The REAL reasons I turned paleo.

4 months ago when my husband asked if I wanted to do a 21 day challenge, never in my life would I think at the end of the 21 days I would completely change my outlook on eating. As I mentioned before, sugar was most definitely one of my main food groups. I lived for ice cream, cake, cookies, and even bread, cheese, anything and everything. The 21 day challenge consisted of head aches, mood swings, and a lot of support from my husband. Besides the fact that I needed to do some type of cleanse anyways, there were a few reasons that I truly wanted to better myself.

Reason #1
In February, we went to the Canyons skiing as a family with the Lands. We were having a great time, lots of laughs, and ate lunch at one of the lodges on the mountain. I had a burger with sweet potato fries, I LOVE them. About 15 minutes post lunch, my eye started to itch and feel funny. I took my goggles off and asked my husband if he saw anything. We were on the lift and my mother in law just about fell off her chair. We laughed it off until we got to the top, where I showed the rest of the family. Not knowing what caused it, we continued to ski. About an hour after lunch, Ty looked at my eye one last time and at that time my vision was impaired. We decided we were finished skiing due to my vision condition and headed home.

Yes, that's me. Crazy right?

Reason #2
About a year ago, I became a Master Esthetician and found myself constantly trying to figure out what was going on with my own skin. No one wants to come to a 'skin care professional' that doesn't have clear skin. As we continued our 21 day challenge, I noticed my skin was looking exceptionally well. I figured my skin was finally balanced and didn't think much of it. We continued our challenge by making it a way of life. About a week ago, I had my first taste of flour with banana bread my sister made. I LOVE banana bread. I ate one serving and decided that was enough. The next morning I woke up with breakouts on my cheeks. What the heck??? I figured it was that time of the month and blamed my breakout on hormones. This past weekend we were up on the ranch, where Ty works, and one of the cooks made some amazing peach cobbler. After sitting in a hot truck for 10 hours watching fisherman 'try' to fish and getting eaten by bugs, I decided I deserved some cobbler. The next day, I woke up and bam... just as expected, breakouts on my forehead. A lot of people say junk food doesn't taste as good as skinny feels, but I think junk food isn't worth the breakouts!

Reason  #3
Growing up I was always the skinny girl. I was 5'6 from the time I was 13 and came from a tall family. I was active with dance and cheer and it wasn't until after high school I had to start making an effort to be fit. In college, I would occasionally run, but most of my energy was focused towards school and my job as a server at a local restaurant. After college I was able to focus more on my body but never had a drive to do so. After getting married, I thought several times about changing my workout routine, and made more of a conscious effort to do so. However, I saw myself as the skinny fat person. A skinny fat person looks good in clothing, but underneath everything, they aren't toned, and most definitely are out of shape when it comes to exercise. That was me.

So here we are. I feel like a completely different person. I wake up feeling refreshed. My skin is clear. Aside from the 48 bug bites I currently have covering my body, I am in the best shape I've been in for 8 years. I crave the gym, I get a high from lifting. I do miss eating crappy, until I see the effects of it on my skin, or when I wake the next day and feel like I need to throw up.

There is a reason the cavemen ate like they did. Fruits, vegetables and meat fuel your body, making food a necessity, not a casual gathering. I've changed my views on eating and I'm sure they will change a lot more as I become a stronger person. But until then, I will depend on cold stone on saturday nights to get me through.