The simplest thing you can do to improve your health and your life...

I am going to hit you with a profound statement right now, are you ready?

Every single thing you put in your mouth either fights potential disease or feeds it.

BAM.

That is a pretty life changing statement... well, at least to me it is. My view on food has changed drastically over the past few years. I thought that I used to "eat well"- I for the most part avoided junk food (although I ate my weight in taqueria burritos), don't have a sweet tooth, and ate kale and blueberries on occasion . Little did I know that even though I thought I was eating "well", my body was breaking down. Stomach aches, heartburn, gas, bowel "flow" issues- you have probably had them in your lifetime, perhaps more frequently then you would like. You may even know the foods that trigger these issues, but "it's all good, just pop a tums!". I am here to tell you that those symptoms are not good. Even on occasion. We all get food poisoning every once in awhile, or the stomach flu, but I am not talking about symptoms from those ills. I am talking about symptoms from crap food. Or symptoms from foods that your body just can't handle (lactose intolerance, anyone?) Our modern medicine system (or more on point, our modern pharmaceutical system) has a "cure" for every symptom, so that we can go on eating the shit that is making us feel like shit- just pop a pill afterwards and don't worry about how those chili fries are treating your insides! But here's the thing- gas, bloating, etc-those are all just SYMPTOMS, symptoms of something greater going on. Maybe a little heartburn is worth the taste explosion of joy that are those chili fries... but I would be willing to bet your stomach and intestines, if they could speak, would not agree with you. We know so much about inflammation, and how chronic inflammation is the root of most western disease (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc). A stomach ache, or diarrhea, or heartburn, creates inflammation in the body (well, it's a sort of chicken and egg situation really- inflammation caused by a substance creates the heartburn which creates more inflammation... but I won't get into the biochemistry behind all that). And over time, that inflammation adds up (like in my case, where inflammation caused leaky gut, triggering my Celiac Disease). For many people, all that inflammation results in a leaky gut, which we also know so much more information about now, and are finding that leaky gut contributes to/triggers a host of ills- Celiac disease, Diabetes, Heart disease, Cancer, ADD/ADHD, Austim... the list goes on and on. It's interesting to me that one of the newer ways to help deal with Austim for some children is implementing the GAPS diet, which removes almost all inflammatory foods (all processed foods, gluten, nightshades, egg whites, etc etc) and many people are seeing vast improvements in their children via this diet. Back to the point- yes, a stomach ache or a bout of heartburn here or there *won't* kill you (now), but over time the effects of those things do add up in the body. Everything in moderation may not be the way to go when it comes to putting crap in your body.

So on to a really, really easy way to deal with all that. I could create a list with all the things that contribute to inflammation (eating foods made with processed vegetable oils, GMO's, questionable meat made with pink slime, etc), but let's just keep it simple here. Most of this stuff can get really overwhelming really fast, and I think it's important to take easy steps first to change your health, so that you see results and can encourage yourself to continue. So here it is:

Stop eating processed crap.

That's it.

If it's "shelf stable" and has more then 2-3 ingredients (I'm not talking dried pasta here), don't eat it. If it's packaged and says anywhere on the label "vegetable oil/canola oil/soy anything" don't eat it. If it was made anywhere where you can get a burger for less then 5 dollars, don't eat it. If sugar is in the ingredients list and that seems weird to you (there does not need to be sugar in pasta sauce, that is ridiculous), don't eat it. A simple way of dealing with this in the grocery store is only shopping around the outer sides of it- fresh fruits and veggies, fresh quality dairy and meat, bulk grains and beans, etc. I shop this way- we have virtually no packaged food in our cupboards- only dried beans, a few flours and other baking ingredients, and spices and vinegars... I understand that not everyone has the time to cook home cooked meals every day. Of course you don't! But that doesn't mean you can't make better choices- maybe trade Taco Bell for a Taqueria where they grill real meat instead of weird "meat product". Maybe that means trading the crappy Lays potato chips for chips made with avocado oil or olive oil (or better yet, air pop some popcorn instead!). Switch to eating the clean fifteen and avoid the dirty dozen to get some more organically grown veggies and fruits in your diet (http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php). Make burgers at home, where you can control the ingredients rather then going to Burger King.  STOP DRINKING SODA (period). Little steps. Most importantly, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. When you get gas, or heartburn, or whatever symptom after eating a meal, listen. If eating a meal makes you feel heavy and crappy and bloated, listen. I did not listen to my body when I felt this way, and I continued to not listen until my body screamed at me to stop. Many of us think, "oh I don't have symptoms of IBS (or whatever issue) so I am not going to worry about it", but the effects of crap food are cumulative, and may add up to IBS (or something worse) for you at some point. Don't pop a tums and move on, ignoring what your body is telling you. Respect the gift of being alive by supporting your body's ability to CONTINUE BEING ALIVE. Strive to be well, rather then to be just "okay".

Just put down the processed crap. Your body will thank you for it, I promise.


