Clean Eating Link Up!

I've touched on my feelings about this topic a little bit in the past, but today I'll really get to the nuts and bolts of why I feel the way I do.  CLEAN EATING...it's really become a hot topic among the fitness world and you hear those words together a lot!  I started on the bandwagon myself many months ago, and while it helped a little, I still was feeling gross, bloated, lethargic...something wasn't working for me.  Then someone recommended the Whole30 plan and I spent hours pouring over the website and decided to just go for it!  That was way back in November 2012 and it was great!  After the initial "carb flu" period I was feeling great.  I lost about 12 pounds in 30 days and I'd never felt better, more focused, or energetic.

Enter Christmas...and several more months of falling off the wagon.  I'll be the first to admit that I am an emotional binge eater.  I fight it every single day.  I simply can't keep anything in my house that I want to avoid because I will eat it every time.  During these months, I gained back every pound I lost plus a few.

Once I'd had enough of feeling like trash again, I went back to the beginning.  I decided to read this book:

I'm not huge on science, but Dallas and Melissa Hartwig really explain the science of how certain food affects our body from the inside out in terms that I can understand.  All sorts of ailments and diseases begin with what we put on our plate and we don't even realize it.  Weight gain is just a symptom of all the other things that could be happening in our bodies.  Scary things like diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, and even seasonal allergies.  And since I am doing this for my overall health and not just to lose weight, it made sense for me to cut out the junk and follow the guidelines set by this book.

I'm not perfect and I slip up sometimes, but it's been easier to resist eating things when I remind myself how bad I feel afterwards and how these foods affect my overall health and not just my weight!

One hurdle I've really had to fight through is the idea that the normal "low-fat" American diet that most people try to lose weight with will NEVER work.  Healthy fat doesn't make you fat....refined sugar and processed foods do.  If you read labels you'll find out that sugar is hidden EVERYWHERE!  That "healthy" yogurt...more sugar than a Snickers bar!  I'm looking forward to seeing Fed Up, a documentary about this topic!

I've rambled enough...if you've made it this far, I HIGHLY recommend checking out this book and program.  It won't cost you a dime (other than buying food!) to follow the Whole30 - unlike other popular programs out there.  In the long run, you'll feel better!  I know I do!

Now if I can just get the exercise going...

What are your thoughts on clean eating?  Link up with Jasmine at Fleurty and Fit and share with us!

A New Low and A New Start

I'll put it all out there and say that I've been having a terrible time the past few days with diet and exercise.  I was super motivated to hit it hard when the 90 Days 'Til Summer Challenge started, and then PMS hit me harder.  It's basically been 'eat all the foods' and 'lounge on the couch' for the past week.  I feel terrible!

So, thankfully, last night I had a good talk about things with my sister-in-law who is also on her own journey to lose weight.  Our paths are very different, but just talking things out with her really helped me to put things back into perspective and focus on why I'm doing this.

That being said, I have recognized in myself a problem with eating.  Basically if it's there, I can't help myself.  I seriously can not stop thinking about whatever terrible food is in the kitchen calling my name.  I eventually give in, eat way too much, and feel like shit - physically and emotionally.  So today, I will be cleaning out my kitchen of all the crap foods that I don't want in my body.  This will be good for my whole family!  None of us need to eat gummy worms.  Ever.  

Here's to rebooting.  May it be the last time I ever have to do it.  I'm expecting success and starting today I'm going to take control of my journey again....starting weight 170.2.  Yikes.  That's the heaviest I've ever been in my life and it's way too much for my 5'2" frame.  

Happy Friday!  I hope your weekend rocks!

It Starts With Food

We've all heard this:

I believe it.  I also believe that it's hard to find the right nutrition when there's so much information out there about what's healthy, what's not and why.  A lot of that information is contradictory.  What's a girl to do?!

I've been toying with a Paleo/Primal diet the past few months but I didn't really know why except that people were doing it and losing weight.  Then I got a hold of this book:

I'm only on chapter 6, but it has explained so much and it's really opened my eyes!  I'm not huge on science, but Dallas & Melissa really explain the science of how certain food affect our body from the inside out in terms that I can understand.  All sorts of ailments and diseases begin with what we put on our plate and we don't even realize it.  Weight gain is just a symptom of all the other things that could be happening in our bodies.  Scary things like diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, and even seasonal allergies.  

I can't recommend this book strongly enough.  If you suffer from any sort of chronic ailment or just want to lose weight, this will really open your eyes to the science of how food affects our body on the inside.

Now I've got some work to do in my cabinets cleaning out some trash "foods".  

Encouragment For The Journey

I'll be honest.  I've had a terribly hard time getting into and sticking with healthy eating and exercise.  It's like there's been a block in my brain and my "I don't give a f*@*" switch has been stuck firmly in the on position.  So it really helped me flip that switch when I got this text yesterday from my cousin:

You see, she's diabetic and has been struggling with health and weight for a while.  Just to know that she wanted to let me know that she's making a serious effort to get her health back is enough to flip that switch in my head back to OFF!

It's funny how just a little note from someone is enough to really change your train of thought.  I'm so very glad she sent me that text!  It's great to get some encouragement and a little motivation to start off a new week.

Hi, I'm Brooke!

Hello everyone!  My name is Brooke.  I just wanted to take a minute to tell you a little bit about myself.  I'm a mom to an energetic, hilarious, entertaining three year old.  My husband J and I waited what feels like a life time to start our family.  After fighting infertility for years, we adopted H six months after our 10 year anniversary.  He is the second best thing we've ever done.  I love adoption and hope to adopt again someday!

I'm a stay at home mom and I love it!  H keeps me busy and we have lots of fun hanging out together.  We're looking into homeschooling for him when he reaches school age.  Our area has a kick-ass homeschooling co-op and I think it'll be a positive experience for us.

I'm also working on losing a little weight that I've been carrying around for far too long, so I may some days discuss fitness and nutrition.  You want stats?  I'm 5'2" and I started at my heaviest I was about 172 lbs.  At my lightest (in the past few years at least) I was 143.  I'm somewhere in the middle of that right now.   My ultimate goal is to hit about 130, or whatever is comfortable for me.  I've never really been what people would call "skinny" as an adult so I'm not sure what a good number is for me.  I just want to be healthy and fit and strong so I can continue to keep up with my little firecracker boy.

So, that's pretty much me in a nutshell.  I don't claim to be anything more than you see!  I'd love to get to know some other mom/fitness/life bloggers.  Ask me anything and I'll be more than happy to talk :)