As I was walking my dogs this beautiful morning along the Twin Creeks trail, I thought about how great I feel right now. Healthy, full of energy and loving life. But, I haven’t always felt that way. The last 3 months I have made a concentrated effort on my own nutrition (and not just everyone else’s) and have really accepted that fact that gluten and sugar are bad for me and my physical and mental health. If I have any wheat at all I feel terrible all over, joint aches, body aches, mood swings. I was in denial for a long time that gluten really did have that affect on me. Allergies tests don’t show that I am allergic to gluten. However by eliminating it completely for the last 3 months I have come to accept the fact that I can’t eat it anymore. Not even in small amounts. Yes, I have mourned the loss of bread as it was one of my favorite foods but I have mentally gotten over it. I have said goodbye to pizza as well. These are foods I have eaten my whole life and now I have substituted it with other healthy foods like quinoa, sweet potatoes and spaghetti squash. I don’t cheat because I constantly ask myself why would I eat a food that makes me feel so bad. I didn’t even realize it made me feel bad because I was in a constant state of inflammation of aches and pains and low energy. Knowing how good I feel away from it keeps me motivated to avoid it. I don’t feel deprived of it in any way.

The same with sugar. Although I never really ate a lot of sugar, it was still there is small amounts. Sugar incites manic cravings for refined carbohydrates meaning brownies, pasta, breads, candy. Sound familiar? Just one bite of a brownie can send me into cravings for more sugar. It really isn’t my fault. Sugar is like a drug. It is highly addictive and physically makes you crave more sugar. It is a vicious cycle. Sugar begets sugar. Once I removed sugar from my diet, my cravings went away and my energy was much more balanced. Not to mention the terrible weight fluctuations with refined sugars as part of your diet. Sugar = insulin produced = weight gain. Excess insulin is stored as body fat.

The point of this blog is that when you are changing your diet you can’t look at it as a short term thing that deprives you of certain foods. You have to look at it as a lifestyle change and something you are doing for you to make you healthier and happier. If you do think of only what you are missing out on then you can never change your mindset and never move forward.

I have also re-committed to my workouts and have pushed myself harder every day. However, I have only been able to do this because I am on track with my nutrition. You can’t just workout and expect to change physically when you are eating crap. You have to use food as your fuel. Remember that one man’s fuel is another’s poison. Find the food that supports your health the best.

If you are having trouble making healthy changes to your life and feel overwhelmed, try our holistic nutrition program to you get you started on your journey to a happier and healthier you.

Healthy Regards,

Cathy Falk

BA, Holistic Nutritionist