Never Too Old To Start

This blog post title is something I tend to say to myself a lot. Especially lately. I'm 35, going to be 36 in 3 months, and my entire life is in a rut. Naturally, I want to get out of this rut, so I've been thinking and planning of ways to make that happen.

First up is my weight. Something I've been struggling with for years now. Part of me wonders if I will be stuck with my body looking this way forever. The other part of me tells me I'm never too old to start. Start eating healthy and exercising again, I'll get there. Maybe not to the muscular, athletic body type I like, but it'll at least be better than now. Plus, not to mention all of the health benefits of losing the over 100lbs that I need to ditch.

So my fat loss plan included following the Paleo lifestyle. As mentioned before, I have Celiac Disease, so cutting out gluten has already been done. My doctor has been wanting me to quite dairy for years (health related issues with me, not that she doesn't think dairy has benefits) so this will make her happy. I love fresh, whole foods and always have, so I figured that going Paleo just made sense for me. I repeat, for me. It might not make sense for you, and that's ok.

I started my Paleo eating four days ago. For about a week before then I had started to incorporate it mostly into my eating, but we just had Thanksgiving here in Canada and I ate my Dad's homemade stuffing (Gluten Free). I stopped drinking coffee and eating cheese. These two things made up most of my diet so this is huge. I understand that you can have coffee on Paleo, but I need cream and sugar in mine, so that's a no go. I switched to focus more on my teas (in which I have plenty), I drink those with nothing added so it's just that much better. As for the cheese, I can't really control how much I eat. I eat way too much of it and I know this, so for me, it's easier to cut it completely.

Surprisingly, it's going really good. I knew I wouldn't have a problem with the foods I was eating, but I still worried I would miss the ones I wasn't. I was also quite the sugar addict so I was a little nervous how that would go. So far so good.

Now, I may not be 100% Paleo, but I'm pretty close right now. For instance, last night I had a chicken caesar salad with GF dressing. Not sure if the dressing is completely Paleo, especially since it came from a bottle, but everyone else had pizza so I still think I made the right choice. I also want to go through the bottled salad dressings I have before switching to making my own. Don't want to waste. These have really been my only cheats, so again, I think I'm doing good so far.

Next up is my exercise. I love the concept of CrossFit and the results that people seem to get. Again, this is where the post title mantra comes into play. I have to keep reminding myself it's never to late to start something. While full on CrossFit makes me nervous, I do plan on adapting the principles and movements into my routines. I have been unable to put shoes on the past couple of days due to huge blisters on the backs of my heels (they're both larger than the bandages to heal them) so I haven't done much in the form of exercise. Poor excuse I know. I did however manage to run a lot of errands in flip flops and made sure to walk around the grocery stores a few times. Better than sitting on the couch.

We won't even go into the rut that is my dating life.

One other way my life is in a rut is that I'm unemployed. And I hate it. I can't wait to get back to work. Unfortunately, finding a job has been a lot harder than I originally thought it would. Seems either you're under qualified or over qualified, not sure where the middle is. This is an ongoing issue and one that I have no control over, other than to keep applying for jobs.

I'm a planner, so I feel better when I can make plans, and schedule things out. Right now I have three things to focus on; eating, exercising and finding a job. This works for me and I know because of this, I can get out of this rut. I've already committed more than I have in quite some time and I know the results will follow. You're never too old to start!

Aidan's Bakery

Note: This post is an unsolicited opinion piece, I did not receive anything to do this post, just a product that I like and want to spread the word on. I love helping local businesses in any way I can.

I've mentioned it before on here that I have Celiac Disease, and therefore need to adhere to a strict Gluten Free diet. In the beginning it was a bit challenging, but then I realized that the things I couldn't eat, I really shouldn't anyhow. The biggest difference was that I had to cut down on processed foods, which is a good thing.

I mostly stuck to eating just whole foods like fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. I found a pasta brand that I love, so I started eating pasta again. I've been able to find some good mixes, and recipes, for desserts but bread always seemed to disappoint.

I've spent so much money trying different breads, I don't want to even think of how many scrapbooking supplies I could've bought instead. I wasn't big on bread before the diagnoses so I pretty much finally accepted that I just wouldn't eat bread anymore. Again, not necessarily a bad thing.

Enter the cravings for toast. Toast was the way I consumed most of my bread, sometimes having sandwiches untoasted. Smelling toast that others were making would drive me crazy.

My Dad had come home one day with a package of bagels, and they were delicious! He picked them up from Longo's and they were from Aidan's Bakery. Another time he bought me a baguette that was from the same company. Again, so good. He would drop by every so often to see what they had from Aidan's Bakery. It's a local bakery and they only ever had a couple of things each time.

Last week he picked up a loaf of their bread. Knowing my hardship with breads, he thought that since I really enjoyed their other products, I would probably like the bread. Boy was he right! I can't even describe my joy when I was able to have toast, and have it taste and feel like regular bread!

So far I've only had it as toast with margarine and as a grilled cheese sandwich. Again, pure joy as I had my first grilled cheese in years. I'm almost tearing up thinking about it. I also attempted to use two slices as a hamburger bun (they also make buns but I didn't have any) but that didn't work out. More because of the size difference and because of the burger toppings, not so much because of the bread taste.

Aidan's Bakery is an Ontario bakery, and came about because a little boy (Aidan) needed to go on a Gluten Free diet and his parents realized the difficulties this caused. Their products can be found in Longo's locations, as well as some other places, in Ontario. I found out that they make deliveries to my local store on Mondays and Thursdays. Now, I can make sure I'm there to get the freshest and best choices. The products go quickly so I can't always ensure that I'll get a loaf of bread.

So, if you live in Ontario, or plan to visit, and are looking for some good Gluten Free bread products I highly suggest checking out Aidan's Bakery. I'm probably going to gain weight now that I'm eating bread products again, lol, but I'm ok with that. Moderation is key, but so is happiness and I'm happy with my bread now!