I'm not an advocate of extreme. Extreme seems to lead to seeing things skewed and out of perspective. And when we adopt this type of thinking our boat starts to tip, leading to panic, which then leads to more extremism. Yes, I have it figured out, but yet, I don't always walk the road of moderation. I've spent nearly three years obsessing (yes, that is a form of extremism) fighting my son's eczema. After hundreds of hours in doctor's offices, wet wraps, and bottles and tubes of every imaginable cream, oil and lotion, from Crisco to steroids, I realized that whole was the answer. What I put in his body and on his body is whole. And as much as I dislike the rigid, extreme diet, it works. He's been eating this diet (it's really beyond extreme) for nearly 10 months--with 90% improvement. The results won't allow me to move into a moderate territory, because the moderate territory bring confusion. So, I will continue down the path of extreme because in certain places in our lives, extreme is best.
After the heart wrenching passing a of good friend's husband, the fragility of life was very evident to me. My world was shaken, although in comparison to Bri's life, it was just a slight tremor, but I realized that I need to take my health seriously. So, that began my journey of eating whole. Although I didn't have any general health problems, I started eating what I call the 'extremely free' diet. Free in every way--gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, processed-free, corn-free, mostly-meat-free--except financially. I was amazed at the results of extreme... I felt better. I was really surprised by the side effects of this 'free' diet--more energy, more patience, more culinary enjoyment, unintentional weight loss. Good stuff. I spent about a month eating very extreme before my idea of 'whole made' was born. I needed a solution to two problems. Problem One: Eating a MF/GF/PF/SF/DF diet wouldn't stick if I was strict, as long lasting and extreme aren't friends, so I wanted to be able to add a few treats and still be eating virtually whole. Problem Two: I want to be able to have meals with friends and family and eating MF/GF/PF/SF/DF is pretty isolating! So, my solution: I'm eating a whole made diet. And that is how moderation has worked itself back into my eating. Virtually all my food is 'free', but I have a caveat for 'homemade' food. If a friend bakes me a cookie, I'm eating it! If I take the time and the effort to make homemade pasta, then I'm eating gluten. This is where homemade and whole meet. I know what's in my food and where its coming from. I'm enjoying my food and I'm also able to enjoy it with others. I'm loving it!
