I came home from Italy and it was as if I never left- my momma (who is an amazing Italian cook, herself) made pasta with homemade basil pesto and chicken stuffed with spinach, fontina cheese, cremini mushrooms, and shallots in a marsala sauce for dinner. It was so damn good. And I possibly most certainly enjoyed a cannoli from a Bedford bakery that night for dessert. I couldn't use the excuse that, "well I'm in Italy so...." but I could tell myself that the next day would be a new day- a clean slate, and the start of yet another possibly difficult detox.
My dream vacation is over, which means a number of things. For one, it means I'm blogging all about my trip each day so you have to stay posted and read my Traveling with Sensitivities Blog! It also means that my diet has to change back to what it was prior to leaving for my trip. I literally ate whatever my big heart desired when I was in Italy. I don't regret it one bit. I was symptom free and enjoying some of the best food I'll ever eat in my life. I don't care what anyone says, the cuisine is a tremendous part of the traveling experience. I can say this now with 100% certainty. Fortunately for me, I traveled to a place where the wheat and other foods aren't as processed or genetically modified as they are here in the States. I know this played a role in my ability to eat what I wanted and still feel well. I also did a ton of walking each day when I was in Italy- way more than I ever have in my life. And of course, I danced my ass off every night at the discos/bars- whatever you want to call them. Although my pedicure is absolutely obliterated, my bunz and hamz are tight as hell and I didn't put on any weight in Italy- which is truly a miracle given what I ate each day. It was very difficult to come back home and resist some of the foods I had been eating without a care for the past two weeks. In fact, I probably most definitely stopped for a Bedford House of Roast Beef sangwich on my way home from the airport. Oops. I came home from Italy and it was as if I never left- my momma (who is an amazing Italian cook, herself) made pasta with homemade basil pesto and chicken stuffed with spinach, fontina cheese, cremini mushrooms, and shallots in a marsala sauce for dinner. It was so damn good. And I possibly most certainly enjoyed a cannoli from a Bedford bakery that night for dessert. I couldn't use the excuse that, "well I'm in Italy so...." but I could tell myself that the next day would be a new day- a clean slate, and the start of yet another possibly difficult detox. <-- The following day I had this bowl of Heaven for breakfast. It felt good to have some fresh organic fruit. To be honest I didn't eat as many fruits and veggies in Italy as I would have liked. My body definitely craved the good, healthy foods I had been living off of for so long prior to my trip. Who would have thought I'd miss it with all the unbelievable food in Italy? I guess it just goes to show, when you have your health and you fuel your body with the right foods, you'll really feel it when those foods are suddenly missing from your diet. For lunch I was absolutely thrilled to have some brown rice with mixed grilled vegetables. I inhaled it, actually. I really missed my brown rice, too! But understand- I probably had pasta everyday when I was in Italy. I know I had sandwiches everyday when I was in Italy and I had pizza almost everyday when I was in Italy. That's a lot of bread and a lot of pasta- especially for one sensitive bitch like me. I hesitate to admit it, but I was definitely getting tired of the whole pasta, pizza, bread thing. I know I will look back on these words a short time from now and miss those foods terribly, but for now it's the truth. Since I've been home I've gone back to a completely gluten free diet and I'm weaning myself off of sugar slowly but surely. I would say in the next few days sugar will be cut from my diet. I have a feeling that the withdrawals won't be as difficult as they were the first time, given that I only had sugar in my diet for two weeks. I've started my workout routine again, which feels great. Even though I got a lot of exercise on my trip, it's still more satisfying to break out the resistance bands and blast some profane music. We all know it can be a challenge to get back into the swing of things after two weeks (or however long) of living the fake life. God knows it can be depressing to come back to real life, but it's important to remember that you're only one workout away from a good mood. Fuel your body with the right juice, tell yourself you can, and just do it. No one has ever said, "I regret that workout" or, "I regret eating that healthy meal." Your body is a fucking temple. Learn to love it.
