My Health Story with Food

In September of 2017 I was laying on the couch, overwhelmed by the world, school, and my social life. I had just eaten a whole tub of Breyer's Cookies and Cream ice cream to temporarily escape the negative thoughts swirling around my head, but now I felt even worse. My tummy was bulging, gurgling, and so painfully bloated; the sugar crashed my nervous system and I fell into an uncomfortable sleep, feeling even more guilty about my decisions than before I dug my spoon in. All the troubles I was having in my life felt so much worse because I knew I wasn't healthy and my disastrous relationship with food was not only hurting my physical body but my emotional state of being too.

In my youth I grew up on a diet mainly comprised of gluten, dairy, meat, and sugar, just like most people; however, something went wrong for me while I was in high school. I always appeared bloated, my tummy and digestion felt uncomfortable, and I was extremely constipated, to the point where sometimes I wouldn't go for a week or longer. Nobody else seemed to have this problem, I felt alone, confused, and like something was wrong with me. I went to the doctor for some medical advice and he sent me home with a laxative and that was it, however, I knew these weren't meant for long term use so I felt let down, he didn't have any advice for how to actually HEAL my root cause issue, so I had to embark on this healing on my own.

I started exploring different health trends online, cooking different types of food, and including superfoods for their medicinal properties. Even though all the methods weren't beneficial, I started to recognize how my body felt after I put something new in it; I was able to identify what caused the bloating, what meals may have been responsible for the constipation, that sugar causes my joints to ache, and much more! I learned the most valuable tool for caring for your body in a world with so many methods and teachers, it's for you to TRULY LISTEN to your symptoms and put the puzzle of your body back together so it can finally HEAL!

Today, I live with a much healthier relationship with food and a reverence and respect for my body, understanding the incredible job it does everyday; and that I have the power to either make its job easier (and help myself feel better) or I can continue to slowly destroy my body and disregard the signs its giving me everyday. I've learned how to cook amazing food that feeds all aspects of my body, the physical, emotional, and even spiritual. Digging even deeper into health I've studied nutrition to truly understand what the body needs from food, I've learned how it affects our organs and what is going on when we deal with digestive issues, emotional issues, autoimmune disease, and other disfunction in the body, as our lifestyle and food choices has the potential to heal so much!

The most incredible part is the amount of true freedom you get back to your life; as you are no longer chained by the confusion, fear, and overwhelm you feel when you don't understand what is going on in your own body, and how you can help yourself. I've discovered that my issues disappear when I exercise my abdominals, eat a balanced diet with fiber and whole foods, avoid nicotine, drink enough water, and breath properly with deep breaths into my stomach.

All of our bodies are completely different and we need a unique formula to to feel our best, my mission is to cover the food and nutrition portion of that equation as it's an irreplaceable base. Having a healthy gut is one of the best places to start as it has a huge effect on the rest of our body, and healing it will relieve us of inflammation, bloating, cramps, and maximize our ability to turn our food into the pure and effective fuel we need to live successful, happy lives, no longer burdened by our own bodies, and instead supported by them.