Hi, I’m Sarah… Welcome to my blog!

I can’t believe I’m actually typing those words, but I am, and I’m pumped! So let’s get this party started!

I am a wife, mother and chef of our household. I am blessed to be able to raise our two children and do what I love every single day – COOK! Growing up, I always knew cooking was something l loved to do, I just never realized how much, until I became a Mom. Providing my family with quality, healthy, organic, farm raised, local food is my passion. It is probably my only passion besides fitness and General Hospital of course!

In February, 2008 I found out I was going to become a Mom. Needless to say at the time my eating habits were anything but good! I’m actually quite shocked my daughter didn’t have major health concerns with the obscene amount of fast food I ate while pregnant with her. If I had to guess in a 7 day period I ate food from a drive through about 7-10 times. Not to mention the unhealthy, highly calorie options I was cooking at home for me and my husband.

At about the halfway point in my pregnancy I knew something had to change. I wanted better for my daughter. She shouldn’t grow up craving Soda, McDonalds & Kraft Mac&Cheese (just to name a few!). I started noticing all the Organic labels in the grocery store and hearing about “why to eat organic” on TV. So I did my research and was astounded! I had never in my life thought about eating organic until I knew I would be responsible for another life. I just couldn’t live with myself if I knew the dangers and gave it to her anyway. So from that moment on, my perception of food changed. I wanted her to grow up in a home where these unhealthy options aren’t available. To this day my daughter doesn’t even know what McDonalds is, and it will stay that way, as long as I have anything to say about it! My devotion to my children’s health has NEVER wavered, even when I couldn’t get my own health on the right track.

Now let’s fast forward to my daughters first birthday in October 2009. You would think after a years’ time I could have gotten the baby weight off. Well, no, that didn’t happen. But it was my fault and mine alone. Lack of gym time and constant over eating was and would continue to be my problem! In January 2011 I found out I was pregnant again. By that time I had given up fast food, but it never stopped me from over indulging in pregnancy “comfort” foods. When I went for my 6 week checkup after my son was born, the scale read 217lbs. and for the next year and a half I tried every form of the modern day diet. Low calorie, low fat, no fat, healthy grains, no meat - you name it, I tried it! Even with combining moderate exercise, I fluctuated but could never drop below 210lbs. That is until April of this year. The month my life changed FOREVER!

My Aunt introduced me to a healthy, 30 day eating cleanse called Whole30. She tried it the previous month and had great results. I read through all the information and thought this could really work for me, so I gave it a shot. I was starting to feel defeated in my weight loss journey, but sure enough, 30 days later I was 16lbs. down and feeling better than ever! Now, 6 months later I have lost a total of 35lbs. following the Paleo diet and excising regularly.

Whole30 was born out of the Whole9 program developed by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. Here is how they describe it:

“We believe in Eating Good Food. Our recommendations are based around the framework of a Paleo Diet, with a focus on health, not history. We like to put a positive spin on our nutrition plan, focusing on all the foods we do eat (instead of what we don’t).

Whole9′s Nutrition in 60 Seconds

We eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, healthy oils, nuts and seeds. We choose foods that were raised, fed and grown naturally, and foods that are nutrient-dense, with lots of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. This is not a “diet” – we eat as much as we need to maintain strength, energy, activity levels and a healthy body weight. We aim for well-balanced nutrition, so we eat animals and a significant amount of plants. Eating like this has helped us to look, feel, live and perform our best, and reduces our risk for a variety of lifestyle-related diseases and conditions.”

Change is hard! Especially when it comes to food. But I'm here to tell you it CAN be done! Take labor for example...going through the process isn’t fun, but when the hard part is done a beautiful new life awaits you on the other side.  That is exactly how I see life now; the possibilities are endless for me, my family and now YOU! I find myself in desperate need to share my story and help as many people along the way.

Here are my reasons for doing this blog:

1. To encourage parents to embrace change.

2. To inspire REAL food being cooked in your kitchens.

3. For children to grow up in a home free of processed food.

4. Making fast food a thing of the past and REAL FOOD the NEW NORMAL!

Please join me on this journey to finding a happier, healthier, PaleoTastic YOU!