My Journey to Whole Foods
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It’s been a long time coming to where I am now and my current state of great health and I'm so glad I'm here!
I was often unwell in my childhood and young adult life. I don’t remember ever being really healthy or particularly energetic.
Then as a teenager I was put on an incredibly high dose of the "acne-cure" drug, which had terrible side effects. At one point I was on 5 prescription medications a day to counteract the depressive side effects of the RoAccutane. I certainly wasn't any happier (or healthier) as a result. I now know that a depressed mood is a symptom of a seriously unbalanced body crying out for help. I also had many, many courses of antibiotics for my skin over the years, the more I learn, the more I think "my poor gut bacteria!"
During and following this time I had been given so many diagnoses. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and most recently, Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
I knew my body wasn't balanced and working as it should be.
It took two different Naturopaths to tell me (almost 4 years ago now) that all my current health issues were a result of my poor diet and past medications before I finally listened. I thought I was relatively healthy, I ate some vegetables, meat, pasta, pasta, pasta, bread and only had once daily treats, such as a cookie,cake or slice and I rarely drank soft drink.
How incredibly wrong I was!!!!
My family ate well, but somewhere along the way I had become a sugar and processed carb addicted, fiend. I had refined carbs with every single meal; bread, cereals, pasta, wheat-flour products and sugar, sugar, sugar.
Aside from body rashes and the very occasional bloated stomach, I didn’t “seem” overall unhealthy. I had always stayed pretty slim.
Yes I had pretty terrible skin, always felt low in energy, tired, foggy and got sick so very often. But I was so used to feeling average at this point that I never really noticed the affect that my food choices had.
Then finally I listened, and moved out of home with a lovely, kind, proactive, friend who I’d met through uni.
She had just started playing around with Paleo.
I remember passionately telling her that I "love food and would not be so cruel to myself as to deny entire food groups", and that low carb, NO processed food would simply, “make me sad”.
So I kept eating - and baking - decadent sugar, dairy and gluten-laden cakes, slices, cookies, breads you name it (oh my poor friend!) and continued to feel crap, daily.
I then started to see a remarkable change in her. Her energy levels lasted her all day and then some, she dropped weight and looked healthy, slim, and so very happy in her body. She described to me incredible mental clarity, her memory improving, she slept better than she ever had, and she just felt excellent.
Watching her transform before my eyes, I realised this Paleo thing was something I needed to try. So I decided to do 80/20.
80% of my meals were Paleo friendly, 20% included gluten, dairy and refined sugars.
That seemed doable. I could still have my then-favourite foods and be getting the benefits of being healthier too.
After a few months of feeling healthier than I ever had in my life, at 80/20 I started to realise that maybe I could feel even better if I stuck to Paleo principles more strictly.
A short while after this, something phenomenal happened. Not only did I have boundless energy, a clear mind, better skin, minimal excess weight around my hips (my nemesis area), no physical pains, no colds, sore throats or flus (despite working with kids and going into schools), but heavily processed foods completely stopped appealing to me.
It was as though my eyes would register something I could eat, my brain would say “oh vanilla slice/chocolate eclairs/finger buns/lollies, you love those” and another part of my brain would take over and rebut “but it's not real food”.
There are of course still times when I feel the need to, and sometimes do, have these foods.
But the longer I go on, the less I want to even try them, let alone have them often.
I also found, a few months into eating mostly Paleo, my body started to react to the 20% (when I would reintroduce gluten, dairy and refined sugar products). Turns out I carry the gene for Coeliac disease.
Body rashes, bloating, stomach pain, sugar headaches, upset stomach, acne, etc. for days, sometimes weeks after. Not nice, and now a foreign feeling to me, that I don’t want to revisit.
Fortunately, far more often than not, the foods that now float my boat are real, unprocessed foods. Vegetables, fruits, meats, good quality fats, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices.
I'm not by any means saying that I don't indulge but as you'll see in my Fed section I have found a way to have healthier versions of treats that leave me feeling satisfied and nourished, rather than sick and unbalanced.
I ever so rarely feel the need to have ‘just a little bit’ of things that I know will upset my body. Sometimes the reaction to these things is frustrating, but any food reaction I experience is worlds better than the constant crap, tired, no-energy state that I had previously resigned myself to live, day to day.
I regularly get complimented by people who knew me before I came to my current healthy state, about how healthy/glowing/slim/fit I look (awesome feeling), quickly followed by, “what are you doing differently?”.
So here it all is, what I’m doing differently. What I’ve learned, read, discovered, come to, been told and researched and why I choose to keep doing these things. Nowadays, I eat gluten free, mostly dairy free (except butter), refined sugar free and mostly grain free.
I eat:
Whole foods that have come from the earth.
I have never felt better!
So here’s to your great health and feeling better than you’d ever believed possible. It is an awesome state to be in, and I hope my journey and my ongoing happiness, wellness, and food discoveries can inspire you too.
Here's to you being Happy, Well, and Fed (delicious, healthy, inspiring, wholefoods)
Ready to overhaul your diet? Grab my diet overhaul companion workbook below.
It’s been a long time coming to where I am now and my current state of great health and I'm so glad I'm here!
I was often unwell in my childhood and young adult life. I don’t remember ever being really healthy or particularly energetic.
