The Hubs and I started out 2013 with a desire for preservative free and home made meals. Growing a garden, harvesting our fruit, and doing right by our bodies. Shifting life in reverse, nutritionally speaking.
So this theory that our bodies create an intense desire for things that are bad for us, not just the normal eating desire but those things that are forbidden as a dietary staple was really intriguing. Do we really crave chocolate, processed, GMO salty foods, and soda for that reason? It made me think of cigarettes and the chemically enhanced additives that create that type of intense need.
I stumbled over thinking allergies are more than just runny noses and labored breathing, and they can be recognized in more subtle ways: constipation, gas, bloating, headache and fatigue. For instance, at a dinner party the meal doesn't sit well with one person but is fine for everyone else may mean they have eaten food(s) that has triggered a reaction.
The body has to fight back, using energy that might leave a person feeling tired, lethargic and sick. I've definitely felt that way sometimes after eating. So the next phase of good nutrition became trying to identify when it happens and what we consumed. We discovered a few months ago that the Hubs was lactose intolerant and I had a sensitivity to molds when fruits and veggies are not properly cleansed. We adjusted our diets, and readjusted, and again, but still that nagging truth was telling us our diet was too food heavy and exercise light.
So in addition to our nutritional balance being off, we had to tackle the volume control part. We are busy around the farm but not the healthy, sustained heart rate of exercise. So in January we started down that road.
I increased my intake (and the timing) of water, honestly used portion control with the aide of a smaller plate, kept the food in the kitchen rather than at the table, and watched it happen. People suspicioned I was eating differently, but other than making reasonable choices (taking 1/2 baked potato rather than a plate of tater tots, and 1 scone rather than 2) I wasn't.
In the first six weeks I've lost 12 lbs.
But that's not all. I am sleeping better, feel more alert and have more energy.
For the first time in a long time, I am feeling my stomach's subtle sensor when it goes off. It makes a gentle ping when it's 3/4 full and if I stop then I have room for expansion as the meal digests. I leave the table not bloated or groggy. It isn't a full feeling, but it is a satisfied one. Different. Better. That is a new feeling for a foodie who lingers after dinner chatting with the Hubs and picking at whatever is left.
I think there really is something to this allergen craving business. As we started putting our diet in check, I noticed a natural drop off of cravings for the stuff I'd usually be rooting through the pantry to find.
