Note from Heather: As a paleo teenager, I love finding other paleo teenagers and college-age paleo bloggers. I’ve been blogging here for nearly two years now, and I’ve been blessed to be able to connect with many other paleo food bloggers in my age group. The Paleo: The Next Generation series is meant to highlight their blogs and accomplishments while proving that you can eat paleo – and be a blogger! – at any age!
Today’s interview is with Dionna of Kitchen Whimsy. I wish Dionna and I lived on the same street or something because I think we would hang out all the time. We both love science, we’re both tall, we both love to cook allergy-free food, and we both went paleo for similar reasons (Gluten = evil). But Dionna is way funnier than me; her blog posts are so much fun to read. Check out her blog for the awesome recipes AND her super-funny blog posts!
Q: Tell us a little about yourself and how you found paleo/real food eating?
I ate healthy before it was cool. Maybe not ideal perfect paleo healthy, but from the moment I was born I feasted heartily on fuits, veggies, and meats, (and duh, all organic). While there were definitely grains and dairy in the mix of my diet, I was a child so organically grown that at school I would see my friends’ lunchables and wonder, “What is this sorcery?”
Fast forward to early high school. To my great shock, my parents suddenly gave up wheat to be DOUBLE HEALTHY (Ok come on, we’re Ukrainian what are you doing? What happened to our BREAD BASKET OF EUROPE heritage? Pleaaasee.). I understood that wheat was unhealthy, and therefor did try to limit it as much as possible. However, when Christmas and Easter (and a trip to Italy) rolled around, I feasted on my glorious traditional Babka loaf as heartily as I could (as well as all that epic pizza in Italy. and I mean EPIC). And boy was I glad I took those chances when I had them. You see, by this point in life, my generally average-poor gut happiness was taking a turn for the worse. Not only was a losing my appetite, but I was also emotionally affected as well and developed a really sorry body image. On top of that, all my joints hurt. I dropped to 130 lbs, a bit underweight for a 5’10 3/4″ girl. A few months later, my stomach pain started popping up with LITERALLY EVERYTHING I ate. Bread. Eggs. Fruit. Meat. Especially cane/ refined sugar. So finally I said to myself, “Well, I’ve eaten the best pizza in the world. I’ve eaten the best bread in the world. Every birthday my mother would make me the best chocolate cake in the world. I’ve seriously lived up the gluetenous life, time to go paleo and stop feeling disgusting.”
The rest basically history.
I haven’t solved everything yet, still get a lot of stomach aches, and no one really knows why. However, switching up my diet and basically never sitting still (Yay CrossFit! Yay dance! Yay random stretches in the kitchen that force people to walk over or around me!) has been a crucial part of my healing process, both emotionally and physicaly. So much happiness 😀
Q: How did you get into blogging and what’s been your favorite thing about it?
I noticed that a lot of paleo food blogs that I would get inspiration from would include a lot of tapioca/arrowroot flour, which kinda bugs my stomach (and isn’t actually a healthy wheat alternative with its equally high glycemic index) . That’s what fist prompted me to start a food blog, mainly for myself, where I could organize my paleo un-tapioca-ed versions of things I found tasty. Also, I was off nuts at one point, and always LOOVVEED when blogs had a “nut-free” filter. Oh hey! I could add nut and egg free filters to my blog too! Yay me. Finally, I generally have a lot of useless but hopefully decently entertaining things to say on all sorts of random aspects of life. I love to write, and the over-enthusiastic extrovert in me had to grab the opportunity to express all the crazy (and rather un-food-related) entertainment in my head and turn it into blog posts.
Result = a blog of foodiness, nerdiness, and happiness.
Q: What’s the best thing about being a paleo teenager?
1) I get to show all my doubting friends that healthy food isn’t always boring! Surprise!
2) I have a better relationship with food, and am more confident in myself than I would have been without healthy eating (and athletics). I really appreciate it especially during my teenage years, when society so heavily bombards our little malleable minds with images of what we should look like or who we should be.
3) I (hope I) am cool enough to aid in the effort of making healthy food cool. 🙂
4) My friends are less likely to steal my food.
5) I usually get to pick restaurants when we go out. Yaaay.
Q: What’s the hardest thing about being a paleo teenager?
I am perpetually hungry. I get extremely hangry too. Extremely. PLEASE Beware Hangry Dionna. She will make you cry if you don’t feed her. Quote from a friend when he first experienced my hangriness: “Dang, I knew people could be hangry, but this is something else. This is a new phenomenon.” Thus, if all anyone orders is pizza, none of us are happy. BECAUSE HANGRINESS HAS BEFALLEN DIONNA.
Basically, I have to drag an emergency stash of food wherever I go. But that has been trained into me since I was young so it’s not too bad.
Q: What’s your favorite recipe on your blog and why?
Oh dang! Despite the fact that my blog is pretty new, I have so many! I mean, duh, I post recipes because they’re my favorites in the first place! 🙂
Here are a few tops:
Pierogi!! Because it’s my childhood authenticness in a morsel and it makes me so happy!! Also I love my grandma. Read more about her on the post!
Pomegranate Chocolate Blondies!! BECAUSE OMG TRY THEM AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND. And so darn easy. Also if you feel like hearing a decently entertaining spiel about Driver’s Ed class, that’s the post for you (I did tell you the post subjects are random and unrelated, right?)
(Hedgehog Cookies are a close runner up though. Cause they’re stinking adorable and the blog post is one of my favorites.)
Q: What advice do you have for other young people for eating healthier in the teen to twenty something world?
Surround yourself with people that will help you reach your goals! I know that goes for basically everyone, but finding my healthy-eating community (especially within my gym! Athletic communities can be a great resource!) has really solidified my beliefs and ease with which I can support my eating habits. (Also, the folks at my gym taste-test for me. Win-win)
Also, free food at school is super tempting! And usually pizza! Woo! Make sure you have your repertoire of favorite healthier treats ready so when temptations come around, you can still reward yourself without screwing up your eating habits. A lot of times, I’ll take a plate of paleo desserts to a party, and usually there will be so much food that I’ll end up eating most of the dish I brought by myself. Not sure if that’s how pot luck should work but whatever 🙂
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
Words of wisdom #1:
Here’s a favorite quote from Richard Feynman (Awesome, genius, Nobel-prize winning, and multi-talented Physicist)
“You’re unlikely to discover something new without a lot of practice on old stuff, but further, you should get a heck of a lot of fun out of working out funny relations and interesting things.”
Yay for being adventurous with thinking! No matter how much we study, the more we enjoy it, the more we ask questions, and the more we discover, the better we’ll become.
Words of wisdom #2:
Read the original Winnie the Pooh book. You will become a better person. It’s so full of genius and happiness. If everyone read it it would bring world peace, I swear.
Follow Dionna on her blog, Kitchen Whimsy, and on Instagram.
