Thursday, January 13, 2011

Proper Food Combining

Have you ever heard of this? I have practiced this very inconsistently for a couple of years. I love the way it works and I love that I can eat until I'm full, so why do I do it inconsistently? Because my family and I were raised on meat and potatoes, hamburgers on a bun or spaghetti with meat sauce and those are all no no's with proper food combining. It is hard to break old habits.
The main guidelines of proper food combining as I follow it are these: eat fruits alone; do not eat carbs with proteins or fats; it is okay to eat proteins with fats; vegetables mix with carbs or proteins/fats. Wait 2-3 hours if switching from carbs to proteins or vice versa. Wait 30 minutes after eating fruit before eating anything else. Do not drink very much with your meal. You are also to avoid caffeine, white flour, white pasta and sugar; all of which I try to do anyway. Some programs follow a much stricter set of guidelines that I do, I use what I have found to work for me and that I am able to follow. I lost 15 lbs in a relatively short time last year following these guidelines. I could have done it even faster if I were consistent! I had a hard time following the guidelines when my family wants chicken and noodles, chicken enchiladas or hamburgers and french fries.
Why am I bringing this up? Dh and I have decided to give PFC another try. He is ready to lose some weight and he knows how much healthier I feel when I follow the guidelines. For me, it isn't just about losing weight (I'm at a healthy weight right now and don't need to lose). It's about how I feel. I have chronic problems with my stomach/bowels when I don't PFC. I won't give you alot of details, as I'm sure you don't want to read about that. Suffice it to say that I do not have any of those troubles when I PFC. I also have more energy, better attitude and less skin conditions such as acne. I TRULY believe PFC is a healthy weigh to eat and that is what it is, a way of eating. It isn't a diet as the world defines a diet. You can eat until you are full, as long as you are eating the right combinations of foods.
I have referred many people to PFC because they have seen the weight that I lost and have noticed how I eat sometimes. It does take some planning sometimes or at least thinking through your choices, but it is so worth it for me. While on a mission trip this past December, I made a conscious decision to PFC as much as possible because I did not want stomach trouble while there. It was quite the topic of conversation when we stopped at a fast food restraunt and I took the bun off my burger.
I plan to post some recipes as I have time and I'll share our journey with PFC this time. It really isn't that hard once you figure out what you can have and find recipes you enjoy to go along with it. My family has found some new favorites while I experiment with it. I think this time will be much easier for me because my dh is committed to it this time too. The kids don't mind too much as long as I serve some things they like along the way ;-)

I will link some website for anyone that wants to learn more, but please know that I do not endorse any of the websites nor do I agree with all that is on their sites. I learned how to PFC from reading books by Suzanne Somers and Marilu Henner. Here is another site as well. I have learned to adapt their versions of PFC to what works for me. I also choose to eat some foods they don't allow because they call them "funky" foods, meaning they have proteins and carbs in them naturally. They are foods God created and therefore, I feel are ok to eat; such as bananas and nuts. I just try to put them with the right group or eat alone. I will also say some that PFC are vegetarians, we are not.

Blessings,
Rashel

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