a side note about RULES

Just wanted to throw this side note in...

I have had a few people tell me over the years that I have too many rules about food. I have been doing a lot of thinking about this. After all, this whole journey is to learn to grow into a happy and healthier me. I can only do that by taking the input and seeing if and how it is affecting me and make adjustments accordingly. So, here are the "rules" that seem to fit into the "too many rules" category. 1-I don't eat meat, 2-little to no refined sugar, 3-little to no dairy, 4-no sodas, 5-basically no caffeine, only occassional green tea, 6-no artificial sweeteners, 7-no smoking, drugs, alcohol and 8-no gluten. Let me just tell you why I have these guidelines. I started my life not enjoying meat. I was very small and didn't really grow at the typical rate. From what I recall my mom telling me, after being in the hospital for a few days for tests, all they found was that I was anemic. So, my memories of dinner are my dad yelling at me to eat meat. I was little, so I could be remembering it wrong, but that is how I remember it. I know my dad was doing everything he could to make me be healthy, so how could I fault him. I just know that I never liked meat, and I never felt like I was allowed to make the choice of NOT eating it. So, now, as an adult, I have the ability to really think about what I DO want to put into my body. I know that refined sugar is both not healthy for your teeth and body AND it increases inflamation, causing my joints to hurt. Milk affects my body the same way. Sodas, caffeine, artificial sweeteners are all not good for your body and the functioning of your body. One exception, small amounts of caffeine can aid in concentration some studies find. #7, well smoking and drugs, I don't think need any explaination. The alcohol..well, much of it has gluten, but I have never really enjoyed the taste of it, so why eat it? Last one is gluten. Well, I can't eat it as I have explained in the blog early on, due to celiac disease. So, I guess the bottom line is, I eat the foods that I want to eat because they make me feel good and healthy, not sore. I am not saying that if you eat any of those things that's bad. I am saying that for me, those things are not a good choice for my body.

Hope that clarifies my "rules".

Learning and growing into a healthier me!
~Cindy Lou