My Personal Health Journey & How I Find Balance

Calorie counting, to paleo, to gluten-free, to gluten-free vegan, to Europe and back.  I have been around the block when it comes to dieting and lifestyle changes.  I have tried all of these on like a pair of Louie Vuittons.  And now, I am telling my story--not to convert you to any of the above or to challenge your views, but to inform and inspire those searching for their own, personal, health journey.  It's all about finding balance.

Let's start at the beginning.  Three years ago, I did my first cleanse.  I was raised in a house with a fridge packed with organic food and weeks full of 19 hour dance rehearsals.  In the midst of this, I would cover my salad in parmesan cheese and constantly reach for the "honey-wheat" bread-- all the while thinking I was the healthiest gal on the planet.  I was not in denial, I was not lazy, I was just misread and in the dark about my health.

When I went off to college, the mentality switch began.  Not only did I meet my super healthy, well-read roommate Hannah, but I also was also immediately cast in a dance show produced by SCAD.  I hate the "f" word....."f" word as in-fat.  I was not "fat", but I was unhappy with the state of my body and my depleted energy levels.  This is when the search began.  The search for health, weight loss and happiness.  I'll let you in on the biggest secret I've learned through all of this- you cannot search for weight loss or happiness.  Those things are a by-product of health.  If you merely search for weight loss you will get stuck in a perpetual cycle of money spending and mood swings---trust me.

I started out by getting the app "my fitness pal" which is used for tracking calories and exercise.  Never will I ever count a damn calorie again.  That was the most miserable food experience I have ever encountered.  I limited myself for 1,200 calories a day from September-December.  And you know what?  I did lose a couple of pounds and felt OK, but I still was not giving my body the nutrients it craved, therefore, I was not able to keep it up. The truth of any "diet".  My body adapted to surviving on 1,200 calories a day which then made me hit a weight-loss plateau.  I was not a happy camper.  If you are eating the right foods with the nutrients your body needs, counting calories will be pointless because you will naturally crave less food.  Feeding your body is the secret to weight-loss, not the opposite.

When I returned to school in January I began to research the paleo diet.  I had heard about "the caveman diet" back in high school when it was used as a quick fix before spring break, but I had never actually tried the lifestyle.  So, I became paleo from January-August of 2012.  If you have not ever read it, I recommend Dr. D'Adamo's book "The Bloodtype Diet".  I am not an advocate of the full fledged diet, but I do believe that it holds truth.  It goes back to the origins of our bloodtype, where we emerged in history and how we adapted to our environments.  The proof that I have of this theory holding ground is my weight and iron levels.  I am blood type "A" which flourishes on a high carbohydrate, gluten-free, vegetarian diet.  When I went to the doctor in August and had been following the paleo diet, I had actually gained a few pounds and had low iron levels.  After converting to gluten-free veganism in the fall and filling my diet with millet, oats, veggies, fruits and non-gmo soy here and there, at my check-up in December my hormone and iron levels were normal for the first time in years, and I had actually lost weight. 

So how did I get from paleo to vegan you ask?  Well, it took a lot of reading, a lot of talking and a health documentary called "Forks over Knifes".  I have seen a lot of netflix health documentaries in my days, but that one is by far still my favorite.  What worked the best for me in the conversion was cutting everything cold turkey (no pun intended).  I did Dr. Oz's 48 hour detox and turned my back to animal products and all-things-gluten.

When I found out I was going to Europe, I wanted to be able to indulge in the culture and food.  So, in the spring, I slowly began to introduce animal products and a little bit of wheat here and there back into my diet.  My body did not feel like my body anymore.  Granted, I did backpack through Europe for a month, but I did not feel electricity running through my bones.  And it has taken me about a month to get back on track and detox my system.

So now, there are some days that I eat 100% vegan and some days where I wake up and decide I want scrambled eggs.  Whatever I put in my body, I just make sure that it is organic, clean and unrefined.  I want all of the vitamin and health benefits from my food.  Because guess what ya'll....We should EAT TO LIVE not live to eat...

Here are the facts-- when you introduce more kale less cesar salad, more fruit less welches fruit snacks and more millet bread less processed wheat bread into your diet, I guarantee you will improve your health.  Be a label whore.  READ The ingredients and understand what you are putting into your body.  Be educated.

It is baby-steps people.  There was a time I was eating pasta until 12:00 am and three years later my fridge is found absent of animal products, dairy products and gluten products and my body full of vegetables, fruits, raw nuts, raw seeds and naturally gluten-free whole grains.  I am still constantly reading, learning, searching and digging for new information.

So here are my parting words of advice- eat more vegetables and fruit, get the gluten out of your cabinet (if you don't believe me read Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis) and if you are going to eat animal products, and YES I sometimes do- know where they are coming from, making sure they are organic and free of GMOS (genetically modified organisms).  Be responsible and take over your health. 

xoxo

Sarah