Reflections & Videos

I haven’t posted anything new in a few weeks, so I thought I would take a moment to share some things I’ve been reflecting on. It’s hard to believe it’s been over two years since I began this food journey! In fact, I was trying to remember when we DID change our diet and wasn’t sure if it had been two years or three. (Yeah, the memory thing needs some fine tuning) I came across a bag of receipts the other day and was able to figure out quickly from them that it’s been just over two years. Most of the receipts prior to that consisted of fast food, prefab meals, and over-the-counter meds. There was a definite pattern to the food and the meds. As the food purchases changed to real food the med purchases quickly decreased.

I know I’ve come a long way. It was good to have a reminder though, because sometimes I get impatient. (Okay, I often get impatient!) Even though my arthritis and muscle pain have been reversed, I’m impatient to lose weight. I forget what it was like to live in pain all the time. And I kept hoping that simply changing to a real foods diet would cause me to lose weight. I wasn’t just hoping that for me; I wanted it to be true for others. In fact, I wrote about this in my very first blog post, over a year ago. And maybe it is true. Maybe there are illnesses that contribute to some people’s weight problems. But, for me, in spite of trying to incorporate the Nourishing Traditions methods and eating real foods, it hasn’t been enough. And what I was left with was the issue of grains. Eliminate grains, lose weight. But that’s too much like the low carbing I’ve been doing off and on for 25 years. Hmm…maybe that’s part of why low carb works. I don’t know. I only know it works for me. And, if I’m honest, as much as I like grains (and all the yummy grain products they make), grain does not like me. As my grain consumption increased, so did my arthritis flare ups. Ditto the sweets. When I eat honey or syrup, no matter how pure or raw they are, I have flare ups. (Those flare ups are similar to my white sugar flares) So I’ve eliminated them as well. I rely on Stevia (liquid) for any sweetening power I need (coffee, yogurt). I trust that the sugar I use in my Kombucha is actually consumed in the fermentation process, because I don’t see any evidence of sugar in my reaction to it and I drink a glass of it daily. I will add that I do use xylitol in extreme moderation. I know a lot of real foodies would look down their noses at that. And that’s their prerogative. I plan to address this in my next post, which will include the cream cheese frosting I used on my granddaughter’s birthday cake.

The hardest thing for me to give up has been the raw milk. I limit myself to a small glass on most days (and on others I don’t drink it at all). That’s especially hard for someone who loves it like I do and who only pays $3 a gallon for it. I skim the cream for my coffee, though, and have a bowl of raw milk yogurt almost every day, so I’m still able to incorporate it. (I also eat raw milk cheese) It all seems to be working. I’ve lost 10 pounds so far. That sort of sounds like a lot, but when you’re me, it only means crossing the starting line. I have a long road ahead. Oh, how I want to make it to the finish line this time! I’m 53 years old and I’ve spent the last 25 of them as an obese person. Before that I was actually a normal weight person, bordering on petite at times. It doesn’t take much for this 5’2″ frame to become overburdened. I’m hoping this will be my time to overcome though, because of all the things I’ve learned in the past two years. The hold that grains and sweets had over me then was too strong to overcome at the time. Now, I simply put them in my “poison for me” category and find I have no interest in them.

I wanted to share all of that, because I needed something to preface the sharing of a couple of cooking videos I made. I submitted two recipes to an upcoming eBook by Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness, both of which were accepted. One of the criteria for being included in the recipe book was to make a video of the food being prepared. I really struggled with that part. Being a shy person (stop laughing you that know me!) and being embarrassed about my weight, I almost talked myself out of following through. In fact, it was a “last hour” submission. Then I posted about it on my facebook page. I knew at some point I would share the links. They’ve been on YouTube for about a week now. But I just couldn’t bring myself to share them without the above explanation. I want to shout, “Don’t look at my weight! Look at how much my health has improved!” And I want my readers and facebook followers to know that part of what helped me to follow through is my desire to share what I’ve been given. Because if it helps anyone, it’s worth the embarrassment I might feel. I’ve already nitpicked them to death, so consider that when you see my mistakes, the annoying way I keep saying “we” when I’m the only one there, and all the other things that could provide fodder for criticism.

So that’s it; what’s on my heart this evening as I share the link to my videos.

I’ve never figured out if there is a way to post YouTube videos here (each time I try to include the link, wordpress deletes it), so I’ll just have to settle for this:

If you’re interested in seeing how I made the gluten-free red enchiladas and/or the gluten-free pizza, go to YouTube.com and type Being Conformed in the search bar. It will bring up the videos I’ve posted so far.

Thanks for reading!
🙂