Nourish

So where to begin? ....well from the beginning is where.

When I had just barely turned 19 life shattered for what felt like the 1000th time. I faced what I felt like to be a major heart break, a major trial in my life at that time and what little self-esteem I had seemed to diminish completely.  I quit the secure and well paying job I had had for two years, I moved out of my Mom's house into an apartment full of strange girls, I signed up for school at SLCC and thought I was going to be able to pull myself out of this one.  And I did but it wasn't through some pursue of a career I wasn't even sure about or trying to become independent or spontaneous.
One of my good friends at the time whom is still one of my closest was experimenting with something called the Raw Food Diet. Well for me, me who consumed a dozen crispy creme doughnuts in one sitting, I thought she was a fool!  At about this time I had picked up a job at Borders Books and on breaks had picked up a book by this guy and for some reason well, I WAS IN.

This is where the fire started.

The next day I was in the grocery store buying all the fresh vegetables, fruit, and antioxidant foods I could get my hands on. I became a regular at Good Earth.  I started with eliminating all junk (sugar, sweets) out of my diet, low sodium, eating lots of healthy protein and fruits and vegetables, drinking tons of water, and this is where I got into yoga as well.  After a few months I had gained 15 healthy pounds and could actually say I was happy.  This was different though. This happy felt different. I could look myself in the mirror and honestly say that I loved myself.  I cared enough about and loved myself enough to actually think about what I was putting into my body it was this beautiful cycle that was happening.  After about 6 months I realized that this was me now it wasn't a passing trend of a "diet",  that eating healthy and taking care of my body was a part of who I was and always needed to be.  I moved to South Carolina and then Hawaii and then back home all the while experimenting with everything from raw to vegan, to vegetarian, and doing several different varieties of cleanses.  From the time I had started over a two year time period I had gained 26 healthy pounds ( I had been quite under weight, tall and bones aka a lurp) And was running up to 18 miles training for a marathon.  All the while  this monumental change had been going on other small steps were being taken as well. I was active in Church again, I received this special guidance, and....I....was....progressing...with a heart mended and full of hope.  Now 6 years down the road and here I am busily bustling around in my kitchen daily with the privilege and goal of not only nourishing myself but the ones I am lucky enough to call mine.

So really what I am saying is my "lifestyle"/"eating habits" are not a mere passing trend, or calorie counting or trying to get my body to conform to a worldly standard of beauty....they are to NOURISH this  gift and miracle of a body that I am blessed with and to instill in my children the importance of self-worth and respecting their bodies.


Extra: WOW

P.S. In an effort to splash some sun into these chilly days we have been having, we have been eating some deliciously healthy frozen treats while staying warm by the fire.  Post coming soon.