My Relationship with [Fast] Food (Part 4)

Where are we now?

I can count on one hand the last few times hubby & I ate out. Only 1 time in the past year was considered "fast food".

1. A year ago I ate a Subway salad ( with gluten free precautions taken ) while I was pregnant, due to being told I would be accomodated at a family members wedding, only to arrive and find that there was nothing for me to eat. The only thing close that I had an option to eat at was a Subway. This was more out of necessity. 

2. 7 months ago I ate out at Outback Steakhouse with my hubby for his birthday! It was fun :) Read post here.

3. And lastly, when hubby and I went to the Arnold Classic this past March we ate at Z pizza. A gluten free crust pizza, with Daiya "cheese", organic veggies, and chicken as toppings. It was yummy. A great treat.

This is where my fast food relationship "ends" so to speak. I can count on 1 hand the amount of times hubby & I ate out in the past year. 

Fast food and I aren't on speaking terms, it has nothing to offer, and a one sided relationship is nothing.

Instead I have found foods that work for my body.

What DO I eat?

I eat meals that I ( and sometimes hubby too!) prepare at home. We use whole fresh ingredients, and organic whenever possible. 

For desserts and "treats" I have incorporated at lot of RAW FOOD (the link is an example of what a raw food recipe looks like) recipes into our diets.

Why?

I believe that we can HEAL our bodies through food. Not only did The Eat Clean Diet (by Tosca Reno) open my eyes several years ago, but so did finding out I had issues with gluten & dairy. The gluten & dairy had done damage. I wondered just how much I could reverse...without medication, without Dr.'s, without anything artificial. I wanted to heal my body through food, rest, and exercise.

I have to admit that I feel as though I have.

My body has changed, it's the healthiest its ever been.

 I have gotten back into shape after having Baby A ( I weighed 101.4 this morning, woo hoo!), and I FEEL great. 

Here's the thing: 

My body craves real food. 

Food from the earth. 

I don't want "fast food".

 In fact, yesterday I smelled fast food (like burger & fries) reeking from someone's car, and it made my stomach turn.

So here's where we are today, what stocks hubby's & my kitchen:

• Chicken
• Lean Ground Turkey
• Spinach
• Tomatos 
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Green Peppers
• Fresh Green Beans
• Asparagus
• Bananas
• Natural Peanut Butter ( Seriously it says "peanuts", that's it!)
• Honey
• Coconut Oil
• Pure Cocoa Powder
• Brown Rice
• Quinoa
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Hot Sauce
• Eggs
• Almond Milk
• Coconut Milk
• Coffee
• Green Tea
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Yogurts ( non dairy for me, Greek yogurt for hubby)
• Almonds
• Rice Cakes
• Raisins

Those are a lot of the main things in our house. We don't eat junk, fillers, processed foods. Our diet keeps evolving towards more and more natural foods. We extremely limit anything processed. Aside from a couple of salad dressings & our apricot preserves & the occasional natural ingredient snack, we don't buy premade foods.

We completely avoid:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Corn Syrup Solids
• Sugar
• Artificial Sweeteners
• Preservatives
• Artificial Flavors
• White Flours ( even the gluten free kinds )

We use instead:

• Products with natural & organic ingredients.
• Foods without fillers.
• Foods with names that we can pronounce.
• Honey, Stevia, Agave Nectar, and 100% Pure Maple Syrup are our only sweeteners.
• We season with a lot of  pure spices (Oregano, Red pepper, Rosemary, etc).
• We use olive oil instead of butters.
• We use brown rice & whole gluten free grains, and opt for nut flours.

Doing these things has gone a long way in our lives.

I have gone from someone who couldn't lift a full laundry basket, to someone who is lifting weights in the gym, carrying the baby around on my hip, wanting more activity.

 Someone who could do nothing but sleep 16 hours a day and still be tired to someone who does well on 8-10 hours of sleep.

I went from someone who was skinny fat, to someone with lean muscle. 

I went from not being able to walk up the stairs to someone who does box jumps in the gym & can climb 3 flights of apartment stairs with groceries and a baby. 

I have discovered ME.

It feels great. It is a lot of work, but I did it over time, and I had hubby beside me making his own changes the whole way. 

Neither one of us were forced to change, or told to change. We CHOSE change, and EMBRACED the changes in our lives. 

We don't have to have the cheat meals even once a week anymore. A cheat meal happens maybe once a month now, and a cheat meal may look something like our Catalina Chicken recipe or be as simple as extra "cheese" on a meal. Maybe a couple times a year a meal containing red meat.

We are happy. 

Anyone can make these changes. Anyone can go from "fast food junkie" to "pure food healthy", they just have to WANT the changes for THEMSELVES. Not to lose the weight, not to look better, but to feel better and to heal their bodies from the inside out. 

You too can change if you want to.

Part 5....how you can make the changes in your own life.

*with Dr. supervision & permission of course!

Be Happy Healthy & Strong,

Lolli

To read the other parts of this post go to the Health & Fitness tab.

For the disclaimer go here.