The Virgin Diet

In my continuing journey for health, I've started a new "diet" today. It's slightly different, but not much of a stretch from what I've been doing for the last year and a half. It's just more strict, because obviously my diet wasn't strict enough (read with sarcasm). Before I get into what this new diet change entails, let me give you some details of what's been going on for me lately (since I've so rudely disappeared lately). For the past three or four weeks, I've been severely lacking in energy/will power/excitement. Suffice it to say that I've been feeling burnt out. I wasn't sleeping well and I was under stress, which resulted in a massive migraine that left me crying at work and being driven home by one of my co-workers. The pounding headaches lasted for the next five days, and consisted of me taking my migraine medicine more over the course of one week than I have in the past year. The irony of the whole thing was that I had just gone in for a 6-month check up with my doctor a few days before and talked about how my daily headaches were manageable and I wasn't having to take the migraine meds. I should have known better than to say that out loud and jinx it.

At the beginning of this month I started a 6000 squat challenge, meaning 200 squats per day for 30 days. After the first day of squats, I had to start icing my knees. For the next couple weeks, I was icing my knees every day. Walking up and down stairs as well as just plain walking was painful. Then it seemed like all of my joints started hurting. Both knees, my left ankle, my shoulders, both elbows, my left wrist and thumb, my right fingers... it was ridiculous. I'm 26 years old and sitting hurts. Something obviously isn't right. Add in the fact that my jawline has been breaking out like crazy for the last month or so, and I think I need to make a change.

So that's what I'm doing. Last week I listened in on Real Food Con and while most of the sessions I listened to talked about eating quality foods while cutting out gluten and dairy, I heard something new. What I heard was the Virgin Diet. It's very similar to Paleo, but it doesn't exclude legumes. On the other hand, you can't have any eggs. I took the leaky gut quiz associated with the Virgin Diet and scored a 52. 16+ is a "high likelihood of leaky gut," so I'm literally off the charts. I needed a change, so here goes. The 7 foods that you can't have are:

1. Gluten
2. Dairy
3. Eggs
4. Corn
5. Soy
6. Peanuts
7. Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners

So the things that I'm going to be changing are cutting out eggs (which supposedly will help reduce joint pain - please!), and reducing my sugar intake. No, I don't eat foods with granulated sugar or artificial sweeteners in it, I'll be cutting down on the amount of natural sugars I consume. So when I eat fruit, I'm going to try to stick to berries and citrus fruits which tend to have more nutrients. Anyways, let's see how this goes.

BLT Salad

2 cups butter lettuce/radicchio salad mix

1 handful grape tomatoes, sliced in half

3 slices bacon, sugar-free, no nitrates

Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

sprinkle of pepper

pinch of dried thyme

dash of garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and lay strips of bacon on the pan.

2. Cook the bacon for 20 minutes or until the bacon reaches your desired crispiness. I prefer mine super crispy, but not burnt.

3. While the bacon is cooking, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, pepper, thyme, and garlic.

4. Chop the cooked bacon into small pieces, and toss in a bowl with the lettuce and tomatoes. Add the dressing and enjoy.

I tossed in a couple blackberries and some mushrooms because I had them lying around, but make it your own and add in whichever ingredients you want.