Food-My Story

My mother has often told me about taking me to the doctor when I was a toddler because I wouldn't eat anthing except cereal. She thought I would be malnourished because I refused to eat anything else. The doctor told her that if I wanted cereal, she should feed me cereal. And so she did. As I got older, I incorporated a few other things into my acceptable edible list. Like macaroni and cheese and pretty much anything with chocolate in it. Looking back, I'm suprised I survived, but I made it through childhood with no abnormal illnesses or diseases.

I moved to California in 2004 as a sophomore in college. I remember thinking I would never get used to the different culture. Specifically, I would never eat tofu or care if my food was organic. I really thought people who ate these things were hippies. I suppose a lot of people feel the same about me now.

In 2010 I joined a group at my church called Single Life Workshop. I'll probably write a post on that someday down the road, but it's not really important to this subject. What is important is that I met a lovely girl who would later be my roommate. She fell into the hippy category, but only as far as food goes. We became friends quickly and both happened to be looking for a new place to live at the same time. I moved my mac and cheese and chocolate cake into the same kitchen as her kale and coconut oil. I was a little worried. I later found out that she was too.

A few months into our stay, a mutual friend was over and she and I planned to make chocolate cookies. The same night we volunteered to watch my roommate's then 3-year old daughter. As my roommate was leaving, she gently told us that if we made the cookies, she did not want her daughter to have any. I chalked this up to hippy-ness, but I got curious. The next day I asked her just what was so bad about our cookies. That started my informal education on hydrogenated oils (the main ingredient in the butter we had bought to bake cookies with). Do you know that this ingredient is made in a lab and our bodies don't know how to digest them? Yuck. They basically stay in your body for life.

To make the story shorter, I started making changes in the food I bought. This is a picture of the foods I threw away when I started eating healthy. Yes, I literally threw them away. The easiest way to avoid hydrogenated oils is to buy organic. So I started coming home from the grocery store with organic versions of my favorite foods--do you know they make organic pop tarts? True story! I also found a love for agave nectar and (of course) organic cereal with organic fat-free milk! (Actually, I switched to almond milk for a while but that's another story!) Around the same time I was trying to lose weight. I've never been considered very overweight, but I wanted to lose 5-10 pounds. I joined a gym. I kept buying low-fat and fat-free products with no hyrogenated oils, colors, nitrates, or antibiotics. I bought protein powder and drank shakes after every workout. I lost zero pounds.

I soon lost steam and quit the gym. A few months later I read some articles about health. Some were by The Healthy Home Economist about some were by Maria Emmerich. Others were by Dr. Mercola. (Dr. Mercola is one of my favorites because he is a medical doctor.) I did hours and hours of research. Basically what I found is that if you want to lose fat, you should eat fat. I realize this is counterintuitive to everything you have learned about health and nutrition, but I began to incorporate real butter into my diet. I switched from fat-free to whole milk. I began eaing coconut oil by the spoonful (coconut oil is my favorite health food, which I use for many many food and non-food purposes! 100% of its calories are from fat!). When I thought about what I was eating I assumed I would gain weight--a lot of it! But I made the changes anyway, giving these so-called health experts a chance. That was a year and a half ago and I now weigh 16 pounds less than I did then. I am never hungry and, while I enjoy being active, especially in the summer, I have not been in a gym in close to two years. I eat gluten-free and mostly grain-free. I limit my sugar intake, but I refuse to eat things that don't taste good. I've discovered a love for my kitchen--epecially baking!--and love almond flour and coconut flour and (again) coconut oil and real butter and whole milk. I moved back to the SF Bay Area to finish school, and my new roommates, who don't eat healthy at ALL, tell me I should sell my baked items. Best of all, I have energy (I used to think I had chronic fatigue syndrome, but now I think it was/is gluten sensitivity) and I feel great--physically and mentally/emotionally!  I love teaching others about what I've learned about health and nutrition. I hope to share more about my story with you in future blogs. Until then, check out these helpful websites for more information and some yummy recipes:

Healthy Home Economist: how to eat healthy on a budget!
Dr. Mercola: the medical side, see above!
Maria Emmerich: healthified recipes!
Riddle Love: meal plans (most gluten-free!)
Free Coconut Recipes: self-explanatory