I have always strived to eat healthy, the best that I knew how. But in the beginning of 2010 everything changed. My second daughter was born, and I was forced to change my whole way of eating. About 2 weeks after she was born she had a rash all over her face. It looked like the worst case of baby acne. She also had stopped sleeping, she cried all the time. I had been down this road before with my first child so I had an idea of what was going on. My first daughter, Madelyn, had a rash on her face when she was a few months old and would always scream an hour after her meals. The doctors kept saying it was baby acne and reflux but it just did not seem right to me. I googled for hours one night and diagnosed her with a dairy allergy. I stopped eating dairy (since I was her supply of milk) and she cleared right up and slept again (hallelujah). My newborn was now acting the same way. I got off dairy and she was better but still had a rash and would cry in pain an hour after she ate. The doctors kept saying she had "Colic" and it would eventually get better. That answer did not work for me, colic does not give you a rash. Again I googled for hours. I found there are 8 top allergenic foods that account for 90% of all food allergies. (http://www.foodallergy.org/
Milk, Egg, Peanut, Wheat, Tree nut, Fish,
Shellfish & Soy
I decided the only way to know which one it was, was to stop eating those foods and see if she got better. I had already stopped dairy so I decided to do the next 3 that were the highest allergenic foods, eggs, wheat and soy. Guess what? She got better, but more surprisingly I was feeling better. This was the start of realizing that the way I had been feeling for years was not normal.
I remember a few weeks after eating this way, I said to my sister "so after you eat something, even only a small amount, you don't feel sick or bloated?" I had known this for so long it seemed the norm. I would hate going to events or parties at night because my stomach would hurt and be so bloated that I could not button my pants by the end of the day. After a few weeks of this new "diet" I felt amazing. I had an endoscopy to make sure there was no sign of Celiac since I felt so great off gluten. The results came back negative for Celiac Disease but the doctor said there was a lot of stomach inflammation. At my follow up appointment with him, he gave me a list of medicines that I could take daily to help with the inflammation. I was frustrated. I asked him how long I would have to take them and he said "I don't know, we will try 6 months and then see if it gets better". I asked him what was causing the inflammation? He said "we don't know but this medicine with help it". I was frustrated. He wanted to cover up the problem instead of telling me how to make it go away and NEVER come back!
Me and google became great friends again. I learned about wheat, how it's processed so much that it actually causes inflammation in our bodies because we have a hard time digesting it. I learned about milk and what they give the cows that we end up putting in our bodies which make it hard to digest. I learned about sugar, that they bleach it to make it look better. The list could go on and on. My eyes were open and I could never go back. I started down the road of buying Organic when I could. I learned how deficient our bodies are of vitamins and minerals.
I started eating clean about a year ago. I lost 30 pounds never counting a calorie. I ate foods and ingredients that my body would recognize and know how to get rid of it. I make almost everything from scratch. I have some chips and crackers which I will never give up but the ingredients are clean. The fewer the ingredients the better it is. 
Look at your ingredients in your store bought items. Are you willing to eat each ingredient separately? If not, then maybe you shouldn't eat it when its combined together!
I am currently a Certified Fitness Instructor and have taught kickboxing, strength training and spin. My favorite right now is spin, there's nothing like sweating from every pore. I love sprint triathlons and am training to do 4 more this year. Fitness is a big role in staying healthy. Exercise is important for your body and your mind. If you don't use it, you will lose it!
If you want to change your meal times to healthier, cleaner foods that your family deserves but still taste good, you have come to the right place. I have done the dirty work for you. There are so many blogs that claim to have the tastier recipes and then you try it and it tastes awful. No more need for that. I have tried it for you and if it tastes good I will let you know so you can make it too!
