story fam

story fam

Friday, June 14, 2013

The 30 Days that Changed Everything-Seriously

I am officially brushing the dust off of my blog for the summer!!  It's been a long time since I posted.  Last summer we did an experiment that I fondly called "The Story Family Food Revolution".  I posted some recipes, our progress, and our blips along the way.  It was successful.  Then life happened.  I got my first full time job in 13 years, we crossed the great divide into a life crazy full of activities, and oh yes...I went back to school.  Whew.

I also had some health issues develop and resurface.  From September 2012 to January of 2013 I was on every antibiotic available (less levoquin which I refused) and prednisone.  The weight and bloating came, I had an unsuccessful surgery and I found myself  more miserable than ever.  Having little faith in the traditional medical community, I felt like I was out of options-I was tired of taking medication. It just wasn't helping.   I started to just accept the fatigue, stomach ache/bloating/digestive issues, and overall malaise that I had been feeling as the way I would live.

I tried to "tweak" my diet-this translates into eating semi-gluten free except for food days at school-who can turn down sweets at a food day??  I was consuming several diet cokes/cherry coke zero's and a lot of candy.  Was it the prednisone?  Man, I don't know.  But it was bad!!!

One night I was pinning on Pinterest and I found a pin-this girl had found this book about "whole" eating.  She did it for 30 days.  No cheating.  She lost some weight but what really caught my eye was the change in her health.  She was sleeping better, her stomach didn't hurt-a general energy had come back.  I went to the link she provided and found the book she used.  I immediately downloaded it on my iPad and made the decision.  I was in.

I was going to do this!!  I read the book-I seriously devoured each page.  Maybe it was desperation?  Maybe it was just the right time?  Whatever it was-I am so thankful for that one pin!!  Not to be dramatic, but it has changed my life!!

Here is the short version (I will provide a link so you can check it out).  You eliminate all grains, sugar, dairy, soda, and processed food.  Yep, it's paleo.  You eat good protein, veggies, and a good fat (avocado, black olives, coconut milk, nuts) at each meal.  You can also have fruit.  For 30 days you commit to this-there is no cheating.  There is no weighing in.  The goal is eating three healthy meals a day.

Yep my friends, I did it.  Was it hard?  Uhhh...yep.  Did I want a cookie?  My friends will attest to that-I wanted to cave at a school professional development session so bad (insert thanks to my cheerleader Peggy!!  Her "no you won't eat that" spurred me to victory those last few days)!!

And the results?  I did lose weight.  7 pounds to be exact.  And some inches around my waist and hips. Funny, that is the weight I gained while on all of the meds.  I lost a good portion of my muffin top.  But the biggest blessing is this-my stomach does not hurt when I stick to this eating plan.  More on that later.  My "adult" acne is gone. I am sleeping better.  I am not hungry in between meals.  I do not have that afternoon malaise and I honestly do not feel irritable (well most of the time-but hey, I'm a Mom so that does happen).  I cannot believe how much better I feel overall.

There is no gimmick.  No pill.  No crazy fad foods you have to buy.  It's not expensive.  You don't have to do anything but commit to changing your diet using real food.  It is simply just a decision to try something for 30 days.  Again it was hard.  I'm not trying to sell you some wonder "diet".  It is meant to be a life change with your eating.  If you are looking to feel better, if you have tried everything to improve aches/pain/fatigue give this a try.  Seriously, it's only 30 days.  You can do ANYTHING for a month.  Even walk away from the cookie.


Above is the link.  Check it out.  There are resources you can print for free.  The book is also available as a download at Amazon. com.

So why did I dust the blog off?  Because my 30 days are now over.  What will I do now?  Continue?  Cheat?  Go back to my old ways?  As I did last summer, I thought I'd share how the next 30 days goes for me. I'll be honest.  I'll  share some recipes and maybe have some shared with me too.

So join me if you are interested.  And for those of you who are interested in what happened with our food revolution-that is a blog post for next time.

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