The truth is I never really thought about having a blog of my own…why I am not sure, I love to read blogs and I love to write, but it just never occurred to me to start my own. But here I am (after some major encouragement, thank you to everyone who helped me through this, especially Joy and Meredith!!) ready to begin this adventure, rather journey, into health and happiness. So here goes nothing…
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale
A good friend of mine sent me this quote after talking to her about my fears for the future and I think it is so beautiful and fits into my daily life perfectly. I have it hanging by my door in my room and on the front of my day planner to remind me to take everyday as it comes and to keep pursing my dreams even if they seem like they are taking forever to become a reality. My dream by the way is to become a Naturopathic Doctor (abbreviated ND from here on out). Now the first Question that I get when I mention that is what I want to do is, “What is a Naturopathic Doctor?”
I will start with the definition of naturopathy, which is defined as “a system of alternative medicine based on the theory that diseases can be successfully treated or prevented without the use of drugs, by techniques such as control of diet, exercise, and massage.” This is essentially the core of what an ND believes; now trust me I still believe in the inventions of modern medicine and I think that they have their place, however, I think that our healthcare system in the US has reached a point where we are more focused on the “quick fix” and what drugs we can take or what surgeries we can have to get better faster without the hassle of eating healthy or exercising regularly.
Before you stop reading because you think I am some crazy hippy, witch doctor person, know that I have all of my shots and since I have travelled around the world I pretty much am vaccinated for just about everything; like I said modern medicine has its place and time, it just doesn’t need to be an everyday thing. Food however does; healthy food especially that puts your body back into alignment and alkaline state. I have seen the power of eating healthy and feeding YOUR (unique, specific, beautiful) body the food that it needs in my own life…
Starting when I was pretty young I would always have stomachaches, I would complain but I also didn’t like school very much so my parents thought it was just nerves about going to school. Eventually I just started to think it was normal and I got used to the way that it felt, however, the summer after my freshman year of college things really started to go down hill. During that summer I went on a trip to Southeast Asia with my mom, we worked at an orphanage in the Philippines for a week, we scuba dove for another 8 days around the country and finally we went to Hong Kong. It was an amazing trip, except for one thing; I could not have a bowel movement for the whole trip. (I apologize for those people who did not want to know me that intimately, but what can I say, its part of my life story and really the start on this journey of health and happiness.) We tried everything on the trip that we could find…nothing helped, so to sum it up, my mom was horrified and I was uncomfortable, to say the least. When we got back to Colorado we booked an emergency appointment with our family doctor who also happens to be a gastrointestinal specialist. He suggested I get an allergy test before I do anything as drastic as surgery or worry about diverticulitis (because of my age). So I went on to have several vials of blood taken for this allergy test…what could I be so allergic to that would cause such bad bowel obstruction? (Which by the way got slightly better when I was home in the states) …
The major answer to that question was GLUTEN, EGGS and DAIRY… wait what? All three, but those are in everything right? Pretty much, and I can tell you in 2008 there were definitely not as many alternatives as there are now. So what was I going to do about my newly discovered dietary restrictions, especially when I ate eggs or cereal EVERY morning for breakfast, I lived on frozen yogurt during the school year and quite enjoyed my beer and occasionally pizza, thank you very much! (Shhh… don’t tell that I was underage) Plus not to mention it is hard enough learning how to eat in a completely new way, but to learn about it and then go back to eating on a college campus… impossible right? I guess not… I somehow managed to struggle through the first year of two of eating my new diet and “cheating” occasionally, which resulted in even more severe stomach pains than ever. It worked though… when you feel your worse, even when you have no idea how bad you feel, the minute you start feeling better you never want to go back. My mood lightened, I dropped some weight that I had been carrying around, my skin cleared, I could focus better and best of all I was regular again and felt great! Eating the right foods for my body changed and probably saved my life, and all it took was an allergy test, dedication and deciding that I wanted to chose a path of health and light, rather than pain and darkness.
This is lesson gathered from my own beautiful body was my first step on my journey to health and happiness. It has pushed me and compelled me forward to look for new alternative foods, learn new things, experiment in the kitchen and overall become a healthier and more balanced person.
I want that feeling for everyone… I want people to know what foods are right for their bodies to be consuming and I want everyone to know from the inside out that they are beautiful, happy, healthy, balanced people.
