With this entry, I'm dedicating myself to maintaining a steady stream of useful, knowledge-based information geared towards enlightening the general public about how they've been screwed by Big Food and Big Pharma. How have they been "screwed," you ask? Well, look around you. What does the typical American look like to you? A healthy, vibrant, full of life, stress-free, fit individual? I think NOT! The typical American is exactly the opposite--an unhealthy, worn-out, lifeless, stressed out, unfit bag of bones covered in an unnecessary amount of body fat that's laden with toxins and inflammation. (And, by the way, you don't have to be "fat" to be over-fat. "Skinny" folks can be thin and have too much fat--the same fat that leads to chronic illness and disease.)
I've been on my journey for many, many years now. I've had my ups, my downs, and my share of unhealthy weight loss tactics. Yes, I've traveled down SlimFast Road a time or two, and I've even traversed Highway Diet Pills. Let's just say that was all out of shear ignorance and a desire to be thin, not necessarily healthy. I'm happy to say I've reached optimal health when it comes to how long I'm destined to live. Given my current lifestyle, I'm going to live a long life full of joy, happiness, and healthy stress and completely void of chronic illness, inflammation, and disease. I'm still technically young, but my journey has been a long time in the making, slowly cultivated over the course of several years. I've learned a lot about the human body, the do's and don'ts of exercise, and how to nourish my body in ways that promote top-notch health. Yes, I've gotten it wrong in the past. BUT, I assure you now I know what's right, and I feel that through my struggles I've gained the insight and the desire to encourage others to think twice about conventional wisdom and listen to what you're body is desperately trying to tell you..."I want to thrive, not just survive!"
What is this "lifestyle" that I mentioned? Well, you could say that the common terms used for the way I choose to live, eat, and move are "paleo" or "primal." My husband, Korey, and I have dedicated our day-to-day routines to living this way, having started in the beginning of 2010. I got turned on to the concept of Paleo eating through my research on the use of coconut oil for body heat regulation. Seems odd, doesn't it. You see, I was having a really hard time with cold temperatures and through some of my daily reading habits I ran across the use of coconut oil to boost metabolism. A side effect of an elevated metabolism is better thermoregulation. So, I gave it a shot. Long story made extremely short, my interest in coconut oil spawned a domino effect of reading several texts that lead to me to a work by Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution. In reading this book, I realized I had several of the same issues as Robb describes enduring. Let's just say, I related so much to him that I had to fix my problems in the same manner he fixed his--by way of eating and exercising the way mankind was designed.
I've gone through many health problems as a result of a childhood and early adulthood of high-calorie, yet nutrient-poor eating habits--all of which surfaced right before and during my Paleo pursuit. I've been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, a condition in which my body attacks my thyroid gland, causing chronically low thyroid function. I've also realized I have many food allergies including a severe allergy to gluten--what I believe is actually the devil reincarnated! Tack on lactose, nightshades, and FODMAPS (don't worry, you'll learn all about these terms as I carry on.). Before going Paleo, I was well on my way to fibromyalgia since I was suffering from chronic fatigue and adrenal exhaustion. Did I know this at the time? Umm...no. One thing I know to be true: You never know how bad you felt until you feel better!
Like I've mentioned, I've come a long way. I'm a personal trainer by education and trade. I make a living teaching and guiding appropriate exercise, yet I've had it all wrong in the past. I fell victim to conventional wisdom's "move more" approach, making myself exercise to the extreme and (sadly) encouraging my clients to hit the cardio as often as they could manage. Today, of course, my view has changed--for myself and certainly for my clients. I'm a recovered over-exerciser, chronic cardio-er. I now know more is not better, and if anything, it's worse! Where the real problem lies, however, is that conventional wisdom hasn't yet seen the light and folks are still under the impression that they need to "eat less and move more" to achieve weight loss and health. Not only is the media misleading the general public, but the medical community still thinks that calorie-restricted diets that focus on low-fat and high-carbs combined with hours on the treadmill is the key to longevity and optimal health. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Call me radical, but sometimes I wonder if there is a hidden agenda: Medicine is a business and businesses need customers to stay in operation; so, as long as there are sick people keeping the waiting room full, then business is booming!
The purpose of this blog is to dispel conventional wisdom, taking what I've learned about the human body and what it takes to live healthy and happy. Yes, there will be a rant or two (or ten) sprinkled throughout, I'm sure; but it's all in an effort to pay forward the knowledge I've gained through my own successes and failures. You'll learn a lot about me, my husband and my "kids" (we'll get there later!). I want to be successful at keeping at maintaining a blog, for this is something that I've failed at achieving in the past. From today on, I'll try to educate, enlighten and guide you in the right direction by way of information, experience and some fun stuff too...like recipes! (Who doesn't enjoy a good recipe?!) Please hang with me, as I can be a little talkative. Just know it's for your own good to listen!
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