Three tips for Success

This past week was rough getting back into the groove of things after vacation. It was hard to concentrate and perform at my best at my 9-5. The reason for that would be that it is not what I really want to do for the rest of my life. Now is not the time for me to leave my 9-5 to pursue sharing wellness full-time. So how do you continue to pursue your dream but make money until your plan becomes lucrative?

At the beginning of anything, it is a struggle. You will have to put extra time and energy into what you are creating while still working for someone else. Whether that is a corporate job or bartending in the evenings. As I stated in "Building Rome," it is a process.

Everything has a process that takes time to complete and maintain. I have been rebuilding my gut microbiomes for over a month and a half now, and I can handle small amounts of gluten again. I try to avoid it when I can, but when I can not, I have tiny quantities to rebuild the microbiomes so that if I am somewhere that only has gluten-filled options, I can still eat without getting bloated or sick.

Slowly over time, the microbiomes will rebuild. Not overwhelming them will minimize discomfort, bloating, and/or pain. For example, when my husband and I went to the 50th anniversary Iola car show, they did not have fruit or vegetable options for food. What they had were sandwiches and desserts filled with gluten. Thankfully, I had a good breakfast burrito that held me over for a good portion of the day. When my husband got lunch of a soft pretzel and a steak sandwich, I had a few bites of the pretzel and sandwich so that I got some food but not overwhelming my gut to ruin the remainder of the day for myself.

When we went to my father inlaws birthday dinner the past weekend, we had burgers, brats, crab salad, pasta salad, and pinwheels. I brought some greens for myself to have with my burger. I also had some of the crab salad and a few pinwheels. I had no bloating, discomfort, or diarrhea after. This is the first time in over 2 years that gluten-filled items did not make me sick.

Doing Keto destroyed my gut microbiomes from the extreme food restrictions I put on myself. Yes, I lost weight, slept well, and my daily body aches went down. It was not something sustainable for the rest of my life. Eating out or spending quality time with friends or family became very difficult without having unique recipes made just for me. What a pain in the ass to make special meals for just one person when you are having a group of 20 getting together.

Yes, I promote a plant-based diet. That does not mean I am vegan or vegetarian. I still eat meat on occasion. I want a widely diverse diet filled with lots of colors. Yes, some of the meals I make are entirely vegan or vegetarian. I also make medertaranian, keto, whole 30, and vegetarian meals. When I say plant-based, I mean the base of your meals should be plants.

Finding menu options after doing the fiber-fueled 30 had me scrolling through Pinterest, downloading plant-based recipe books on my kindle, and just looking up recipes online. As I read several recipe books, most had smoothies and chia or flax pudding variations. Do not get me wrong, I love a good smoothie or pudding, but after 30 days of having different variations of those, I was burnt out on them. I wanted burritos, hashbrowns, hash, and other things that were not pureed or some form of mush for breakfast. After researching, I would find ones that I felt my family would still enjoy and that were good for all of us. I did not want to make several meals for the five of us. One because I work full time, two, I am also in school, and third, I am a wife, mother, and friend and have to manage my time wisely.

Menu planning and food prep at the beginning of the week was a tremendous help. The kids would also help with the food prep, and it excited them to eat the fresh fruit and vegetables and some of the smoothie mixtures we concocted together. I filled my grocery cart with an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, then I would add the dairy products for the kids (I do not eat dairy very much as it irritates my gut), then our grains, and lastly, meat (which consisted of fish and chicken). We purchase a cow and 2 pigs from a local farmer who supplies us with all our beef and pork for the year.

We have been buying locally grown and processed for over 6 years now and love the meats' freshness and lower fat content. If you have the option to buy locally, do so. You will notice a massive difference in a short period. The same goes for your eggs. We have chickens and have not bought eggs from the store in 6 years.

Now that I have rambled about food prep, menu options, local buying, and diversity, where do you start?

First:

I started with the menu planning by researching several recipes. I pinned, printed, and wrote down probably 30 recipes. This set me up for when I would go to the local market; I could select produce that was in season and make those recipes. The prices are lower if you buy what is in season.

Second:

I went grocery shopping with my recipe ingredients list and selected enough food for one week's worth of meals.

Third:

I food-prepped all the products after getting home. Packaged them all up in containers and placed them in the fridge. This helps when you have a busy evening and need to whip something together quickly because you have all your produce cut up and ready to be cooked immediately.

Back to the beginning of this ramble, this is a process. You have to retrain your gut, mind, and body. You will have days when you fall back on old eating habits because you ran out of time to meal prep or are tired. Adding in these three steps can help you eat the best you can most of the time. Finding meals you like, can cook, and fit within your budget or local area for produce will take time.

After making your own meals, you will find you want to switch things up or put your own spin on them. Go for it, be adventurous, add lots of colors, try new things, and do not hold back.

💖,

The Wellness Blondie

I would love to know, what do you think?