You are what you Eat

Starting my life change has been great...hard, frustrating, and expensive...but great at the same time! In my last post I talked about making changes to better myself, my diet was a big thing that had to change. My weekly menu consisted of pizza, tacos, ice cream, chips & cheese, etc.

After being in the hospital I decided to make a change I had been trying to talk myself into for a year....trying Paleo. (if unfamiliar you can check out http://www.paleodiet.com/ or http://www.everydaypaleo.com/)

I have been doing this for about a month now...so I am definitely still a beginner. Paleo has been great to me so far, I still have energy and I'm definitely not going hungry. To say its a piece of cake would be a lie...it is definitely a battle to stay away from your favorite foods and to not go for convenience. Being a hairstylist makes eating healthy a challenge because of the different schedule I must plan everything in advance or else I won't be eating dinner till midnight! But once I got on track of planning I am loving it! Losing weight in the first week, not feeling bloated, I don't feel sick from eating too much are just a few of the great things I have noticed. Also my skin looks better already. Eating lots of fruits and veggies is a big change for me but all the vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants are amazing!

My favorite thing about Paleo is how much I get to cook!! Cooking is one of my favorite things to do, and I have found some really amazing recipes from the Paleo Cookbook, Everyday Paleo book, and from lots of great Paleo blogs. So far I have made No Pasta Lasagna, Bean less Chili, Mini Breakfast Quiches, and lots more things. I look forward to sharing my recipes and yummy meals with everyone!!

Now for all those people who ask, "ehh how long are you going to do that diet?" my answer to you  is until I decide I want to take blood pressure medicine, beta blockers, and cholesterol meds everyday of my life or when I decide I want to have a massive heart attack in the next year.

Learning to Embrace Change

The past few months have been an eye opening experience for me. On my 24th birthday I was in the hospital with the blood pressure of a heart attack or stroke victim. How is that someone of my age and weight could be going through something like this...it was a mystery to not only me but also to all of the doctors and nurses. Going through every test & multiple doctors visits with no answers was extremely stressful, annoying, uncomforting, mentally & physically draining.

After a couple months full of doctors visits, tests, and multiple prescriptions with no diagnosis I have decided to take things into my own hands... I have now decided to change my life and my body without the help of pill pushing doctors. With the advice of my brother and sister in law I have decided to change my diet, workout, and hope to just live healthier and happier.

CHANGE. A word I was never afraid of until the past few years, as a young adult I embraced change...loved it even! Wanted to change my hair every week, moved around every 6 months, moved away to college alone just for a CHANGE. Now I am afraid to cut my hair, get anxiety when a web page changes, or anytime there is a sudden change with anything. I have decided its time to embrace the change again and learn to love it! This picture I saw today was inspiring and made me think change is good and sometimes you have to put all the fear behind you in order to get something great.  

So I have decided to start this blog to talk about the experiences I have while making these awesome life changes...Here's to becoming a butterfly!!