Vegan, Gluten Free, Yogi Mom: Update and diet changes

Update:

So it has been awhile since I posted, mostly because Summer has started and I have had very little down time. Mind you not because I was working so hard but because I have been off quite a bit with Marley.

We have spent time with Nana and Grampa on Cape Cod, we have been to Storyland in North Conway, we have been swimming, I tried (very briefly) SUP, and even did a headstand on the paddle board. If the weather would cooperate we could go out again and I will get pictures. This weekend we have plans to try surfing for the first time and I am very excited. We decided to forgo the lesson and go with some friends who are willing to teach us and we will get the lesson in possibly the next week, once we have tried it out and see how we do. (Yes both Jeff and I are going to try it).

Marley has not been in school (daycare) this summer so she has been with a family member of baby sitter each week and so far the grandparents and Marley are loving it. She gets to go swimming, go to playgrounds and eat ice cream instead of being stuck in a place that is hot and miserable. (And her last daycare was miserable, but that's a story for another day) She is on Cape Cod again right now and next week gets to hang with daddy and go to a Baseball game with daddy and Grampie while I go to work.

Overall, I think this is the best summer I have had since leaving home. We have really put the emphasis on spending time together and just having some old school fun! In the process we have made some great connections with other moms and kids at the YMCA and have made some new friends.

Diet Change:

So the biggest issue for this Vegan, Gluten Free, Yogini is denial. "Oh the ingredients look fine," even if there is not gluten free labeling. Then I end up with a terrible stomach ache, and if I eat enough, back pain. For a long time I could not eat processed wheat, BUT for some reason King Arthur's Organic, all purpose flour was okay, if I only had one cupcake. (And really who eats only one cupcake).

Regardless, I came to a point where cutting my tofu with a knife that cut bread and was not thoroughly washed was making me sick. So good by cupcakes. (so incredible sad). But wait you say, there all these options for Gluten Free cupcakes and baked goods clearly I could go that route. That is true, there are many options out there, and I have even purchased some GF graham crackers and cookies for s'mores and I like them, I have never found a cupcake/cake/brownie that has really done it for me.

After a bought of illness in March of this year (my doctor says Sinus infection, I say this Nettie pot girl doesn't get those), I agreed to go on an anti-biotic. Amoxicillin he said, I groaned and agreed to take it. I have not been on an anti-biotic since 2004 and was in no hurry to do so again. During this process I found out something really interesting, either 1. Amoxicillin has dairy or Gluten in it, 2. there is some other additive that I am allergic to or 3. I am allergic to Amoxicillin. So I can just tell you I was sick, and my entire low back seized up, I couldn't stand up straight, never mind down dog, and I taught yoga sitting on a bolster, hunched forward for about a week. For the next 3 months I continued to feel "off". Something was not right in my body, I was getting canker soars and cold soars and breaking out (all things that don't happen to be anymore since not eating dairy and gluten.)

For 3 months I tried to Juice detox 4 or 5 times up to 7 days and nothing was working. I would feel a little better, then do back to food and be exhausted and drained and would gain weight. I knew what was happening, I was detoxing too frequently and I had all but killed my metabolism. I just wanted to sleep and was never motivated to do too much. If I didn't know me as well as I do, I would say I was depressed, but that wasn't it. It was my bodies reaction to what I was putting in it and I needed an answer, something to help reboot my body, my metabolism and my mind.

My answer:

I was sitting in my living room with Marley one morning in May surfing Facebook and came across a post from my friend Stacey. A friend I used to work out with all the time, and someone that I know is as health conscious as I am and she had posted "30 Day Update: Using the 30-day Pak Todd is down 14 lbs and 29.5"! Using the Shake & Cleanse Pak I am at the same weight, and lost 1/2" (lost in mid-section, gained in muscle)! No bathing suit stressing at the York house!" With that I thought, hmm, interesting I wonder what they are doing. I'll have to ask her. Needless to say with was another month before I asked her, she posted again, this time their 60 day results and when I asked her out of curiosity what she was doing she said to me "I'm helping people achieve the body they have always dreamed of and helping them to feel great in the process" (or something like that) I was even more curious.

So the reason this peaked me interested was not necessarily the weight loss, although I have been trying to lose the last 15 lbs since giving birth over 4 years ago, it was two things. The first was her comment about feeling great, I could use some 'feeling great' about now. The second, and more compelling for me, was that I meditate pretty much daily, and although with being exhausted my yoga asana practice was suffering, I was still meditating. On each of these occasions when I read what Stacey was doing and she was helping people achieve these goals as well, I read these posted with in a half hour of meditating about this very topic, finding a way out of this treachery (okay, not treachery but it sure felt like it at the time). I decided I would at least talk to her about it. I proceeded to tell Stacey my story and she shared hers with me and decided that was it and I was going to give this a try.

So On June 30th, I started the Isagenix Dairy free (they are all Gluten free) 30 Day Cleansing and fat Burning System. There is 22 grams of protein per serving of the shakes. The things I love the most and why I agreed to try it, the ingredients are: Pea Protein, Hemp Protein, (Probiotics), Sunflower oil, Chia seeds, blueberries, cinnamon, kale, apple, carrot, beets, alfalfa etc (these are not all the ingredients but this is what they are all like). It's the stuff I would put in my juicer or blender in the morning already, but concentrated and balanced and there was finally hope that the ruddiness would go away.

Good news, the cruddiness has gone away, and one full month later I have lost 8 lbs and 16.5". I have lost mostly body fat and most important I feel awesome. I have a ton of energy, I go from 6am-9pm (after putting Marley to bed) with no lag, or tiredness. I am doing my asana practice again and I currently have No digestive health issues. I love it so much, I havev decided to sell Isagenix products (they have vitamins etc too) as part of my yoga/health coaching business. I promise I will post pictures soon, and if you want to learn more about the products, let me know or check out my website at www.yoginipam.isagenix.com