Our crazy "diet" journey!

So pretty much since I got married and have been cooking for 3 people every evening, the attention I pay to what we eat has greatly increased. Before we got married and moved in together, I was living with my old roommate Victoria, and working nearly 40 hours a week. My diet pretty much consisted of whatever I could afford, what was low in calorie, and quick/easy. Sure, my figure slimmed down, but my overall health was compromised, and I felt gross 90% of the time.

The first couple months after I got married, I just wanted things to taste good (to impress Joe :), and I still wasn't necessarily paying attention to WHAT I was cooking (the hidden ingredients). I started freaking out when I started puffing out a bit more than I'm comfortable with! So I went into crack down mode and started trying a new diet every week. No sugar. No dairy. No meat. No carbs. I combined and flip flopped different diets around and nothing every worked for me.

Now, I don't want to get too mushy, but I have to brag about Joe for a minute. He has been super supportive in every way on my health food journey. I know he truly just wants me to find that place of contentment with myself, rather than what I look like. Coincidentally, when I was visiting in Georgia, Joe's Mom pulled out Joe's allergy records for me to take home, and I was reminded that Joe has an allergy to wheat (among a lot of other stuff- poor guy). Joe has been struggling with some allergy problems for a while, and especially around this time of year, it gets hard for him. On his allergy records, his doctor wrote a note suggesting to take wheat out of Joe's diet for about 6 months. I knew that it was something we needed to try in order to help Joe feel better, and also a good way to just remove another processed thing from our diet (considering 99% of bread is very processed). While taking wheat out was a good idea, it seemed for a while that our pantry just got full of even MORE processed gluten-free foods. Cereals, brown rice breads, etc.

One day Joe and I were discussing the topic of cancer, and I told him that if I ever got diagnosed with cancer, I would go on a complete whole foods diet to attempt to purge all of the"junk" (I'm not the scientist of the family) from my system. Then Joe asked "Well, why would you wait until you HAVE cancer to do that?" Great question. A couple of days later I saw my friend Caitlyn post about a blog called 100 days of real food. I checked it out and it really resonated with my "health food journey", and I figured... why not give it a try? I've tried everything else! But this time, Joe was on board!! Being a skinny mini, Joe has never needed to diet, and while he's always supported me with mine, he's never wanted to participate. Thankfully, he is also very interested in going "non-processed", so that's where we are right now! No wheat, no processed. You'll need to check out the website for all of the in depth info, but basically we're only eating fruits, veggies, nuts, dairy, meat. Anything that has more than 3 ingredients we can't buy. So I have been having a BLAST making all these foods from scratch that I never knew I could make. Like... spaghetti sauce!! I was extra proud of that one.

We're still easing into it. We still have some foods that are not "legal", but at this point, I've gone grocery shopping 3 times and only bought things we're allowed to have. I'm not going to say it's been easy. I caught Joe fishing through our coin jar the other day when he was about to leave for school, and I asked what he was doing. He said he was getting money to get M & M's at school, and I had to gently break it to him that it wasn't allowed (he took it well). He had to do the same with me when I had a craving for rice krispie treats (I didn't take it as well.) I guess all in all, it's GREAT that we have each other to lean on. He's helped keep me in check, and vice versa. I made a comment the other day about something not tasting very good, and Joe made a point that really stuck with me. He said, "It is a gift that we have food readily available at all times, and the fact that 99% of it tastes great, is an incredible LUXURY." And he's right. We are so blessed, and we owe it to ourselves to be responsible with our food and to treat our bodies well! I'm very enthusiastic about what we're doing, and have ambition for great success with it.

It's such a perfect day.

Strawberry Swing

Click the link above to watch Strawberry Swing- by Coldplay.
The music video alone is an amazing, stop-motion, chalk drawing.

My wonderful friend Emily got married on Saturday, and it made me super nostalgic about my own wedding. (Congrats again, Emily!!I love you!!)

Strawberry Swing is the song I walked down the aisle to, and every lyric in the song portrays exactly how I feel about life, Joe, and Saylor.

Here are the lyrics:

They were sitting, they were sitting in the strawberry swingAnd every moment was so preciousThey were sitting, they were talking in the strawberry swingAnd everybody was for fighting, wouldn't wanna waste a thing
Cold, cold water bring me 'roundNow my feet won't touch the groundCold, cold water what you say?It's such, it's such a perfect day, it's such a perfect day
I remember we were walking up to strawberry swingI can't wait 'til the morning, wouldn't wanna change a thingPeople moving all the time inside a perfectly straight lineDon't you wanna just curve away?It's such it's such a perfect day, it's such a perfect day
Ah, now the sky could be blue, I don't mindWithout you it's a waste of timeCould be blue, I don't mindWithout you it's a waste of time
The sky could be blue, could be grayWithout you I just slide awayThe sky could be blue, I don't mindWithout you it's a waste of time

Garden #2

So I have been keeping a compost in the back yard since the day we moved into our house. This means every day, for one year, we have not thrown away ANY egg shells, coffee grounds/filters, veggies or fruit that have gone bad, or any leftover veggies/fruit. It's become such a habit, Joe and I no longer think about it. When our Tupperware of scraps gets full, we take it out to the composter. Then yesterday Joe asks me, "So, when are you going to do something with that compost?" It had completely slipped my mind to actually USE the dirt we were making. So this morning, I grabbed some of our scrap wood, a shovel, and got to work! The first 2 photos above are of the new garden bed. I planted the extra seeds I had; some sweet corn, giant pumpkins, and zucchini. I keep thinking I SHOULD plant flowers, but I think vegetables are just as pretty, and they provide you with food... so they win. I'm so interested/nervous to see if it will work, considering under the compost and bark is that black, plastic spread to keep weeds from growing. If the veggies don't work I will just resort to planting flowers (since their root systems are usually more shallow). Or strawberries! 

In other news, things are fine and dandy. Luna is DYING to go on an adventure but she still has to be kept up for another week. Poor baby. We are finally getting some real summer weather! It's been in the mid 80's. Saylor keeps busy playing in the duck pond, making "soup", which is just dirt, water, grass clippings, and whatever toys she can find. 

Our crater lake trip didn't happen, unfortunately. With Luna's spay surgery, our twice annual car insurance payment, and the pet deposit, our bank account needs some recoup time. :) But we have been more than happy just sitting in the back yard, soaking up the sun, throwing the ball for Luna, and watching Saylor run around. 

Even though I may not be missing the 100 degree Georgia days, I am missing the folks that live there! Every day, I am shocked at how blessed our little family is, and thankful for our loving families on the other side of the country. They are awesome, and are on my mind a lot more than they probably realize! 

More next week... 

LOVE!!!