For the past few months, I have been working on making myself healthier…Really for the past 10 years since moving to Boulder, Colorado. But let me digress a little bit.

Boulder is known for its community’s “healthy” lifestyle. It’s actually more of the stereotype of overly healthy, granola eating, hippie cultured, pot smoking people who somehow manage to NOT work, do yoga all day long and afford to live in this extraordinary place seemingly without effort (and lots of expendable cash). The reality is not quite so extreme, yet it does lend itself to the stereotype more oft than not. There are a lot of freeloading “hippies”; a lot of pot smokers (even before pot was legal); a lot of free-thinking, overly sensitive foodies; a lot of very high-level athletes; Trophy wives who only have to look good for their husbands and raise the kids; and RICH PEOPLE. But, there are also a TON of very average, normal people too.

I like to think of myself as falling into the normal category, though I have and do delve into the stereotype a little bit. I am an entrepreneur, so I can work when I want/need (which is actually a lot more than the average workday). But I can also do other things during the meat of the day, like workout, run errands, etc. so it seems as if I just live a leisure life. I am also very health-conscious, and very athletic. In the eyes of an outsider, I would fit nicely in the Boulder stereotype category (minus the pot-smoking). In reality, all people judge others who live, believe and act differently than we do. Perhaps it’s fear, jealousy, old age (old dogs, new tricks), or just human nature that creates the push back.

So back to my original point…I’ve been working on making myself healthy. What does that mean? Healthy is so different to everyone. Most people believe that healthy means looking good – when you lose weight it means you are healthy or if you lose body fat and gain muscle then you are healthy. And in many cases, that can be true. But there are just so many levels of “healthy” that it is hard to discern one from another. I believe the biggest health factor is our lifestyle. That means so many different things…Food, diet, exercise and even environment. I think that stressful situations lead to unhealthy people, just like the wrong diet or lack of exercise create similar unhealthy scenarios. The biggest problem judging health in today’s society is that so many people say, think and believe so many different versions of what it means to be truly “healthy”…some are good, some are just downright horrible, and many fall in-between. I like to think that I can tell the difference between these, as so many others would probably agree, but even still I’m being taken by surprise.

The food that we put into our body is a huge factor related to health. The issue is that there are so many theories out there and they change depending on who is stating them, and what their ultimate goal is…usually its for monetary gain. Tell people that calories are unhealthy, and they go to the low-calorie counterpart. Tell people that gluten is unhealthy, they look for the gluten-free alternative. Tell people that carbs are bad, they ingest as much meat as they can believing that this strategy is actually healthy! To tell you the truth, I think about 99% of what we are told and have been told since birth is bogus. And I am still challenged by this truth, to this day. How can it be wrong if society has always told us that it’s right. Well, if you look at all the facts, then I guess you can’t pretend that its right, because facts are just that.

I say this, because in truth everyone believes something different about how to eat healthy. It is almost like religious beliefs…You can’t make someone believe or think the way you do, unless they genuinely want to hear it. Otherwise they won’t listen even if they are wrong. They won’t accept it no matter what kind of data you present them with. Some people think food is their religion, it is a form of happiness and satisfaction that most cannot deny. When you satisfy a craving, you are left feeling genuinely happy…even if the craving wasn’t the best thing for you.

No one wants to admit if they are wrong, or if they have to change their ways with food, because usually it feels like a sacrifice. It means that the foods that you have come to love may be hurting you more than you really know, and now you have to change. Change is hard enough, but with food, sometimes it’s impossible.

My “health beliefs” have changed quite a lot over the past decade…and even up until the last few months. I always believe that my ways and approach to health and food, specifically, are the right ones. When I am told something to the contrary, my first reaction is to shut-down, turn off and not listen, because it simply can’t be true if it isn’t what I believe and KNOW to be true. Lately, I’ve been actively trying to keep an open mind about things, because as smart as I am, I don’t know everything (unless of course it comes to Jake then I am always right!). Being able to accept that I may not be right is the first step towards a healthier lifestyle.

I have a homeopathic nutritionist (my doctor for lack of a better word), who has guided me through a lot of big food issues over the years. Just like allergies, there are times when our body receives too much of one thing and not enough of others. The body cannot always use the things we put into it, and so it either removes them from the body, or stores them in the body as a toxin. The toxins takes the shape of many different things: heartburn, gas, bloating, excess phlegm, sluggishness, breakouts, weight gain, fatigue, asthma, headaches, nausea, indigestion, constipation, high cholesterol, fever, high blood pressure, rash, hives, yeast infection, yada yada yada…you get the idea. Over time, these things grow into more extreme issues like cancer, infections, IBS, mental/physical disease and premature death.

Granted, some of these examples are more extreme than others, but any one of them is a sign that something you put into your body (or on your body) does not agree with you. Most people think the cure for this is prescription medication…for one thing, and then another, and then another, until you have to take 5 pills a day for 1 thing and the side-effects of the others. High blood pressure or Asthma or Cholesterol, Heartburn or Gas…everything has a solution that treats symptoms of this, but it doesn’t cure anything. Its not like you can ever go off of the stuff unless you don’t experience the symptoms. It’s a slippery slope that moves steeply into dependence on pills that are downright awful for a human body and create WAY MORE harm than good.

But beyond that, I believe that everyone is different and each of us needs different things inside our bodies to maintain that healthy environment. Some people can have certain types of foods, while others should avoid them altogether. Moderation is also a VERY IMPORTANT component in this as well. The type of foods that we eat all serve a different purpose. It is the act of each of these different foods working together to create the harmony and balance that our body needs.

