I AM A CAVEWOMAN

This morning I woke up with a ton of energy at 4:30, ready to take on the day.. so I listened to my body and got up. I've been feeling so good lately inside and out so I thought I'd weigh myself just to see what changes I had made and low and behold I had lost 6 lbs since i was diagnosed with Celiac 6 days ago! all thanks to the Paleo Life style that I have started living.

Some other changes that I have noticed is how calm I feel and patient. Over the past few months I noticed I was getting angrier all the time. I was always mad at what other people were doing and didnt know why. Since changing the way I eat I feel like my mind is so much more clear. I can rationally work through problems and I have so much more motivation to do things. I want to work out now. I want to spend time with people. I enjoy going outside for a walk in the snow and getting fresh air. I feel like the weight loss is just a bonus.


For those of you who don't know what Paleo is well a week ago I didnt either. Basically you eat the food that your body was designed to eat- Meat, Veggies,Fruit, and Nuts/seeds. Paleo is also referred to as the Caveman Diet or the hunter/gatherer diet. I dont like thinking of it as a diet though because it is not a quick fix that you do and then quit. In my case, having Celiac I physically cant have Gluten which is in almost everything! so that cuts out a lot but with the Paleo Lifestyle I don't eat starches or dairy either.

I think the common misconception is that I must be starving all the time. That is not the case at all. I feel way more free now to eat when I want to. if I'm hungry I listen to my body and get something.. the difference is I dont run for a chocolate bar or a a sandwhich. I grab some carrots or walnuts or an orange. I never feel guilty after or bloated or like I need to run 5 miles to burn off what I just ate. I just feel good. I feel like I can take on the world.. cheesy but true. I love myself more, and I feel like I can love others more because of that.

I feel like for a long time I have had a hard time finding the self discipline to become the person I wanted to be and now I almost feel blessed that this trial has come into my life because it has given me the strength and courage to be the person I want to and am meant to be!

MMMMM YUMMY!!!

So it has been a few days since I started a new way of life! I feel amazing already and I feel like finding out that I have Celiac Disease was more of a blessing than a curse. I feel like the inside of my body is clean.. it might sound weird but that is really how I feel! Everything that I eat is so real.

Jeff and I went out to eat yesterday which I was really nervous about but we had a gift card so we wanted to use it. So we went to Moxies and the menu said to just ask about the menu if you have any allergies. So they bring me out this menu that shows what things have gluten and what have nuts, etc. So I ordered this chicken that was spicy and had broccoli and an amazing salad.. SOOO good! so that made me feel so good that I knew that even if we wanted to go out and have a good time that I didn't have to worry about my health and that everything would be alright. It was great!

So ya life is good.

Celiac?

I think I have known for the last year but yesterday I got a real answer to the question I have been asking myself for a long time. I have Celiac Desease. Looking back now I realize that I have had the symptoms for years. I remember in high school having the same symptoms that I have been experiencing for the past few years. I would get extreme stomach pains and feel so sick that I didn't think I could sit through my classes and I remember many times I just left the classroom to try to get a hold of the pain, but nothing ever worked. the past few years of my life I have tried so many antacids and nothing could ever get rid of the pain. Along with the stomach pains I had a lot of other terrible symptoms. It wasn't always consistent but when it hit, it hit hard. Right after I had Huntly I was the sickest I had ever been. I was sick for more than a month straight so it was hard to take care of Huntly and myself some days.

A few weeks ago I went to see my Doctor and he said that he thought I had either Inflammatory bowel disease or Celiac Disease and that he wanted to run some tests on me and London because she had been experiencing some of the same symptoms that I had. So we each had Blood tests done and a few other tests. Two weeks later I got a call back from the clinic and set up an appointment for the next day -February 22, 2012. I knew at that moment it was Celiac for sure but it made me so nervous. In the next 24 hrs I kept thinking of how my life was going to change. I kept thinking of all the things I wasn't going to be able to eat. I kept thinking of my family and how this was going to effect them. What was I going to cook for meals now. I would have to re-think everything I knew about food.

My appointment to get my results was at 3:45. I was relieved when it was time to go in so I could finally get some answers. Doctor Taylor came into the room, sat down, and said " well my dear, you have Celiac." I was right. And in that moment my life changed.

I called Jeff to tell him. He has been so supportive about all of this and I know he will do anything to help. Another person I called pretty quickly was my sister Kate. She has Celiac also and so she is one person I know I can definitely go to for help. Kate's reaction was so funny. She said "It sucks for you but I'm actually kind of happy you have it. That means I'm not the only one anymore." She's right. when we go to family functions and other stuff together she isnt the only one who has to eat different. Everyone would have to make special food just for her but now there are two of us. I do have other family members who also have Celiac so my support system is huge and I feel blessed for that. It will make my life a lot easier to know that I have two aunts and and uncle to go to for advise if I need it!

I had a great talk with my Aunt last night who lives in Arizona. I feel so much support from her and felt like she understood everything I am going through. Its nice to have people to talk to who get it.

So wish me luck! I guess my new life starts now. No more grains for me but now I can feel like myself again and get back to being the happy healthy person that I want to be!

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

When london was maybe 1 yr old we discovered that the only song that would calm her down on the car rides from Lethbridge to Cardston was I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. For the next year or so whenever she would get upset in the car we would turn that song on and it would calm her down whether it was the middle of July or at Christmas time. So anyways to this day that is still one of her favorite songs. As we speak she is listening to it and running in laps around the living room singing it! What is kind of funny about the whole thing too is that London's first stuffed animal when she was born was the pink hippo in the picture above. She got it from My sister Andrea and her husband Mark and to this day it is her favorite stuffed animal!

In other news...

Today huntly was sitting on my lap and i was just talking to him and discovered that he recognizes the word "no". whenever I say "no" to him when he is doing something wrong, I say it really nicely and shake my head. So today when he was on my lap I said no to him about something and he started shaking his head. At first I wondered if it was just a fluke but I waited and did it a few more times and each time he shook his head! It's so cute. LOVE HIM

Oh Poop!!!

So today I was busy doing some stuff and I turned around to check on Huntly and he had ripped off his diaper and there were little chunks of poo all over the floor! gross.. and he was crawling around naked from the waist down. I suppose it was my own fault cuz I had neglected to put his pants back on after his previous diaper change.. I guess I'll have to remember to do that from now on lol.

Big Boy

Huntly has recently learned how to climb the stairs and does it pretty well now. So the other day I noticed he wasnt in the living room anymore and had wandered away from where I could see him so I got up to see if he was going up the stairs. Well he was about half way up and I saw him and said " Hey! what are you doing", and he looks at me and drops to his stomach and starts sliding down backwards. If I had done that to London when she was that age she would have lost her ballance and fallen down the stairs. It was funny though cuz by his facial expression it was like he thought he was in trouble. haha so cute and smart!

My sweet little girl!

I LOVE LONDON SO MUCH! I love Huntly too but this one is about lLndon. she is always telling people secrets. they are pretty cute. Her first one she would tell everyone is "You're my favorite."Then she started telling people " I love you." This morning she told me a new one. She says " You're wonderful." She makes me feel so good. She keeps hugging and kissing me too. LOVE HER!