Happy 2014!! I hope your new year has gotten off to a great and healthy start. I like to take time at the beginning of the year to reflect on the year before and also look forward to the year to come. I do not believe in making New Year’s resolutions, but I think it’s important to think about and determine what your goals are for the upcoming year. 2013 was a crazy year for me and Joe. We spent a good nine months out of the year being nomads and never truly having our own place to live. We sold a house, moved to a new city (including living in four different places during this time), both started new jobs, and bought a new house. I can say that I am happy to be settled in our home, in our jobs, in our church and starting to make some really great friends here in Austin.
Before I get into the rest of the post, I wanted to share that my recipe for Spaghetti Squash Crust Pizza was featured in Paleo Living Magazine!! You can get a FREE 3 month subscription by clicking here. It’s truly free and does not auto-renew. You do need to have an iPad or iPhone.
One of my many goals this year is to clean up my/our diet in order to help with some pretty significant hormonal imbalances that I’ve had for almost two years. I saw a Registered Dietitian about a month ago and after going over my history, symptoms, etc., she believes that I have severe vitamin deficiencies including Vitamin B and that I also need to get my digestive system on track in order to help with the imbalances I’ve been experiencing.
Going Paleo a year and a half ago has truly helped, but I’m still not 100% there. I’m taking some supplements (Vitamin B complex, all-natural multi-vitamin, dairy-free probiotic and aloe vera juice) along with incorporating at least one serving of gluten-free grains a day (mostly brown rice, oats or quinoa). To be honest, I was extremely hesitant to do this as grains have been so taboo to me. But I decided that it was worth a shot and if it makes me feel terrible or I don’t seem to be improving, then I will cut them back out again. I’m still very Paleo most of the time, however I’m kind of liking this new approach and see it as a clean eating diet instead. Focusing on organic whole foods that will give me the most bang for the buck. I’m eating lots of veggies, increasing the variety of fruits I eat, avoiding anything with soy and juicing. I will still continue to post Paleo/Primal recipes on Sweet Paleo.
We have had a juicer for probably three years and have barely even used it. It really can be a pain to assemble and clean but I’ve been pretty good and have made a green juice almost every day for the past few weeks. From what I understand, juicing helps your body absorb the nutrients from the fruits and veggies faster than if you simply make a smoothie. We discovered JuiceLand just down the street from Joe’s work, so I’m sure we will be visiting when I just can’t stand the thought of cleaning the juicer again.
I’m less than a month into this new eating plan and I really feel better. From what I can tell things are moving in the right direction. I’m sure I have a long road ahead since my body has taken years of abuse from a variety of prescriptions and other factors. In a couple of weeks, Joe and I are going to take what I’m calling a “21 Day Clean Eating Challenge.” I took it from this Fertility Challenge I found but it’s supposed to help with hormones and overall health.
It includes the following each day: 1. drink one quart of water first thing in the morning, 2. drink one smoothie that incorporates a certain “superfood” (we’ll be doing spirulina or maca powder), 3. eat one large green salad (can add protein, nuts, cheese, etc.), 4. drink one green juice and 5. eat one serving of leafy green veggies. I’m also going to cut out alcohol (Joe is going to limit to two beers a week). The hardest part for me by far will be all of the liquid. Between drinking one quart of water (which is four cups), one smoothie and one juice…I think I’ll be liquided out. The rest of the meals can incorporate any protein, veggies and/or whole grains. I’ll be writing more posts once we start and our progress!