Recently, I made big changes to my diet. And I feel better than ever.
Here’s why:
I have been on a healing journey over the last 8 months. Back in December 2017, I lost a baby 23 weeks into pregnancy. It was a traumatic experience physically, emotionally, and spiritually. After months of allowing my body, soul and spirit to rest and recover, I decided it was time to pursue healing.
I focused on healing in 3 areas of my life: emotional, spiritual , and physical. I sought out a counselor to help me walk out emotional healing. I met with a woman who guided me through healing prayer to help me walk in spiritual healing.
As I pursued my physical healing, I took two major steps. First, I met with an integrative and holistic doctor at CentreSpring MD. The doctor helped me pinpoint the vitamin and mineral deficiencies that left me feeling tired and sluggish most days. She started me on a supplement routine that has greatly improved my energy.
Secondly, I consulted with a Chinese medical doctor who has taken me through several rounds of cupping and acupuncture along with herbal treatment and diet changes to help me heal. I could spend a full blog post explaining the benefits of acupuncture and cupping, but I will leave that for another time.
Right now, I want to share how I have benefited from changing my diet.
This doctor prescribed a mixture of herbs to help reduce inflammation, to raise my body temperature, and to restore balance in my body. At first I was a little hesitant, as I mainly just use herbs in cooking, but I was willing to make drastic changes as I was ready to feel major improvements. Now that I have been drinking this herbal water twice a day for almost 2 months, I am a FIRM believer in the healing power of herbs. I am now on a quest to understand and know more! Until I can offer more insight, one great resource I have found on the subject is Dr. Josh Axe. A great podcast called Herbs, Spices and Proteins to Live By where he discusses how herbs can heal. You can also read more about it on his website.
Along with the herbs, this doctor recommended changes in my diet. When she first suggested these changes, I was a bit defensive as I eat pretty healthfully. It is my passion and career after all! But I am also a big believer in being a continual learner, even in the areas you may have expertise, so I gave it a try.
First, she recommended I eat breakfast, and a much bigger breakfast than I normally eat. I usually practice some form of intermittent fasting (I will talk about it in a future post!). I love this way of eating, but it needed to change for a season. In order to follow her protocol, I have been eating 2 - 3 egg whites and some oatmeal every morning.
Second, she wanted me to eat red meat. This is a BIG deal for me as I have not touched red meat in at least 15 years. I’m not opposed to eating meat, but the main reason I don’t is that I just don’t care for it. Her reasoning for me to add this into my diet is to raise my body temperature and iron stores. Low body temperature and low iron stores can lead to many health issues such as fatigue, hormonal imbalance, inflammation, and ultimately many long term diseases.
Once again, I was willing to give it a try as I was ready to see the improvements, so I eat grass-fed, organic beef along with a green smoothie or salad almost every day at lunch. I eat it for lunch because it is better digested in the middle of the day. Though this was the hardest and biggest adjustment for me, it has been so worth it! My iron stores are improving, and I am not experiencing my usual mid day energy slump.
Lastly, she recommended I eat cooked foods both morning and evening, while eating raw foods mid day. In doing this, I am improving my qi, which is the Chinese term for energy. Eating cooked foods in the morning helps warm up the body. Eating raw foods mid day helps the body break down and digest these foods when it has the most energy. Eating cooked foods at night make it easier for the body to digest and absorb the nutrients when it is starting to slow down. It also helps improve sleep as the body doesn’t have to work as hard to digest food.
I have been committed to implementing these practices over the past 6 weeks, and I have noticed major improvements. I have consistent and good energy throughout the day, my vitamin/mineral deficiencies are improving, my sleep is deep and sweet, and I just FEEL better.
I wanted to share this part of my journey in hopes that it may encourage and help you.
Do you have lingering health issues that you can’t seem to find an answer that will help you?
Do you have drops in your energy and just want to curl up in bed during the middle of the day?
Are you struggling with getting quality sleep?
Do you have aches and pains that just won’t go away?
Maybe you want to consider trying something different, like herbs, acupuncture, integrative medicine, or changing up your diet. I would love to help guide you and can certainly help you make changes in your diet to see improvements! Feel free to contact me here.
Have you made changes to your lifestyle recently that has improved your health? Please share below!