PescaVeganBeef-atarian

Next Tuesday, March 26th, marks 2 years of being Pescatarian minus all dairy/egg.  TWO YEARS!  Wow.  Time flies. 

It has been an eye-opening couple of years to say the least.  I never imagined how much my life would change.  Two years ago I had come to my wits end.  My body was fighting me at every turn and I was at my limit. 

Constant stomach pain.  Vomiting.  Bloating.  Tests.  Doctors.  Homeopathy.  Pills. Etc. etc. etc.  

Nothing helped.  So I took drastic measures and cut out all dairy, eggs and meat cold-turkey.  I kept fish in my diet knowing I would need some animal product to get more nutrients.  It was a ROUGH transition going from Cheese Addict to Almond Milk connoisseur.  But I did it.  And I loved it. 

The changes I felt were immediate.  And amazing. 

I have had involuntary vomiting issues since infancy.  Over the course of my life,  I went from throwing up once every week and a half to several times per day.  It was terrible and a defining factor in my life.  I hid it from everyone but my family and J.  There is a stigma to females and throwing up... and being a gymnast, I was all too familiar with eating disorders.  At 18, I was accused by a teacher of having an eating disorder.  It resulted in my mom storming into the principal's office and telling him and that teacher to screw themselves.... in polite momma terms of course.  Thanks Mom!

The older I got, the less violent the throwing up was which meant it was easier to hide.  My body would just reject the food.  I could go to the bathroom as soon as I knew it was coming and it would come up quickly and easily.  Then the pain would go away.  But I could feel the leftover issues it was leaving behind.  My teeth were starting to be worn from all the stomach acid.  And I developed GERD.  Stomach acid constantly up and down my throat has created regular and unyielding heartburn.  It is so regular that when I don't have heartburn, I forget that the feeling is supposed to be normal.  Around 12, I just got used to the constant burning in my chest and throat.  And it hasn't changed unfortunately.  BUT...  The past two years I have only thrown up THREE times.  THREE!  Talk about a miracle! 

Now the time has come.... I'm adding Beef back into my diet!  That's right!  Red meat in all its glory.  This has been a long time coming.  At about the year mark, my husband started incorporating local, grass fed, grass finished, hormone free meat back into his meals.  Not often.  But he had some red meat about once every 2 months or so.  I debated adding it in, but with how great I was feeling, I didn't want to jeopardize it.  So I decided I would wait another year or so. 

So after two years of nothing but fish, I am adding red meat to my lifestyle and seeing how it goes.   Don't get me wrong, I won't be eating burgers at cook-outs and scarfing down steaks at restaurants.  UNLESS they are local.  Grass Fed.  Hormone and Drug free. But I would like to eat it sporadically and see how my body takes it. 

... and man, am I pumped!  We have friends who chip in and buy a full cow from a local family farm to split.  J and I are currently researching options since we have a tiny little freezer.

With the addition mentioned above, I am also planning on cutting back on wheat, gluten, processed crap as best as possible.  I want to make my body as healthy as possible and the results I have seen over the past year have floored me.  I improved my quality of life drastically!  No more sneaking off to the gas station or insisting on having my car around at all times just in case the food didn't settle. I even had to run around downtown Salt Lake and puke in a porta-potty once.  Terrible.  

Two Years - What a difference.  And, I dropped 12 lbs... that never hurts either ;) 

I am hoping cutting down on the grains and other processed crap will help with the heartburn and my overall health.  Last time I had blood work done, they were shocked and impressed with how great my results were... I am hoping that after making this transition, they will be even better! 

I will definitely let you know how it goes... for better or for worse.  :)