Christine Peisner

I am so honored to be Ms. March Piggy of the Month!  I will wear the banner proudly and, in honor of the month of March, I will eat green things. I stumbled on Tess’s website about a year ago when I was looking for some green smoothie recipes and can I just say OINK!   Have you tried that Vegan Cashew Cheese Dip?  Thank you, Tess, for your commitment to healthy food!  You are one lovely, fun and inspiring lady.  And thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my own version of  "This Little Piggy".

This Little Piggy Went to Market.

I was raised where microwavable, frozen, pre-packaged, pre-prepared bulk “food” from Costco was readily available in our freezer and pantry.  Every Saturday after swimming lessons it was, “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.”  Can I see a show of hands?  In my family if you had a problem, were uncomfortable, bored, or otherwise unhappy, the answer was to eat something.  And I was definitely all of the above most of the time.  Add this to a difficult start in life, and it is no surprise that very early on I developed a habit of comforting myself with food.  By the age of nine, I was one chubby little piggy.

When the teen years came along, I managed my weight by skipping breakfast, having a Diet Pepsi for lunch, and then making a visit to the drive through toxic trough after school (mustn’t eat in front of your peers).  Oh, and did I mention a healthy dose of stuffing my emotions?  Combine that with the help of some (ahem) diet aids and dance class and it seemed to all average out.  I thinned out, looked great and kept busy.  It’s all good, right?  For a while.

This Little Piggy Stayed Home.

Later, I found myself the young working mother of three children with a husband who both worked and went to school full time.  I had lost some of the baby weight, but my need for comfort did not go away.  Eventually, with no “Me Time”, and nothing acceptable to numb myself with, I returned to eating for comfort and began to gain those miserable pounds back.  I did the yo-yo diet thing for years.   Some diets worked in the short term, but who wants to live on a diet?  The lifestyle left me feeling continually deprived and unhappy.  My inability to keep pounds off  became the bane of my existence!

This Little Piggy had Roast Beef.

One would think that I would eventually figure out what healthy eating was, and I really thought I knew.  After all, did I not read everything that was spoon fed to me by the media?  Did I not consume the FDA approved low-fat, low-calorie, low cholesterol, “food” and diet drinks?  I was doing everything I had been taught, but failing.  Little did I know that I was depriving myself of essential fats and nutrition, which was ruining my metabolism and messing with all my systems.  I was actually both starving and poisoning myself at the same time! 

It wasn’t until my boys entered school, that I became enlightened.  Turns out, both my sons have ADHD.  I do not want to go off on this topic, as this is mainly about my journey with weight.  But I do believe proper nutrition and the absence of  toxins greatly minimizes the effects of ADHD.  Anyway, not wanting to medicate my boys is what got me started on researching nutrition.  God bless Dr. Mercola.  Can we get him on the ballot for the upcoming U.S. Presidential election?

This Little Piggy had None.

One thing led to another and before you knew it, I was INFORMED and dangerous.  At first, my obsession was an irritation to everyone in the family.  I began stripping our kitchen of  toxins.  We were having none of that stuff anymore.  I am proud to say that now we are ALL on the right path and at least have the knowledge to support good decisions about what we eat.  We eat organic, fresh and often raw whole foods.  Through proper nutrition, we have collectively overcome anxiety, sleep issues, bacterial infections, gout (my 19 year old had gout!!!), virus-related illnesses, weight issues, emotional issues, PMS, acne, brain fog...truly the list goes on and on.  I am confident that we will also avoid cancer, Alzheimer’s and (dare I say) wrinkles!!!  Ok, maybe it is wishful thinking about the wrinkles. But We.Are.Believers.

Next thing you know, my husband, who is a counselor, is off getting his Naturopathic Doctor’s license.  He has seen great emotional triumphs resulting from nutritional support.  And our daughter is graduating this May with her Master’s in Health Promotion.  She is going to be a force to reckon with in the “health” field, let me tell you!  Our 19 year-old son is in his first year of college and our 18 year-old son is graduating from high school this year.  We are coming up on the old empty nest thing.  Since my awesome hubby and I love to spend time and have a lot of fun together, we are feeling pretty good about the next chapter of life.

This Little Piggy went WEE WEEE WEEEE all the way Home!

As for me, I started running two years ago and ran my first half marathon June, 2011.  I’m training for my second and third half-marathons this spring and fall.  Oh, Dear Running, where have you been all my life?!?!  Twenty some pounds lighter, with ideally ten or so to go, at the age of 46, I look and feel great. I can say it. I’ve earned it!  Here is a pic of me and my little piglets after the race.

If you will indulge me, I would like to share my recipe for wholeness.

While good health starts with nutrition, for wholeness I believe it is important to exercise the bod and the spirit.  Meditate or pray.  Deal with your emotions; seek counseling if necessary.  Love more and forget about hate.  Forgive.  And eat like a smart, healthy pig. 

By the way, I no longer refer to comforting myself with food as an eating disorder.  I think there is too much shame in saying it that way.  Are we not suckled at birth for comfort?  Does whole food not taste divine?  Yes, in fact, I believe it is a divine gift.

Well, that’s a very small window into my life journey.  All is good.  All is grace.

Namaste, Christine