It's not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle Change

For the past 17 days, I have been working on a little self diagnosed addiction. You see, I am a recovering SUGAR ADDICT.

That feels better. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right?  The truth is, I never really knew I had a problem until recently. It all started with my mom (don't all things seem to start with a little idea your mother put in your head?). My mom had noticeably lost some weight and she just looked overall healthier. My sisters and I asked what was up?  A new fad diet? A boot camp class? How about a miracle skinny pill? Nope. She just cut out the sugar. That's it. After she emailed my sisters & me about all of her health numbers heading in the right direction due to this no sugar thing, I was ready to jump on the bandwagon. It sounded so simple. No sugar = healthier self inside & out.

Instead of just cutting out any added sugar from my diet, I decided that my body needed a safe reboot. I have never been able to stick to diet and I think a huge part of that is that I get a taste of something sugary and decide to throw in the towel… you know, before devouring the rest of the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that I purchased as a reward for doing so well on my diet that week. I decided I needed to cut out all the junk in order to make this work.

I don't know what happened in my head to get the will-power to actually stick to a healthy eating plan this time (especially since we had doughnuts in the house). I guess I was just ready to make it happen. I picked up the 17 Day Diet from our local library & started eating clean the very next day. Lean meat + veggies + fruit + yogurt = one happy & healthy me.

Oh yeah, I also lost 16 pounds already. Say What?! That's one way to keep a girl motivated!

Seriously, I have never felt better. I feel more alert and energized and rested when I wake up in the morning - even with a night waking baby. After watching a few documentaries on health (Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead being one of my favorites), I have decided to never go back to my former eating habits. I feel too good and I'm thinking to clearly to put my body through that again.

I am no doctor, but eating a plant-based diet can't be the worse thing for you… as opposed to a pizza and ice cream based diet. Here's to staying on the wagon this time & eating clean. What have you done to help improve the way you feel? Yoga? Relaxation techniques?  Clean eating, perhaps?