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With everything I still have left to do before I leave for my trip, I've decided that I really don't have very much time to be blogging as much as I would like. I leave Monday morning for the airport, which at this hour is closer to one day away than two! I can't believe it's really practically here. There were moments during my day today when I wished I had just one extra day to get ready. But, I can't complain- I'm going to Italy. My main focus from here on out is just to keep my nerves under control so that I don't end up making myself sick. This is the first time I've ever traveled abroad- and alone at that! So you can imagine, I'm a bit nervous. But really, I couldn't be more excited. This roller coaster that's been my life for about 10 months now has brought me to this point- the beginning of a new chapter. I have the highest of high hopes for this trip. It's a gift to myself, for myself. We all deserve to be in touch with our soul selves- for when we are, we are truly happy. I know this trip will change my perspective on life, my relationships, and how I view myself in the larger world. I'm so grateful for all the kind words of encouragement everyone has shared with me over the past month and a half. Nothing fills my heart with more pride and love than watching the TSL community grow each day. I'll miss blogging like you can't believe, but I hope to be tweeting when I have WiFi! :] If you're not following TSL on Twitter already, go check it out HERE. Until we meet again, dear friends- arrivederci <3 I received this email from MoveOn.org today. For those of you in Massachusetts looking to make the move towards supporting the GMO labeling bill, here is your opportunity! Email TSL using the Yahoo link in the top right hand corner of this page and let me know that you'd like to attend. TSL will forward this email to you so that you can RSVP!
:] Transformation Tuesday has made it to TSL. Here's my transformation. The photo on the left was me at my unhealthiest, unhappiest, and heaviest- but with a heart still so filled with beauty and passion, of course. On the right is a photo of me at my healthiest and happiest- taken just a few weeks ago. Do you have a transformation to share? TSL wants to share it here! If I receive Transformation photos from my followers I will post them every Tuesday :] Just send them to The Sensitive Life email- [email protected]
You know I'm working on building The Sensitive Life empire whenever I've got a hot minute during the day. So naturally, I've been working on creating The Sensitive Life Facebook page! I hope you all take a minute to check it out and Like it on the book when you get the chance. The page is still in the works so there's a lot left to be done. But I hope I can get some likers on there soon to get the ball rolling! The truth is, I've got so much to do this week in preparation for my trip that I really should be working on all the packing/list tackling I need to do! One week from today I'll be heading to Italy. I can't believe it's already here! Well, almost :] I reintroduced sugar yesterday completely on a whim. I was out for brunch with family that I haven't seen in years. I ordered some gluten free buckwheat pancakes, which was perfectly fine since I'm not sensitive to buckwheat. Of course, all pancakes come with maple syrup on the side, so I saw my opportunity to scratch sugar off of my to-do list. What I did not anticipate however, was the dusting of confectioners sugar that covered my pancakes and plate. I scraped off as much as I could and ate the pancakes underneath what had been dusted. I must admit, I did have a bite of pancake that I had so *desperately* tried to save from the genetically modified snowstorm of sugar. It was so unbelievably sweet. My sweet tooth rose from the dead, I swear to you. I resisted having more than just that one bite, though. The pancakes were delicious but absorbed the maple syrup like sponges. By the way, the maple syrup was 100% pure. Regardless, I kept telling myself, "LOAD OF BURDEN, GIRL, LOAD OF BURDEN." I had my last appointment before my trip with my nutritionist today. It was so great to talk about how far I've come on this journey. I've learned so much about myself, my ability to persevere, and the importance of living presently. Deb, my nutritionist, always has such GREAT analogies and ways of wording things that are tremendously helpful. Today we talked a lot about thoughts and how powerful the mind-body connection truly is. She explained that when a single negative thought pops up into the mind, we open a negative folder filled with tons of other negative folders that pop open and send us into negative overload. It's so difficult to delete all these negative folders one at a time after we've set them all off triggering a downward spiral of self-sabotage. More often than not, our most damaging thoughts are not present thoughts. They're thoughts of things and experiences that have not happened yet. They're things we have no control over in the present moment. So, Deb proposes this: We have two buckets- a "moment" bucket for thoughts that are in the present, and a "memory" bucket for thoughts that are in the past. In moments where your thoughts seem to be getting the best of you by taking you to a place other than the here-and-now, press pause [insert stress management strategy here- tapping, counting back, meditation, etc.] and then decide where that thought belongs. If it belongs in neither the moment nor memory bucket, say, "fuck it" and move on. I take credit for that last sentence. Deb wouldn't use the fuck word. But by this I simply mean, put it out of sight and out of mind. It's not doing you any