Monday, June 2, 2014

When Jess asked me to contribute to this blog, the first thought I had was, "What the heck am I going to write about?  Surely, not everything I say is that fascinating."  Then I remembered all of the random stuff I would say to no one in particular while doing my Whole30...  "Give me all the carbs,"and "I want to eat all the ice creams," are two gems that come to mind.  I still can't believe I went without carbs and sugars for 30 days.  The former me literally lived off of that for 25+ years; there was a time I could eat an entire pound of pasta without thinking twice about it.

I grew up in an Italian home where everything centered around food.  No matter what time of day it was, you were probably eating and if your meal didn't include pasta and bread it wasn't a complete meal.  I never thought of food as a "bad" thing, and I never looked at something and thought it was "unhealthy."  Frankly, I just didn't care.  If it tasted good and I wanted to eat it, I was going to have it.  Period.  Once I reached 197 lbs at 22 years old, I knew I had to make some serious changes.  So, I joined LA Weight Loss Center.  Seemed logical, right?  I lost 42 lbs by starving myself, drinking some horrible juice cleanse concoction and eating disgusting, processed "meal bars" that contained who-knows-what.  LA Weight Loss was closed down and had a class action law suit filed against the company, so I was forced to discontinue the plan.  I'm unsure of what the particulars of the law suit were, but I did get a check for $9.26 when it was all over. (#winning).  Needless to say, all the weight came back on and I spent the remainder of my 20s yo-yoing between 178 and 198 lbs.  There were times when I didn't care what I ate, and there were other times when I was obsessed with Lean Cuisines and low-fat, fat-free and diet everything.  What I can say for certain, is I was unhealthy both physically and mentally.

Now, let's fast forward to February 2014.  I went into the new year vowing I would not turn 30 (in September) and be unhappy with my body.  I wanted my 30th year to be the kick-off of a new chapter in my life.  However, I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to accomplish my goals of gaining confidence, shedding pounds and just keeping it tight all around.  That's right, I said "keeping it tight."  Anyway, I was perusing Facebook one day and saw Jess post something about the Whole30.  I read into it and for some reason, I got seriously excited and motivated to do it.  I haven't felt that way about any kind of health regimen ever in my life, so that was already a good sign.  What drew me to the plan was that it wasn't a "diet."  It was about being more conscious of what we put into our bodies, and it was about eating real food and changing your relationship with it.  For me,  food was like that long-time BFF that you love and sometimes hate, but you can't ditch because you've literally been friends your entire life.*  I went to the Whole30 Website and from there, knew this was going to be my chance.  I forwarded the link to my husband immediately and in the email said, "We're doing this."  My first Whole30 was an eye-opening, life changing experience.  I lost 25 lbs in 30 days, and my thoughts about food are forever changed.

So, here I am at the beginning of my second Whole30 and adding the title of Blogger to my "List of Things I Do And May or May Not Be Good At."  And as the timer goes off for my hard-boiled eggs, I'm confident that the next 30 days are going to be as amazing as the first.  Stay tuned for my random musings about my Whole30, momming, wifing, friending, #winning, #failing, attempting to keep plants alive and whatever else comes to mind.

It's been nice chatting with you.  I'm Lauren, and I no longer want all the carbs.

- L


 *Lucky for me, I don't have one of those kinds of friends in real life.  Because, my best friend Sarah is absolutely amazing!  It was just a metaphor, see?

Give Me All the Carbs: Lauren

5:58 AM Unknown
When Jess asked me to contribute to this blog, the first thought I had was, "What the heck am I going to write about?  Surely, not everything I say is that fascinating."  Then I remembered all of the random stuff I would say to no one in particular while doing my Whole30...  "Give me all the carbs,"and "I want to eat all the ice creams," are two gems that come to mind.  I still can't believe I went without carbs and sugars for 30 days.  The former me literally lived off of that for 25+ years; there was a time I could eat an entire pound of pasta without thinking twice about it.

I grew up in an Italian home where everything centered around food.  No matter what time of day it was, you were probably eating and if your meal didn't include pasta and bread it wasn't a complete meal.  I never thought of food as a "bad" thing, and I never looked at something and thought it was "unhealthy."  Frankly, I just didn't care.  If it tasted good and I wanted to eat it, I was going to have it.  Period.  Once I reached 197 lbs at 22 years old, I knew I had to make some serious changes.  So, I joined LA Weight Loss Center.  Seemed logical, right?  I lost 42 lbs by starving myself, drinking some horrible juice cleanse concoction and eating disgusting, processed "meal bars" that contained who-knows-what.  LA Weight Loss was closed down and had a class action law suit filed against the company, so I was forced to discontinue the plan.  I'm unsure of what the particulars of the law suit were, but I did get a check for $9.26 when it was all over. (#winning).  Needless to say, all the weight came back on and I spent the remainder of my 20s yo-yoing between 178 and 198 lbs.  There were times when I didn't care what I ate, and there were other times when I was obsessed with Lean Cuisines and low-fat, fat-free and diet everything.  What I can say for certain, is I was unhealthy both physically and mentally.

