Whole Foodie?

New year, new me. I've been skimming an interesting new book called 'The Ultramind Solution.' Basically, the premise is the simple - 'You are what you eat.' What was new-ish to me, is the author's theory that so much of how we feel - not just physically, but mentally and emotionally - is related to what we eat. Of course, I know that you can get a 'high' from sugar or caffeine, and that alcohol is supposed to be a depressant. But he goes a little further to say that so many conditions we have, some minor, some serious - from stress, fatigue, forgetfulness, too much worrying, or just plain feeling negative - comes from problems in our diets. And that if you clean up your diet - you will (may) feel completely different.

This reminds me of some posts I read on 3 Peanuts. She shared some time ago that she and her two sons had struggled with various ailments, seemingly unrelated to food. After many visits with different doctors, one suggested that the family cut gluten out of its diet. After doing so, all of their symptons disappeared, and have stayed away for a few years now.

As much as I believe in being healthy - my diet has been terrible for awhile now. I don't drink much caffeine (but I do/did a lot of decaf diet soda, and decaf coffee). I just didn't want to put in the time and energy into making healthy meals for myself. I did make some effort at dinner time, when we we all eat together, and I did make an effort in putting together Paige's meals. Other than that, I've been like a processed food queen, I'm embarrassed to say.

The book suggests cutting out all processed foods, sugar (except what is found naturally in fruit), caffeine, alcohol, high fructose corn syrup and trans or hydrogenated fats. And it goes a step further and suggests cutting out dairy and gluten. All for six weeks. At the end, you re-evaluate how you feel, and decide what to add back into your diet.

I've decided to do almost all of it. I'm keeping dairy and gluten in my diet for now. And, I'm allowing myself one 'off the list' item occasionally - my Sta&bucks nonfat, decaf mocha. I just can't quite give that up. I'm hoping that all the other changes will be enough to notice a difference.

Here's what I am eating:

Breakfast: Kashi Go Lean cereal from Whole Foods with blueberries or strawberries, and organic low-fat milk

morning snack: handful of walnuts, with blueberries mixed in

lunch: caprese salad usually (organic tomatoes and a few cherry tomato-sized mozzerella balls sliced up), a couple of slices of whole wheat bread from Whole Foods with the least amount of ingredients, including no sugar

afternoon snack: a banana and organic peanut butter (just roasted peanuts), or celery and peanut butter

dinner: a salad with apples and walnuts, and some sort of chicken or protein.

I also fill up my siggy water bottle and just drink water all day. I rarely took vitamins before. Now I'm taking care to take my multi-vitamin and I'm adding extra B6 and B12. (Author is also a proponent of fixing vitamin deficiencies in his quest to heal the whole you.)

Anyway, I figure even though I'm not following the plan to the 'T', just these improvements should be enough to notice some kind of difference (I won't post what I was eating before!) 30 minutes of daily exercise is also on the list.

What motivated me to do this? Even though I'm basically happy, I've always had a vision of myself feeling more peaceful and content. I've always tried to elevate myself through mental exercises - like reading and positive thinking (hence, the blog title). Now, I'm wondering if maybe a physical strategy might be effective. I'd love to wake up feeling joyful and energetic each day.

So far it has felt good to be eating so fresh. E has gotten into it, and has spent oodles of time washing and cutting up fruits and veggies, which has been sooo helpful. I'm realizing in some ways it isn't that hard at all to eat healthy. Will I find myself feeling like a whole new me in a couple of months? Time will tell!