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Monday, November 12, 2007

Ch-ch-changes

I've recently decided to make a big change in my life... in terms of my diet. I was sick and tired of eating badly, feeling crappy, getting zits when I never had them before, and having my extra weight on my belly. I just didn't really know what to do about it. Yes, I exercise. Yes, I try to eat healthy, but when you can eat everything and know that you shouldn't, it's hard to say no. I love ice cream. I love taro flavoured bubble tea. I love chocolate. I love vanilla lattes. I love candy, chips, steak, poutine... the list goes on. I know these things are bad for me, but I love them so I eat them less often.

Well that wasn't really working for me.

So last pairing I read a book called "Skinny Bitch". It made me think about things that I already knew, but chose to ignore because I liked food too much. The way it was written really "got" to me, and it finally drove me to make the changes I knew I had to make in order to feel healthier. SO, I decided to cut out animal products, processed/refined sugar, and pesticides out of my diet. For over a week, I've been doing pretty well. I ate quiche one day because my grandma made it for me, and I didn't really have to heart to refuse something made for me by Granny. Then I had a small bowl of home made ice cream on Sunday at my aunt's house because I needed to be able to say good bye to it properly. I had a bit of sugar in some salad dressing last night at Kristen's house (who is, by the way, mad that I didn't tell her before so that she could have made me more food because she felt like a bad host for not having something already prepared... crazy lady), but other than that, I've been pretty good. It's hard to buy all organic things because they're expensive and hard to find in some cases, but when I can, I will. It's also not really possible to just throw out all the things I already have and buy all organic ones... that just doesn't make sense, but I'll slowly get more and more things.

Yes, it's hard, and yes it's not super convenient, but it's kind of interesting, and I feel healthy. I'm not saying I'll never have animal products again, because I love reese's peanut butter cups blizzards way too much to NEVER HAVE ONE AGAIN, and I couldn't live my life if I knew that a piece of salmon sashimi would never touch my lips again. If I go to someone's house and they cook something for me, I'll eat it. I'm not going to be "that guy" who can't eat anything and is pretentious about it. But in my every day life, I've giving this a go. I'm trying. I need a strict diet to follow, otherwise I make excuses for eating terrible but delicious things. So I'm trying. And it's going pretty well.

Coffee will be the absolute last thing I give up. I've given up the sugar and drink soy, but I can't give up the coffee. I'm just not ready.

11 comments:

--Nathan-- said...

yeah i wouldnt cut out everything at once, if its too much of a shock you're more likely to say "screw this" and come back to the rest of us that eat crap all the time. but good for you, i hope you succeed.. but you dont need to, you could drink whole milk if you wanted ;)

Linda said...

I'm glad that you told me about the poor chickens... but I'm not glad about paying $4 for a dozen eggs.. oh well, the poor chickens deserve a proper life, right?!

In any case, good on you for doing this..

Anonymous said...

last i checked...coffee wasn't an animal product. well, except that Kopi Luwak coffee that the Civets poop out...so if you are just eliminating animal products, you should be good with the coffee.

my only concern is that you get all the nutrients you need. i think you should talk to your doctor and let her know what you are doing so that she can keep an eye on your iron and B12 levels. she could likely also refer you to a nutritionist so that you can get some good ideas of how to make sure you still get everything your body needs.

that's just my 2 cents...

--Nathan-- said...

ps. i will start eating twice as many animals to ensure that what you dont eat will be taken care of.

Anonymous said...

i just realized that my comment may have a sounded a little cranky...it wasn't meant to be...
I just want you to be healthy, so I think you should get as much information as you can.

lu said...

i rarely eat the animal products (mmm... except for honey because i love it, oh and yoghurt because it is an easy breakfast, and fish when it is raw, so make that rare not quite so rarely) and just recently someone was telling me that they thought i might be anemic. so at least your sis has some ground to stand on. but stay well and be healthy! let us know how you feel and what was toughest to give up. i am torn on the organic thing, but you can be my guinea pig (but a nice, cute, non-smelly one, of course!)

Heather said...

Kristen it didn't sound cranky... It sounded caring (like a sister would sound). I know that coffee isn't an animal product, but neither is refined sugar, and neither of those are things are really too good for you, and I feel like I should give them up. But I love coffee, so it will be a very long gradual process to give it up. (If I even do, that is.) I will talk to the doctor, so I can get all that I need, because I'm sure I'm missing something important. I can get everything I need (except B12) from other veggies, fruits, and nuts, but Hi, it's Calgary and we don't have all those things all the time. I will take your advice.

Hardest thing to give up? Yogurt. Because soy yogurt is NOT good alone. And not good with granola. It's only OK when it's about a tablespoon of it with granola and bananas and strawberries so you don't even taste it.

Heather said...

ps thanks nathan. You could drink whole milk too. And extra whip on your eggnog latte. Except that would be gross. Whip doesn't belong on eggnog lattes, in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

coffee is a great source of anti-oxidants...you wouldn't want to give those up :)

Huda Hakawi said...

Wow, no animal products! Sounds like something I should do after checking it out with my doctor. Perhaps I could just start with the processed stuff: like processed sugar, processed cheese, processed fruit juices (yes, I mean wine), and process grains (I guess that would include my scotch), and all those other things that I "know" are not healthy but I consume nonetheless.

I admire your willpower. You are such a strong person. Can I borrow some of that for myself? I promise I'll give it back once I start making some of my own!

Linda said...

I'm not sure I can advocate the complete withdrawal of scotch... but maybe the no - sugar, no - processed crap part is good...

I'll have to think on that one