Here's to Life!

Ok. Here we go. As of now, I am to become a blogger. I want to blog with the intent of documenting my discoveries along the way to health. I am Valorie - dedicated wife and mother. I love all things health, would LOVE to own my own skincare company one day since I love making lotions and such, and I was meant to be a farmer/indian but happened upon the wrong generation. Oops.

I need a lift. I have been suffering from chronic depression for the last 4 years and am at an all time low. I am not on anti-depressants- tried them and they helped, but along with the fact that I do not like the idea of depending on anything but my own efforts, I plan to have more children at some point and do not want them exposed to any unknown side effects of the drug. I do not exercise regularly, I do not maintain a strict nutritional code, which any doctor will say that both are absolutely vital for any type of mood disorder. Along with my nutritional imperfections come the mentally, physically, and emotionally demanding lifestyle of a wife and mother. I love those roles, which i consider most important, but they, along with my lack of nutritional vigilance (diet and lifestyle) are taking a back seat due to my mood disorder.

I would say 'mood swing' but I rarely have ups. Most of the time i'm out of energy/ easily frustrated and overwhelmed. It is a fight to stay positive. Every. Second. My mood would usually improve as the day progressed, but for the past few months it barely surfaces before plummeting again. After the kids go to bed, I console myself with my stimulant of choice, usually pasta, before trying to get in some 'me' time before I have to hit the sack. I don't know who else of you needs 9 hours of sleep, but I always have. I would love to be the person who runs best on 5 hours sleep, but i'm not. If i'm not in bed by 10pm every night (ask me how often that happens) i'm useless the next day, just trying to survive.

This blog is to document a journey of hopefully perfect health over the next 30 days. I want to see how much of my depression/anxiety is actually being fueled by diet and lack of exercise. Our family is not perfect- we have debt, which adds stress to anyone's life, we live on a strict budget (so no splurges) and we're too cheap to pay for cable. We deal with any middle-income family's everyday stresses to make ends meet. Could this be adding to my problems? Of course. The point of this 30 day trial is to see how much stress is actually being created, and exaggerated, by unhealthy eating and exercise habits.

So here we go. For the next month, my wonderfully supportive husband and I will be undertaking a complete health transformation. We will be following along with Robyn Openshaw's book: 12 Steps to Whole Foods. The daily goal is a 90% plant based diet, no processed food at all, no stimulants (caffeine, sugar) and every morning will be started off with a green smoothie. We also need to eat 2lbs of greens/day.

Whoa.

I'm not unfamiliar with healthy food. Growing up my mom would often make weird concoctions for dinner, 'forcing' us to drown it in hot sauce to cover the taste. I was also a vegetarian from the time I was 6 up until about 2 years ago- so almost 20 years. I'm not a picky eater, and I know health. BUT- consistency is the thing. I can have all the knowledge in the world about health, but if it's not applied, it can never help me, and I need help. I have to help myself because no one else will do it for me. So we're going to do this, and we're going to do it on a budget of $75/week. Honestly i'm not scared. I'm just tired. Thinking about all the energy it's going to take to diligently plan meals for a month is exhausting. But i'm always tired. And overwhelmed. And stressed... So it might as well be for a good cause, right? Right. So here's to freedom from mental fog. Here's to energy. Here's to being able to cope without crashing. Let's go.

Robyn, the 'Green Smoothie Girl's' Website: http://greensmoothiegirl.com/