What was the impetus for your change of lifestyle
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I saw a documentary on netflix changed my world upside down
Challenged everything I knew about food
I forget what it was called
Lol. One video rocked your entire world and you can't remember the name of it? Well I guess we all have brain freezes. What was it about? I bet we can help you figure it out.0 -
It all started for me in January/February of this year.
I think at first it was me deciding to get off of the anti-anxiety drugs that I was on. I remember watching a documentary (I think it was "The Marketing of Madness") which I remember made me cry at the concept that I actually wanted to put drugs in my body that would completely alter the chemistry of my brain (I was also going through severe withdrawals over a month or so, one week being so bad I could barely function).
I think from there my boyfriend and I started to watch more random documentaries that we found interesting, and that is how we learned about GMOs. I think it was the documentary "Genetic Roulette" that we first watched. After that we both became obsessed with wanting to learn more and watched more documentaries and started reading more.
I believe it was when we watched a video or two on Youtube about the discredited 2 year study in France about the harmful effects of GMOs (I can't find the link to the full video right now, unfortunately.) It was like the pictures of those mice full of tumors and the actual graphs and scientific data that was shown really slapped us both in the face. After it was done we both got up, went right into the kitchen, and threw out everything we had that had or could possibly have GMO in it - and that was A LOT of food.
Since then we've tried our best to do what we can to only buy GMO free products, but it's been a slow process. We still both eat fast-food more than we should (in my opinion) but we do eat it a lot less, and do not buy anything processed. It's hard with me being a student and not having a well-paying job - organic food is so much money - but we've been working at it a little bit at a time. Since we stopped eating anything processed his constant heartburn and acid reflux has almost entirely dissipated, I have more energy, and my temperament is a MILLION times better.
Moving towards clean eating is the best thing I think we've ever done.0 -
I didn't care about clean eating at first. I began with exercise. After losing 4 pounds in 8 weeks with only exercise during the holiday season I began what could I accomplish if I watched what I ate. My trainer began making suggestions that gradually steered me toward clean eating. 83 pounds later I'd say the combo works.0
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After it was done we both got up, went right into the kitchen, and threw out everything we had that had or could possibly have GMO in it - and that was A LOT of food.
Since then we've tried our best to do what we can to only buy GMO free products, but it's been a slow process. We still both eat fast-food more than we should (in my opinion) but we do eat it a lot less, and do not buy anything processed. It's hard with me being a student and not having a well-paying job - organic food is so much money - but we've been working at it a little bit at a time. Since we stopped eating anything processed his constant heartburn and acid reflux has almost entirely dissipated, I have more energy, and my temperament is a MILLION times better.
Moving towards clean eating is the best thing I think we've ever done.
So happy that things are going so well for you guys... a lot of my fiance's digestive issues have disappeared since we hardly eat processed food now. And it IS so hard to eat clean on a budget, I'm so grateful for summertime and farmer's markets right now.0 -
83 pounds later I'd say the combo works.
THAT IS SERIOUSLY AWESOME!! Love it.0 -
Wow, these are great stories. Thnk you for
Mine is pretty simple. I completely changed my way of thinking about food in 2006 when I found out I was pregnant. Before then, I was only concerned w calories to keep weight off. So, diet-this and fake-food-that, I had no problem with. But when I discovered I was pregnant, it overwhelmed me that what I was putting into my body every day, every bite, affected this person growing inside of me. Pretty much blew my mind thinking about it. I immediately didn't touch anything with a chemical, nothing artificial, and just have been eating all natural ever since. I buy organic when I can, but buying natural is not negotiable.
Now that I am feeding my kids, I want the same for them. I want them to realize what is food and what is not, and I want them to fuel their body with healthy choices. So far it's worked beautifully. My kids don't care about junk food and have never eaten off a kids menu. They eat exactly what we eat and love all kinds of food like curry and pesto. My oldest asks for broccoli & other veggies. It's just all he knows. I definitely let him pick out cookies or whatever at the store sometimes, but ithas to be all natural, and often we'll just make it at home instead. We joke about the ingredients in some foods, like "Can you get the BHT (or yellow #5, etc) from the cabinet?" It, of course, has it's challenges outside the house though
Anyway! The baby in my belly is what changed my way of thinking of food!
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My Impetus for change? Two fold really. I used to work in feature films (movies) as a location manager. 18-20 hour days for weeks on end. Outrageous stress. My last movie I got to the point one day where I had the owner of our main location screaming obscenities at me, and threatening not only me--but to interfere with production ( a big NO NO!). I hadn't eaten, my blood sugar dropped to the point that I was passing out. I felt like my heart was going to explode and couldn't breathe. I left the movie early--and never looked back. Unfortunately, the amount of stress took its toll. I was exhausted all of the time.
