A Little Background on My Health Journey:
I have been constantly yo-yo-ing with my diet and getting discouraged along the way for the last couple of years. I am a relatively small person being only 5’2″ and when I was younger I was always very thin and didn’t really watch what I ate because I was young and had a great metabolism. I also always had jobs where I was on my feet all day long constantly moving. Then fast forward a few years and I was working my first desk job in Los Angeles for almost 2 years, stressed out daily, and still eating like I had been on my feet all day. I was shocked how drastically my body had changed in just under a year. Suddenly my jeans didn’t fit me the way they had before, I could still wear them but not without some spillage on the sides. I loved wearing jeans, but yoga pants became my new best friend and I avoided my full length body mirror as much as possible.
The word plateau was one that became all too familiar, I would try some kind of quick eating change and work out some but once I hit my dreaded number I would get so discouraged. There was also a little pity party I was throwing for myself, making excuses and throwing the blame everywhere else except for where it should have been put. “That job was too stressful, I was working too much and didn’t have time to meal prep or exercise like I should, I was too tired, etc.” I was making excuses instead of accepting the fact that it was a choice I was consciously making to turn my attention away from my health instead of being proactive and taking control of it.
The beginning of this year I reached my absolute highest weight and I finally had enough. Part of it was the realization that I was not going to look any different for my wedding, but also I was so mad that it had taken me so long to finally get motivated enough to do something about it. I started being more conscious about what I was eating and how much I was moving throughout the day. I accepted that I wasn’t going to be where I wanted for the wedding, because this wasn’t just a diet change this was going to be a lifestyle change. Since arriving in Costa Rica back in March I had started losing weight, but once again I hit a plateau. It was the plateau that was all too familiar and that number on the scale infuriated me to no end, but this time it made me want to work that much harder to get past it.
What Prompted My Diet Change:
When I was a kid I found out that I was lactose intolerant. I remember the doctor saying I should try alternatives such as goats milk, goat cheese, and anything not from a cow. Of course give a kid soy milk instead of real milk or almond cheese instead of real cheese and well that’s a different battle. In my mind I had been eating it my whole life and it wasn’t making me sick so I didn’t think it would make a difference if I kept eating it. So this time when I hit my dreaded plateau I began looking at my diet even closer. I realized that I was still eating all kinds of dairy and began wondering if that was part of the reason I was struggling so much. At that point I knew that if I at least didn’t give it a try I would never know, so I challenged myself to cutting out dairy and gluten (which has been another problem for me). I had some reassurance since I could still have goat and feta cheese which I love so I don’t feel like I’m missing out too much.
About 8 days into it I decided to test it and see if I could tell a difference when I ate some dairy and not even an hour after eating it I was bloated and started to have stomach pains. That was all the proof I needed and now at week 4 of no dairy or gluten, I have flown past my plateau and as of today have lost 18lbs. I still have a ways to go to reach my goal, but I am so encouraged by the results I have seen so far and how my body feels. It has taken some tweaking in my diet to substitute certain foods and been an adjustment eating more greens than before, but it has opened a whole new realm of food possibilities for me and forced me to be more creative.
So if anyone is struggling with diet and hasn’t been able to figure out what works for you, first of all get out of your head and don’t be hard on yourself it’s not going to make you feel better. Then I definitely recommend getting tested for any food intolerance’s and start there. Be open to trying new foods making little changes over time will help immensely and remember that all diets are not for everyone, you have to find one that works for you and it will take time. So don’t get discouraged if you try a diet that seems to be working for lots of people but isn’t working for you. If you are dedicated and it’s still not working it just means that your body needs something different. I am so excited to start sharing some of my new favorite recipes and continuing this new eye opening journey.
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