the journey continues

I am still on my dietary journey, each day learning to make these changes.  Yesterday I had a moment where I really missed cheese.  I just wanted to make myself a big chef-style salad.  In the past it would have been no meat and perhaps two kinds of cheese.  Now it's meat, no cheese.  And knowing that I couldn't have the cheese made me want it more.

After the first two weeks of my dietary changes I am now adding in more vegetables and fruits.  The testing that I did broke my food sensitivities into 3 categories, high sensitivity, moderate sensitivity and low sensitivity.  For the first two weeks I ate nothing on the list, even the low sensitivity list.  It got really boring.

I have a confession to make.  I don't like cooking for myself.  I much prefer to cook for others.  I like eating with others and I certain love when people cook for me.  But if I have to cook specifically for me...not so much.  And because of my dietary changes I was doing a lot of that.  And it got boring.  For anyone who knows me, that's a surprising statement.  I LOVE food, I like thinking about it, talking about it, researching it, helping others with their food.  I love food.  But because of the restrictions I am on it I started to become less enthusiastic about my food.  I figured out a few dishes that were dietarily compliant, figured out how to add back in the meat slowly (still working on that) and tended to live on the same 8-10 recipes.

Now that I'm able to add other foods back in I am all of a sudden much happier.  In part I am now able to eat an expanded list of foods which is always a good thing.  Plus many of the foods on the low sensitivity list that have been added back in are grillable veggies. In the summer that is one of my all-time favorite ways.  (If it was winter I would be making vats of soup!)  I like to make up several large salads, grill a huge batch of veggies and then make composed plates by adding in a protein.

I am learning so much from this experience.  Part of it is a deeper respect for some of the dietary changes I sometimes ask folks to go through as we work together on their journey toward health.  I have had my own journey and have certainly done many of the things that I ask clients to do (such as a candida cleanse) but this time around the process seems much more mindful.  As I journal my food choices and how my body is responding to the reintroduction of meat I am much more aware of how I feel and why I am making some of these choices.  In many ways to a much greater extent that ever before.  I am also learning to understand some of the complexities that can lead to boredom with food.   I am grateful for this deeper understanding of myself but also because I believe it helps me to better help others.

And the journey continues...