What Changed When We Switched to Whole Foods

My publisher for The Green Smoothie Diet, to be released next spring, wants me to tell my “story” in the beginning of the book.   I’ve been compiling a list of what happened as my family transitioned to a diet of whole foods.   It was certainly a sea change, to go into my pantry and dump all the Tupperware labelled flour, sugar, cornmeal, spaghetti . . . and relabel those same containers with things I’d never heard of before: quinoa, spelt, Kamut, oat groats.   And to fill up the fridge with produce instead of milk.

It’s helpful to make a list like what follows so you see the gains you’ve made (12 Steppers, I nag about this all the time, right?!)   Please feel free to share YOUR list or any part of it!   I know you are experiencing profound gains, because you email me all the time about this.   Sharing here helps others.

1. Kids’ asthma more or less disappeared, never again a steroid prescription or an emergency visit
2. I lost pounds I’d been carrying for several years and achieved my ideal weight, easily and without dieting or deprivation
3. I regained energy I’d lost in my 20’s
4. My really scary migraines (right arm going numb, unable to see or talk for several hours) stopped
5. I needed 2 hours less sleep at night and no longer had insomnia
6. I didn’t crash into coma-like 90-minute naps in the afternoon anymore
7. I bounced out of bed in the morning instead of needing 20 minutes to drag myself out
8. Panic attacks / anxiety I’d had since childhood gone (only returns if I eat sugar)
9. Digestive problems gone: all of us totally regular, all the time, no hard or foul-smelling stool, eliminations complete
10. Nobody gets sick anymore, besides an occasional mild cold (no strep, bacterial infection, or flu in 10 years)
11. All four kids grew strong and tall and dominate in competitive athletics
12. Menstrual irregularity gone, PMS symptoms dramatically lessened (I didn’t get so cranky, didn’t have cramps any more, didn’t break out)
13. I loved people more naturally and purely, and I took frustrations with people in stride, even when their behaviors are negative–instead of wanting them to just leave me alone!   My siblings and parents commented on the dramatic change in my personality.
14. My nails lost their white spots, grew quickly, and became strong and flexible
15. Cravings for bad foods lessened (not gone, unfortunately, but lessened)
16. People in the family who had warts lost them (they just went away)
17. Nearly all of us had eczema, and it went away for everyone
18. Two of us had hayfever, which dramatically decreased, no longer requiring drugs
19. I used to be a terrible runner and hated it; now I look forward to running 15-20 miles per week and sometimes run races
20. My hypoglycemia (since childhood, causing me to be unable to fast for even one meal, and causing me to not dare even going for a walk without an apple in my pocket while pregnant) . . .  GONE.

Posted in: 12 Steps To Whole Food, Exercise, Green Smoothies, Healthy Weight, Relationships, Tools & Products, Whole Food