Fun With Food

It all started so innocently.

Now? Now, of course, I'm in waaayyyy over my head. But it's fun anyway!

So, to go back a month or two....

It all started with Lent. Lent, as you may know, is the 40 days preceding Easter (this is a church tradition, not a biblical mandate). It is a time for focusing on the sufferings of Christ, on His temptations in the wilderness, on the journey to the cross. Traditionally, it is a time for personal prayer and reflection, for slowing down and contemplating the person of Christ, and for practicing habits of self-denial such as fasting or giving certain things up (desserts, TV, whatever).

Usually, I have wonderful intentions regarding Lent - but forget all about said intentions until Lent is half over, at which time I think "Oh, okay, well, next year..."

This year, I remembered it! Thus, I decided to give up desserts and/or sugary things for Lent. That's a big one, as I have a major sweet tooth.... but I decided to give it a try.

And I did pretty well! Except for two days off for St. Patrick's Day (green ice cream! yum!) and an occasional forgetfulness episode, I didn't do too badly.

That was step #1 into the madness.

Then, a week or two later, I finally got a book from the library that I'd had on hold for months - "The Paleo Diet." The paleo diet is something that I've been hearing about for months on food/nutrition blogger sites, and I was intrigued! So I dove into that book.

Incidentally, I have created a new phrase - aren't you excited? Here it is: "food lifestyle." I am not crazy about the term "diet" because anyone who hears it assumes that one is trying to lose weight. Well, I'd love to lose some baby weight (as someone put it, "That baby sure was the end of your figure!" LOL), but when I'm researching human nutrition, I'm really after so much more. Trying to find the ideal human diet, getting more energy and working on my fatigue issues, working toward better health, avoiding the degenerative diseases of old age - weight loss comes after those in my mind (though it's present!). So now I have a new descriptor to describe my efforts!

I loved the book and I love the Paleo diet. It is blessedly simple and easy to follow. It simply says "you may eat these food groups, you may not eat those food groups." So simple! I've tried other diets ("food lifestyles") before that are so horribly complicated - long lists of foods that are okay or not okay, which change by which "phase" one is in - I find those frustrating and counterproductive. I really like the Paleo style.

One thing that blew me away was how much better I felt on this diet - immediately! More energy, needing less sleep, waking up earlier and more refreshed - it was amazing! Yes, I've lost weight without trying, but the energy was what got me really excited.

So that was step #2!

Lastly, my HG sisters may remember that I have been going on about a diet from a Florida doctor that is reputed to prevent NVP on some level. In reading the diet sheets over again, I found that he developed this diet specifically as a remedy/treatment for PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and then found out accidentally that it cured or helped other conditions, such as migraine headaches and morning sickness. (You can read all about that here.) In one of his emails to me, the doctor mentioned that one HG mother who had aborted seven times due to HG was able to carry to term using this diet. So, though I'm not counting any chickens, I think it's worth a go.

However, Dr. Fox told me that it would be best to be "comfortably settled" into the (I think) third phase of the diet before conceiving. And since babies have a habit of arriving when they please, I would like to work through this diet and be ready for the future.... regardless of whether the Lord ever blesses us again with another child.

Also, the Paleo diet is only one step away from the harder phase of the "Florida diet", so I have decided.... that as of Wednesday, I'm going to give it a go. There, I said it! I'll check back in and let you all know how it's going. If anyone else ever tries this, do let me know! (And feel free to leave your email if you'd like to see the diet sheets for yourself.)

Happy Sabbath, all! I'll write to update on our lives soon.