So here it is, in all it's glory-my first post. My first, of hopefully many posts, for something I swore I would never be interested in. It's funny how things can seem so foreign and unnecessary at one point in your life and, given some time, can turn into something you are insanely passionate about. That is where this blog has found me.
I have lived most of my life like the majority of people, bowls of pasta, cans of pop, lunch snacks teeming with sugar, oils, and chemicals with names that, even as an adult, I can't pronounce. I loved holiday parties and getting together with friends, not just because of the company, but also because of all the FOOD! It's what we ate, what I knew, and what I loved. It wasn't until about 4 years ago that I started realizing my gut "issues" weren't things that everybody experienced. I went from counting bar food as a staple of my diet to living off bottles of Pepcid and learning what anxiety felt like. I was soon diagnosed with GERD, which explained the heart attack-like chest tightness. I had begun to surround myself with positive, healthy people, but as much as I bought into the fitness aspect of "healthy living", I had yet to grasp the concept of making a lifestyle change in the way that I ate. So......my "issues" continued and only worsened.
Fast forward to the past six months and I have undergone more tests than I ever imagined for myself. Now, by no means am I comparing myself to some one who has a serious illness, but for a while with all my tests and symptoms and feeling so sick, I was really beginning to think and treat myself as if I was seriously ill. That only led to depression and anxiety, which, of course, fed my stomach issues. Through a stomach scope we learned I had an ulcer and gastritis, through a hyda scan we learned my gallbladder was perfectly normal, through trial and error we learned I had IBS and issues with dairy, through an echocardiogram, EKG and numerous ER trips over the years we learned my heart was perfectly fine. Even through all of this I still find myself a ball of nerves everytime I feel a spasm in my stomach or throat, I have to convince myself for the millionth time, IT'S NOT MY HEART!
All of these experiences have finally forced me to consider my diet as a contributer/cause of my gut issues. I started trying to change the way I ate in a serious way in February 2012 and really hit it hard for a month. Within that month of no dairy and gluten, I found myself developing a passion for healthy food. For someone that loves to cook and bake already, it became almost a game and challenge to me to take recipes I have always known and loved and turn them into something that I wouldn't regret eating later. I heard a great quote from Wayne Dyer that I has been running through my mind lately, "when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change". It's so odd for me to look back at things I used to shovel into my mouth and now look at them with no want or desire.
Through this blog I hope to share my experiences, good and bad, on my journey to a healthier, guilt free way of life and eating. The greatest joy of this journey, so far, has not come from the changes in the way I feel, but from the changes that I have sparked in others.
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