Since losing my weight with Take Shape For Life and becoming a health coach through the same program, I've started noticing that I'm making more health-conscious decisions. It's interesting how in the last 3 years, our diet and lifestyle has changed and how far we've come from eating all the processed foods and canned fruits and veggies. Now, it's more time consuming, but something that is well worth it to me to know what is in everything we eat. I've had quite a few opinions made of me that said that once we have children, things will change and it's hard for me to accept that since it's so important to me. I'm not always in the kitchen making everything from scratch- I think ahead and make dried beans overnight in the crockpot the put in containers and freeze for future uses- it's so cheap and really easy with the use of my crockpot. .Things like that make it easy for me to use everything as fresh as possible while still having some convenience.
Needless to say, it does take some time and attention, but aren't those things more important than what's on TV or stressing over the health of your body but then not following through with all the changes you can make. I know not everyone is going to be like this and it's a choice for me that I choose to make, but in the process of doing all of this- I was told by a nutritionist to focus on gluten-free eating and through a webinar conference on infertility, it was also suggested to go dairy-free if possible. Both of those things are hard for me- I'm a carb lover and especially love cheese. A good grilled cheese just makes my day! Of course, those things had to change and it's all for the better. If you had a choice to change your life to affect your fertility, would you do it? I know most people don't need to worry about this, but we've been struggling with fertility for about a year and a half and I've just decided to do everything I can to give my body what it needs. If eating an apple instead of a piece of toast for breakfast makes a difference than I'm all for it!
So let's get into a little more of what the changes have involved. I've already hit on the gluten and dairy-free changes, but we've also added on daily fresh juice. We got a really great brand juicer for pretty cheap on craigslist and it's paid for itself in just the month or so that we've had it. We really look forward to making it each day and I'm slowly learning what we like and what we need to tweak each day to get a juice we'll love. The best part of juicing is knowing that I'm giving only the freshest fruits and veggies to my body and I can just imagine the nutrients and vitamins that my body is getting. We don't buy organic necessarily, but we buy only local veggies and fruit so many of the farmer's can't afford to do the necessary paperwork and go through the red tape to be certified organic, but they don't use the non-organic pesticides so I take comfort in that.
Sugar is my one weakness- I tell myself that if I'm eating a gluten-free cookie than it's ok but really it's hard to completely give up sugar for me. With my cake decorating every time there's cake around I feel the need to eat just a little and that sometimes turns into more than a little. I think the key for me is going to be not keeping it in the house and making sure what I do keep in the house is homemade and as low sugar as possible while still feeling decadent. That's a hard thing to do so I'll have to do some searching for how to do that.
On top of all of those changes, I'm having knee surgery in a few weeks which kind of prevents me from hitting the gym. I don't like the gym normally so taking a break is okay with me, but I want to do what's best for my body and once I'm there, I don't mind getting in as much exercise as possible to get healthy for a future baby.
Just a side note- the following is said from my soap box so if you'd rather, just skip to the end of the post. It's not meant to be mean to anyone and I have great encouragement and admiration for those Mothers that are in my life. I've had an amazing replacement mom (I don't like to use the word stepmom for her) and a spectacular mother-in-law so I can't complain. I've had great examples of what mothers need to be in my life and I can't say anything more positive to these people as words don't describe it enough. Anyway, I'm on my soap-box now....You may have noticed that I'm writing this on Mother's Day which might not seem odd to you, but it's my way of making sure that the getting the information out there without making people upset that I'm being selfish. It's easy for everyone to focus on the Mothers that have children and that's the way it should be, but I also don't want people to forget and to keep in the back of their mind that there might be people out there who are struggling to become a Mother and would like nothing else in the world so the day is a hard one. For me, it's always been hard since my mom died when I was 12 and now with wanting to have a child and not being able to, it's hard for me to focus on the positive. Everywhere you look today, there are so many greetings for Mother's Day and that's all great- but no one remembers the people who want to be a mother and can't. Why can't we recognize these people as well while still giving credit to the people that are doing an amazing job as mothers to their children? Now a-days it seems that mothers often feel it's not their duty to take care of their children all the time and fathers step in as a mother too- why can't we remember these people as well? My brother is one of those and I'm so proud of him for what he's done for his children. Anyway, off my soap-box now.
I hope all of those that read this will have a wonderful Mothers Day- I greatly admire you for your time and commitment to your family and for the energy that it takes above and beyond what your body is probably capable of! I didn't mean to make this post so long, I guess I was just wordy today. Enjoy a fabulous day with your families!