Now, let's fast forward to February 2014.  I went into the new year vowing I would not turn 30 (in September) and be unhappy with my body.  I wanted my 30th year to be the kick-off of a new chapter in my life.  However, I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to accomplish my goals of gaining confidence, shedding pounds and just keeping it tight all around.  That's right, I said "keeping it tight."  Anyway, I was perusing Facebook one day and saw Jess post something about the Whole30.  I read into it and for some reason, I got seriously excited and motivated to do it.  I haven't felt that way about any kind of health regimen ever in my life, so that was already a good sign.  What drew me to the plan was that it wasn't a "diet."  It was about being more conscious of what we put into our bodies, and it was about eating real food and changing your relationship with it.  For me,  food was like that long-time BFF that you love and sometimes hate, but you can't ditch because you've literally been friends your entire life.*  I went to the Whole30 Website and from there, knew this was going to be my chance.  I forwarded the link to my husband immediately and in the email said, "We're doing this."  My first Whole30 was an eye-opening, life changing experience.  I lost 25 lbs in 30 days, and my thoughts about food are forever changed.

So, here I am at the beginning of my second Whole30 and adding the title of Blogger to my "List of Things I Do And May or May Not Be Good At."  And as the timer goes off for my hard-boiled eggs, I'm confident that the next 30 days are going to be as amazing as the first.  Stay tuned for my random musings about my Whole30, momming, wifing, friending, #winning, #failing, attempting to keep plants alive and whatever else comes to mind.

It's been nice chatting with you.  I'm Lauren, and I no longer want all the carbs.

- L


 *Lucky for me, I don't have one of those kinds of friends in real life.  Because, my best friend Sarah is absolutely amazing!  It was just a metaphor, see?

Sunday, May 18, 2014

For as long as I can remember I have been on a diet. Weight watchers, Atkins, South Beach, the Master Cleanse. Every time it was the same story, to varying degrees of success. I would start the diet, lose some weight, get frustrated and give up, and gain all of the weight back. In September 2014 I hit my highest weight ever. I had been working out and dieting and gaining weight. I wanted to die. I had just gotten engaged and all I could think of was how miserable I was and how much I hated my body. I lived on Sugar Free Red Bull, I was constantly exhausted. I felt like my body was broken.

Everyone always said "Jessica you are the healthiest eater I know. I don't know why you can't lose weight." I drank diet coke, ate only the egg whites, used light salad dressing, ate brown rice, I measured everything. I remember the exact moment my thinking started to change. I was standing in the refrigerator section of the grocery store shopping for low fat half and half. I looked at the back of the light half and half and I looked at the back of the full fat half and half. Full fat ingredients: cream, milk. Low fat ingredients: a bunch of stuff I couldn't identify or pronounce. I started thinking that maybe that everything I thought was true about nutrition wasn't true. Maybe lean cuisines, slimfast, and low fat yogurt aren't diet food. Maybe less processed, less chemicals, more natural food is what we are really supposed to be eating. Maybe I had been brainwashed to believe that the more diet food I ate and the more miserable I was, the closer to my "happy" weight I would be.

I decided that for 30 days, I would cut all chemicals, cured meats, sugar substitutes, dairy, and grains. I started searching for other people who had done this. I knew I couldn't have been the only person that was trying to live a more truly healthy life. I stumbled across the Whole 30 on Pinterest. I read the entire website, figured out what I had to do, and set a date. I started my Whole 30 on 2/1/14. I cut all dairy, chemicals, legumes, cured meats, wheat, sugar, and grains out of my diet for 30 days. I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't hard. Sometimes it was really hard. When I started I didn't know how I could go without cheese for 30 days. All I could think about was how I was going to break my fast and all of the beer and pizza I was going to eat.

The farther into the month I got, the better I felt. I had more energy, my stomach was less bloated, my skin was clearer. I stopped feeling like I was being deprived, and I started feeling like I was getting closer to feeling the way I wanted to feel all of the time. I ended up extending my Whole 30 to 45 days. When it was over, I didn't cheat. I didn't drink beer. I didn't eat pizza. I transitioned to a Paleo diet. Then I read the book Eat the Yolks and it changed my life. It confirmed that yes, everything I had learned about nutrition is wrong. You should eat the yolks. Low fat sucks. Diets are a scam. Soy is not magical. I had a lot of "Ah ha!" moments reading that book.

My friend Lauren started her Whole 30 not long after I started mine. She will also share her story and contribute here. Not only did the Whole 30 change my life, but it brought me closer to someone who I didn't realize was so much like me in so many ways. 

Then I realized that nothing tastes as good as being skinny healthy feels. Sure, I still have somewhat unhealthy relationship with the scale and from time to time base my happiness on the number I see. I have lost 18 lbs, but I got my body back. I no longer blame myself and my body. I now have a new definition of healthy.

