As part two of my "love yourself" challenge, I have decided to focus on nutrition. I am working really hard in the gym, but if I don't change the way I eat... will I start feeling better? Probably not. Exercise is equally important as diet when trying to make a change. I've been getting a lot of questions about what eating plan I've chosen to go with so I wanted to talk about it here.

When starting this "love yourself" challenge, I didn't want to do any diets or the Whole 30 or 21 day fix. There isn't anything wrong with those, they are great - but I really need an actual lifestyle change that I can hang on to and not only do for a certain amount of time. Something I can incorporate into my daily life and it not seem like a chore.

I mean really though, look how excited I am to eat this apple!!! 

I was referred by a couple of friends to a nutritionist. I was nervous to go, because I thought she might try to put me on a super strict meal plan.

In the past, I would go to environments like this (weight watchers, weight loss clinics) and feel guilty if I hadn't logged everything or if I had messed up. I would leave, feeling really bad about myself if I had gained a pound or hadn't lost any. So this is NOT the sort of system I was looking for. But I figured I'd give it a shot to see what she had to say. 

What I didn't know was that as soon as I walked into her office, I felt this extreme sense of peace that I hadn't felt in a while. I immediately felt like I could trust this nutritionist. I didn't feel like she was judgmental in the slightest bit. I felt like she was rooting for ME. And that's what I needed. 

Jessica Elizondo from More Than Food is the certified nutritionist I went to see. During your first visit with Jessica, she does a series of techniques to determine what areas of your body are performing poorly, what foods you're sensitive to, and what supplements can help. This technique is called NRT.

Here's what Jessica says about this technique: Nutrition Response Testing (NRT) is a non-invasive technique that analyzes the body and its functionality. This natural testing system uses the body's neurological reflexes to determine nutritional deficiencies and/or toxicities in the organs, tissues, and cells. With NRT, we are not treating or diagnosing symptoms. Rather, we are working to remove any obstacles causing illness. Then we build up the body from the inside out using whole food sources, diet, exercise, and rest! To read more about NRT, go here. 

See that last sentence there? From the inside out! That is what I am trying to do and exactly what I was looking for in a lifestyle change. 

The test showed that I had a lot of issues going on throughout my body, which wasn't surprising because I have felt awful for awhile now. Jessica gave me a Corrective Nutrition plan to try to get my body back on track. This is what is so cool to me: We are trying to correct the issues I have with whole food supplements. I can tell you right now, I am 2 weeks in and I am feeling a major difference. I noticed a big difference in some of my problems almost immediately. 

As far as eating goes, the test showed that I need to stay away from wheat, sugar, oats, peanuts, dairy, soy. She said I should try to follow a paleo diet as well. I am checking back in with her in a couple of weeks, and I will post my results then. 

So, in summary, my NUTRITION PLAN looks like this:

- no wheat, gluten, dairy, sugar, oats, peanuts, soy

- all meats, veggies, trying to follow a paleo diet

- daily supplements

If you're interested in speaking more to Jessica, or looking for nutritional help, visit her website here. You can also follow her on Instagram for daily motivation! 

"When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need." - Jessica Elizondo, More Than Food

What meal plans have worked for you? What nutrition to live and breathe by? I would love to hear! Continue to follow along on my journey to health here, and don't forget to watch my daily IG stories to see some real life stuff.