2014-09-15

Confessions Before Continuing

Hello to all of my readers!  Are any of you still there?  I realize it has been a long time since my last post (over a month), but a lot of changes have been happening in my life.  Over the last month I have been working through where I want this blog to go and if I even want to continue it.  I realized that what has been keeping me away, besides the hectic-ness of a move across state (more about that in another post), was guilt.

While I love creating recipes and sharing them with you, I feel that I have strayed from the true name of my blog: "Amy's NUTRITARIAN Kitchen".  Some of the recipes I have provided over the last few months or so are indeed vegan and even whole food based, but they miss the mark when it comes to eating for nutrient-density, a.k.a. a Nutritarian lifestyle.  Recipes like this one... and this one...  Not to say they aren't delicious and can be utilized for special occasions when you have reached your optimum weight, but they don't belong on a blog that is centered to help others (and me) focus on increasing their intake of fruits, vegetables, beans, etc.

Not only have the recipes I've been making for the blog not Nutritarian-perfect, my day-to-day eating and lifestyle was beginning to look more like the SAD (Standard American Diet) than a diet consisting of healthful, healing plant foods.  Here are my confessions I wanted to get out in the open so I/we can move past them.  Over the last few months....
  • I went days, weeks even,without having a big salad.
  • I allowed white flour and breads back into my diet.
  • I went for fried foods and oily/fatty dips when eating out at restaurants.
  • I had meat more than occasionally, and some of the worse kinds (deli meats, BBQ'd meats, sausages, fried chicken wings).
  • I indulged on sweets too often, usually eating too much, being unable to stop myself.
  • I spent too many nights on the couch, finding every excuse in the book not to exercise.
  • I allowed myself to have a social routine that involved drinking beer most nights of the week.
  • Too often, I opted to get some vegetarian unhealthy fast foods, rather than making healthy meals at home.

Now that I have all of my confessions out in the open, here is where the blog is headed...

I have spent hours and HOURS over the last 3-4 years researching nutrition and plant-based diets.  I have spent EVEN MORE HOURS in the kitchen making foods to fit what I have learned and what I want for my health.  While I am by no means and expert, I know my way around a Nutritarian diet. 

That being said and going along with my confessions above, I am not a "perfect bill of health".  I have have weight, self-esteem, anxiety, acne, and other minor health problems just like many of you do.  But I believe the important step I am taking now is that I truly want to fix what I can of those things.  

When I first found ETL in January 2011 and followed it to an absolute tee; I had goals to lose weight and nothing else.  What I found happened along with losing weight was a boost in self confidence, a calming of my stress and nerves, an improvement in my athleticism, and a reduction in my acne, among other things.  

Now that I have strayed from ETL over the years, I have found myself falling into un-wellness.  I have gained weight above when I first started ETL, and many of my negative health symptoms have come back.  This time around, losing weight is not my main goal.  My main goal is to gain control over my health for life.

As always, I am delighted to hear from my readers, and if you ever write with questions, I will be happy to give you advice or point you in the right direction of an answer you are looking for.  That being said, I am going to blog honestly about my experiences and successes and missteps.  I am going to share with you my progress as well as inspiration and recipes I find along the way.  I am not and will never be perfect, but I hope you continue to join me on this journey.

Health and Happiness,

-Amy

12 comments:

  1. We all hit bumps in the road, and flat roads would not be much fun, for it is in the low part we learn to push ourselves to reach the top of the next hill. I love you dear daughter, and you will always be perfect to me!

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  2. Right here with you... Keep up the great thinking/doing/growing.

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    1. Thanks! It's great to have support through you guys!

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  3. Wow, did this hit home with me Amy. I have gained back all the weight I lost on ETL and I am ashamed because I know better. I too know my way around the Nutritarian lifestyle and I even taught classes on it! But I know that I am right smack in the middle of toxic hunger and I have to get out of it to get back to using my brain again. I appreciate your honesty very much today. You have no idea how perfect your timing is. We can do this.

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    1. I'm so glad someone is in the same boat! I feel like when I was a newbie Nutritarian, I was terrified of doing something wrong and did everything to a tee, but now that I am more experienced, I have been allowing myself to have excuses not to do as well as I know I can. Keep at it Brooke! I know we can do this!

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  4. I am looking forward to your posts--we are all in this together!

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  5. I understand! Marc David with The Psychology Of Eating has such excellent advice around food and our emotions. I highly recommend his work alongside Fuhrman's.

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    1. Thanks for the tip Allison. I'll have to look into that!

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  6. Love your honesty. I"m struggling too, to get back on the ETL eating plan. Life got in the way hugely with the sudden death of my mother and i'm really struggling. Being disabled, exercise is not an option for me with weight control, so it has to be ETL

    Jane

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    1. I'm sorry to hear about your loss Jane. Whatever the cause of your mother's passing, I hope it will encourage you to live healthily and to your fullest in her memory. I know my mother would want that for me. :)

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