What is currently keeping me emotionally and physically healthy and why I still believe in the Whole 30

I wanted to write this post as a response to several posts that I was seeing that were bashing the Whole 30's post on food freedom. I would say I had a mixed response when I did my Whole 30. Physically, I felt amazing. My acid reflux went away, my blood sugar stabilized, my mood, hormones, etc all became regular. Weight fell off of me without me having to do much. I felt like my body was full of inflammation before and then, all of a sudden it wasn't.

Until you feel like you are choking all day, every day...it is probably difficult to understand the freedom you feel when you can breathe again. But the Whole 30 gave me that.

Soon after I finished, however, my eating disorder also came back. I soon was trying to have "Whole 30 days" and "Non-Whole 30 days" (binge) days. Because I felt restricted all the time, when I did give myself permission..I would binge eat. This hadn't been a problem since I got help for my eating disorder several years ago.

All of a sudden, I was in the midst of the stress of planning a wedding, planning a move to Florida, and no capability of actually being able to manage any eating disorder.

Two months ago, it got so bad that I decided to get help. I started working with an excellent eating disorder dietician who helped me immensely. We worked on intuitive eating and listening to my body. I felt like I had the freedom to make decisions based on what I was hungry for rather than a list of "Yes" and "No" foods. I ate chocolate daily and even had some dairy products. Because I was eating at the exact amount my body was asking for, I didn't gain or lose weight.

Unfortunately, almost from day 1, I also started having the choking feeling again. I started having what I have deemed "acid headaches," feeling like my acid reflux had gotten so bad it had gone into the brain. I mentioned this to the dietician and I had to start writing down my symptoms and where they came from.

Two months later, where do we find ourselves? Right back at the Whole 30.

You see, I ate gluten for seven years after getting diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I didn't completely give it up until about four years ago. This did some serious damage to my digestive system. Soon after, dairy became an intolerance. What I have now found out is that soy has also followed suit.

I sit here after having done all of this permissive eating work, grateful for the Whole 30. This is a plan that I can follow without having acid reflux, or choking problems, or headaches. This is a plan that happens to have tons of blogs and cookbooks dedicated to it so that I can find recipes anywhere. This is also a plan where I get to eat delicious clean meats, eggs, vegetables, all different colors of fruits, and both regular and sweet potatoes.

Was my eating disorder the Whole 30's fault? I don't think so. I think it's that I hadn't fully put coping mechanisms in place to handle large amounts of stress. So food and binging seemed like the most viable option.

Now I feel like I am in a good place. Because of the work completed with the Dietician, I know that when something is truly worth it (which most things aren't), I may have something off the Whole 30 plan.

Also for those of you who don't have food intolerance's or allergies, more power to you. I think it's great if you can figure out a wonderful balance to try all the foods that are out there. I think if Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or Veganism (Just don't be a mean Vegan:) is working for you, then you should do that.

But I am not able to enjoy all the foods. I have severe physical, mental, and emotionally difficulties because of some of the foods I put into my body.  Because of that, I am grateful for a program that allows me to be my best self and also enjoy many different kinds of foods.

That is what food freedom means to me.

These are what I'm using for snacks these days. Tastes excellent and no digestion disruption!

Encourage One Person

It's incredible the amount of impact that one step, completed over time can have on a person. I lost 100lbs by walking, I've known others that have started lifting three times a week, every week and have completely changed their bodies. The Whole 30 healed my gut. Writing a chapter a day can lead to a book deal. I've known others that have put an hour a day into a successful business and eventually became successful.

You see life change isn't about changing everything at once, it's about changing one thing.

So how do our hearts get changed? How do we become people of love, encouragement and substance over time? What does the Lord tell us to do?

Hebrews 12:11 says "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

Discipline is painful, but in the end it produces a harvest. Little changes, over time produce a harvest. 

Lately, I am focusing on being an encouragement to others rather than a "Debbie Downer." Today, I decided to leave an encouragement note in my husband's lunch box. Hopefully, he will see that and feel a little more encouraged today. 

I would urge you to write an encouragement note to someone today, ask someone if you can pray for them, or call someone that you haven't talked with in a while. It's incredible what stepping outside of ourselves for ten minutes can do for our day. By making one heart change each day, hopefully it will produce a harvest of encouragers. You know what a harvest of encouragers can do?... Change the world.

Breathing Life

Hey everyone, sorry I have been MIA on here for a while. A few big life changes have happened.

1.       I got married

2.       My husband found out that he is being mobilized to Florida, so we are moving to Florida in a couple of months

3.       My eating disorder came back right after I completed my Whole 30 and I had to see someone again to get that back on track.

As you can see, that is a whole bunch of life changes all at once. But now that everything has slowed down a bit, I have started to think about who and what I want to be in life. I think it’s so easy to get caught up in the mundane of life: Wake up, workout (maybe), work, chores, dinner, TV, bed. We can spend so much time living for Saturdays, hoping for the day where we can sloth around in our pajamas…no one expecting much from us.

I’ve decided I want more.

A few years ago, a good friend of mine told me that she believed that one day I would be a voice to help many hurting women. This has stuck in my mind ever since she told me this.

Lately, I have started to wonder how I begin to live this purpose. You see, the one gift that I have always know that the Lord has given me is words. My words can either throw people a life raft or drown them. I don’t think we realize how much words matter.

Complaining can ruin someone’s entire day. On the flip side, words of encouragement can bring life to someone that doesn’t feel that they can take one more breath.

I’ve decided I want my words to matter. I want the words that I speak to bring life, encouragement, and the grace of Christ to each situation. I want my days to be filled with life giving conversations, encouragement notes, and truth.

I don’t want to live for the next sloth day. I want to live each day as if everyone that I come in contact with is on purpose. ..that the Lord has put that person on my path for a reason.

The reason I am telling you this is because I am going to start investing my time into this blog again. But it’s not going to be about what it was anymore. Rather than investing my time into talking about me, races I have run and things I have accomplished, I want my words to be pointing to something greater. I want to allow my words to bring life and freedom to others again so that they will in turn, choose life. 

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Deuteronomy 30: 19