I went to my Dr--as feeling like I was going to cry if I didn't get a nap did not seem normal to me. I felt like I was on the edge of a health abyss....I KNEW that if I didn't so something that I would get into a diseased state. Dr did all kinds of blood work. Nothing. He put me on thyroid meds....didn't help. I finally found a naturopath. She tested me ( muscle test) for deficiencies, bacteria, viruses, fungus, parasites, heavy metals. I had a lot going on! She put me on a building cleanse ( NOTHING like the fad cleanses you see out there) with homeopathics, tinctures and supplements that my body needed. Plus a good tea and awesome fiber that makes you poop, and sweeps a clean path in the gut. I still remember the day my body purged some kind of fecal grossness--i felt like a shroud had been removed from my brain, and I could breath deeper than I had in a long time. I was so relieved and so thankful that I cried! lol.
Then I I was doing research for a project about alternative therapies ( food, medicine primarily). For my research I watched lots of documentaries to see what was out there in the way of real evidence and what was just "out there". It's a mixed bag....but for certain I was compelled to look further into Genetically modified foods--just what all the hype was. What I found was that companies that started out making chemicals--namely Monsanto--though there others, were buying up the patents on seeds with a claim of Essential Equivalence. Meaning the GM version of a particular breed was essentially equivalent to it's natural counterpart. This struck a deep chord in me---how can something be a unique invention/technology to warrant a patent --yet at the same time be "essentially" the same as it's natural non-modified counterpart? And who would approve such things? The FDA of course.
So I researched the process of approval for the FDA. Did you know that the head of the FDA~Michael Taylor~ is a former lobbyist and attorney for Monsanto. I was floored, appalled and sickened that politics was taking precedent in our food chain. and that someone like Michael Taylor was able to come into the government entity designed solely to protect the heath and welfare of the american people....and help write the approval process for GMO's was not only a conflict of interest, but absolutely unconscionable.
I owe it to myself, my family and the children who don't have parents that know that food can either feed and nourish you or add to the progression of disease. I am absolutely all about trying to make sure food companies know that the additives, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors that they put into OUR food--items banned in other countries for decades--is unacceptable, and must be changed! There are so many people out there in the regular forums who absolutely take for granted the health and safety of our food--thinking that is the job of the FDA to make sure what we put in our mouths is "good" for us. The sad truth is that so many toxins have been labeled "safe" for human consumption...the list is truly endless!
I am in development on a project right now that deals with many food issues and chronic illness that may be improved with a change in diet. More on that later!
This!! Everything you said!
My change started about 2008 when a co-worker had the book "Skinny *****". I picked it up and thought, how funny! Someone ranting about food and diets with vulgar language, I must read! HaHa! Little did I know that that book would put my on the journey it has. I had no idea about all of the research and chemistry and lying that comes from the food industry. I was ignorant and naive.
Later came Jillian Michaels "master your metabolism". I love everything Jillian Michaels, so I read this book in one day. Again, I was in shock over "frankenfoods" and the "chemical **** storm" I was eating every day. My mind was blown when she told her own story about how the "diet" foods she was eating and what it was doing to her body internally, even though she still looked amazing on the outside.
I think I was most angry when I started looking at labels on foods marketed for children. Most of the foods had NO real food at all, they were all chemicals. I actually cried about it in the store. I felt so betrayed and lied to. I didn't understand how an entire industry devoted to feeding people could consciously do this. I still dont get it.
Since then I have read and watched many books and movies including Forks over Knives, Food Inc. I follow websites by Dr Greger.
I'm doing the best I can to teach my son and any one who will listen about food, where it comes from and what its purpose is. In this society where everything is about quick, fast, and satiety regardless of the cost, I feel it is a daily battle.
I see some boards on here and see what people are eating, where their only goal is the # on the scale. I get that part, but I find it scary that people dont think about the actual purpose of food--NUTRITION!
I'm happy to have found this group of like minded individuals!!0 -
I just read through all of your stories--some for a second or third time--some for the first! I am so glad that there is an awakening happening with food....and that many of us have come to the same point in the "road" via different paths.
It is very much evident to me that we live in a hedonistic food society. We want it cheap, now, and lot's of it. We want to bury our heads in the sand and lay the responsibility for safety in the hands of gov't officials. And we don't want to know the ugly truth! But....it's changing! Person by person....baby steps! Just think of how different your pantry looks now as compared to just one year ago!
I never thought that I would turn away from our weekly trips to McDonalds.....which made life soooo easy, and children soooooo happy. And I never thought that I would have my kids on board with giving up those trips in favor of vegetables they have never tried. But having a heart to heart with my boys....it made a huge difference.
I am encouraged when I read the seeds of change a they unfold in all of your lives! Thanks for sharing!!0
