My Health Journey

My dad decided to start cutting out everything that had sugar in his life and switching his sugar intake for more fiber in his diet. This wasn't a week long thing. Here we are almost two years later and my dad still rarely eats any added sugar, and only small amounts of natural sugar. He told me about all the health benefits he was experiencing - more energy (less naps), better sleep, better digestion, no longer has cravings, less body aches, and fat loss.

About 6 months after he began I decided to give it a shot. It benefited me because it helped me cut certain things out of my diet that I knew I shouldn't be eating. Being incredibly active, I never really thought about the food going into my body because I had an "I will work that off tonight" mentality. At first, it was incredibly hard. I was ultimately eating a lot of fruit because I would still have cravings for sweets. After trying this for a while, I realized that I would just binge when I decided to have a cheat meal / cheat day and this way of eating was not working out for me. I cut out meats, besides fish, out of my diet because they would upset my sensitive stomach and I have an intolerance to gluten, which meant I had to cut out a lot more foods. I don't really believe in any health benefits from dairy that you can't get from vegetables, so I was also eating little dairy.

In High School, when I was eating anything I wanted to, I would be in severe stomach pain after eating. This is before I realized that I was intolerant to gluten and that my stomach is very sensitive to certain foods. Through process of elimination and trial and error, I was able to find out what foods work for me.

I found myself eating healthier than I used to eat in High School, but still not completely healthy because I would crave salty crackers with my hummus rather than bell peppers or any kind of vegetables. I have a lot of self-control when it comes to a lot of things, but if I have oreos or oatmeal cookies in my house, those are gone in a heart beat. Luckily in this day-and-age with all my dietary restrictions that I came across, there's now "gluten free pretzels" or "vegan ice cream" like Ben & Jerry's dairy-free Ice Cream (seriously my biggest weakness). If you are lactose-intolerant I strongly recommend the PB & Cookies dairy-free flavor. Even though I was living a healthier lifestyle - I still felt like there was more I could be doing to fuel my body.

I began a new diet (I don't mean short-term when I use the word "diet", I mean a complete change of the food I was putting in my body). I was inspired by the Instagram star, my idol, @earthyandy. You can read about her High Carb Low Fat Vegan lifestyle here. She eats mostly raw foods, which I decided to give a try and was incredibly easy because you don't really have to cook anything. I am a firm believer that if it came from Mother Nature, it is probably healthy to put into our body. I cut out (mostly) anything that wasn't fruit or vegetables. I eat more vegetables throughout my day than fruit, but since fruit is much more calorically dense - most of my calories come from fruit. Through doing this I have found that I no longer have severe stomach pains after every meal. It is also easier for me to have 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day than 3 larger meals since I am always on the go. If you want to see what a typical day of food consists of you can click HERE.

I drink a ton of water throughout the day. I aim for 4-6 liters each day and most of my water consumption is done before 4 pm. One time I fainted in a yoga class because I "didn't have enough electrolytes" since I cut out all of the sugary drinks like gatorade. So I have incorporated coconut water into my everyday life which helps keep me hydrated throughout my days, especially hard days when I am sweating a lot! Besides water and coconut water, the only other thing I drink is Matcha Green Tea. If I have them on hand, I try to drink it around noon since it's naturally caffeinated and I still love my sleep.

Now we all process food way differently. This was my process of finding out what worked for my body. There are people that probably need a lot more food to get them through their day which is totally fine. This isn't to make people switch to a Raw Food lifestyle, but more to inspire people to figure out what kind of foods they can eat to feel and look their best.