Then as a teenager I was put on an incredibly high dose of the "acne-cure" drug, which had terrible side effects. At one point I was on 5 prescription medications a day to counteract the depressive side effects of the RoAccutane. I certainly wasn't any happier (or healthier) as a result. I now know that a depressed mood is a symptom of a seriously unbalanced body crying out for help. I also had many, many courses of antibiotics for my skin over the years, the more I learn, the more I think "my poor gut bacteria!"
During and following this time I had been given so many diagnoses. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and most recently, Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
I knew my body wasn't balanced and working as it should be.
It took two different Naturopaths to tell me (almost 4 years ago now) that all my current health issues were a result of my poor diet and past medications before I finally listened. I thought I was relatively healthy, I ate some vegetables, meat, pasta, pasta, pasta, bread and only had once daily treats, such as a cookie,cake or slice and I rarely drank soft drink.
How incredibly wrong I was!!!!
My family ate well, but somewhere along the way I had become a sugar and processed carb addicted, fiend. I had refined carbs with every single meal; bread, cereals, pasta, wheat-flour products and sugar, sugar, sugar.
Aside from body rashes and the very occasional bloated stomach, I didn’t “seem” overall unhealthy. I had always stayed pretty slim.
Yes I had pretty terrible skin, always felt low in energy, tired, foggy and got sick so very often. But I was so used to feeling average at this point that I never really noticed the affect that my food choices had.
Then finally I listened, and moved out of home with a lovely, kind, proactive, friend who I’d met through uni.
She had just started playing around with Paleo.
I remember passionately telling her that I "love food and would not be so cruel to myself as to deny entire food groups", and that low carb, NO processed food would simply, “make me sad”.
So I kept eating - and baking - decadent sugar, dairy and gluten-laden cakes, slices, cookies, breads you name it (oh my poor friend!) and continued to feel crap, daily.
I then started to see a remarkable change in her. Her energy levels lasted her all day and then some, she dropped weight and looked healthy, slim, and so very happy in her body. She described to me incredible mental clarity, her memory improving, she slept better than she ever had, and she just felt excellent.
Watching her transform before my eyes, I realised this Paleo thing was something I needed to try. So I decided to do 80/20.
80% of my meals were Paleo friendly, 20% included gluten, dairy and refined sugars.
That seemed doable. I could still have my then-favourite foods and be getting the benefits of being healthier too.
After a few months of feeling healthier than I ever had in my life, at 80/20 I started to realise that maybe I could feel even better if I stuck to Paleo principles more strictly.
A short while after this, something phenomenal happened. Not only did I have boundless energy, a clear mind, better skin, minimal excess weight around my hips (my nemesis area), no physical pains, no colds, sore throats or flus (despite working with kids and going into schools), but heavily processed foods completely stopped appealing to me.
It was as though my eyes would register something I could eat, my brain would say “oh vanilla slice/chocolate eclairs/finger buns/lollies, you love those” and another part of my brain would take over and rebut “but it's not real food”.
There are of course still times when I feel the need to, and sometimes do, have these foods.
But the longer I go on, the less I want to even try them, let alone have them often.
I also found, a few months into eating mostly Paleo, my body started to react to the 20% (when I would reintroduce gluten, dairy and refined sugar products). Turns out I carry the gene for Coeliac disease.
Body rashes, bloating, stomach pain, sugar headaches, upset stomach, acne, etc. for days, sometimes weeks after. Not nice, and now a foreign feeling to me, that I don’t want to revisit.
Fortunately, far more often than not, the foods that now float my boat are real, unprocessed foods. Vegetables, fruits, meats, good quality fats, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices.
I'm not by any means saying that I don't indulge but as you'll see in my Fed section I have found a way to have healthier versions of treats that leave me feeling satisfied and nourished, rather than sick and unbalanced.
I ever so rarely feel the need to have ‘just a little bit’ of things that I know will upset my body. Sometimes the reaction to these things is frustrating, but any food reaction I experience is worlds better than the constant crap, tired, no-energy state that I had previously resigned myself to live, day to day.
I regularly get complimented by people who knew me before I came to my current healthy state, about how healthy/glowing/slim/fit I look (awesome feeling), quickly followed by, “what are you doing differently?”.
So here it all is, what I’m doing differently. What I’ve learned, read, discovered, come to, been told and researched and why I choose to keep doing these things. Nowadays, I eat gluten free, mostly dairy free (except butter), refined sugar free and mostly grain free.
I eat:
Whole foods that have come from the earth.
- I only sweeten my foods with raw honey, some coconut sugar and 100% pure maple syrup.
- I have alternate ‘milks/mylks’ in everything, almond milk or coconut milk, mostly.
- I cook and bake with almond meal/flour, coconut flour, cacao, coconut oil, cinnamon, vanilla, nuts and seeds.
- Every meal has a combination of vegetables, protein and good fats and is made from real, from the earth whole foods, and
I have never felt better!
So here’s to your great health and feeling better than you’d ever believed possible. It is an awesome state to be in, and I hope my journey and my ongoing happiness, wellness, and food discoveries can inspire you too.
Here's to you being Happy, Well, and Fed (delicious, healthy, inspiring, wholefoods)
Ready to overhaul your diet? Grab my diet overhaul companion workbook below.
Want to learn more about how you can change your diet for better health?
Check out these articles...
Check out these articles...
- How to start a complete diet overhaul
- Decreasing inflammation through diet
- Easy swaps to get you eating better
