10 Tips for Eating Healthy on a Restricted Diet

It is possible to eat unhealthy, even if you're on a diet that restricts foods. Just a few years ago, people who had to eat gluten, dairy, sugar, peanut, and etc free were pretty limited to what they could eat. But now, there is so many options! Don't get me wrong, I love being able to feel like I can enjoy foods again. But does that make them healthy? Some yes are healthy. But others, not so much. It's all about reading the labels and what the ingredients are. A lot of products that are gluten and dairy free can contain extra sugars and other ingredients to make them, taste "normal" and those are things you want to avoid.  Even though I have been eating very healthy, I was adding more starches because I didn't have any actual wheat and my body and I was feeling deprived. So I loaded up on rice and potatoes to fill that gap. Since I couldn't have dairy, I was eating more of the products that were dairy free, just would go overboard a little. Once I realized what I was doing, I knew there had to more changes made. After making these changes, I can tell I do have more energy and I also don't feel as bloated. A lot of those special diets foods still contain salt, and you are consuming more of it when you feel deprived. 

Recently, I've decided to not eat as much meat, like chicken, turkey, and beef. I completely eliminated any pork and pork products just because I hate pork and it contains a higher number of viruses that could get me sick. I've added more fish into my diet instead.

So here are my 10 tips for eating healthy on a restricted diet. 

1. Swap white & brown rice for quinoa.

2. Limit your intake on gluten free breads and pastas.

3. Avoid prepackaged meals, even if they say they are organic.

4. Limit any processed foods. 

5. Fill up on vegetables

6. Make dinner your smallest meal of the day

7. Drink a cup of water before a meal

8. Buy local and fresh

9. Allow a treat meal or snack once in awhile. 

10. Avoid processed sugars. 

Eating healthy is easy. But don't get caught up in all the speciality foods or you'll be eating processed foods all over again. Just stick to the basics for most days, and allow a treat or two here and there. 

Cheers! 

Cleanse Day 3-7

Well I can't say that we successfully finished the cleanse. Our schedules got crazy busy and I ended up getting sick so things just didn't work out to well. We did try and stick to the food guidelines as much as possible. I already eat that way, so it was more for Caleb sticking to it. And he did. So we didn't completely abandoned ship on it. 

Also, I've been behind on updating just because life got a little busy and I was just to tired to even open my computer or just think of what to type by the end of the day. 

We will defiantly do a full cleanse sometime, just because we both did feel better. Until then we are eating a lot healthier than what we were before. Since I don't have much to say about the cleanse (whoops) I have another post on some easy tips to eat healthier here. 

During the cleanse, I found new ways to incorporate healthier foods, and get rid of the not so good foods. 

Cheers! 

Cleanse Day 2

So after a pretty crappy first day. I have to say that the second day went a little better. 

Yesterday was just an off day for me. I think that even if I ate how I normally do, I would have still felt crappy since those days happen. I decided to give it another day, and I'm glad I did. Today the shake didn't make me feel bad at all. Which is good because it's delicious! 

Here is what our meals consisted of  

Breakfast

Chocolate Blueberry Shake with Green Super Food recipe here

Lunch

My lunch: Half Avocado sliced with lettuce and a few chicken chunks

Caleb's lunch: Turkey sandwich with lettuce and avocado 

Dinner

Lentil soup with kidney beans

Also, throughout the whole day we drank water when we remembered to, but have to improve on that. 

We have given in a little here and there to some things, but we are improving. Our biggest goals are to cut out sugar and carbs. I'm really proud of Caleb because he used to hate avocado and wouldn't touch it but he put it on his sandwich. And yes he had a sandwich, baby steps. 

I'm learning that with cleansing, it's best to listen to your body. If you're hungry. Eat. But of course if you're craving junk food, don't give in and eat something healthier.  Since I'm not following any certain type of cleanse, I'm creating our own so I feel like I can alter things to fit each of our needs better. 

After day 2, I think we are both feeling better because we aren't depriving ourselves. We still have things to improve on but we are getting there. 

