Cleaning out the kitchen

So tomorrow my husband and I are trying a new way of eating. It was a decision that was made in the last week but it's been a long time in coming. For him, he's been steadily including more healthy habits ever since we met but...he's been increasingly grumpy about how tight his pants feel since we got married. I keep telling him that he's doing most of the cooking so maybe it's his own fault but he jokingly blames being settled down. I have suspected for years that my eating needed a major overhaul for reasons I'll detail a bit later. The thing that really stuck out to me earlier today was the wondrous aspect of having a teammate to make this change with. For the first time in my life I've got someone who is committed to make a life change with me. We're in this together and it feels different than any other time that I've tried to loose weight or exercise more or any number of healthy life changes...I have a partner.

But it's even deeper, it's a reflection of how we are taking the oneness of marriage seriously. When I brought up with him a little over a week ago how very much, for my own health and comfort, I needed to make diet changes he, without even flinching, seemed to know that my health is connected to his. I could make the changes on my own but they would be that much more lasting, powerful and easier to sustain if he was fully invested in making the changes with me. His response was not just support but joining in with me on whatever needed to happen for my health and his.

THE WARNING SIGNS: How I knew it was time to clean out the kitchen.

For those that don't like biology and yucky medical condition discussions you may want to skip this paragraph. Changing what I eat is a long time in coming. About ten years ago I had a summer of terrible stomach upset, cramping, pain and diarrhea. After weeks of paying close attention to what I was eating it was clear that I no longer tolerated much diary. Ever since then I have had horrible problems with yeast. I mean as a grown woman I have had thrush more times than I can remember. For those that don't know usually only babies get thrush, it's a yeast infection of the mouth. And since getting married and being hospitalized with IV antibiotics yeast in many locations has been my nemesis. And during ten plus years of fighting yeast I can definitively say that medical treatments are not the answer. At the same time up till this point I've only made small enough changes to reduce the symptoms for a short period of time.

I'm seriously concerned about my immune system. In the last two years I have had two major infections. Strep which lasted for four months and only ended because of a tonsillectomy and MRSA which only resolved after a week of IV drugs. I'm only 33 years old my body should fight this stuff off. After the MRSA that first I had and then my husband I knew we needed to get our immune systems functioning well. I absolutely have a ton of stress in my life and I'm well aware that it is hurting my immune system but I know that my diet is not helping. I also know there's only so many vitamins a person can take. And do we really have any idea how much the chemicals in our foods undo any good we try to do for our bodies?

I've always been a reader and a researcher and have made some good efforts to use natural non-medical interventions for various things. I've had fibromyalgia for most of my life and there's a ton of information regarding aspartame, inflammatory foods and now yeast and chronic pain. I even cut aspartame out completely a few years ago and felt a ton better. Unfortunately avoiding aspartame only lasted about 8 months.

Since getting married we've had the possibility of starting a family on our minds. I've been particularly concerned about learning to live on a daily basis without using medications. Between pregnancies and breastfeeding I'm hoping I'll have years of needing to avoid medications. I think it's better to start practicing pain management, headaches, allergies etc without medication prior to pregnancy than just having to go cold turkey.

Jettisoning medications has resulted in horrible insomnia. With fibromyalgia insomnia is often a part of the picture. Over the last few years I've generally used all natural pain remedies but had not transitioned into non-chemical sleep aides. I had no idea how much my body relied on my sleep aides. Nor did I understand how brutal life is when you can't sleep. So I turned back to researching and the more I read the more it was obvious that my diet, yeast, wheat, all sorts of foods could be part of my body's inability to regulate itself well.

Then there's the stress management. I'm pretty sure my adrenal glands are pumping out way to much cortisol. And one of the best solutions for getting hormones regulated is to change your diet.

Reading and learning related to so many health conditions the last few months has made me even more aware of how I feel when I eat. I've been so aware that good foods make me feel good and processed, sugary foods make me feel terrible. I'm tired of feeling bloated, gassy and run down after eating. And I'm even more tired of knowing what I need to do and not doing it.

We're embarking on what will be a thirty day commitment to no sugar, no chemicals, no dairy, no processed crap. Just fruit, veggies, meats, natural foods and hopefully a whole new perspective. It's pretty restrictive for the 30 days and then we'll make decisions about what to add back in.

Honest truth is I am excited and petrified. I am hopeful that I could feel vastly different but I'm dreading the sugar cravings, the work and the meals that could feel less than satisfying. I can tell that I'll be learning a lot about using spices, cooking new vegetables and conquering my desires for things that hurt my body. It's not going to be easy but it will be good.