A lot of people told me I was crazy  and that what I was doing was stupid. A lot of days I doubted myself and felt like giving up. But now, every day that I jump out of bed a few minutes before my alarm, or feel my pants loser on my body, or my hair doesn't fall out in clumps, I know that I made the right choice. I am not 100% Paleo all the time. When it's really worth it, I will eat something that isn't part of my regular diet.

I can't promise you that the Paleo lifestyle and a Whole 30 will change you the way it changed me. But, I can tell you that I was you. I was tired, sick, and I hated my body. The freedom I have found from self hatred had changed my life. I have so much more time to enjoy my life when I'm not wasting it hating myself.

We are like you. I work full time and Lauren is a full time mom.  We both have a million things going on from one minute to the next. We will show you that it is possible to live a healthy, fulfilling Paleo lifestyle on a budget and with a busy schedule.

How Did I Get Here: Jess

8:45 AM Unknown
For as long as I can remember I have been on a diet. Weight watchers, Atkins, South Beach, the Master Cleanse. Every time it was the same story, to varying degrees of success. I would start the diet, lose some weight, get frustrated and give up, and gain all of the weight back. In September 2014 I hit my highest weight ever. I had been working out and dieting and gaining weight. I wanted to die. I had just gotten engaged and all I could think of was how miserable I was and how much I hated my body. I lived on Sugar Free Red Bull, I was constantly exhausted. I felt like my body was broken.

Everyone always said "Jessica you are the healthiest eater I know. I don't know why you can't lose weight." I drank diet coke, ate only the egg whites, used light salad dressing, ate brown rice, I measured everything. I remember the exact moment my thinking started to change. I was standing in the refrigerator section of the grocery store shopping for low fat half and half. I looked at the back of the light half and half and I looked at the back of the full fat half and half. Full fat ingredients: cream, milk. Low fat ingredients: a bunch of stuff I couldn't identify or pronounce. I started thinking that maybe that everything I thought was true about nutrition wasn't true. Maybe lean cuisines, slimfast, and low fat yogurt aren't diet food. Maybe less processed, less chemicals, more natural food is what we are really supposed to be eating. Maybe I had been brainwashed to believe that the more diet food I ate and the more miserable I was, the closer to my "happy" weight I would be.

I decided that for 30 days, I would cut all chemicals, cured meats, sugar substitutes, dairy, and grains. I started searching for other people who had done this. I knew I couldn't have been the only person that was trying to live a more truly healthy life. I stumbled across the Whole 30 on Pinterest. I read the entire website, figured out what I had to do, and set a date. I started my Whole 30 on 2/1/14. I cut all dairy, chemicals, legumes, cured meats, wheat, sugar, and grains out of my diet for 30 days. I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't hard. Sometimes it was really hard. When I started I didn't know how I could go without cheese for 30 days. All I could think about was how I was going to break my fast and all of the beer and pizza I was going to eat.

The farther into the month I got, the better I felt. I had more energy, my stomach was less bloated, my skin was clearer. I stopped feeling like I was being deprived, and I started feeling like I was getting closer to feeling the way I wanted to feel all of the time. I ended up extending my Whole 30 to 45 days. When it was over, I didn't cheat. I didn't drink beer. I didn't eat pizza. I transitioned to a Paleo diet. Then I read the book Eat the Yolks and it changed my life. It confirmed that yes, everything I had learned about nutrition is wrong. You should eat the yolks. Low fat sucks. Diets are a scam. Soy is not magical. I had a lot of "Ah ha!" moments reading that book.

My friend Lauren started her Whole 30 not long after I started mine. She will also share her story and contribute here. Not only did the Whole 30 change my life, but it brought me closer to someone who I didn't realize was so much like me in so many ways. 

Then I realized that nothing tastes as good as being skinny healthy feels. Sure, I still have somewhat unhealthy relationship with the scale and from time to time base my happiness on the number I see. I have lost 18 lbs, but I got my body back. I no longer blame myself and my body. I now have a new definition of healthy.

A lot of people told me I was crazy  and that what I was doing was stupid. A lot of days I doubted myself and felt like giving up. But now, every day that I jump out of bed a few minutes before my alarm, or feel my pants loser on my body, or my hair doesn't fall out in clumps, I know that I made the right choice. I am not 100% Paleo all the time. When it's really worth it, I will eat something that isn't part of my regular diet.

I can't promise you that the Paleo lifestyle and a Whole 30 will change you the way it changed me. But, I can tell you that I was you. I was tired, sick, and I hated my body. The freedom I have found from self hatred had changed my life. I have so much more time to enjoy my life when I'm not wasting it hating myself.

We are like you. I work full time and Lauren is a full time mom.  We both have a million things going on from one minute to the next. We will show you that it is possible to live a healthy, fulfilling Paleo lifestyle on a budget and with a busy schedule.
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