What the hell is PALEO?! A type of kangaroo? An insect?! What is it?!

One of the many wonderful things about doing a year of service is that I can make it what I want it to be. 

I could just go to work and choose to not be involved or active after 5pm, or I could choose to engage and explore the community and be social with new people as I go into new places and spaces. Over the past month, my lack of blog posts has been a result of the latter. I have been busier with work, but have also been busy on weekends with Program work, throwing parties, having co-workers over for happy hours; I've been reading, going to underground hip-hop shows, and - I admit it - watching Scandal. I've found awesome places in the community like World Peace Yoga - an urban "village" that contains a fair trade shop, a vegan cafe, and of course a zen-filled yoga house. 

If that sounds awesome to you, please come visit me! A very cheap megabus trip for many of my readers, you are always welcome. I think that being a transplant here, Cincinnati is a place that everyone should see at one point. Its one of those cities that infuriates you because of its many issues, but is also mind-boggling-ly beautiful.  Cincinnati is a place that needs more people to give it a chance, and give it just a bit more love. 

I would like to add how incredibly grateful and thankful I am for the overwhelming support family, friends, and random readers have shown me for my adventures of doing a year of service, and with sharing and supporting my writing here on Vice Versa. Although I do miss all of my family in Minneapolis, Elgin, and other friends scattered across the globe, hearing from any one reminds me of the incredible relationships I have, and the network of love and encouragement that I can fall back on. So for that, I love yall too :) 

As always, a good amount of activities and experiences have passed since my last post earlier in the month. See my previous post for pictures from all my adventures!

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Prior to this year, I constructed a few goals that I wanted to accomplish while in my year of service. These included: working out 5 days/week, losing like 30 lbs, being so inspired by my program and experiences that I would have a very clear idea about what I want to do after July 2014. Note that "just live" was not on the list (it is now). Well, I think that I might have had not very realistic goals, and that I figured when I moved to Cincy I would turn into Super Woman and be able to accomplish all of my hearts desires in 11 months. Throughout my life I've tried to put an 'S' on my chest and accomplish  many things at once, this always turns out to be life-depleting in more ways than one. As a result I sought comfort in food (that of course I knew was bad for me): hot cheetos, easy mac, cake, sweets -you name it. Leaving me with migraines, empty tank of energy, zero desire to get out of bed and socialize, and absolutely negative self-esteem.

It is because of all of this, and the gift of time that comes after undergrad, I decided I was ready to change my life by starting with the things I am putting in my body.  I've suffered from headaches (mild to severe) and migraines since the 4th grade. I've figured out that they are diet related, and the MSG in foods triggers them. Even with not eating artificial food it was still happening (suggested to me at this point that I could have a gluten or dairy intolerance). I've also struggled with maintaining a healthy weight for most of my early years of life- it leveled out when I was active in high school, but in college my time was too quickly consumed by my position in AKA, school and work that I did not make my health a priority. My last year, I was burnt out emotionally and mentally, and fell into a mild depression. By the time I graduated in May 2013, I had gained a cool 40 lbs over 2.5 years. YIKES.  I am an open book yall! I will share my struggles easily. It was because of ALL of this that I decided to re-commit to my well being - my mind, body and spirit, simply because I needed to! 

As of November 18, 2013 myself and 2 friends that I live with have committed ourselves to the Paleo diet. Along the same lines of my year of service here and learning to live simply - this is a very simple diet. Basically, its whole foods diet, that rids your body of things that it doesn't need a lot of (but we are used to eating in WAY too large amounts). Meaning, that it is gluten-free, dairy-free, legume-free.  Because I don't feel like writing it, please read >>> THIS ARTICLE <<< which details Paleo more easily than I can, in a hilarious way.  It is also pronounced Pey-lee-Oh.




If you know me, I used to be a CARB-O-HOLIC. I started converting to a wheat-less and dairy-free diet about a month ago when a friend challenged me to only eat a food containing those ingredients once a day. As someone who can shovel down pasta, always picks the bread bowl at Panera, and loves cheese sometimes more than wine - I thought this was going to be impossible. Similar to many, embracing the idea that you have to 'cut something out' to make a diet work was not easy. Easing myself into cutting gluten and dairy out was the best challenge I have ever accepted.

HOW I FEEL AFTER JUST 2 WEEKS:

Lighter, more energetic, less desire to run to coffee or tea for a caffeine fix - and my digestive system is happy because non-toxic things are going inside of it. I've been on Weight Watchers multiple times, and found success in their programs, but I wanted to try something different. I had a couple pieces of cheese-less pizza after our Thanksgiving food basket give -away this past Tuesday at work and I felt awful afterward because of the wheat-filled crust. 

 This may sound like a very drastic and unrealistic diet to some, but it is actually very easy. It helps that I like to cook because I am making all of my meals, and I there is a lot of space for creativity between all of the different foods I can eat. Demar was given a Paleo book from his dad- "Practical Paleo" and when mentioning to me what it was about a year or so ago I was NOT open to it. Little did I know it would be our go-to guide for all things Paleo. Recipes, why our poop looks like it does, why mushrooms and other vegetables make your joints hurt, etc etc etc.  Here is the authors blog and book info. 

My last point is this: Paleo is not a "cookie-cutter" diet. If you can tolerate dairy, you can have it more than others. Whatever makes your body feel AMAZING, and your digestive system happy - try that!  This is what is working for me - but I commend ANYONE who has made a commitment to their health and is sticking to it! GO YOU! Lets connect so we can empower and support each other when that piece of Chicago Deep-dish is calling, or the new Cake-pop flavor at Starbucks looks too good to not try.   There are a couple pictures of a couple Paleo-friendly dishes we have made in my Photo Reel Post.  We also had a gluten free, dairy-free Thanksgiving dinner. Most recipes taken from the Practical Paleo book I mentioned above. My mom brought the dessert recipes and I'm not sure where those are from. 

I hope it won't take me 2 months to write again! There are plenty of holiday adventures coming up in the next few weeks and I can't wait to share about those.

Wishing everyone a restful Thanksgiving weekend, and let us all remember how blessed we truly are.

Sending Love and peace,

Mary Kathleen