February 8, 2021 Update – Week 1 to Week 5
The past 5 weeks haven’t been perfect, but I have learned that imperfect action is way better than perfect inaction! What a journey.
It’s been 5 weeks since I decided to really get curious about the foods I was REALLY eating! The results speak for themselves! I’m living proof that your FOOD is EVERYTHING!
I’ve been on my “clean” eating journey for the past 9 years & working out consistently. But, I sort of started to eat CLEAN-ISH & I was not being as careful as I was in the past. I always knew something was off because I have IBS and some underlying gut issues, but there was always more to it.
During the pandemic, I really dove into what my main anxiety and health triggers are while setting healthy boundaries, implementing more self-care into my life, and especially noticing and taking note of how I felt after eating or drinking certain things.
Even though I was doing all of those things, I was still stressed at times. I am an enneagram 3, and that basically means I am so go go go with no off switch! This has done some damage to my body over the years that I am now having to deal with on the rest of this journey.
My alcohol consumption was going up & you guessed it, so was my anxiety. Prior to starting this journey, I knew pretty much all the triggers but now that I completely removed a huge trigger out of my life I can now see the correlation between my anxiety and when I drink alcohol. It is actually night and day how much different I feel now not having drank for 30+ days!
If you are wondering what other possible triggers could there be, I wrote a blog on 7 dietary changes you can make to help calm your anxiety. You can read that here.
A cookie here, a piece of cake there, some bread with dinner on date night… and all of a sudden my skin was breaking out and my pants weren’t fitting.
And what did I do…
I blamed it on my age.
I blamed it on my hormones.
Continued to blamed it on everything else accept taking personal responsibility for my choices!
It was much easier to blame everything else in my life than take ownership that maybe I was really not making the best choices.
My body was sending me signals that something was off:
The chronic fatigue, despite getting 7+ hours of sleep a night.
The 24/7 irritability, even though I didn’t have anything to be agitated about.
The inability to lose the weight no matter how consistent I was with workouts.
Plus the rising anxiety attacks despite therapy.
Enough was enough. That prior lifestyle worked for me for a few years, but I crashed. The life I want for my family and I doesn’t include me being sick every month! The change I made was because I want to live my best life, and I wasn’t fully doing that!
I’m not on a DIET, this is a lifestyle change I can easily adopt forever! This lifestyle makes me feel my BEST self!
A huge lesson that I have learned over the journey so far is: If you want your body to function at the highest level possible, you have to treat it with the most respect.
The quality of your sleep matters, the amount of water you drink everyday matters, saying no to some of the things that we know don’t give our body the energy we need matters. And it 100% is a process, and you have to get there on your own. When you do reach that point your body is going to thank you for treating it with the most respect!
The meals are delicious, flavorful & fulfilling.
I’m not measuring, counting calories or starving myself.
I truly feel balanced in my approach & my body is happy with me!
If you are interested in getting started with your own AntiInflammatory diet here is a few places you can start:
✅ The Whole30 Book, The 30-day guide to total health and food freedom. I followed this to the T and I started to notice results in the first 2 weeks.
✅ I met with a functional practitioner who did initial testing, blood work and put me on a leaky gut protocol and adrenal fatigue protocol. Josie is my practitioner and I can’t say enough amazing things about her. I can tell she loves her job and loves what she does.
✅ I started to pay attention to the amount of rest I was getting each day, I’m currently working on a solid evening routine since my morning routine is on lockdown now! I unplug from social media at 8:00 pm and I aim to be in bed by 9:15pm since I am up at 4:50 am each day. I started reading an amazing book called Rhythms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose. No joke, this book was legit what I needed in my life right now! I’m hanging on to every word and soaking it all in.
✅ I have also been intentionally meditating every single day to reduce stress and induce relaxation. I use the Unstress meditation program found in Beachbody On Demand, you can try a free sample here https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/programs/unstress-21-days-of-meditation/start-here
I am totally transforming my life from the inside out and I’ll keep sharing along the way! Make sure you follow me on my Facebook and Instagram page for daily and weekly updates, lives and more!
I know there are other women out there struggling with this too & know that you are not alone! Come chat with me, I am here to help. Message me on my Facebook Page, Committed To Getting Fit