Who Am I?

Well who am I?   Nancy is my name and eating is my game.  I LOVE to eat.  I LOVE food.  I LOVE pretty much all food.  So what?  What's wrong with that?  Well, there are a couple of things that may rain on one's food festival parade when one enjoys food as much as I do.  First, I am only 5' 3" tall.  I wish I was taller. Let's say 6 or 7 inches taller.  No, not so I can play basketball or see over the crowd at a concert or reach things on a high shelf or even become a famous wrestler.  Nope, none of those reasons.  I truly wish I was taller so that I could eat more.  I want to eat more.  I could easily eat more.  A lot more.   But I don't want to weigh more.   I want my clothes to fit.   You see, I not only love food, but I am also extremely health conscious.  I have to be.  I have 3 active food-allergic children and a very active husband.  I want to be here for a long time for them.  With that in mind,  I try to fuel my body, our bodies, with the most nutrient-dense foods I can so that I/we can feel great and have lots of energy.  I don't want to create any undue health problems.  You know what I mean?   Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, inflammation, etc.

The other factor that rains on my food festival parade?   I have multiple food allergies/intolerances.  I LOVE food, but not all food loves me.  Gluten doesn't like me, nor does dairy, nor does soy.  But it wasn't always like that.  I remember days of long ago.... Way back in the 1900's..... B.C. (Before Children) ..... I could eat anything (and I did) without getting sick, without having stomach pains, without worrying how I was going to feel after eating the delicious culprit.   To make a long story short, with the birth and nursing of each child, I had to eliminate common food allergens from my diet.  I chose to do this to stop the painful G.I. symptoms my babies were experiencing.  When the third child was weaned I tried unsuccessfully to re-introduce each offending food to my diet.  My body rejected dairy, gluten, and soy.  Ugghhh!   Sigh...  Life, as I knew it, was never going to be the same.   My love affair with my favorite foods was over!

Fast forward 12 years of eating gluten free, soy free and dairy free.   Fast forward 12 years of planning allergen-free meals for my family.  Yes, my children still have food sensitivities/intolerances.  No, not each one is intolerant of the same food.  That would be too easy!   My husband is gluten-free and dairy-free by default.  Oh and did I mention that I get "little reminders" when I cheat or accidentally ingest something that contains one of my fave allergens?  Yes, it can drive one crazy!  But that's okay, because I was crazy before!  I look at it as a blessing in disguise.  We are forced to eat healthy.  I am forced to plan ahead and be extremely organized and work hard at budgeting my time and money.  I also changed careers.  I took my experiences of being an elementary school teacher and middle school guidance counselor and my passion for health and nutrition and furthered my education to become a certified holistic health counselor.  I love helping my clients create healthy lifestyles.  I love helping people add nutrient dense foods to their diets.  And I love hearing how great people feel when they make simple changes.

So now here I am blogging about my experiences, recipes, challenges, struggles, successes and experiences on this journey of healthy living. My hope is that my sharing will help you on your journey toward wellness.  Maybe it will help motivate you, encourage you, inspire you.  Maybe you'll just get a few laughs out of this.  Maybe you'll just think I'm crazy and how could anyone possibly live this way!  That's okay too.  In any case, I hope you enjoy the journey!  Please feel free to give me some feedback.   Thanks!