My Healthy Eating Journey
Today I am going to tell you a bit about my diet as I said I would in my first recipe post.
I did not always eat healthy, in fact I used to be the most sugary, starchy loving person ever! I am not exaggerating. A few years ago I had very horrible eczema that covered the back of my thighs. I had had it since I was a baby. There would even be times when I would scratch it so hard it would bleed and puss through my pants and it was awful. I struggled through it for years, using steroid filled creams and brushes to scratch it. It wasn't until I was 13 that I decided to do something about it.
So I went gluten free...well, sort of. I often splurged on wheat bread and pasta, plus my family was not on board with my eating yet. My legs eventually started to get better but my stomach had started having issues too at this time. I began getting bloated all the time which was accompanied with awful gas. This led me into seeking out a wholistic doctor who also happened to be a family friend. He recommended an elimination diet so my mom and I quickly planned for it and we did it together in the fall of 2016. It was hard, but it changed my life. I tried so many different foods, gave up so many foods, learned mindfulness, and the impact of food on our bodies. After doing it I realized gluten made me bloated, gassy, and caused me to be very itchy. Dairy made my skin break out a lot. Sugar made my nose run, even though all through grade school I thought I had allergies. Giving all of these things up has helped me greatly and restored my well-being.
As time has progressed I have researched, watched, listened, and read about so many health foods, exercises, diets, and lifestyles. This has changed my eating habits drastically since 2016. Now that I have read and learned so much about the affects of foods, I have also taken out oil, meat, and eggs because it helps my stomach and skin stay healthy. After researching, I found that America's manufacturers produce sickening meat and eggs full of antibiotics, hormones, and chemicals. Greed has caused American food production to be compromised in so many ways. For this reason, I choose not to eat meat or eggs unless on occasion when they are pasture-raised, grass-fed, and I know what is in them.
I know this might sound like a vegan diet, but I refuse to call myself or my diet "Vegan" because Vegans treat their diet like a religion. I watched a Youtube video of a girl who is no longer vegan for that very reason. I thought about it and noticed the parallels. They are called Vegans as I am called a Christian, they won't buy animal products as if it is the law, they create communities, they try to become knowledgeable about being a Vegan just as we focus on gaining knowledge of Christianity, they have become obsessed with their food and wellbeing, and they have gone so far as to create books for children so they can teach them that lifestyle. This is absurd to me! I eat like a vegan, but I don't live like one so I call my diet a Whole Foods, Plant-Based diet. This is just what has worked best for me and my health. I am not saying I am perfectly healthy now, but I am much better than I used to be. I still do struggle with my eating once in a while and I mess up- I am not perfect and that is okay.
This is the video, made by Sarah Therese, that changed my entire view on vegans and greatly impacted my stance on diets.
This is just an interesting video by Ted-Ed about where fat goes. I found it helpful and cool to learn about the science behind it.
This is a girl I love named Sadia Badiei. She is a vegan, but she has given me a lot of tips and help with healthy eating. Her site and channel is called "Pick up Limes."
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