Changing

Please excuse my absence. I've been changing my life.

Our family has been changing our eating habits. I'll be the first to admit that I have not fostered a healthy diet for the three of us. We were always stopping for fast food or at restaurants. At home I would cook a couple of times a week but the rest of our meals, I'm sad to say, were full of junk.

All this junk was making me sick. I hurt all the time and felt like I had arthritis. I think the big "eye opening" moment came several weeks ago on the tennis court when I felt a tweak in my knee. I DON'T want to blow out my knee. Some of my teammates have issues with their knees and they hurt with every step. It's time to lose weight and get healthy while my knees are still strong.

For two weeks and one day I have radically changed my diet. My husband and daughter are not quite on board yet. We'll just say their change is more gradual. Until we are at our goal weights we will try not to eat/drink any dairy, red meat, flour or any gluten product, caffeine, soda, white rice, white potatoes and salt. We are eating all that we want of fruit, vegetables, brown rice and other grains, and beans. We are also drinking lots of herbal tea and water. It is a radical departure from the items we had been eating and it's working.

My new lifestyle is healing my body. My aches and pains are gone. I have more energy and I've lost 10.5 pounds in 15 days. My mood has lifted and life just seems brighter. My skin looks better too. Everything is a positive.

To eat this new way I have had to radically change my routine. Once again, I'm learning to structure and plan a part of my life which is a big departure from my norm. It's been a slow process but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I go to the grocery store a lot more often now but buy less so that we can have fresh produce. I'm starting to crave fruit and vegetables and think that fast food restaurants stink...literally. My body was so depleted of essential vitamins and nutrients it is now rejoicing at the over abundance that it's fed every day. It's a wonderful way to eat and live.

Now it's time for you to try it. Go make yourself a mango, apple and banana smoothie. Your body will thank you.