So where was I... Oh yes I had just finished my 21 day elimination process and was feeling great. I lost my constant state of brain fog, my skin was glowing, my cravings went away, and I was losing weight........
TWENTY pounds to be exact! I mean I don't know about you but that number was huge for me! Especially in a month! I would have been happy to have lost that the whole year prior. (That year that I was working so hard and doing what I thought were all the right things and lost nothing). So I knew I must be on to something that was working for my body.
Once the 21 days was over I started adding some of the foods back in one by one to see how I felt. The foods that she suggests never come back into your diet are gluten, peanuts,and artificial sweeteners, so I wouldn't be testing those back in. The two foods I thought I'd have the least problem with were corn and soy. I mean they are plants right?? I should have known better after reading her book however; especially the chapter called "There is no joy in soy". First I tried soy. I got a soy latte from Starbucks since I hadn't had a dairy filled coffee drink in almost a month! I don't really like the taste of soy milk but that was besides the point... More importantly I drank about half of it and immediately got a headache... that lasted 2 days! I also felt fatigued like I had been up all night long (when I hadn't). So right away I knew soy was out for me. I had been feeling so good that anything that made me feel less than perfect was not worth the trouble.
After this reaction I started to question if I wanted to bring ANY of these items back. I didn't miss most of them anyways. I knew I really wanted eggs back in my life though. They make breakfast so easy and are filling and quick. So I went ahead and had an egg and luckily I had no negative reaction to it. HALLELUJAH! Seriously - I was over joyed. I had already taken out a lot of foods I was comfortable with and I didn't need anymore no-no items. After this I decided I was done testing. I didn't want to knowingly bring on headaches, an upset stomach, lethargy, etc etc etc. My new plan was to wait until those foods made their way into something I was eating and see how I reacted. I ended up having some corn on the cob a few weeks later and had the same reaction as the soy. So corn was also out. I love corn you guys. It was a sad day. Milk crept into some scrambled eggs at a restaurant once without me knowing. A few hours later I started feeling that same sick feeling and knew that something was in there that I hadn't known about. I looked online and they put milk in their scrambled eggs. Lesson learned.. and I am still learning lessons daily. Thats why I like to call it a journey. My meal plans evolve and change. I want to keep getting better and better at life and more and more healthy.
In the months since the 21 day elimination diet my eating has slowly transitioned into more of a "Paleo" mold. The similarities between the Virgin Diet and the typical Paleo diet are many and it was the natural next step in my journey. I started listening to podcasts while at work. They taught me the ins and outs of the Paleo diet. They taught me that every persons definition of Paleo is not the same. I started buying books and reading more and more Paleo blogs. I do not practice what most would call "Perfect Paleo". I am not a diet perfectionist. I have things that I will never eat again like gluten, soy, corn, peanuts, or artificial sweeteners. However, I eat brown rice (not typically considered Paleo), sometimes I throw black beans in to a rice bowl, and occasionally treat myself to gluten free pancakes. It is all about a balance for me.
I have continued to drop pant sizes and have learned to love this new way of life for me. The best part of this whole journey so far is the freedom I feel from now being controlled by food. Food no longer dictates my mood or how awake I feel. It is there to nourish me and sustain me. I love food and have learned so many new recipes that I would have never have been exposed to had I not cleaned up my diet. I dont count calories or stress about eating too much. Its all a very natural process now. My body is properly nourished so I no longer crave snacks all day or crash after a big meal. I have never in my life had will power when it came to food, but now its not even a battle in my mind about "to eat or not to eat" because I know what makes me feel good and what doesn't.. and I always choose feeling good now! My mind body and soul have been cleansed of the toxins in our modern day processed foods and I am so proud of how far I have come in just 6 short months!
Next week I want to get into the details about what I eat, how I eat out at restaurants and some other nitty gritty details about getting back to the basics with my food choices! I am always open for questions so please feel free leave a comment or a message if there is anything you would like to know more about!
xoxo
Katie
