What's Up with That? A Post About Food.

If you follow me on Pinterest you might have noticed a disturbing trend.  You might have thought, "oh that's different"...the first few times.  Then you might have gotten slightly annoyed with me.  By now, you might be thinking, "Michelle, really?  What is UP with all these paleo recipes???  Enough already!!!"

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I feel like I got some 'splainin' to do.

Because here's the deal: I am not into "paleo," not really.  I do not promote a grain-free lifestyle, in case you are wondering.  But I have gotten to a point with my migraines where my doctors have no more advice for me.  We've made lifestyle changes, identified triggers, medicated me, tried supplements and run me through the MRI machine. And I have had some improvement, and I am grateful for that.

But I'm still having headaches.  I have felt for some time that food might be a root cause, or at lease a trigger, in a way I (and my doctors) haven't been able to identify.  And I am hearing the Lord whispering to me about my food. The way I feel after I eat tacos/pasta/salad is suspicious.  The unexplained fatigue which has not been alleviated at all is troubling. A friend of mine recently changed her diet completely after a brush with melanoma, and she feels awesome. Another friend is transforming the way her family eats, to be healthier for her kids.  Anyway, when someone recently told me how her fibromyalgia symptoms were cured by changing her diet, I guess that was the last little hint I needed.  Time to get a move on.

So, I read the book she recommended and I'm on Day 5 of the plan it recommends.  The book is It Starts with Food, and the plan is called Whole30.  For 30 days, I will not eat grains of any kind, sugar (or any kind of sweetener), dairy, or legumes.  I am also cutting out seed oils and peanuts, and trying to eat organic meats.

Yikes.

That's the hard part.  But the beautiful part is that after 30 days, I will reintroduce the "forbidden" foods to my body, one at a time, and I will be able to see with certainty how they make me feel.  Will they trigger a headache? Will they give me brain fog or fatigue?  I can't wait to find out, and be able to make educated choices about when (if ever) I want to eat those things again.

I'm telling you this to explain why you are seeing Paleo, Whole30 and Real Food pins filling up my Pinterest feed.  But, also, I suppose I am telling you this to keep me accountable.  It is NOT easy to make lunch for my kids and not pop a Cheddar Bunny (or 12) in my mouth, or resist the sugar cravings that sneak up on me after dinner. But now that you know, I feel like I gotta stay in the game for you as well as me.  I will definitely be back to let you know what happens!