Back before we moved into this giant project house, I made homemade bread, had a garden, and sewed our own clothes. I cooked a meal every night and we sat around the table as a family. Since we moved (6 years ago — aak!) I just haven’t had the energy for it. It might have coincided with adding our 6th child, plus all the extra work from DIYing the house. Plus I took a part time job outside the home and then my health fell apart.
This picture is awful and I was definitely miserable, but it’s not the sickest part of my journey. Just a year or two before this, I couldn’t walk unassisted because my blood pressure was so low. If I tried to stand, I would sometimes black out and the room was spinning so fast, I couldn’t keep my balance. It was hard to even lift my arms off the bed. Some days I was afraid my heart might stop beating in the night.
All that time in bed, I spent reading and researching. I found a doctor who could help me. Traditional doctors scratched their head and wrote prescriptions for prednisone and other immunosuppresants. Some even suggested it was all in my head, but she guided me through nutritional healing. The details of that process is a book all in itself, but it has motivated me to help others. It’s why I’m in school right now to become a personal trainer and going on to become a health coach and fitness nutritional specialist.
Friend, your health is everything. While I was laying in bed, the only thing I had was God. (Which was huge! I can’t imagine walking this journey without Him.) I had no family life. I missed sports games, music concerts, birthday parties, Christmas. The world kept going with me trapped in bed on the sidelines. The kids did so much growing up in the years that I was sick. Those lost moments are my biggest regret.
I have energy to bake again! No more additives in bread for my family.
Even after I was well enough to get up off the bed, I had a long road of recovery ahead. I’m still on it and sometimes take a step back. While each regression is frustrating, it also teaches me a lot about my body.
Sheet Pan Suppers make healthy food prep easy
The cause of my illness can be summed up in one word, STRESS. I used to think about stress as worry, money problems, or a calendar full of too many events, and while that’s definitely part of it, stress is much more than that. It can be physical stress from exposure to toxic chemicals, like ammonia and bleach or even paint fumes. It can be from toxic load from food additives. Stress can even come from light sensitivity or undiagnosed allergies. Whether stress comes from internal or external sources, it creates a perfect storm that is the root of ALL disease. Even when we have a genetic disposition to disease, it takes a trigger to turn those genes on. That trigger is some form of stress.
Research scientists are now discovering that the deadly diseases of aging adults began in their childhood. This link is specific to heart disease, but I strongly believe that cancers and brain diseases also begin in childhood with root nutritional stress causes.
I’m hosting a free live class through zoom on May 3rd, telling some of the tricks I use, including how to use essential oils to support the thyroid, adrenals and good sleep. How I ensure proper nutrition and reduce oxidative stress. I’ll also show my favorite snack that boosts gut health, encourages fat loss, increases metabolism, boosts detoxification, and is super filling. Plus I’ll be showing my favorite non-toxic cleaners and skin care routine. Just pop in your email address above to get an invitation. (Plus it’s live, so you can ask questions like “But what about picky eaters? And how can I afford it?”)
Sometimes I still feel discouraged about how far I have left to go in my health journey, then I look back on my progress photos and realize how far I’ve come.
I put these photos side by side yesterday and shared them on instagram. I still have a long way to go in fitness and the scale has actually gone UP instead of DOWN! So frustrating when I’ve been working so hard and if all I had to go on was the scale, I would have given up long before now. Some days I ask myself how I think I can be a personal trainer and health coach when I’m so overweight. “Who do you think you are?” Then I see the progress here and realize the scale can’t tell the whole story, and I keep going.
Even progress pictures can’t show everything. Remember when I told you a few years ago I couldn’t lift my arms off the bed? This is last weekend, me hiking with my family. ME! I’m crying with joy because I was there, participating, living an energy filled abundant life. If I can do it, anyone can.
I’m excited to share more of my story with you live. See you May 3rd!