About 2 months ago, I did a kitchari cleanse (click to see post). I felt so good afterwards and I wanted to keep feeling that way. I saw this documentary that Aunt Mary gave to us over the holidays, called Forks Over Knives. It was a pretty good documentary about how people should eat a whole foods, plant based diet. It means REAL food. That is organically grown, no chemicals, pesticides, additives, fillers, or anything processed. It also goes on to discuss how animal protein causes more harm than good…in fact ZERO good to humans. It only does harm. This includes anything that comes from an animal – milk, dairy, eggs, and any / all meat products, no matter how “organic” they may be, are actually bad for you. That fact alone is a hard one to swallow. But there were a lot of facts that went along with this. Proof that it isn’t all made up to sell something – to sell a lifestyle – there was real evidence of the truth of it all. Proof that removing these things from our diet actually caused disease to not only get better, but disappear altogether – disease like CANCER! Without the use of chemotherapy or radiation or any kind of harmful chemical, you can cure cancer simply by removing this stuff from your body. Now that seems crazy, but yet, it made perfect sense.

While my initial reaction was one of disbelief, I couldn’t deny the facts that were presented. Society has taught people to believe milk is healthy because it provides calcium and nutrients – even as a child…and calcium leads to strong bones and growth. The truth is actually kind of shocking. Milk from an animal actually causes calcium depletion from our bones, because it creates an acidic PH balance in the body, and in order to counter that, Calcium from our bones is used to neutralize the PH level. So tell me how is that making my bones stronger? There were so many more myths revealed and I was kind of stunned (and sad). I really loved meat, and now I’m told I shouldn’t eat it anymore.

Its not an easy thing to decide to make a big change in your life. My current diet to date is not a huge stretch from the one presented in that video, minus the meat part. I am and have been an advocate of organic fresh-grown produce for years. I rarely if ever eat anything processed. I try to cook everything from scratch rather than from a box or a can. And I have always been a proponent of moderation and balance – never eating too much of the same thing, since that can be just as harmful. But, I have always incorporated meat into the equation. I am not a huge red-meat eater but always enjoyed hamburger. I loved pork and chicken and believed them to be healthy if cooked in the right way. I thought the protein from meat actually helped me to be stronger, fitter and more energized during workouts and climbing endeavors. But after watching that video, I had some doubts.

So with that, I decided to try something a little different, to see if it made any difference. I am no stranger to making big changes in my diet, as I have been visiting my nutritionist and had to give up a lot of things like gluten, corn, dairy, and soy here and there for several years. I have learned that my body sometimes is okay with any/all of these things, and other times just doesn’t want them. Nowadays, it seems that dairy and wheat gluten specifically are things that I should probably never eat again, as I am constantly having issues with them. The issues I speak of are physical things like indigestion, headaches, excess phlegm (clearing of the throat), weight gain, rashes, etc.

Since I wasn’t exactly sure how to embark down this road, I decided to order a few vegan cookbooks on amazon to get a sense of what types of recipes to try. I LOVE to cook. I have actually grown pretty savvy as a chef and can turn just about anything into a super gourmet meal (just ask Jake). My favorite part of cooking is that I can make super tasty food SUPER HEALTHY too. But even with that, I thought I could use some help. In order to make a great change, I think that you have to start with baby steps. I have spent over 3 decades of life believing that meat is good for me, and important to healthy balanced diet. That sort of belief will not be easy to shake or change overnight. One important thing to note is that a “vegan” diet is not the end-goal of this whole foods, plant-based diet. It is a step in that general direction, because it eliminates the meat/dairy/eggs portion, but often times there are meat, dairy and egg alternatives that have things that are also not the greatest for our bodies. But there are obviously different products that are made better than others in the vegan world as well.

So for the past few months, the Challis house has been leaning towards a whole-foods, plant based diet. It sounds nice in this blog, but what it really means is a lot more work in the kitchen. Because WE LOVE TO EAT SUPER TASTY DELICIOUS FOOD! And Jake is not one to give up any kind of meat product lightly…just ask him. I found a few very helpful cookbooks which have some of the most delicious recipes I’ve ever had, and I honestly cannot believe they are vegan! One in particular is Chloe Coscarelli’s Cookbook, from The Food Network!

And believe it or not, we are actually seeing results! As healthy as we already were, we are finding that this new way of eating/living gives us even more energy than we had before. I, Jill have been climbing harder than I ever thought possible before…in mid-5.12 range…Working on 5.12C’s and D’s now, which I honestly never thought possible. Jake has such an abundance of energy he can climb for hours, do 2 hours of circuit and core training sessions, and still have energy to burn! Not to mention that I dropped about 5 pounds within the first month, without even trying. I now weight less than I did when I was in high school (and I’ve always been pretty small/skinny girl, so that is really saying something!). But I do not feel like I’m losing anything. I manage to feel like I’m getting all the nutrients and nourishment that I need without any of the old side-effects.

I do have to say, that its easy to get into healthy food living here. We have so much of it accessible to us, not like in other parts of the country. One thing we’ve learned is that stores cater their produce and products to the community. If a community purchases more healthy, organic, non-gmo food, the store will supply more of it. It also means that stores will eliminate crappy food if people don’t buy it. Without demand there would be no product. Food for thought 😉

And so there it is. We are slowly transitioning into this new frontier, and though it isn’t the easiest one, it so far has been the most rewarding. But it cannot be done overnight. Baby steps are important. And I mean VERY baby. In order for a change to really sink in, you have to get used to it like a routine. Results helps but often you will see those results inside, with how you feel…more energy, no pain, no bloating, no issues of any kind, just light and happy. With that, I bid you Adieu!