of nightshades is what is right for me.
Life between Whole30’s….I will resume enjoying the occasional #sywpo (treats), grain free bread, paleo confections & chocolate. I will still enjoy a glass of wine every now & then.
I will continue to be meticulous about my food choices. I will be accountable.
Food is emotional for me- but not as a coping mechanism. I love to cook! I love to cook beautiful food and that is my therapy- not the eating part.
My 30th birthday is this Friday. I plan on making a spectacular, paleo birthday cake, which I will enjoy in moderation, because I am Whole30.
I think the best part of this experience… I am proud of myself.
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