good. Send out high, positive vibrations and they'll link up with similar vibrations out there in the universe. The opposite is true too, of course. Send out those low vibrations and they'll link up with other low vibrations. We're all vibrating beings and walking magnets for the great stuff or bad stuff depending on our frequencies. It is the law of attraction, people. We've all heard of it. It's real. Your thoughts and attitude determine the outcome of each day. Use your buckets or say fuck it! Deb lent me a book, The Missing Link Reflections on Philosophy & Spirit by Sydney Banks. It's filled with some great words of wisdom and I plan to share bits and pieces of it with you each day that I post. Tonight I'll leave you with this: "All feelings derive and become alive, whether negative or positive, from the power of thought." When I started The Sensitive Life website, I made it clear to my followers that I'm human- I have my good days and I have my bad days. The lifestyle change rocks your world [not always for the better] when you make the switch. For the first month or so of my elimination diet, it was so difficult for me to keep my eyes open past 5PM. The withdrawals from everything I had to cut out of my diet took a serious toll on my body and my emotional health. Pushing through that first phase [getting over the withdrawals] and sticking with it was easily the best decision I have EVER made in my entire life- the best and most challenging. Once I was in the clear and able to start taking my supplements [cod liver oil, Vessel Care, L-glutamine, & Culturelle probiotic] I began to feel alive again. Not only am I able to stay awake past 5PM, but I'm able to work a full-time, physically demanding special ed support services job and come home with enough energy to get in a good workout almost everyday. If I don't get a workout in, it's usually because I'm too busy building up The Sensitive Life empire :] I don't know that I've ever felt so strong and fit in all my life. As an individual who has struggled with weight fluctuation issues throughout most of my life, I can say I'm so happy to feel at home and healthy in my body as it is today. The Sensitive Life has helped me tremendously throughout this process. Hearing from so many of you through my site, email, Facebook, and Twitter has been so unbelievably encouraging. You all keep my spirits up and remind me why I started TSL in the first place- to build a sensitive, supportive community of wonderful people on unique journeys to find health. I encourage all of you just starting out on your journey to stick with it and know that there is such a brilliant, beautiful, bright light at the end of the trying tunnel. There always is. I learned this very early on in my life. I wouldn't say it if I didn't know firsthand. The journey for better health and in essence, life, is priceless. I support you. I believe in you. If I can do it, so can you! "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength." Take heart <3 This sounds about right. Actually, it really is the truth. How do I know? Well, I have done some very necessary energy healing on this gut-healing journey of mine. As I've mentioned before, this journey doesn't come without an emotional toll. Fortunately, the reiki master (practicer of energy medicine) who I see is a longtime family friend and practically a second mother to me. Back to my main point- my liver, lung, stomach, heart, and kidney meridians are always the weakest or need the most balancing/strengthening/sedating. Simply put, those meridians are typically effed. Or, at least they were towards the beginning of this healing journey. When I was angry, my liver would need work. When I was grieving the loss of important, loved people in my life- my lung needed work. So on and so forth. I'm in a much better place now, though. It wasn't until recently that I was able to sit back and take a look at everything that's happening in my life and say out loud, "if certain things in my life didn't fall apart when they did, I would not be on this self-loving journey of health, traveling, and unconditional compassion." While this epiphany may not mean jack to a stranger reading this post, it means the world to me. Sometimes in the midst of absolute pain and grief, we can't seem to wrap our minds around the "why" and "how" of things. When we're in that place of hopelessness we "know" that there will never be a reason why the shitty things have to happen. The truth is, there is a reason. This past year has taught me that life doesn't take your plans into consideration. It plows through your front door, knocks you on your ass and leaves you lost on the corner of, "how the fuck did I get here?" and "my life is supposed to be different." Live presently to avoid turmoil within (aka effed energy). We are only able to be right here, right now anyway- in a moment so fleeting that it's gone before we've even had a chance to be mindful of it. Be mindful. Your soul will thrive for it. I just recently started following this awesome Like page on Facebook, Rawforbeauty. I am in love with all the inspirational quotes and health-related facts they share with their followers. Definitely check them out! Here's a brief peek at some of my favorite info they have shared. Also visit their website! www.rawforbeauty.com :] ALSO, (as I have said before) if you are sensitive to any of the foods/ingredients for natural remedies/purposes shown below, know that they probably aren't the right choice for you. For example, as wonderful as grapefruit sounds, I wouldn't use it for any of the listed benefits, as it would have an adverse effect on my body. Choose your ingredients wisely.
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