About the Green Super Food

Since we are replacing one meal with this. This is what is cleansing and detoxing. Since it's packed with a lot of vitamins and nutrients. 

I hope the next days coming up get even easier and we start to notice changes!

Cheers! :) 

Cleanse Day 1

Day one of anything is tough, right? 

So at the end of day 1 I just have to say that I am not a fan. Or should I say my body doesn't react very well to cleansing. Probably because of all the toxins but still. It takes me back to the days of feeling sick 24/7 and I don't like it at all. 

I know if I continue it will get better. But going through another day like this is just not what I'm up for.  My body doesn't handle a lot of vitamins and stuff very well at once. For some reason and I don't really know why.  For example, I found a multivitamin that literally had everything in it and would have been amazing, but after sticking with it for two weeks, I just couldn't handle it. It was like vitamin overload. Is there such a thing? So where do I go from here? Good question. 

I totally forgot to mention what we were adding to our smoothies to make them more nutritious and be the cleansing part. Here is what we have. 

This stuff taste really good and all of the ingredients just make me happy and excited that I would be getting all those nutrtients. But my body thinks otherwise... 

Anyone have any input on this? Because I can't seem to figure it out. 

I'm more exhausted than ever. My stomach did not digest this at all and it has been upset ever since. 

I'm trying to decide if I'll continue this or not. *sigh* I'll keep you updated on what I do. 

We had the smoothie for breakfast. 

Blueberries and Chocolate Smoothie

1 Banana

2 Cups Coconut Milk

1 Scoop of Green Super Food

1 1/2 Cup Blueberries

Ice to blend

Use a blender to mix all ingredients together.

Enjoy immediately 

The smoothie was really good. I can't complain about the taste. And it did fill me up.

Caleb's Input

Hungry, not satisfied, and he wanted protein. I can't ignore his complaints of hunger so I let him have chicken salad for lunch, and dinner. He really liked the smoothie so it is a good one! 

He doesn't really have to much to say, besides being really hungry all day. 

So on to day 2....

Seven Day Detoxifying Cleanse

This week Caleb and I are doing a cleanse. Most likely if you have internet, you've heard of the cleanses that are out there. They all have good and bad reviews. 99% of the time I eat very healthy, because I really don't have a choice. BUT I have found foods that aren't healthy that I can have. I've added a lot of starch and sugars back into my diet without really noticing it. I've just been feeling pretty crappy again and I know it's because of those little sneaky sugars. I recently had my first anxiety attack in months a couple weeks ago. And I know it's because I'm not fueling my body like I should be. 

Both Caleb and I want to be healthier, especially for our BIG day :) 

So a cleanse just made sense for the both of us. I'm really into those juice cleanses that for a few days all you consume is juice. But Caleb isn't to thrilled. (Guess I'll do that one by myself later one) I seriously wish we lived in California because they have little shops of juices EVERYWHERE! 
Anyways...

So I found a cleanse that has two meals are smoothies and one is a salad or soup. If you look up cleanses you'll find SO many. Just go with what you feel comfortable with. Some people can tolerate full harsh cleanses that only allow liquids. While some can not. That's why I think a cleanse that provides both keeps your body feeling strong and not deprived. 

Most cleanses do make you lose weight. But what they aren't telling you that it is water weight. Especially for females since we hold more water than males. (Yay us!) 

I am not doing the cleanse to lose weight, I'm doing it to feel healthier and get myself back on track since I've been really slacking lately. 

My goals for this cleanse: 

1. Cut out sugar. Again. 

2. Cut out carbs and cravings for them.

3. Gain energy.

4. Glowing skin (hopefully!) 

5. Feel overall healthier again

Calebs goals:

1. Feel healthier

2. Cut out junk food and cravings

3. Eat better

4. Build muscle

Our cleanse is going to be similar. The only difference is he will have more protein than me because his body needs it since at the gym he does more strength training than what I do. Yes, we will be still working out while on the cleanse. People say not to, but I don't agree. I think you should keep your gym habit while cleansing. 

