Educate and Evaluate

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."- Hippocrates 

Food. Not only the means by which we live, but given to us by God to enjoy. I must admit my “relationship” with food has been more than great; it has been obsessive, and it has been bad….really bad. In 2010, due to horrible life events, some of which I take full responsibility, I turned to food. Junk food to be exact. I put on 60 pounds in 9 months and became a size 16 (originally I was an athletic 4/6).  Yes, you read that right, SIXTY POUNDS! I was practically shoveling the food into my face. Finding the courage to step onto the scale, I was mortified. Soon after came the aches and pains (more than once, I threw out my back for more than a month). That jumpstarted the whole journey! I did not want to be a 21 year old who should be out conquering the world with her dreams, cooped up on the couch, too much in pain to even try and shower, let alone use the toilet.  I decided to do something about it. 

Thankfully my health-conscious mother recommended a naturopath. That helped me get off the addiction to sugar (that's a whole other story for another day). I hired a personal trainer for awhile and she got me re-excited about exercise. I tried countless diets and talked with nutrition enthusiasts. I educated myself on how the body works. Everything that I was learning was a key but not the only answer to my problem. Four YEARS later, I had only dropped 2 sizes. Discouraged that I had not yet hit my goal, I re-evaluated five areas of my life taught by a guy on YouTube called “brettcap”: 1) Sleep—was I getting 8+hrs of sleep for my body to be able to repair itself?  2) Water—was I drinking enough to hydrate and rid my body of its toxins? Your weight divided by 2 will get you how many ounces you need to drink, divide your ounces by 8 and that will give you how many cups to drink. If you don’t drink enough, it won’t work but too much water is dangerous.  It’s called water intoxication.  It depletes your body of the good minerals and vitamins your body needs to properly function.  3) Exercise— I knew I needed 45+ minutes a day to burn fat (by the end of this time I would do my 45 minutes to 1hour of weights, yoga, or Pilates and then go for a nice 1 hour walk.  Refreshing.  4) Food—was I eating healthy and exercising good portion control? 5) Bowels—was I having a daily stool?

When I saw my problem areas, I knew I needed to find a lifestyle that supported the areas of my body that were not working properly.  I spoke with Mom (see a trend? Mothers really do know best!;-)) and she recommended the Body Ecology Diet or BED. Within 2 months or so I had dropped 2 sizes! I was down to a size 8. Excited that I was FINALLY on my way to hitting that long awaited goal of returning to my former 4/6, I then found out I was pregnant!  My goal had to wait as I brought my greatest accomplishment into the world, my sweet daughter Isabella. Thankfully I already knew my problem areas and didn’t put on too much weight while pregnant, but gained a healthy 30 lbs by due day.  I lost all the weight from the birth and eating healthy right afterwards. Plus I LOVE the extra calories you burn from breastfeeding! However, that does mean I need more calories then I was eating before pregnancy. So I didn’t stick to the BED during breastfeeding but did my own thing for awhile.

As Bella is almost 8 months old and eating solids 3+ times a day, I am eager to get the ball rolling again. I am always fascinated by how our magnificent bodies work and am eager to learn and share as I walk out my journey.

My top problem area is my digestive track not ridding itself of waste. I try and eat anything that has probiotics in it: kimchi, kefir, probiotic supplement, Kevita drink, and kombucha. A good gut flora supplied by pre and probiotics enables you to rid yourself of waste which prevents your body from continuing to re-absorb the junk your body should be eliminating. Constipation could actually be poisoning your body! Another good addition to aid digestion is a bone broth. I made that the other day for the first time. So yummy! I was inspired by the Gaps diet, which “ focuses on removing difficult to digest food that is damaging to the gut flora and replacing it with a nutrient dense foods to give the intestinal lining a chance to heal and seal”-gapsdiet.com I am sure I’ll be adding this “drink” to my weekly regimen. Bone broth not only contains a high level of protein but also much needed minerals and glycine. Glycine supports digestion and detoxification, as well as synthesis of hemoglobin, bile salts, and gastric acids. Proline found in the bone broth can support good skin health when paired with vitamin C. Broth and bone broths are two different liquids. Broth is cooked with meat and bones and usually simmers for 45 minutes to 2 hours, whereas bone broth is just the bones and can simmer for up to 24 hours and contains more minerals and collagen (matrix protein). Needless to say, I am excited to see the results!

Till next time,

B