I is for Ice Cream and J is for Junk Food and Other Things I Thought I Would Miss

Months ago when I first cut out dairy, gluten and a lot of other things, I felt like I was going to be “missing out”. I definitely maintained a positive outlook on all of the changes and knew that I was working to heal my body. but it was still sad to say goodbye to some things that were “staples” in my fridge and pantry. I put staples in quotes because I’ve come to realize that they were only staples because I made it that way.

As a result of changing the foods I eat regularly, I’ve cut out a lot of the processed food in my life. I talked about this paradigm shift very soon after I altered my eating habits and realized that I wasn’t alone. As a result of cutting out gluten, dairy (and more recently, meat) I started to place much more emphasis on wholesome, nutritious foods from the earth. Gone were the diet pops, 100 calorie packs, bagels, cheese and other stuff that I was focusing on heavily. As I’ve pointed out before, my eating is constantly a work in progress and I work to do what is best for me in this moment. When talking to people who are in the beginning of their journeys with Weight Watchers, I often say that it’s really about awareness – awareness of how you’re treating your body by what and how much you’re eating and your physical activity as well as managing your thoughts and feelings.

Awareness has been key for me in this journey and I know it will continue to be a recurring theme. Every day I am learning more and more about food and nutrition collectively, as well as what works and doesn’t work for me. After people ask me “what do you eat?” and I give them the answer, they usually follow up with something like “Oh, I could never eat that way, I like _______ too much”. I take the perspective of “would eating ______ make me feel better or worse?” In the case of items containing gluten, dairy or other things that don’t agree with me, eating ______ would probably make me feel bad so I avoid it. I’ll take feeling good any day!

With all of that being said, some people still look at the way I eat as something foreign and think I’m depriving myself. Last week on my fruit and veggie post, I received the following comment via facebook: I'm glad u like fruit and veggies, but eat a little cake! Today may not be your b-day, but hey what the hell. u can live, a girl must have her cake and eat it too. Smile and stop over thinkin' everything. Relax, enjoy life and be free of what u should weigh, eat, and look like...........you’re great! My response was I live the best life I know how - fruits, veggies and cake included! I definitely still have treats, but they’re just different than they used to be.

View Full Album

And that is fine by me. I love enjoying fresh juice, gluten free baked goods, smoothies, dairy-free ice cream, dark chocolate, raw treats, pudding and tea. All gluten, dairy free and vegan, and absolutely delightful.

I’ve really embraced my gluten free, dairy free, meat free living as a lifestyle rather than a diet (just like I did with Weight Watchers) and I really believe that I’m eating better now (both nutritionally and enjoyment-wise) than ever before. I was tweeting last week about how I was making sounds during dinner, something that I can’t say that I did a whole lot before. Missing out? I think not.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news, the poster for Annie is out and tickets are now on sale!

Doesn’t it look awesome? Tickets are available at www.ticketweb.ca, just search “T3 Productions”. No I’m not playing Annie (I’m a wee bit too old…),but rather I’ll be in the role of Grace Farrell, Mr. Warbucks’ secretary. Tickets are selling fast, so if you’re going to be in Toronto between November 20 and 28 be sure to buy them ASAP!