Back in January of 2013, I
was overweight, unhealthy, exhausted, and miserable. I chalked it up
to graduating from Undergrad in 3.5 years, going straight into my
Masters program, AND THEN studying for the CPA exam. Lets be honest, in
college my main source of food came from highly processed, sugar
packed, GMO rich foods (normally from Taco Bell) - so I don't have
anyone to blame but myself for the weight gain. Add being stressed out
about college classes on top of that, my health was a mess. When I
finally graduated and started studying for the CPA exam, I began seeing a
personal trainer 3 days a week because I was determined to lose the
roughly 50lbs (*cringe*) I gained in college before I started work.
With each passing workout session, I didn't feel like it was getting any
easier. I was still always exhausted and always wanted to lay around
and do nothing because I didn't have the energy to do anything else.
Flash forward to January 2013, roughly 2.5 years after I started working
out with my personal trainer - I was the most I had weighed in my whole
life. Those 50lbs didn't go anywhere and the little bit I did lose was
back with reinforcements. That 50lbs from college plus the 20lbs I
gained during my first 2.5 years in the working world while studying and
passing my CPA exam meant that I now was at 70lbs over what I wanted to
be.
My mom had been telling
me for the past couple years that I had been looking "pasty" and when I
ate certain things I would "puff up like the Pillsbury dough boy" but I
didn't take her concern seriously. One
day, I was talking to
my very frustrated trainer and he mentioned a conversation he had with
his mom about a
PBS show that had been on the air recently that talked about people with
gluten intolerance. I remember him standing there and asking me to give
this diet a try and that I could find the book at WalMart. I still
don't know why to this day I decided to not be difficult and actually
went straight from the gym to WalMart to buy the book - but I am SO
incredibly thankful that I did. The book was called The Virgin Diet by J.J. Virgin and I still have it on my kitchen counter today.
In a nut shell, the book
says to eliminate 7 foods (gluten, dairy, eggs, sugar, peanuts, soy, and
alcohol) for 21 days and then slowly introduce 1 food category back in
at a time and see how your body reacts. After reading the book, my mom
and I cleaned out ALL of the food in my house (probably 85% of what I
had contained one of the 7 foods) and I went to Whole Foods and started
reading labels. The first 3 days of the diet were TERRIBLE - I felt
like I was going through withdraws, which I was. All of the food I had
been eating on a daily basis were processed, sugary, GMO foods. I
thought about giving up everyday because I just wanted chocolate cake or
a cheeseburger, but when I got on the scale on day 2 and saw that I had
lost 2lbs over night I remember thinking to myself "hey at this rate I
can lose 42lbs and be over halfway to my goal in 21 days" (highly
unrealistic to actually happen, but a girl can dream right?).
On day 16, I could have
killed someone for a glass of chocolate milk. I remember talking to my trainer about how I would DO ANYTHING for chocolate milk. He encouraged me
that I had got so far and to not give up! On day 21, I was down 16lbs -
yes 16lb in 21 days and I felt better than I had in years. The first
food category I reintroduced was gluten - it gave me the worse stomach
ache and I knew that I had an intolerance to it within about 24hrs. I am
very thankful that I do not have celiac's disease (I got tested and the
test came back negative) but I do not eat gluten still (well, on rare
occasion). The way it makes me feel is horrible. I described it to my
friend this way - have you ever gone #2 and it BURN like crazy afterward
in your intestines, well that's what I feel like the morning after I
eat gluten or dairy (the second food category I tried). I stayed tight
on the diet for several more weeks until mid March, I went to a friends
wedding and ate my weight in cake and homemade cheese ball (and would
probably do it again today because it was DELICIOUS). I woke up the
next day sick as a dog. My stomach was cramping bad and I felt like I
had food poisoning. I wasn't sure why it was hurting to this extreme
(probably had nothing to do with the fact that I ate the WHOLE cheese
ball BY MYSELF). After my day in terrible stomach pain, I realized that
I can't go back to the way I use to eat and this was going to be my new
"normal".
Fast forward to today, I
am still working on my weight-loss goal and clean eating. After about
10 months, my healthy eating fizzled out because it takes HARDWORK and
PLANNING to lead a healthy lifestyle. People take for granted that they
can go into an airport and have tons of options of different things to
eat - I, on the other, hand will always get a grilled chicken salad with
no cheese or croutons or butter on the chicken w/ oil and vinegar as
the dressing, not exactly the easiest thing to eat on the go but at
least I don't feel sick afterwards!
The purpose of me starting this blog is 2 fold.
One - I wanted to do it
as a commitment to myself and the healthy lifestyle I want for myself. I
want to hold myself accountable and I would love for my readers to hold
me accountable too.
Two - I LOVE to cook and
try new recipes. Gluten-free and dairy-free foods don't have to be
bland and boring. I want others to love eating this way and feel
healthier by doing so. I want people who can get gluten and dairy to
not even be able to tell that a meal that I make is gluten-free and
dairy-free.
Food should be judged
based on how it tastes and makes you feel, not by the label of
"gluten-free so it must be bad" or "dairy-free, but butter makes
everything better".
Here is to a delicious journey together!
Maureen
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