#98: What you put in your mouth is what dictates your weight, your mental state and your health.
04 Oct 2009 Leave a Comment
in Your Body
This seems so simple. There are a million diet books, shows and doctors all telling women and men that what they eat is the reason they look/feel the way they do, but still, this is a lesson it took me years to fully understand.
The first thing I will say is that eating dairy, meat and wheat is not all it cracks up to be. A lot of myths surround food and these myths are started from everyone to huge companies paying money to even larger corporations to lie about food, to simple miseducation of people over the years where important facts about food get distorted or are never learned.
For years I struggled with my weight and at 5′ 2″ was everything from a size 22 at 220 lbs to a size 8 at 110 lbs. No matter what I did, I could never fully accept that what was going in my mouth was causing me to yo yo in size, feel miserable and not function properly.
After seeing a naturopath I went on what is called an ‘elimination diet’. This diet basically eliminates almost ALL foods except some veggies, fruits, whole grains, beans and lean protein. At first I wanted to die, going into sugar withdrawal and feeling like my entire world had ended (this was my first clue that my relationship with food had gotten a little out of control!). No more caffeine, no more bread, no more cheese, milk, fast food, sugar….the list went on and on and I thought I might die of starvation! Needless to say, I did not die.
Once you have eaten this limited diet for 2-4 weeks, you slowly add back foods one at a time in order to see what has an effect on you. By this point in my life, I already knew dairy was making me sick, as I had eliminated it years ago and discovered that suddenly I no longer had abdominal cramps, diarrhea and bloating to the point of feeling sick 24/7. So that did not get added back.
With respect to dairy, it is simply a myth that we need to ingest tons of it daily. If you are overweight, even by a few pounds, limit your dairy to the recommended amount and ONLY skim milk products for a few weeks (or eliminate it but make sure you are advised on how to get adequate calcium, vitamin D etc.). I guarantee you may lose weight and feel a little lighter.
But back to the add-back portion of the diet….I added back caffeine and discovered this was what was making my periods worse, this was what made me feel jumpy and unable to sleep. So I eliminated that as well for good.
The next thing I had to add back was wheat. To my complete surprise, EVERY time I ate wheat I felt bloated. But even more amazingly was that I had felt listless, confused and tired for the last 10 years and when I did not add this back, I felt like I had awoken from a deep sleep! Not everyone has this experience with wheat, but it certainly made me realize that it contributed to a lot of my health problems!
I then did not add back wheat. I did not add back pop, and everything else that was high sugar, high fat and high in preservatives.
Amazingly, in addition to feeling better, I lost 30 lbs in 4 months and was able to control some health problems that had been out of control for years. I was even more surprised when, unlike in all the years before, that weight did not creep back onto my body. I realized that I had replaced all the wheat, dairy and high fat/sugar foods with healthy, fresh items. Instead of a croissant and tea in the morning, I was having grapefruit juice, carrot sticks and fresh strawberries.
I have to admit, no amount of exercise and no special diet did what this did for me. And so I finally came to the conclusion that my weight, health and mental state was solely a reflection of what went into my mouth. Everyone’s needs will be different. Some people might try this diet and discover they drank 3 pops a week and have that extra 30 lbs just from this. Some people might see that they ate only processed meat all day long, or drank so much coffee that it made them constantly nervous. Whatever it is, try changing your entire diet for a month and see what happens. Don’t be afraid to learn a new way to live.
Now, it won’t be easy. I cried when I came home from restaurant dinners, where all I could eat was chicken salad. I worried that Christmas would be ruined as I ate only the veggies and some lean turkey and watched the rolls and gravy pass me by. Food is a social thing and something we all use to celebrate, enjoy life with and connect to others. But I started to wonder how well I connected when I indulged in that fried bread product and then spent the night tired, sick and essentially gaining weight.
Even if you are not capable of this, try thinking about everything you put in your mouth for an entire week. Every time you eat a microwave meal, or fast food, do you remember it? Do you realize it all adds up and the end result is trying to squeeze into too tight jeans and feeling exhausted at 10 pm?
In the end, you can exercise all day and may be slim or a perfect weight, but if you are not eating well and what your body truly needs, you will not achieve your healthiest state. There are naturopaths, websites and doctors who can help you in your journey. The best starting point is to write down everything you put in your mouth for one whole week and see what is written down the most. That is where you can probably find your source of unwanted weight, tiredness or physical problems.
When you find a new pattern, your body will thank you.
