2013 is almost over and in a way I'm glad. It feels like I can start all over with a new blank canvas in 2014, although we all know this isn't really true (every day can be a new start if you want to), I guess I need to believe it myself. 2013 hasn't been the best year for me. Sure, we got married, but for the other aspects of my life, it has been so stressful and emotional. I'm not getting into details (just yet) but to say 2013 has been great would be a big lie.

To get out of the tired, emotional and stressful days I turned into reading books and so a new passion began. I started looking into clean eating and healing yourself and your body with food (since a lot of the problems and emotions I had started out with food related stuff this seemed logical to me). I have been on a roller coaster since. I learned a lot of things and changed my diet drastically.



It all begun with reading this blog by Jess; the wellness warrior. For all who don't know her story: Jess, still a young girl in here twenties, has been living with cancer for a while now and started out 'cleaning' and 'healing' her body with food (and things like yoga, etc). I started reading her blog and felt so incredibly inspired it made my heart melt.



So - not knowing food could be 'medicine' - i decided to dedicate more of my time into reading and started buying books that could help me on this journey. I took 'the voedselzandloper', 'broodbuik' and a lot of other food-related books with me on our honeymoon and started my learning process. It almost feels stupid to say at this point now because it seems so logical but at that moment it was all so eye-opening to me. Learning about food being good and bad to your body, the influence the industry has on our food, the way we get 'poisoned' in this century. It almost made me feel sick only thinking about it. I decided it was time to invest more of energy into feeding my body all the 'right' things and trying to love it as much as possible for the next months and years to come. I only have one after all.

So I started out eating more fruit (I don't think I ever did that before, shame on me) and cut out all the artificial sugars, milk and grains. After a while I started to feel better and I did loose a lot of weight. People began to ask me things and some said it was the most stupid thing to do, other laughed and again other listened and changed things themselves. I learned that eating the way I eat now isn't so 'easy' when I'm on the go. Going to a restaurant or shooting weddings with all the lovely but 'evil' food sometimes can be hard. Staying at home, making things myself was my new solution. I expanded my knowledge of veggies and fruits, started to use things like buckwheat, quinoa and introduced more fish to our menu.



With a husband who doesn't like veggies it has been a adventure but we are getting there. Cutting out sugar, I must say has been the best thing - the first weeks or even months, were terrible. I got angry with every sweet cookie Jan was eating but after a while I felt better and didn't even crave one and now I can just go to the supermarket and look at the the isle with cookies and not care anymore. When I eat one, i even feel sick of the overload of sweetness it gives me and I don't think I could ever eat a whole package again. Together with knowing it is something my body doesn't need, it feels very very good.

I hope to share my adventure of eating a "cleaner" (I hate using clean because our food isn't clean anymore anyways, but let's just think it is 'better') way on the blog in the future. Hope you're following along!

All my love,
Melissa


PS. If you are interested in the way foods changes your body in the good or bad way, please visit these inspiring blogs: Foodmatters, Julie's Lifestyle or download the "Whole Pantry App" on you Iphone/Android for some good recipes - Enjoy.

PSS. I thought a LONG time about writing this post (I've been eating like this for almost a year at this point) and I don't want to say this is THE way of looking at food or trying to convince you to go along on my journey and eat this way. I just wanted to find a way to express the things I've learned and felt (with my own body) and hopefully inspire a few of you. Food isn't the 'medicine' to all the problems but it can be a good starting point to change your life(style) and hopefully prevent sickness in the future.

Have a great evening folks and speak soon X