Still here but come full circle

Sorry I don't have time to post much lately, but I had to share this blog article, it's just simply amazing. How many people still do not realize that there is a connection between food and health?! I can't believe we miss this. After all, why do we call healthy food "HEALTHY food?" What does that mean? Most people don't even know what that means. It's such a profound, novel idea that healthy food can actually make you healthy. Meaning, your body can actually work the way it was created to work. Wow!

Anyhow, quick update on me. I am looking forward to my fourth half-marathon in 4 weeks. Triathalon season starts soon, and the first one I am looking at is in May. My husband wants to get swimming too, and try it, but we need a better road bike. We'll see what this summer has in store for us.

My kids are doing great. Homeschooling is going well, except I can tell my son's curiosity and passion for learning are decreasing. Even playing piano which he used to love so much and do voluntarily, has now turned into the standard daily task that must be endured. Is it age, or is it because he eats so much dead, processed food now? (If you are new to my blog, I realize how silly that may sound. But last year when  he was eating nearly all raw food, he was literally much more ALIVE, excited, passionate, and content.)  He is growing up and not as easily fed fruits and veggies. It makes me sad... It's been on my mind and I am thinking about what degree I could force his diet. If it is clear to me that it makes a big difference in his mentality, then it would be worth it -- it would not be a breach of freedom, it would simply be necessary "medical" procedure, like treating any other dis-ease. 

I am now very athletic, working out an average of 1 hour every day. I have been doing various things at the gym, including a 2x/week swim class, kick-boxing, cycling, zumba, and eliptical machine. I took a break from running but the past couple weeks getting back in, for this race season upon us! I am considering training for a full marathon this summer, but depends on if I can arrange childcare to do the long runs, and I don't want to commit until I do a few 18+ milers and see how much body responds.

My daughter is now 2-1/2 and still my little princess. She's about 25 lbs (rough estimate) and still nursing strong, but we're about to change that. Next week we'll begin night-weaning with her sleeping with Dad and cuddling to wean off nursing next to me throughout the night. Then transition her into her own bed. I love co-sleeping and I'm all about attachment parenting, but I must confess, it will be so nice to "have my bed back" and just be able to sleep soundly through the night. Night-nursing a toddler can be challenging simply because of their size, so the height of her head requires a tricky position for my lower arm (can anybody relate?).

I have had a couple cycles now since I started menstrating again. The periods are very, very light (no products required) but I realized that might just be how the body starts back up (would love to hear your experience with resuming post-partum menses, if that's not TMI for you!) Anyhow I cannot tell if I am ovulating - haven't taken temperature, but the mucous is just very scattered. But that's how it was when we conceived last time--not matching the textbook mucous pattern--so it could be fine. What I'm saying is, I don't know if I am fertile, and I don't really care...  We aren't trying to conceive just yet. Probably this summer.

My own diet has been very... "flexitarian" lately, which is a good guilt-free way to say you can't handle a strict vegan diet and you are flexible with cheats! (Really. That is a new diet out there.) I have put on a bit of weight, my body fat is up to 20% which isn't bad, but I need to be cautious not to get any heavier. Besides, I am not stick thin anymore, even a year ago since I started working out because of the athletic build I now have. Anyway, I am going to go for these long runs, so my diet needs to be better. I feel pretty good overall still, but I see how it affects my performance.

I ate 80/10/10 raw for almost 5 months last summer and then gradually worked in some low-fat cooked foods. I started eating some processed food (or, foods I don't tolerate well, like rice and cane sugar) around the holidays and then settled into a nice pattern of whole-foods at home, and some cheat foods on the side (still eating 50% fruit). To be honest, I don't feel at all guilty about my eating habits. It's somewhat of an exploration. I have been really happy to find that my time on 80/10/10 has appeared to heal my body, as afterward I could eat reasonable cooked meals without the HCl/enzymes I used to require. I maintained a flat stomach until I started eating my allergen foods. I am getting more and more convinced that the best thing you can do for your diet, or the most profound impact, will come from identifying food sensitivities and avoiding those foods. Raw/vegan will help further, but not as dramatically and the single step of avoiding sensitivities and allergens. Even in the article I posted above, it sounds like the main difference was her gluten-intolerance--she is obviously a celiac with her diarrhea and psychological problems, which are two huge symptoms in kids with neurological problems who can't tolerate gluten/dairy.

Like I said before, I haven't been posting much on this blog because I started working full-time from home. My focus shifted and I am no longer all about food, the way I used to be. Now I feel much more balanced. I am conscious of the way I eat, but not to an extreme degree (not anal about it, not black-and-white and obsessive the way I was for a few years). I read lots of various entertaining and enlightening things, not just crunchy health-nut stuff, the way I used to. I am focused on raising my kids (homeschooling requires a lot of attention) and focused on my fitness (you need to make fitness a priority if you are going to get to working out on a daily basis). I am a lot happier now. I enjoy being integrated into society rather than fighting society, which I was doing. So I am happy to say this experience has been a success, as I have learned so much through my experiences being a health-nut and have come full circle. So my posts may be infrequent, but I am still here -- finding "NEW LIFE" each day and living after truth balanced in all regards. I will keep posting any exciting news I have to share. Hope all is well with my readers as you pursue your own goals!