Well, apparently I am a blog slacker. I think when things are going great, I am much more motivated to write and when things aren't as great...I am unsure about what to say or what attitude to have. Regardless, it has been too long and you are due for a much-needed update.

We are still "participating" in the nutritional typing diet, but definitely not 100% the way it was intended to be followed. The main reason why (which I may have addressed last time) is the degree of preparation involved. It requires pairing freshly cooked protein with lightly steamed or raw veggies at every meal. That can be really tricky and also hard to have variety (which is an absolute necessity for me) with as much preparation as it takes. We do try to eat mostly whole foods and at least pairing appropriate protien and veggies at breakfast and for most dinners. I had no idea it would be this hard when we first decided to try it! Anyway...I can't say that we are getting the true effects of how the diet was intended unfortunately, but we've definitely learned some things and applied them to our diet.

On a brighter note, going organic is going well! We are eating all organic dairy. Our meat is all grass-fed, hormone free (sometimes organic) and our fish is wild (not farm raised). We are probably eating 50% organic for our "snack" food and 30% of our fruits and veggies are organic. March has kinda been a random month as far as what foods we've added to the organic list (if you can't tell already, March has been a CRAZY month in our house), but for April we are adding all of the "dirty dozen" foods to the list. I will write those up for you guys as well as the rationale behind why going with those foods is a good idea if you're going to just eat some organic foods.

We feel really healthy-that is for sure. No one in our household has been sick-hallelujah! I have had allergies, but not a whole lot can be done to prevent that. Carter had an ear infection at Christmas, but other than that, no illness...and Jude has also been healthy. With all the germs that Jude and I must bring in from working in the schools, it is truly amazing that we have managed to avoid all the sickness. I feel that our healthy diet has to be a factor.

So many more things that I could write about that I've been thinking lately in regard to eating healthy and living healthy...but I don't want to overdo it in one post :) I will try and pick back up the blog pace and keep you all engaged with what's going on in our life and the things we've learned.

Diet Update

We have officially been on the Nutritional Typing Diet now for 3 weeks! There are definite pros and cons to eating this way, but without hesitation, I would say that we will continue eating this way indefinitely. The main premise to the "diet" is being sure to pair protien and vegetables and follow them up with fruits/carbs as needed, but as minimal as possible. The diet also encourages excluding gluten for 60 days in order to help you determine your tolerance to it.

The best part about the diet that Jude and I have discovered, is the satisfying feeling of eating whole foods 90% of the time. We eat a lot of real, unprocessed foods and that feels really good. The goal is that the meals should be pretty filling and not leave you too hungry between meals. I am still getting hungry around mid-morning, so I'm guessing I should be eating more at breakfast...I just find that I feel full at the time,  but it doesn't seem to hold me more than about 3 hrs or so. And afternoons are another story in and of themself....who doesn't want something chocolate at 3:00???

The difficult part about the diet is the preparation that it takes. When you have a household as busy as ours with working full time (plus Jude working extra at night) and taking care of a 1 year old, it is hard to get all the food prepared all the time. There is always a lot of chopping, cleaning veggies, packing up lunches, washing lots of dishes, etc. Never do we just pour a bowl of cereal, eat it in 6 minutes, wash the bowl and call it a morning. Our breakfast routine is easily 30-40 minutes. I would say that the preparation component is what keeps me from following the diet perfectly. I still eat all the foods I'm "supposed" to, but maybe not always in the right order at the right timing....oh well, I have something to aim for in the weeks to come ;)  Here is our typical daily menu:

Breakfast:
-2 hard/soft boiled organic eggs
-2 slices of hormone free turkey bacon or 2 organic chicken sausage links
-steamed cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, etc

Snack:
-Vitamix shake (fruits/veggies)

Lunch:
-Salad with organic lunch meat, veggies, cheese, avocado, etc
-Fruit (apple with organic peanut butter, strawberries, etc)

Dinner:
-Grilled fish, organic chicken or turkey burger
-Steamed vegetables
-Sweet potato, acorn squash or brown rice

That's pretty much it...ocassionally we throw in some organic chips and salsa or some other snack, but that's the basic gist to our meals.

We both agree that we don't feel that we react negatively to gluten. After 3 weeks, we don't feel any different and when we "cheated" Sunday and had thin pizza crust, we didn't feel bad afterwards. We've decided to still try and limit our carb intake because we simply feel better without them, but gluten doesn't seem to make a huge difference for us as long as it is in small quantities. Despite this realization, we have still eaten gluten free the entire time, except for this past Sunday. Hey-you gotta give yourself  a break sometime!!

So there's where we're at with this aspect of our life! Jude is looking amazing! He was already in pretty good shape, but he is the thinnest he has ever been and feels the healthiest he has ever felt! He is such an inspiration :) I continue to follow his lead and attempt to follow his self-discipline with exercise and self-control with "treats", but I still have a long way to go in my efforts to achieve total health for myself. When I get bummed at times that I am not achieving the success at the rate that Jude is, I have to remind myself that we didn't start this journey at the same place and won't continue it at the same pace...but the important thing is that we keep going, not turning back and always aim for something bigger and better for our life. It's a beautiful feeling to be heading in the direction we're going and I love it!