Side note: I got an overwhelming response from my last post- so much love and support and "thank you I needed this right now!" was given about what I wrote, I was moved to (happy) tears by things that people had to say, in facebook messages, comments on the blog, and directly to me. I appreciate everyone's love and support so much, and hope to continue write things that you guys need and want to hear. Thanks so much!

the cult of busy... or, how a vaguely nasty facebook comment made me proud of myself.

Oh the joys of facebook. Being able to say something to someone that is rude and vaguely hurtful without having to say it to their face (not to mention the horrid things that are said anonymously on the internet) is part of the dark side of social media. I love my facebook, I love being able to connect to my friends and loved ones around the world in ways that would not be possible without it. I love sharing my life, and seeing other peoples joys. I don't especially love people who judge behind a computer screen. A few days ago, I posted about something I was doing, and I got a snarky comment along the lines of "how nice it must be to have nothing to do". Now, this was from someone who knows me, but they don't know me that well. I don't expect everyone to know my life story, but I share a considerable amount of my personal life with pretty much anyone who knows me (I'm an open book, baby!), so to snark me for "not being busy enough" is pretty callous- the last few years have been ROUGH (we're talking body/mind overload/breakdown). To snark ANYONE about their life choices sucks, but that's a whole other topic there. Ranting commence:

I have noticed, in recent years, that being busy has become a badge of honor. You know that friend you have, who for the last 20 years has been "the busiest they have ever been!"? I don't mean with normal life things like school and work, I mean every second of every day is crammed with something they "must" do. Or "should" be doing. You haven't seen them in a year (but you live 10 minutes from each other) because every moment of their life is "jammed"? Or maybe that is you, and you haven't sat down and taken a moment to breathe in who knows how long... Now, this is not a judgement on people who are overloaded in their lives, because lord knows our world is overloaded and we are all taking on way to much every day, and the last thing anyone needs is to be feeling more pressure about the way they are living their lives. But we also don't need to be sitting up on our "busy" thrones, judging people who aren't as "busy" as we are. This is just a personal point of view from someone who pushed it WAY TO MUCH, and broke herself. Yep, that's exactly right, I broke myself. I ignored every single screaming cue that my body was giving me to slow the f*#k down, and then my body just stopped. And I finally listened to my body, when it told me to stop. I stopped. I stopped everything. I understand that some people don't have the luxury to stop everything- you must pay your bills, and parent your kids. I am so grateful that I have a life situation where, for now, my husband supports us financially and we are able to exist on one income. We have made sacrifices with that choice- we won't be buying a house for a very, very long time. I know that completely halting one's life is not possible for some people. But what is possible is to listen to your body, really listen, and learn how to say no. Do only the things that you have to do to survive (eat, sleep, play with your kids and do your job) and do nothing else. You do not have to be "busy" to be worthy- remind yourself that daily. I hear things like "oh, you're JUST a yoga teacher" or "you're a stay at home mom, what do you do all day? it must be nice to be home relaxing all the time" (I can't tell you how much that one pisses me off, and I am not a mom!) I hear things like "I wish I had time to read" or "I don't even have the time to cook a meal". I don't know about you, but reading books, even a page a day before I fall asleep, and cooking a meal (even just once in awhile) are non negotiables for me. And because some random person on the internet chooses to judge me because of that doesn't change the fact that I am doing what is right for me, and that is more then enough for me to feel worthwhile. I wish we could all support the person who "just" wants to be a yoga teacher- man was I grateful for that person when it was pretty much all I could do to get myself to yoga class daily and nothing else- I needed that yoga teacher more then she knew! We need to be lifting each other up for our individual choices, not tearing someone down when we are feeling overwhelmed with our lives. And having been a chronically "busy" person before my breakdown, I know how hard it can be to let that go. You feel like people will be let down by you. Well, I can tell you, the people who truly love you are the ones who go "you're overwhelmed? let me bring you some dinner tonight so you can sit on the couch with your little one instead of cooking" rather then the ones who judge you for your need to sit in silence for a hour. I think a lot of people believe that by being busy, they are contributing, or doing what they are "supposed" to do. For me right now, I am supposed to be writing. And drinking tea. And looking at the beautiful trees. And hugging my friends. And going to therapy. And recovering. And I am happy with this place that I am in. And I wish the "busy" person who snarked me was happy with the place they are in, but I fear they are not. And that makes me sad. Even if all you can do is take a hour a week to laugh with a friend, have a good cup of coffee, walk on the beach, just do something that you love just for you, that is still an hour you took to be free and feel good. Even if it means literally sitting and staring into space for an hour. Our brains are not meant to GO GO GO! I hope that no one breaks themselves like I did. And I hope that if they do, they can recover and realize how damaging it is to judge other people for not being busy. I am proud, in this moment, to not be busy. To be where I am. To get here took work. I haven't been sitting around on my arse eating bon-bons every day. I have worked hard in therapy, worked hard restructuring my diet and my stress levels and my health so that I can heal. Worked hard to get to a place where I can breathe again. I am proud of my choices, and I am finding more and more that when people criticize your choices it has more to do with their own issues with their own choices then anything to do with you.

Now I will get off my soapbox and go back to not being busy. Thanks for listening.