OH NO, not you, too! Saying au revoir to the G-word.

It's been a long time since I've posted, not for any particular reason other than lack of time.  I have gone through a number of changes in regards to my diet, however not so in regards to the number on the scale.  Now, I only use the scale as an indication of the successfulness of what I'm doing, so it's about every 2 weeks.  I have decided to adopt a clean eating lifestyle for me and my family, which has been pretty successful.  I have to say, on the whole, our diet is now about 85-90% clean, which I am very proud of.  It's a lot of cooking on my part, and a lot of recipes that I have and will only make once, but the internet offers so much help.  Also, the fact that I grew up eating a pretty clean diet helps (my mother was always leery of chemicals in foods), so this concept is not unknown to me. 

I have met with a problem, though.  Clean eating is great for controlling emotional eating and binging, and I haven't experienced either since eliminating refined sugar, processed foods, and as much msg as possible, which is about 6 weeks now.  And that, alone is HUGE!  The hunger is not constant, and I don't experience energy spikes and lows any longer.  So that part has been extremely successful, which is great!  So what's the problem?  Well, it comes down to a simple concept, I eat too much food, even though it's clean food.  I am also clearly vegetably challenged, always have been.  I don't know why I would rather choose an almond milk chocolate smoothie over a bowl of vegetables 10 out of 10 times, that's just how my taste buds roll.  So I've decided to start fooling my self with stealth vegetable adding, like 2 handfuls of spinach to that smoothie (which is awesome, can't taste the spinach at all).

However, I have come to realization that this is, in part, a maturity issue (yeah, I know, I'm 40, ok pushing 41).  I want to WANT to eat vegetables, when I think the issue is that I just have to do it instead of waiting to want to, since that might never come.  I have to just eat vegetables so many times that it becomes a habit, like brushing your teeth.  So the vegetable eating is increasing, and the nut, organic bread consumption has to decrease.

So, after the frustration of not seeing my weight budge during this change, I decided to go the next step and start logging my food.  I logged for a week, without counting calories, just writing down what and how much I was eating.  Then I decided to calculate the calories for one of these days, mind you, one I thought was a "good" day.  Well, I was astonished to find that I was eating over 700 more calories that I have allotted to lose weight!!  WTH?!?  I thought it was a good day because I over ate the amount of vegetable in a day, but I apparently over ate everything else in the process! 

Now, I have been going to therapy to address my eating disorder since January, and it has helped me emotionally in so many ways.  It was such a great decision to go this route, it has been both healing and freeing. The one thing it hasn't been, however, is HELPING MY WEIGHT LOSS!!  Well, if I were really honest with myself, I'd point out that fact that I exercise now about once a week, and as I said before, eat too much.  So, as an attempt to get this weight loss moving, I've decided to go gluten free! And since its July 1st, this would be a great summer challenge, especially with farmers markets and fresh produce in abundance. 

Why go gluten free?  I have often considered gluten free for my son's autism, although never did it.  I never considered it for myself.  And although I don't necessarily have a noticeable reaction to gluten, I do feel that I rely on wheat products too much, albeit whole wheat or sprouted, and that it keeps weight on me, due to the concentration of calories.  So it's time for me to practice some tough love and get rid of the bread and the pasta, to name a few. 

I'm doing this for 60 days, mostly to see what kind of an effect this has on my body, digestion and weight.  It would be really interesting to find out that gluten has been preventing me from dropping weight.  I have a sneaking suspicion that it has a hand in it, at least.  So here I go, and if you are interested in doing this with me, please inbox me at beth@spellacy.net or comment your email below, and I will set up weekly google hangouts to see how things are going and to exchange ideas and challenges.  Remember, we're looking for progress here, not perfection! 

So, join me for this!  I have no idea if this will be a really long term thing, but I want to see what 2 months can do.  It's going to be hard, but darn it, seeing the same number on the scale has been harder.

Therapy? Are You Crazy?

So I began, like so many other times, with a strong will.  A will to lose weight...again.  The same questions running through my head, will this time be different?  Will I be able to take it ALL off this time?  And,  have to say, after the will power wore off (which it always does) my mind was shutting down to the idea of going through the battle, AGAIN!  I say battle because that's exactly what it is for me, a BATTLE ROYAL!  Why does it have to be this hard?  It just doesn't make sense.  Every morning I would wake up trying to muster up the motivation to do the right thing by my body, and every mid-morning I would shut down to the idea, it was just TOO MUCH FOR ME.  I was getting to the point of desperation, which is so not me, I am not one of those desperate people.  Wait, I definitely was feeling it, though.

