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I thought I would go a little more into detail about my journey to clean eating with Arbonne, which has really helped me get much healthier and reduced my waistline as a great side effect.
It all started years and years ago when I did a Whole30 and started to realize what my body could easily process and what it could not. The only problem was, years ago, I was marching in place, telling myself that since I knew this I needed to give up gluten and dairy and most sugar. But I just wasn’t willing to make permanent changes at that time.
Baby Steps, Nothing More!
Fast forward to late June 2017 and I finally started to make changes. It started with baby steps, no takeout or fast food or microwave dinners for every meal. I started to cook more at home. Not necessarily the healthiest things and I was still consuming things I knew bothered me, but small changes where happening, the weight did start to come off, but I wasn’t really getting any health benefits. I did a couple months of the Arbonne 28-day Detox* challenge and had amazing success and saw some great health changes. But once again, instead of taking the information I learned about my body and sticking to eating healthy, it was back to the baby steps, not yet willing to make those major lasting changes. “Everyone has fast food every once and a while, why can’t I??” “It’s better than what I was eating before.” Yeah, it was those type of thoughts that keep me in idle instead of moving forward.
It wasn’t till January of 2018 that I really started to make myself address the fact that I needed to make changes. I have a very rare autoimmune disease called Histamine Intolerance, which in a nut shell, means my body can’t breakdown the histamines naturally found in food, so they just build up in my body, causing crazy amounts of inflammation, which leads to a lot of other issues. In January 2018 my bad food choices combined with my histamine intolerance lead to a couple bad asthma attacks, one that was life threatening and landed me in the ER. I finally had to really address this issue and to me that didn’t mean being on small doses of steroids, anti-inflammatories, and anti-histamines for the rest of my life. I needed to address this at the root, with my food choices.
Major Changes were coming!
I started to make major changes in the beginning of 2018. Most dairy came out of my diet. I still allowed myself a couple cheeses, which were low in histamines and still had some foods I knew I shouldn’t. But I was finally moving towards major changes. I gave up most fast food. I started to drastically cut back on gluten and sugar, usually only eating them when I went out or was at someone else’s house for a meal. I started to feel a little better. But then I ended up in the doctor’s office again with another bad asthma attack.
That was it. My life was about it change!
I started to viciously cut out all foods I knew I shouldn’t be eating. I started following clean eating food bloggers. All dairy except Ghee was gone. No gluten, except for very very rare occasions. I drastically cut the amount of sugar I was consuming to basically zero. I started making almost all my meals at home. I brought in breakfast and lunches to work, I cooked or heated up leftovers at home for dinner. My goal was to make most of my diet come from whole, unprocessed foods. I used what I learned from my Arbonne 28-day Detox* program and used their products daily to really make major lifetime changes.
The pounds started to come off quickly, but the biggest thing for me was that I was getting healthy again! My asthma was getting so much better, I could go on walks for exercise without wheezing by the end of a couple blocks and my emergency inhaler was sitting in my purse not being used. I was sleeping better, my acid reflux was gone, my skin was looking better, I no longer had that 3pm crash, the bloating and stomach issues were gone, the brain fog was a thing of the past, and overall, I was just so much happier. It is amazing how much our mood and approach to life is connected to how we are feeling physically.
Living Healthy, Finally!
Over the last year or so as I continued my clean eating journey with Arbonne, I really cut back even further, now that my body is functioning so much better, I was so much more aware of what bothers me and what I can eat without problems. For me, I can do most rice and sweet potatoes/yams, but any form of white potatoes and quinoa bother me. Sugar is a major issue for me, both as a trigger and as a body inflammatory. I cut out most caffeine, can’t give up my Fizz Sticks (more of a histamine thing, but I am really loving it), gluten is an extremely rare treat, and the amount of vegetables I consumed was drastically increased. Almost all the food I eat comes from whole foods, I try to keep it around 85-90%. I love that I don’t have to do hours of food prep on the weekends due to the incorporation of my Arbonne products, but also love that I am also really learning how to make quick and easy healthy meals as well, clean eating doesn’t have to be time consuming and tedious! Also I love the support I get from the Arbonne Healthy Living groups, which include not only encouragement but recipes (we even have guides when you join our Facebook Groups will meals all laid out for your first 28 days)!
Yes, it was hard, but the benefits far outweigh the work you will have to put in and the emotions you will go through. I could’t believe how quickly it became habit! If I can do it, everyone can! Also, please remember to be kind to yourself through this journey, it isn’t an easy one and no one is perfect. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip, just get back on your journey at the next meal. Don’t wait till the next Monday, or the next month, forgive yourself for the step backwards and get moving forward again right away! And do not compare yourself to others. We don’t know what their journey really looks like, how hard they are working to get there, or what obstacles they may have to face, stay focused on your journey and taking steps to getting to where you want to go!
Now here we are in May 2020 and I am still on my healthy journey and have lost over 50 pounds and kept it off. I am still working on my healthy daily with plans to lose a lot more, but am so happy to still be on my healthy living journey. If I had one take away from my journey to clean eating with Arbonne, it is that I recommend doing a restrictive clean eating elimination program* for about one to three months and then slowly add in different foods and see what works best with your body while keeping it clean 80% of the time. It really becomes easy to stick to it once those habits are formed and you learn how much better you can feel. Trust in the process! By eating clean, whole, unprocessed foods, you will see a difference in your health and have a nice side benefit of those jeans fitting better! By adjusting the foods you eat, you can start your path of becoming your healthiest you. I am so glad I started this health journey and decided to focus more on getting my body healthy and not just the number on the scale!
Want to join me on a healthy living, clean eating journey, check out the links below!
*If you are looking for a program that is simple and has amazing results, send me a quick message and we can chat about the Arbonne 28-day Healthy Living Program. It is a great clean eating program that is amazing for both beginners and clean eating pros looking for a reset. It does not require anywhere near as much food prep or meal planning as other programs and is completely vegan, gluten and dairy free, and clear of any harmful additives. We take clean eating very seriously at Arbonne and even have challenges where you will be coached by not only me but also a with group coaching on Facebook, along with recipes and tips and tricks to get you going strong. Ask me how you can get 40% off these products!
I am not a doctor or in the medical profession and do not offer any medical advice on this blog. I only recount my personal journey and make recommendations based on what has worked for me.Results may vary and are not guaranteed.
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