Eat What Makes YOU Feel Good

If you spend any time at all on social media I’m sure you have seen how caught up we all are in diets.  Whether we are restricting calories, carbs, grains, dairy, all animal products, sugar… you name it, there is someone who wouldn’t touch it with a 9 ft. long fork.  Paying attention to what you eat, or don’t eat, is a good thing until you start to focus on the restrictions and not what you are actually consuming.  Yes, french fries are vegan, grain, and sugar free but are they good for you?  How about all the “diet” and “fat free” foods you can find on the shelves of just about any grocery store you come across?  Butter has absolutely no business being fat free, neither does cream cheese.  Or how about the vegetarian meat products.  Have you ever read the labels?  When my family became vegetarian we relied heavily on those Frankenfoods and felt good about it just because no animals were harmed in the making of our chickain’t patties.

In my quest to heal my hypothyroidism naturally I have done a ton of reading about diet and how much food really does affect our health.  You are, literally, what you eat.  A friend recently encouraged me to start keeping a food journal and it has been invaluable in figuring what is and is not working out for me food-wise.  It does take a bit of discipline but paying attention to what your body is telling you is so worth it. Try it for a week or so, you might be surprised by how much your body will tell you if you pay attention.  Some people are just fine eating dairy in moderation, others can’t tolerate it.  Same goes for grains, caffeine, and nuts and seeds.  You may not be full on intolerant or allergic, but most everyone has some type of sensitivity to something thanks to GMO’s and the toxins we absorb daily.  Whatever you eat, make sure it’s real food and not a bunch of chemicals shaped, dyed, and scented to look like food.

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently cut gluten from my diet.  I have an autoimmune disease and gluten was feeding the problem.  I have been making a very careful effort to focus on what I can eat rather than trying to desperately fill the bread void.  Not that I haven’t baked some yummy gluten free breads and scones but I’m focusing on filling the gluten gap with vegetables, ancient grains, and grass fed, hormone free meats (in moderation).  I have almost eliminated packaged foods from my diet and I am feeling pretty great, even with my hypothyroid.  I haven’t spent any more time cooking than normal and our grocery bill has actually gone down a bit since we quit buying packaged items and bread.