My house already has a lot of healthy foods so doing this cleanse for us is about $20.00. But if you don't have most ingredients and have to buy everything, then yes it's going to be pricy. I won't lie. But isn't your health worth it? 

The cleanse we are doing is something that I actually came up with. It's combining a lot of different things because after researching cleanses, I felt that if I took things from each it would be beneficial. 

For seven days we will replace two meals with smoothies and have one meal. Most cleanses I found they tell you the meal that you could have was for dinner, but I feel like dinner should be the smallest so I changed that and the meal will be lunch. Gives your body time to burn off calories. 

For this cleanse you'll be able to eat:

Each day I'll post recipes of the smoothies and lunch. Also how we are feeling and more tips on cleansing! 

So stay tuned!! More information coming! 

:) 

May is Celiac Awareness Month

Happy May! May means Spring. Which means Summer is just around the corner. 

I love the month of May for A LOT of reasons. We are finally out of Winter and can start to enjoy warmer weather again! 

Also May is Celiac Awareness Month. To some it might not be important, but to others their lives depend on spreading awareness about the disease. 

I haven't got tested for Celiac through a medical doctor. But I went through a Naturopathy Doctor and all of my symptoms add up to Celiac. Hearing that you may have a disease can be heartbreaking. But I didn't want to continue letting the disease win so battling my health has helped me prevent further outbreaks. But I'm not of the water yet. To this day I still have symptoms, especially if I accidentally have anything with gluten. Changing my lifestyle has defiantly made me feel a lot better. I can't believe how far I have come. I used to be very sick. But you see, for some people who have the disease. They are struggling. It's hard on them because there is still so many people out there who don't understand the disease and just how deadly wheat and gluten can be to them. I can't imagine how hard it is on them because I know from experience by going out to eat can turn into a headache because the restaurant doesn't understand or just clearly doesn't care that you have special dietary needs. By spreading the awareness we can hopefully spread information on Celiac and how others can help. 

Below is a website all about Celiac. And if you complete the symptom checklist you can donate $5 towards awareness and funding to help doctors and specialist understand the disease more. 

http://www.celiaccentral.org/awarenessmonth/ 

So help spread awareness and share this with everyone!!! 

Creating Your Wedding Registry

Over the weekend Caleb and I made a plan to finish registering. We did a lot of it online, but some things we had to see in person. While registering, it should be fun and not stressful. Yes, things happen. Like for us for instance one of the places where we decided to register, the customer service wasn't very helpful and most the employees acted like it was their first day working. But we decided to ignore all of that and not let it ruin the experience. 

Picking out the things you want for your new life together is defiantly a bonding experience. You find out each others styles and tastes. If your styles clash, come to an agreement on things. For us, we have similar tastes and we know how we want to decorate because we've talked about it probably over a million times. 

So let's dive right into what are the basics that you need to register for? Registering can get overwhelming because you realize there is SO much stuff. Coming up with a checklist is a way to avoid all the stress. 

First here are some tips before you register.

1. Make it a date. Plan for as much time as you need so you don't feel rushed. 

2. Eat! No one likes to shop hungry. Same goes for when you are creating your registry. 

3. Make a checklist of things you need AND want.

4. Discuss your dreams and ideas for how you want to decorate your home together.

5. Have fun! Don't get stressed. This is one of the fun parts about planning a wedding. 

You can even browse online websites about registries and whatnot. I did that. But I kept looking and started to get overwhelmed because there is so much information out there. Everyone is going to have a say in what to register for and what to not register for. But in the end, it's your life and what someone might not want you might. So go ahead and register for it. 

Seriously, stick with the basics and add a few can't live without items and you'll be set. I've been told, in the end you'll end up with duplicates of items and will have to return them anyways. Plus, most registries give you a discount on items that weren't purchased. 

Here is a basic checklist to follow:

Of course you don't have to register for EVERYTHING you see on this list. It's just a guide. You can create your own list that fits you and your soon to be hubby. Once you do, get to registering!!

Checklist is from weddingchannel.com