Purging the Junk

For the past two years I have done a major overhaul to the foods that I eat. Before Nani was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer I gave little thought to what I ate other than what I thought would make me fat- meanwhile I found it impossible to lose weight. Slowly and surely, as I learned the facts about how the food we eat affects to our health, my pantry morphed from a stock pile of cheap and heavily processed foods to a few shelves stocked with whole foods and real foods.

Two years ago I would buy the cheapest food I could find, and it was common for me to buy a bunch of produce just to end up tossing it in the garbage after I found myself not eating it in time for it to rot. I was heavily addicted to salty carbs and hardly a day passed that I didn't eat potato chips. I suffered from fatigue quite often and was stuck in the "I can't lose weight" cycle. My periods were AWFUL, and have been since I first got it in my early teens. I was dealing with acne which was extremely frustrating because I didn't have that problem even when I was a teenager.

The worst part about everything was the lack of energy I felt. It was hard to get through the day, especially after lunch. It was common to hit that 2pm lull and struggle to keep my eyes open. Waking up each morning was a nightmare because I felt heavy as lead- from my eye lids to my feet. It was very common for me to feel foggy headed all day. Like the way you do when you wake up after a night of drinking- only I wasn't drinking every night.

Through a lot of (expensive) trial and error I started weeding out the heavily processed foods and replacing them with whole foods. Each time I learned about a new ingredient I went into my pantry and checked labels inevitably throwing out a bunch of food that I previously thought was "good for me". I've spent the equivalent of days in grocery stores going up and down each aisle reading labels.

After about a year I was feeling much better and still learning so much about the benefits of changing the food you put in your mouth. When I got the junk out of my kitchen, I noticed I was making better food choices more consistently and I had a clearer focus. No more mental hangover! Also probably the most rewarding feeling from all of this is that I have lost about 15 lbs in the past 2 years without crazy consistent working out and have been able to keep it off (and am actually still losing it slowly).

YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?

Here it is plain and simple: diets don't work. Lifestyles work. Changes made over a period of time work. Taking baby steps works. Being overweight is a lifestyle. Being sick and tired comes from living a certain lifestyle. Most of us just accept the fact that we are sick and fat and tired. I know I did. I constantly questioned why was I exhausted all the time and couldn't lose weight? It was because I was eating the wrong foods, and I didn't even know it.

This was me:

• I don't have any clue what I am doing
• I know I am eating the wrong foods, but I don't know where to start
• I know what to eat I just don't have time 
• I believe what I hear about nutrition from what I hear on TV
• I know that my highly processed vegan substitutes are healthier than the real version (but are they really??) 

Sound familiar?


LET ME HELP YOU! If you have the foresight to know that you need to change something then you ahead of the curve- way ahead! If you still aren't sure then take a hard look at your day to day life and ask yourself: HOW GOOD DO I FEEL? 

I want you to read and take in what I am about to say: I PROMISE YOU YOU CAN FEEL BETTER. YOU DESERVE TO FEEL AMAZING. Say it- I DESERVE TO FEEL AMAZING!

Now do something about it.

Step #1- Your Goals   First things first. We need to have a conversation about what you want to get out of working with moi. Are you trying to loose weight? Are you completely rundown and need more energy? Are you suffering with an illness that you would like to get over? Are you looking to feed your kids healthier food? This is your chance to talk about YOU and what you want for yourself.


Step #2- In Your Pantry    We start with a 1 hour lesson in your kitchen to "purge" your pantry of the junk that is making you feel like S-H-I-T, making you sick, and making you fat. This is one-on-one session in your kitchen where we go through everything you buy and I show you the real way to tell if it is a good food or not. We go over everything you will need to know so you aren't influenced by empty promises plastered on packaging and can start recognizing real food from food like substances.

Step #3- In Your Grocery Store    We continue at your grocery store with 3- 45 minute shopping trips that focus on teaching you how to shop for real food. I take you through the entire store to show you where the real food is placed and how to find it when it's hidden among the junk. Since this is a process, I spread it out over 3 shopping trips. It is inevitable that you will have questions when making a change like this.  

Materials- Weekly Shopping List     I give you a shopping list with all of the good foods every pantry should be stocked with so you have a reference every time you go grocery shopping until it becomes second nature to you. We wouldn't want you forgetting all of the healthy foods you are going to want to buy! 

Bonus! Once you sign up for the Purge the Pantry Program you have access to me M-F via email where I will answer any of your questions. Changes like these are a work in progress and I want you to know that I am available to you so you don't feel overwhelmed and confused.

What is making you feel stuck? like garbage? fat?