Do you ever feel like you're not taken seriously whenever you say you've decided to eat organic or raw foods? I've been there too and this is how I have and still am dealing with it.
I would like to start off my first blog by telling you all a
bit about me and what has led me to live a more healthy and organic lifestyle.
It’s been a very hard road but a very worthwhile one. I’ve learnt so much in a
short amount of time. I’ve only just turned 20 and have made a promise to
myself to be healthy in every aspect of my life. But because I’m still learning
and taking a lot of stuff in, I’ve mainly just focused on the food I eat,
exercising, removing those nasty toxins from my body and making sure I get a
good night’s sleep without taking any kind of medication. I can tell you right
now, from doing these few things, I really have noticed a massive change. Not
only in my health, but how I view my life also and how badly I was looking
after myself all these years (if you can even call it looking after yourself).
It’s amazing to think that I thought I was doing all the right things, by
following fad diets and exercising until I was going to pass out. I used to
treat my body so badly.
Basically I just wanted to be thin, that was my goal.
Now I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder; this is purely a self
diagnosis here but there were warning signs that were ignored. I remember
starting a journal; I wrote in it every day, it was basically a diary to just
put me down in every way imaginable. Reading back on it, half of it didn’t even
make sense because my mind was just so jumbled. I made a collage of skinny
celebrities titled 'Thinspiration' and I also printed pages of photos of
Mary-Kate Olsen, because I desired to look like her and I kept it in this
journal and I would look at it before bed, if I felt hungry, if I felt horrible
about myself, before I worked out, etc. I circled parts of her body that I
wanted to achieve to have and it was always her thighs. I just wanted thin
thighs, it was the one part of my body that I absolutely hated. I would wake up
every morning, the only thing I would consume that day would be a coffee and
then I would do an intense workout. But after all this, I never lost weight; in
fact I sometimes put on weight and that of course would make me feel so much
worse, which meant I would write more horrible things about myself in my
journal, print out more photos and look at thinspiration websites. These
websites are for girls who desire to be thin and go to these sites to help one
other and offer advice. Such advice would include eating half an apple for
breakfast, the other half for lunch and then half a cucumber for dinner.
Another piece of advice was to eat while standing in front of the mirror,
because that way, it wouldn’t make you want to eat anymore. While reading this,
I was taking all this advice on board. Looking back, I wondered how nobody
noticed that there was something wrong with me, but I also know that people
with eating disorders can hide it very well, which clearly I did.
I’m too sure
what it was exactly that brought me back to earth, maybe I hit rock bottom
without realizing, maybe it was my brother being diagnosed with cancer, or
maybe I just came to my senses. Or it could be all of these things. I always
took time off work because I was constantly getting headaches and feeling so
sick, I thought I was going to faint. I always wanted to travel and even worked
2 jobs for most of the time, but because I was always taking time off, I never
had enough money to do what I truly want to do. I even had to take a month off
because I had a mental breakdown at work and my boss was so worried about me.
Even after seeking help and finally overcoming this problem,
I was still feeling worse for wear. I just couldn’t figure it out. The main
thing I noticed, was that I was constantly exhausted, not tired, exhausted. Almost
as if I had used all my energy on something, when really I hardly did anything
that day. I thought I was doing everything right, I would sleep the recommended
hours for an adult, if I was tired during the day, I would nap for 15 minutes.
Sometimes even if I was tired I wouldn’t nap just so I could get to sleep that
night, but still no luck. I was lost and so frustrated. What was I doing wrong?
I didn’t want to see a doctor in case they prescribed me sleeping pills and I
just had this feeling that there was so much more to it than just anaemia or insomnia
or something like that. So I turned to a friend, Anna, she was more of a mutual
friend at the time. She was friends with my sister and I knew that she was
someone that lives a very organic lifestyle, something I’ve never seen before.
Because I was friends with her on facebook, she would post things that really
intrigued me. So I thought to myself “why not just ask her if she recommends
anything, it can’t hurt to ask”. I was gobsmacked at the response. She
genuinely gave me an answer and helped me along the way. She told me about this
spray called ‘melatonin’ that helps you get to sleep and these amazing
supplements that rid of toxins from your body. I was amazed! I was kind of
expecting her to just tell me to change my diet and nothing else, but she
really genuinely cared. Obviously your diet has a lot to do with your health,
but there are contributing factors, such as the toxins we have in our blood
stream. So I ordered this spray and the supplements and could not wait to get
them in the mail.
The first night I used the spray, I wasn’t too sure what I
was expecting. But let me tell you, it works like a treat. It doesn’t give you
a feeling of drowsiness; it just makes you feel like you’re going to sleep
naturally. It’s incredible. I felt so refreshed in the morning and couldn’t
wait to tell people about it. But most of my friends were a bit sceptical,
telling me that if it works that well, it must be a drug. Even though I was
telling them that it was completely safe and completely organic. That’s one
thing I’ve learned about changing my lifestyle, is that people are so quick to
judge and put you down for it. But you can’t argue with how someone’s life has
drastically changed in only the space of a month. With the help of Anna, who
has been like a rock for me during this difficult time, I feel so much
healthier, I can think more clearly, I feel more positive about certain things
and more importantly, I’m the happiest I have ever been. I don’t care about my
weight, I care about how I feel on the inside and how I’m treating my body and
ultimately that shows on the outside anyway. It’s a hard transition to make especially
when you have lived a certain way for a long time. But that makes it so much
worth it. When you haven’t really treated yourself right for a long time, the
moment that you do, you notice it and you appreciate it that much more!
Now that this blog has gone on for quite a while, I want to
end it with a bit of advice. If you’re someone who is just starting out, or has
judgmental friends and family, or you may not have many resources; do as much
research as you possibly can! Don’t jump into it straight away, because it can
be very daunting and can be all a bit too much which then will make you not
want to change your lifestyle at all. An eBook that I recommend that really
helped me with all of this in the beginning is called “So you want to be a raw
foodist” by Emma MacDougall, please read this first as it will make you feel a
bit better about how to deal with certain situations as, eating out at a
restaurant with friends when you have changed your eating habits and how to
incorporate raw foods into your diet gradually, etc. Read plenty more of these
type of books as it will help you gradually get into it all. I have also
recently joined a website called “meet-up” where you can meet up with people
with the same interests as you that are in your area, so if you plan on eating
raw, vegetarian, vegan etc. There are people who want to that too and these
people have plenty of experience, so not only can they offer cooking advice but
also personal advice, it is an Australian site but regardless of where you’re
from, there’s bound to be something similar. I have yet to attend one yet, but
I cannot wait to see what it all entails and I cannot wait to tell you all
about it! But please remember to do as much research as possible, don’t tell
too many people about this new transition, this will avoid any judgements and
ridicule, wait until you are confident and keep a journal (not one that bashes
you – a healthy journal that will help you)
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The supplements I take to get rid of the toxins in my body
