Yes.... I am one of THEM....

I don't know how quite to say this. I feel like we are just getting to know each other and I am afraid that you will judge me once you know the truth. So promise me that you will hear me out before you come to any conclusions about me. I guess I can't stall any longer... so here it goes.... I don't eat gluten. OOOHHH AHHHHHH SHOCK AWEEEEEE GASP!! Feel free to take a moment to process this...

Ok hopefully you are back now! Let me explain. I actually don't eat gluten, dairy, soy, corn, MSG, or anything processed. I know I know... I sound all sorts of crazy right now. Like most people I encounter there are probably many questions swirling around in your brain right now about how this is possible.. Questions like "WHY???????" or "What DO you eat??". "How do you have such strong will power" (spoiler alert: I DON'T), "How did this start?". I will use this post to address the many questions I get daily from people on my not so weird eating habits. Most likely you aren't thinking "How can I do this too???". But I will answer that one too :)

My weight loss journey has been a long one.. But I will fast forward a little for now to April of this year. I have always been a milkoholic.. Actually a dairyoholic. Ice cream - Love it! Milk - Love it! Cheese - Love it! Pretty much if its dairy of any sort I love it. Early this year my stomach started giving me problems when I ate it. I kept trying to fool myself into thinking "ohhh you just ate too much this time - thats why your stomach hurts". But after a while I learned that the amount didn't matter. It was always bothering me now after eating dairy (mostly my beloved frozen yogurt).

Simultaneously I had been struggling to lose weight. For a while now. I would work out a lot. I was eating all the "right things" like whole grains, Greek yogurt, lean cusines etc. I was doing it all "right" (or so I thought) so what was the problem?!!? Well once the stomach issues started kicking in I started to search the internet for answers and ran across this book "The Virgin Diet" by JJ Virgin. It asks you to remove 7 foods from your diet for 21 days then slowly add some of them back in to see if you react. I am no Doctor but the basic science behind this is that when your body doesn't process some foods properly it causes inflammation. The 7 foods she asks you to remove are common inflammatory foods. This inflammation is what can cause headaches, eczema, holding onto excess weight, feeling sluggish, breaking out with acne and SO MANY more things. I have heard of severe things getting healed in the body from removing a food from your diet that your body reacts badly to.

 So after reading the book and the testimonials I decided to dive in to this program with full force. I would say I don't have a lot of will power on my own when it comes to eliminating foods from my diet. But I was determined to find some answers this time... So in April of this year I removed dairy, gluten, soy, corn, peanuts, sugar / artificial sweeteners, and eggs from my diet for 21 days. And YES I went the FULL 21 days with out cheating!! For a while it was a huge adjustment. Getting rid of my "healthy foods" I mentioned before and replacing them with new and different foods- soup for breakfast say what?!!? Going out to eat with friends was the most difficult part of it. Passing up my old favorites and opting for the most basic meal. The worst part is not KNOWING what they were actually putting in my food. Did they cook this in butter? I would ask the servers a million questions and be THAT annoying girl. This however does get easier with time I promise!!

After only about a week I was already feeling more alert, less fatigued and full of energy. There was a huge difference in my focus levels at work and throughout the day. It was like I was FINALLY awake! Plus I wasn't getting tired at 8pm like usual. I was waking up feeling rested and able to power through my day with out feeling like a zombie. It was an incredible change let me tell you. After 2 weeks my skin was clearing up and glowing. I was feeling less bloated all the time and I never felt so full that I felt sick after eating a meal anymore. My hair and nails were becoming stronger and were growing quickly. After finishing the 21 days I was feeling incredible. Like a new person almost. There was some serious pounds shed too. But you will have to tune into the next post to hear how much!!! I am going to continue this story in a part 2 post and talk about reintroducing / testing the foods that I removed and how that has led me to how I eat today!

For the rest of the story read here!



Have you read the Virgin Diet book??? Does anyone else have that brain fog / fatigue that I was talking about???

Until next time....

Katie
XOXO