Adventures in Applied Kinesiology, Part II

My wife asked me to write a follow up to the October rant I put up last year. Has it really been only 11 months since I saw my wife's kinesiologist? Well, that's a fair amount of time to wait for an update.

In  the past year I have lost a total of 40 pounds, and have averaged out to weighing 25 pounds less than my average was last year.  And I think in all fairness, most of it was a result of my trip to my wife's specialist.

Now, I still think this particular lady was a bit of a kook. I absolutely refuse to go back to see her, BUT...getting off the specific foods she told me to get off has done wonders. Going from an average of 215 lbs (high of 225) to an average of 190 (low of 184) and losing 3-4 inches off the waistline has been nice. We have made new friends as a result of our new eating style (its really been a lifestyle change: joining CSA's, really watching what we buy at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, almost never shopping at Safeway any more, and learning about what our favorite restaurants cook with), and learned a lot of our health in general.

I preach this where I can: most people are sensitive to foods they have no idea they shouldnt be eating - as evidenced by belly paunches (ESPECIALLY if the rest of you isnt fat!), bags under your eyes, lack of energy...you know, all that mumbo jumbo, but not everyone is allergic to gluten. This isnt something I can walk around to people and say, "You know, you'll be a lot healthier if you stop eating wheat."  It might be true, but we are all truly different.

That being said, eating healthy is a commitment, but it isnt as hard as I envisioned: I am dairy free, peanut free, wheat and corn free, gluten free (basically the same thing as no wheat), and soy free. I prefer foods with fewer, not more, ingredients. I drink sake, wine and brandy (E&J XO, my favorite ever, is made from grapes, who knew!) instead of beer (Bud Light is almost gluten free, at 20 parts per million, but it still takes like, well, you know...). I eat UDI's Whole Grain bread now from Whole Foods, and I admit, I miss the heck out of french bread, but UDI's rocks (we toast all our bread for sandwhiches now, and use butter instead of mayonnaise). Quinoa (pronounced "Keen-wah") is an amazing and tasty alternative to pasta - thank goodness Willow Street Pizza, our favorite place to eat, uses it so much.  I can do egg whites but not egg yolks, so I still have to eat carefully.  We accept that I basically have Celiac disease and eat accordingly.

All in all, if you can find someone who tests for food sensitivities in your area, that you look into it. Some of the techniques they use are a little odd, but let's face it: food isnt processed the same as it was, let alone even grown the same!  But health is life, and having been over 200 pounds since before I was married, to be under 190 again at the age of (almost) 40 is amazing. And it is all from my diet change - ZERO exercise, people. Zero. So while I still maintain that the experience I had 11 months ago was bizarre, the aftermath has been amazing. Thanks to my wife for her dedicated work, but Ive become a proponent of alternative medicine in my own little way.