If it were easy everyone would do it!

Today didn't start off so well. Gluten free, egg free, dairy free pancakes were an epic failure! Shawn had to scrape me and my tears off the table. He said it would be alright and that I will learn so many more new things from this one failure. I am convinced he has no idea how brilliant he can be. Thank goodness I have this man in my life.

I should share with you what I foods I have to avoid for now (maybe forever). The gluten and egg thing is forever. Actually in just a little over a week of not eating gluten, a limited amount anyways, I have lost 7lbs and have more energy. I still hurt every day and I still have digestive upsets and a myriad of other symptoms but I know they will all fade away as I keep up with good eating habits.

Ok so for the list of what I can't have-

Almond Banana Barley Basil Bay leaf Blackberry Broccoli Cheese Cherry Chocolate Coffee Cranberry Cumin Egg Ginger Kamut Lemon Lettuce Cow Milk Nutmeg Paprika Pepper B/W Peppermint Rabbit Radish Rye Sesame Spelt Thyme Tomato Vanilla Black Walnut Wheat Yeast bakers Yeast brewers

 

But the list of what I can have is HUGE!! The options are limitless!

I know this doesn't seem like a big deal. There really are plenty of other things for me to eat. I have made some great healthy changes to my diet like substituting almond milk for dairy, whole grain breads, fresh produce. Then I find out that I shouldn't have almonds, several grains contain gluten, and I love basil on almost anything. So it feels awful that now I can't have those things and everything must change again.   But a quick history of my eating habits will help you understand how far I have come.

Growing up I was a plain jane. It was a cheeseburger plain, hotdog plain, tacos with just meat and cheese. I was the classical meat and potatoes meal kinda gal. I ate plenty of sugary foods, and processed foods. In 2008 I moved in with Shawn, started recognizing how awful I felt and knew that I needed to change up my eating habits. That is when I first started seeing my acupuncturist. I cut out dairy, soy, egg, wheat, processed sugar for quite some time. I felt better but eventually I felt back into the habit of eating those foods. But in the last 6 years I have massively expanded my pallet. I enjoy plenty of flavors now and couldn't dream of going back to plain jane but I still love a plain hotdog! 

However, there are so many foods that I haven't experienced prepared in a way that was satisfying to me or that I have just never tried. The idea of wasting food that is so expensive is just gut wrenching for me. It isn't about the money but the waste. So I see my psychotherapist to help me with how I feel about food, waste, and nourishment. 

As my infinitely wise husband said just this morning "if it were easy everyone would do it". This is by far one of the most life changing and expansive things I have done. And it is scary as hell but my desire to feel juicy, nourished, and sexy as ever is worth way more than quitting or going back to the way I have felt for too long.