Well, one day the lightbulb went on.  No magical pill, diet, or shake, just a simple idea.  I went on our health insurance website and looked up therapists for "Eating Disorders".  What?!?  Eating disorders?!?   When I saw the words eating disorders, I absolutely did not picture myself, I pictured bulimia, anorexia, things as severe as that.  For some unknown reason, I never, NEVER thought I had an eating disorder.  Overeaters anonymous never seemed like something that pertained to me, at all!  For the life of me, I don't know why, because now it's very obvious.  I suppose anyone who has been holding on to weight, especially a lot of weight, for a large portion of their lives, needs a professional to overcome this problem.  Why didn't I do this sooner?  Well, the idea never offered to me, honestly.  Maybe God knew I wasn't ready for it?  I don't know, all I know is I am so glad the thought came to me.  Maybe I'll put the idea into another's head as they read this.

So after realizing that this is what I needed, I started.  Well, from the first meeting it is slowly becoming clear to me why I have such issues with my weight, or more importantly, why I have such issues with getting rid of it.  Obviously,  these issues are very specific to my life, as they would be for you if you sought therapy as well.  However, this has already proven to be a very interesting journey, and I am again on the road to health.  And I have decided to share the nuggets of knowledge I come upon to, perhaps, trigger some positive change in others.  I have been receiving some practical tools to slowly change bad habits, and I love practicality. 

I have to say, I am excited!  And I'm excited to share all this with you, I hope I can do some good to myself and others.  

Is baby food the answer?

It is like searching for the meaning of life, searching for the solution to weight loss, isn't it?  It's easy for the answer to become much more complicated than it needs to be.  True, our reasons for eating or holding on to weight may complex, but the how's really aren't.  Finding the right foods to feed your body can be daunting, especially if your not an imaginative cook.  Then add the layer of organic, which, although becoming more affordable, is still beyond the budget of many.  In my case, there are six other people in the house that want to eat all the healthy food, too, so getting in my (and everyone else's) six or more fruits and veggies a day are, let's say, impossible!

So what to do?  Obviously, not eating right has not been the solution, and I could think of any number of excuses, yes, excuses, to not eat right.  A large part of my problem, though, has been the lack of ability to wrap my head around the complexities of healthy eating, while feeding six other, not shook willing, people.  Well, part of the solution has come from a somewhat unusual, and surprising, place.  My baby daughter.  No, it's not one of those aha moments about being around for my children, I had that a long time ago.  It was more practical than that, it was the food I was spooning into her mouth!

When I began the incredible vocation of mother ten years ago, baby food has a lot to be desired.  It was very unappetising eating, to say the least, and I remember putting my son on regular cooked food a soon as I could.  Chicken and apples were a staple baby food for him, yuck!!  Nowadays, baby food has come a long way, as I w very pleased to find out.  Chef inspired combinations of organic foods are put together in very simple, but appetizing ways.  They are great and basic ideas on how to  fuel our bodies optimally.  Such care is taken when feeding our little babies, however, this care gets less and less as we age.  Every aisle in the food stores should look like the baby food aisle, not necessarily the mushy consistency, but the ease of healthy ideas and with that much care in our nutrition. 

However, since our society is at that point yet, I will cook the honours of listing some interesting for combinations of nutrient rich foods that we can easily feast on.  And trust me, I've actually considered eating some of my daughter's yummies, just for ease.  But the simplicity of these foods are nice enough to tempt the rest of the family.  Take a look:

Spinach, peas and pear
Sweet potatoes, white beans and cinnamon
Apricot, peach and pumpkin
Green beans, zucchini and potato
Apple and blueberry
Blueberry, oats and quinoa
Broccoli and apple
Banana, beet and blueberry
Apricot and sweet potato

These are some great ideas for stir-fries, one dish meals, even smoothies!  This wouldn't be the first time I added baby food to a smoothie, it  take out all the work of preparing a fruit or vegetable purée.  Try to practice taking care of your body the way you would a baby's, with that much consideration.  Maybe we can force the for companies to start taking better care of their customers, too! 

Many thanks to Plum Organics, Sprout Organic (co-founded by chef Tyler Florence), and Happy Baby organic baby foods, for the inspiration!

Now to make some turkey chili with red beans and quinoa.