For the past 4 ½ weeks
I have upped my game and added in exercise daily for my health. I do at least
an hour of dance on Dance Central 3 each day. I also try to hit my daily goal
of 10k steps on Fitbit. You would think a drop of 40 lbs. with just clean eating
that at least 20 lbs. should just melt away with added cardio…wrong.
I wish I could say
that I enjoy it and have been doing so great and just dropping weight here and
there however, I cannot.
The truth is, this has
been an eye-opener.
When I began my clean
eating I realized right away I have a sensitivity to gluten. I then found out,
even in gluten free products, I am intolerant to wheat. I avoid wheat like the
plague now. I have tried organic and sometimes it really jacks me up. I also
have avoided refined sugars from the beginning. These two things have been on
the list for over six months now. Avoiding these have really made me change my
eating habits. Processed foods are a no-go so everything we eat is made from
healthy, organic (when possible), scratch.
So my list so far has
been:
NO…
Refined sugars
Refined flours
Processed foods
Gluten
Wheat
Artificial sugars
Pretty easy list to
follow. I use a lot of bean flours, tapioca flour, coconut flour, raw honey,
maple syrup, and stevia. I do not really miss breads and I make healthy,
delicious tortillas.
I assumed, when I
began exercising, the foods I ate would be beneficial. I added more fresh,
organic fruits and vegetables to get the healing nutrients. This has kept my
body from being sore from exercise. I drink smoothies and they are so yummy.
With the healing powers of fruits, my “fibromyalgia” has not been a problem.
However, I want to go
back a few months to January and February. I was in the states with my children
when I began to notice a rash on the inside of my forearms. By the time I got
back to Germany, it was coming up on my feet in crazy circle patterns. I went
to see my doctor and he said allergy for my arms and possibly Schaumberg’s
disease for my feet.
Schaumberg’s, the
great physicians believe, is a type of autoimmune disease. I have done some
research on it and realized it can be triggered by an allergen. So I did some
thinking as to what I might have discovered in America that was causing me
problems.
Oh, I discovered
Pirate Booty! This is like cheezy poofs for the healthy folks. I also started
eating popcorn. I came home and found both of them at the store and carried on
eating them.
I realized that the
rash, which at this point is behind both knees, on feet and ankles, inside
forearms, and around my elbows, was probably from the corn I had been consuming
for the past few months. Some grains and oats can be sensitive to a person’s
digestive tract just like gluten. So out went the corn. But I was dancing daily
and still not losing weight. I was actually gaining water weight. Oh the
frustration. So back to the drawing board on why this was happening.
After dancing, I get
extremely hungry and I love oatmeal. So I started eating it daily. I noticed
after a week or so that I was fatigued and my muscles were tired. I was
struggling to do my workouts. I quit corn because of the rash and weight gain
but now I was having water weight gain with muscle fatigue. I was just about
ready to give it all up.
In the midst of all
this I watched a documentary called “Unsupersize Me”. It was about a woman
losing 200 lbs. Her coach was a wellness instructor who tested all sorts of
weight loss plans. He decided that a raw diet with at least an hour of exercise
a day would shed the body of excess weight the fastest. Watching this
documentary made me decide to try a raw diet for a few days. In 3 days, I lost
2 lbs. What the heck was going on with my body that my clean eating was not
working?!?
In doing a test run on
the raw diet, I had eliminated oatmeal and dairy. I felt awesome. My muscles
were not tired and I was, ahem, pooing better. So I quit oatmeal. But I carried
on my love affair with cheese. I figured it was not much since I do not drink
milk.
So my muscles were not
fatigued after quitting the oats. Such a relief. I was getting my dance on but
guess what…still had weight gain. It would take me a week to lose a pound only
to wake up and realize that I gained 3-5 lbs. of water overnight. I was already
at the end of week 3 of my 6 week dance. I am over half way done and lost a
total of 4 lbs. only to gain about 12 lbs. in water (off and on).
So I had to eliminate
one more item from my eating lifestyle…dairy.
Now I know you are
thinking, “What the heck do you eat?” but believe me, I eat plenty. I eat
fruits all day long and eat a big, healthy meal at night. Just last night we
had fajitas and they were so delicious. I ate so much that I was afraid to get
on the scales this morning. But I did. I said a little prayer and got on them
and I had no water weight gain. I was so thankful.
Organic fruits are
very crucial for your body. The recommended allowance a day is two servings
which is a crock of crap. Do not listen to the FDA and their guidelines. Keep
away from all those crappy carbohydrates such as breads. Your body needs all
the nutrients from fruits to heal and to energize the cells. It is fuel for
your cells. Eat it all day long, every day. It is so good for you. God gave us
fruits and vegetables to heal our body and to keep it functioning.
If you take away
anything from all this rambling, take this…our bodies are complex machines.
When we put things in them that are not from God or are screwed up by man, then
our bodies will not run right. We need the carbohydrates from fruits not from a
big mac. We do not put anything but gasoline in our cars because it will just
break them down. That logic needs to be applied to our bodies as well. We need
nourishment in our bodies for them to be maintained and healthy.
Fat is not normal and
is not healthy. Our hearts were not made for excess weight. Heart disease and
diabetes are two diseases that can be avoided if we take care of ourselves. Be
disciplined and not gluttonous.
Proverbs 23:21 (ASV) For the drunkard
and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe a man with
rags.