Maintaining a healthy, real food lifestyle in the U.S. today is a struggle, not only because of the limited options and societal rituals surrounding food, but also because of the stigma surrounding those who choose this way of life.

The eye rolls.

The apologies made on your behalf from well-meaning friends and family who simply don’t get it.

I’ve been there. I understand.

I’ve struggled with autoimmune conditions for 28 years and more severe digestive dysfunction for the past 7 years. I’ve suffered through mysterious symptoms, digestive issues, and violent, protracted sneezing fits that made it difficult to breathe. I had unexplained bouts of depression, “foggy brain,” and was constantly fatigued, both mentally and physically. I was embarrassed, trying not to “make a big deal” out of it, but the symptoms crept in even during vacations out of the country, landing me in unfamiliar hospitals for days.

When I was eventually diagnosed with SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, I was relieved. I finally had an answer, a place to start, something on which to work.

That’s when my perspective on food shifted, and I started using it as a tool to heal.

My Food Journey

My relationship with food has been complicated. I’ve been on and off the rollercoaster to a healthy lifestyle since I was 16, trying my best with limited resources and limited knowledge.

But food was a source of control in my life, a tool to numb feelings. Once I had control over my food choices, I entered into a high fat, high refined sugar diet, and while my body started to protest with early signs of psoriasis, rhinitis, and autoimmune disorders, I ignored them.

I didn’t know what my body was trying to tell me.

As the years went on, I found myself in and out of hospitals and doctor’s offices, searching for answers to my mysterious symptoms, the pain, and the never-ending fatigue.

My journey to healing through food really began in earnest for me at the end of 2013 with the birth of my daughter. What should’ve been a happy transition into motherhood became a traumatic time of my life.

My daughter had extreme digestive issues that left her screaming in pain within minutes of eating. For 7 months, I had to exclusively pump, a grueling experience without the bonding effects of breastfeeding.

I felt heartbroken and helpless. She was already on the maximum dosage of prescription drugs for GERD, and it wasn’t working. I was desperate for anything that would help.

And then, one day, crying in a doctor’s office, the tides shifted. The pediatric endocrinologist looked at me and suggested – as an afterthought, really – that I try eliminating dairy and gluten from my diet.

So I started making gradual changes to my diet, including the elimination of refined sugars.

And day by day, week by week, my daughter began to heal.

Health and Wellness in Daily Life

Figuring out the problem was only one part of the puzzle. Figuring out how to fit this new clean eating diet into everyday life was another story.

Being a mom with a newborn is isolating already in itself. Trying to connect with other women after Mommy & Me classes when there are limited restaurant options for a dairy- and gluten-free diet was too much. I wanted to bond, but I constantly felt like the odd one out.

Even my husband, as much as he wanted to support me, didn’t know how. Family and friends didn’t understand. I felt belittled, written off, dismissed.

I was trying to navigate a healthy lifestyle for myself and my daughter on my own in a world of birthday parties, family get-togethers, and other social events that revolve around sweets and junk food. We could all agree there should be healthy choices available, but nothing ever changed. No one took the initiative.

The day I figured out how to own this healthy lifestyle choice, to stop apologizing for it and let others deal with their own feelings about it, things finally got easier. We all have to decide what we’re willing to live with and what we can live without. When I started down this path to a real food lifestyle, when I felt the difference of healthy eating, I realized how bad I had felt for so long. I realized this was an easy choice.

The Secret to a Clean Eating Diet

So what’s the secret to a life of health and wellness, a life of clean eating? Planning. It’s all about how to shop and how to stock your pantry and refrigerator. It’s about planning ahead for banquets, catered events, traveling and eating in hotels or restaurants. It’s about planning ahead for social gatherings with friends and family or school parties and events.

Making small, incremental changes in the right direction day in and day out adds up. And despite how it sounds, it’s still possible to make room for spontaneity within the framework of those small changes, choices, and trade-offs. I love being spontaneous as much as the next person! As long as you’re consistent over time, moments of spontaneity won’t get in the way of your long-term success.

I am a real food warrior. I want to help you become your best self through healthy lifestyle choices. I want to show you how I feed and heal my family with a real food lifestyle because learning what to do is the easy part – it’s the execution that’s most challenging.

In order to have the greatest health possible, the highest quality of life, we have to take control of what we eat and shift the tide of food awareness. We need to change our perspective of what it means to live a healthy lifestyle from one of deprivation to one of replacement and wholeness.

I believe we can heal our bodies through food.

I struggled through my journey alone, but you don’t have to. Stick with me – I’ve got your back.

With Love,
PrimaFoodie