I Don't Change My Mind - HA!

I haven't always been the way I am. In fact, even just a few short years ago I would say I was a pretty opposite personality. I would laugh at my mom who shopped at Whole Foods and went to yoga classes every single day, sometimes twice a day. It just wasn't who I was.

What is funny and why I started thinking about this lately is because I was accused, (granted from a person who doesn't really know me whatsoever and not that I really care, it just got me thinking) of not being one to change my mind or opinion. I actually snorted and laughed when I read that.

On one hand, yes there are things in my life right now that I don't plan to change my mind about (um why would I? Do you go around thinking you are going to change your mind about things you feel strongly about?) but it definitely hasn't always been that way. Now, there are things I feel passionate about and have researched and learned a lot about, whereas before I didn't really have much information on them. Little things to big things.

I feel as though I am often accused of being a green, opinionated, health nut. Maybe I am? Maybe I am okay with that? Scratch that... I AM okay with that!

But maybe I haven't always been this way either so I feel "qualified", for lack of a better term, to hold my OPINIONS (which are just that, my opinions, for MY family) because I have been on both sides? I'm not sure.

Diet Coke: Let's see, until about the age of 18 or so I was a Diet Coke addict. I started drinking it from the time I could hold the can (yes, always out of the can...ahhhhh) I don't think I drank a glass of water until I was 18. No, I am not joking. I could go through 6 cans a day. I was not worried about aspartame or any other artificial sweetener. In fact, I hadn't a clue WHAT was in the silver can my hand was glued to. Nor did I care. It was 0 calories and tastes oh so good! And I thought healthy = skinny and eat all that fat free, calorie free processed crap, er, food. That's all that matters, right? Yeah, I can pretty much say I feel 100% opposite from that today. I wouldn't touch a Diet Coke if you paid me. I don't even chew conventional gum anymore because of the artificial sweeteners in them. So don't tell me that my mind can't be changed!

Organic Food: Like I said above, I used to laugh at my mom for shopping at Whole Foods. "It's so expensive!" I would say. Why would anyone do that? I never thought about the pesticides on my produce or in my food. I lived this long, right? Today, I will literally NOT BUY fruit and veggies that aren't organic, except for some things that I've learned it doesn't matter so much on and that's only if I have no choice. I'm very careful and the thought of eating an apple that isn't organic scares me. Over the top to some? Sure, maybe to you...and that's okay because I felt that way as well a few years ago. But don't tell me my mind can't be changed!

Soy: You may know that I have always battled with my skin. I've tried everything short of accutane for my skin and finally when my dermatologist found a magic concoction of drugs and topicals for me I thought I had hit the lottery. CLEAR SKIN! Only a few weeks later I started Weight Watchers (again) and if you know them, you know how they push their servings of dairy. Low fat and fat free dairy to be exact. My skin FLARED up. It took me weeks to figure it out, but there it was, the only thing I had changed in my diet and lifestyle since I find the magical skin cure. I called my dermatologist and talked to her about it, knowing full well she'd think I was nutso for thinking it had anything to do with dairy. No, she said that she was NOT surprised to hear about this and had just been to a conference all about this issue! Apparently they are finding the hormones in dairy (and get this, specifically fat free b/c they mess w/ the hormone balances even more!) affect people's skin. No shit... This was all a couple years ago and before I worried about conceiving or having PCOS. So I, being the "health nut" that I was starting to slowly become, load up on SOY! Soy cheese, soy milk, soy yogurt, soy meats, you name it. Soy was clearly much better, right? Um...today there are few things I will touch that are "soy". It scares the piss out of me. Oddly enough, when I started doing Traditional Chinese Medicine for fertility treatment I was also told then I could not have dairy (or soy, though that wasn't a problem b/c I was too scared of it by then!) either. That's crazy I thought, and did my research on the issue. Sure enough, I was convinced to totally quit during treatments. Now that I am pregnant though, I do indulge in some ice cream, cheese, etc, but I am certainly not chugging milk by any means (okay,there was a chocolate milk craving a month or so ago). And NO soy. Talk about changing your mind back and forth ...a lot!

Here's a big one you might be surprised to learn....

C-Sections and other Medical Interventions: It wasn't too many years ago when I dreamt about the day I'd become pregnant and medical technology would be so advanced that I wouldn't have to feel A THING during labor and delivery. Or when I read about women actually choosing to have a C-section and I thought, "wow that is soooo cool - I want to do that and skip the nasty part!" If you're still reading, I hope you're laughing at this point. Doesn't sound like me in the least, huh? But then I got pregnant. And I read and read. And researched such issues. The thought of a C Section (for anything other than 100% medically necessary/life or death type of situation) makes me want to vomit. The thought of pain medications and the medical interventions that often come with them scare the shit out of me. But no, clearly this person was right... my mind can't be changed!

And a silly one, unrelated to healthy and babies....

"Doodles". Yes, the dogs known as the 'labradoodle', 'goldendoodle', and whatever the hell else they've come up with at this point. I can remember seeing one on The Today Show years ago when they first became popular. How cool I thought! What a revolutionary idea. What was I thinking??? Sticking to our pattern here, I could not feel more opposite about the issue today. I've talked to so many dog experts and read so much about this issue that now that I am more informed I do not just see "cute puppy" (let's be honest...of course they're cute - what puppy isn't!? But that's not the issue at hand...)

Anyway, there are plenty of other things; cloth diapering (that would have gotten a big fat "EEEEWWW" even just two years ago I am sure), water bottles (um, once I started actually drinking water instead of Diet Coke I would only drink out of plastic water bottles and then go ahead and throw them out! ek!), I am ashamed to admit I once voted for a Republican and called myself one, didn't give a crap about gay marriage, politics, women's rights, etc.

My point is, maybe I feel so strongly about certain things because I HAVE changed my mind, NOT because my mind cannot be changed.