Celebrating Small Successes Tonight
If you saw this drawer, a month ago, it would have been filled to the brim with all sorts/variety of cheeses and cured meats (think prosciutto, pepperoni (not my cat), and salami) I LOVE cheese! And I love cured meat, especially prosciutto. But, they don't seem to really like me much. Key word: inflammation. A month ago, I started the process of removing big inflammation triggers from my diet... Dairy and gluten. I'm slowly getting around to removing processed meats. But, that's been more of a challenge (I love, and I mean LOVE bacon - more than prosciutto). However, I've barely had deli meat in my fridge during the last 2 months with the exception of taking some with me on my last solo trip. Over the course of the past month, I've been trying to get rid of the items in this drawer, and I'm now down to the last of the gouda. I finished the last string cheese yesterday, and the last of the pepperoni is gone as of last night. What you see left is essentially food items that are little man's (except the Purex bowl with the red lid... That still has gouda cheese in it). Ok, the bacon is for both of us. But, it's also nitrate free and I'm justifying this as a reason to still be able to eat it.
I won't even show y'all my pantry. Honestly, it's an embarrassing hot mess. But, I am proud to say that my pantry is stocked with all gluten free foods for myself. Anything that has gluten in it, are foods for my son. Or, for the OCCASIONAL indulgence for myself (I'm looking at you white chocolate & peppermint pretzels from Aldi).
The past month has been a lot of good days, slip ups, and then bad days because of slip ups. It's a process that I'm taking day by day, and trying not to beat myself up when I slip up. Regardless, I'm starting to feel better. My stomach doesn't feel like shit because I'm not eating gluten filled foods. This week, I've really been focusing on eating lighter, eating more fruit and veggies, and less cheese and heavy meats. When I say I feel like a million bucks because of those changes this week, I really mean I feel like A MILLION BUCKS! Seeing this drawer practically empty makes me feel emotional because I've struggled since my vertigo began, to stay on track with health and nutrition goals. it's been SO HARD. Since the beginning of 2020, I'd feel defeated, fall off track, and then give up... SO 👏MANY👏 TIMES👏. This almost empty drawer is a small success. And I'm going to take it, and run with it.