No more digestive issues!

Happy Labor Day to you!

70 days out from the start of this adventure! I can't go back......I feel SO great....it's amazing how much my body loves not eating any processed foods, grains, dairy or sugar.....OK, so I do have cheese once or twice per week but as for the rest, I've pretty much given it all up!

I had a scoop of ice cream last night and that was the first time in 70 days I've fed my system sugar....it was all natural ice cream, but wow was it sweet! Like a sugar bomb going off in my mouth! LOL.....it was good and all but I know I could easily go another 70 days without consuming any sugar....

I am now completely rid of all my digestive issues.....it is very liberating to be free of slavery to my bowels every day! It's been years since I've felt this great!

Now to completely gravitate to all grass fed beef and free range poultry.....then my mission will be complete....Onward

Acid Reflux no more!

For the past two years I've taken daily medication for acid reflux. Any of you have that? It is an awful pain and burning and I remember the first time I felt it I thought I was going to die! I ended up with it so bad that I opted to take the daily pill to prevent it from coming on.

Well, I got cocky after a few months and thought I could go without the daily pill and stopped taking it.....WHAM! Back with a vengeance.....yikes.....I've never been without that little blue and pink pill again.....

So, I've been reading how eating Paleo and clean cures acid reflux.....so when I ran out of my little pills a couple weeks ago, I didn't replenish them....and I haven't had acid reflux ONCE! So there is another testimony  to eating right.....

Is it Fall yet?

I know that when August hits, my favorite time of year is right around the corner....Fall.....I love, love, love Fall....it's probably my favorite season followed by Spring....we don't really have Winter here in NO CA, so it's kinf of 3 seasons.....Winter is just colder than Fall and Spring....

Fall, gets me in that mood that brings out cooking more and getting ready to break out the crock pot....now that I've banished processed foods and grains and most dairy it'll be a Fall of reckoning! I'm looking forward to new recipes and continuing my healthy way of life.

Today I roasted a ton of veggies I bought yesterday. I know if I clean and prep my veggies and meat eating clean during the week is a snap! That's when the "failure" of clean eating happens, is when we're not prepared. Then we stand in front of the fridge on a hard weekday evening and say, "what is there to eat?"

So, now in my fridge, I have roasted sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, green beans, carrots, cauliflower and butternut squash. I have a roasted chicken as well and my salad dressing is made. And now I know in a jiffy I can whip up a salad for lunch or a quick nutritous dinner.

I also want to mention that roasted veggies are a GREAT snack too...I eat them just in their roasted state, but one thing I like to do is .with my home made salad dressing I take raw or roasted cauliflower and put it in a plastic or tupperware container. I add just a little Italian or whatever vinegarette you have on hand....shake it up and it's a great low fat snack that is very filling. You can do this with any veggie too. I'm not a big raw carrot freak, but can snack on roaasted carrots any day....

So, I am practicing for the Fall......it's right around the corner.....are you ready too?

Hello again

Happy Sunday to you!

OK, so I'm over a month into Clean & Natural eating....I've had a little cheese now and a tiny bit of grains and I didn't die but here is what I did notice.......you can really TASTE food, especially anything processed.

Last night at a friends they had served some rice. It was one of those packaged rice dishes that you pop in the micro for a couple minutes and WaLa, rice is served.....so needless to say the ingredients list was probably lengthy.....So while I did not serve myself up a helping I did grab a little bite. Wow, I could taste it boldly.....sodium was the strongest flavor but it had an "unclean" flavor to it....can't describe it but really but just kind of a "fake" flavor.....

So I validated that even though I might dabble in a grain or dairy product now and then, it will need to be clean and natural....and avoiding processed or manufactured food is something I will stick with.....I've found it isn't that hard to do and the healthy benefits will outweigh any craving or desire I have.....

Next phase is to convert to all grass fed and range free meats and go all organic, which I haven't done.....so a step at a time and it'll all come together! Have a great week!

30 Days and beyond!

Well, day 30 was yesterday.....but I will not stop there.....I feel too good to go back to the way I ate before. I LOVE eating clean and feeling great! I might sneek a bit of cheese with my wine now and then or have a whole grain muffin when I just have to....but those things and sugar will now be a treat, not an every day/week occurrance.

I haven't stepped on the scale yet, but my clothes are falling off my butt these days! I'm proud to say that this is the first time in my life that I have worked on getting healthier with just that in my mind set....GETTING HEALTHIER! The weight loss will come as well....I'm just not as focused on that as I am the bigger picture which is living out the rest of my life without chronic illness and pain, etc...

I'm enjoying a glass of wine and tonight I might have Sushi.....but it'll be the wild caught fish and veggies.....hold the rice please! Onward!

Medicine or Mayhem?

"The food we eat can either be the safest and most powerful form of medicine OR the slowest form of poison!"

Powerful words, aren't they? In the past several weeks I have read so many articles, websites and asked a ton of questions about eating clean, Paleo, Organics, supplements, etc....and I've learned a ton of really great things! You could ask, "how do you know what you're reading is right?" Well, I can't confirm everythign I read, just like I can't confirm all I say, do or how I live....BUT it's that little intuition in the back of my head that says, this is good.....

When we're about to do something wrong, our conscience lets us know....right? It's no different with what I'm doing. I ask myself, is it wrong to eat fresh veggies, lean protiens, fruit, and healthy oils? NO it's not..... "Is it wrong to give up foods with ingredients I can't pronounce?" NO it's not...."Is it wrong to workout and/or walk 4 or 5 days a week?" NO it's not.

So,  I have almost finished my 30 day challenge. Next Tuesday is the last day.....but would it be wrong to just keep going? NO it wouldn't be. I have found that I can keep eating clean and natural and make a choice to not eat additives or preservitives any longer. I do not need refined sugar in my life...nor do I require grains or dairy....I do require food to live and to fuel my body, but I have decided that it's up to me what choices I make as to what foods I use for that purpose.

I beleive in my heart that everything I've done up to this point in my life, has led me to make this choice. The choice to rid my body of toxins, and become a healthier person both inside and out. I choose to make food a safe and pwerful form of medicine! How about you?

Mexican food without the chips?

This was a tough one....I'll admit....and had I not been in the midst of the "challenge" I'd have used a cheat on those tasty corn chips....LOL.....but none the less, I passed on my first Mexican food dining out experience.

I simply sliced up carrots put them in a snack bag and did carrot chips and salsa.....and it wasn't bad....then I ordered and split combo Fajitas with a frined and told them to hold the sour cream and tortillas....Whala! A perfect Paelo dining out experience.....

Dining out is easy but it's the Mexican and Italian that are the tough ones because of chips and salsa and then of course at Italian, it's the wonderful bread and oil they set in front of  you that is hard....but I want this worse than giving in to temptation!

Made mayo yesterday! I have to say, it was SO easy....then my friend and I tasted it and as much as I would make adjustments to it, it was kind of bland...so I went to the fridge and poulled out a jar of Best Foods I had in there and thought, what flavors am I missing?

Yuuuuuuccckkk.....first, it had every BAD oil listed along with additives and preservatives up the wazoo! But one thing that was listed that surprised me was sugar! In mayo? So you see, that added refined crap is everywhere......siiiggghhhhh......So part of going totally clean and natural is learning to taste food in it's REAL state....and many times it'll be the first time I've ever done that....SUGAR is everywhere......start reading your labels.....you'll find it in things you least expected it..

Happy Monday!