Where do I start?

Have you been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease? Or have you thought about changing how you eat to see if your health improves or you have more energy?

When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis my neurologist gave me my options. He threw down a stack of booklets on different medications that stop the progression of MS. He said go home, research these and let me know which one you pick.  I thought, there has to be another way!

After deciding to find a new neurologist, my next task was to investigate other avenues of treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. I found Dr. Wahls Protocol. Dr. Wahls book started my food journey. I took the paleo plunge…..but slowly!

Find Something and Cling to it!

My suggestion is to start off small. I started introducing vegetable juices into my daily routine. Next, I decided to cut out gluten. I found these delicious gluten-free fudge brownies at a natural grocery store Frazier Farms. They were delicious. I had tried gluten-free baked goods before and found them to be gritty and frankly not too tasty. These were so chocolatey, fudgy and the texture was just like a regular brownie.

I cut up the brownie into inch squares and put them in the freezer. I found that anytime I was really craving something with gluten in it I would snack on a tiny brownie. It usually satisfied my craving! At this point I was still having dairy and other grains. This brownie was a far cry from paleo, but it was a great place to start.

I started eating a ton of dark, leafy greens. I started making smoothies with kale and spinach every morning. My morning smoothie recipe will be in an upcoming post! I would have a huge salad at lunch and at dinner my plate was filled with mostly green veggies and some protein.

The next step:

After I had the gluten-free thing down and I finished Dr. Wahls book, I gave up dairy. I continued having ghee (clarified butter). Other than that I cut it out completely. Cheese, oh cheese how I miss you. I didn’t want to replace my cheese with a soy alternative because I knew I eventually wanted to cut soy out as well.

Starting gradually isn’t cheating

Letting go of things that you have eaten your entire life isn’t easy. There are memories attached to certain foods. Many social occasions are centered around food. When you change how you eat it makes other people uncomfortable. You can take baby steps, see how it goes. It seems to take me about 3 months at each stage before I’m ready to cut something else out!

You can do it!

Once gluten and dairy was cut out of my diet I had more energy, my brain fog subsided and I lost weight, bonus! Changing your diet is not invasive. It’s not introducing pharmaceuticals into your body, yet for most it is a harder decision to make than going on prescription drugs. I figured I would give it a try wholeheartedly. You can’t be paleo during the week and cheat on the weekends. You have to commit to this way of eating for it to impact your life.

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Are you game for taking the Paleo Plunge? How did you take the Paleo Plunge?

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