Balanced F.A.C.S.: T.M.I.

That's Too Much Information for the non teenager, non texter and occasional alien in this world :)

I have been bombarded with information about eating, nutrition, cleanses, health, wellness, weight, you name it! If it has anything to do with the body and food, I have either read it, watched it, listened to a health care provider lecture about it or sought the advice of nutrition experts. And what I have discovered is...
it is all just TOO much information!

I like food, in all it's varieties, flavors and origins. I like looking at it & eating it...
I like scouring for new recipes or obsessing over finding the best of the best...
I like preparing it,

serving it

and planning it...

But this recent influx of information is getting a bit out of control for me.
In a nutshell,
or a seashell,
or a tortoise shell...

here is a lowdown of what I have stirring in the brain cells recently,

This kind of food...

makes me sick,
it makes my joints ache,
it gives me a horrible rash on my body,
and it causes mouth ulcers that make even breathing painful.

This kind of food...

makes me feel strong, limber and alive with energy,
but I end up not eating enough calories to maintain a healthy metabolism,
let alone enough calories for daily exercise,
and strange as it seems,
I had some weight that came on,
that wouldn't go away,
and that just wouldn't do.

I graduated from several cleanses according to my doctors advice,
but I realized that though they worked, I couldn't maintain that pattern of eating
long term, and I knew what I was missing,
and I truly did miss it,
so in the end,
I ALWAYS found myself over indulging on
hamburgers, steak, ice cream, cakes, cookies, pizza, bread...
well you get the idea,
at the end of the cleanse.
I'm just really not all that self disciplined with food.
Have I mentioned,
food makes me happy in many different ways.
I discovered that I need to eat enough of these...

for optimal nutrition and balance,
but because I can't eat this...

really, this is supposed to be bread- but I didn't take a picture...

I wasn't getting enough carbohydrates to sustain the energy I needed.

So when I am eating a lot of this...

to keep my joints from hurting,
I don't make room for enough of this either,

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!
Okay,
deep breath in
deep breath out
okay, maybe I need another
deep breath in.

Last year, my son implored me with his insightful wisdom,
"Mom, wouldn't you rather enjoy life, but live a few years less,
than be a slave to all this information for the rest of your life,
even if it means getting a few years extra out of life?"

This coming from an 18 year old,
healthy,
active and
muscular boy,

I didn't pay it much heed at the time.

But now I am rethinking his advice,
and coming up with an alternative.
His thoughts might be more applicable
if I didn't have a noticeable, tangible and
immediate health effect to my eating.

So in an effort to make sense of all that I have learned,
all that I think I have learned
and to stay true to my heart, my mind and my soul,
I think I've decided on a meal plan that is best for me.

I've been at it for a few weeks,
and it is helping,
so I have hope that it is what is right for me.

But maybe I will have an obligation to my body,
to my heart,
and to my soul,
to be more diligent than most with my food choices.
To treat my body well,
Because one thing I have learned over the past few years,
is that this body,