Health

So the heart of this blog is a food journey. One the started years ago with veganism and a desire to be deliberate in the food that entered my body. I left veganism when what was happening in other places of my life was much more important. Now I realize that I am back to a place where not only can I be deliberate in the food I choose, I have to be deliberate.

I love running. Running shuts off my brain, it makes me feel good, it's empowering and more reasons. I ran a marathon in November and I LOVED it, I don't know if I have ever done anything that by pure completion alone still makes me feel like I'm on a runner's high. That marathon likely was like the last kick to the gut to my faltering immune system. After November my legs started to feel like lead weights, walking the flight of stairs at work was near impossible. I struggled in everything. January came and I being stubborn became more deliberate in my running, I was going to kick my legs back into gear. Of course it also happened to be one of the most stressful times at work. We got going, but it probably just kept kicking my immune system. I started getting sick, not just sniffles, laryngitis, infections, flues. I joked that I should stop licking the poles on the bus. Nothing seemed to stop my repeated illness. I started to feel worse. The hives kept coming, my skin changed for the worse and I felt horrible.

So here we are - I saw an Allergist/Immunologist - after 10 vials of blood, urine and stool samples all we knew was that I was actually getting hives. Why? Seemingly I was and am stressed in every which way. So thus I went back to no dairy, opted for no soy for many reasons - not just due to all the chemicals in the milk - there are the hormones and the readiness of which it could be consumed. Why gluten? I've had IBS for a long time and after doing some research I started to consider that I might have gluten sensitivity. Note I haven't been diagnosed as such. I feel better now. However, my skin hasn't jumped on board. So I on the advice of a non-involved physician visited an acupuncturist and abandoned all my skin care routine for routine oatmeal baths, Aveeno lotion. I feel even better. Time will tell but I am beginning to realize that I have been accepting more stress than I should. My running covered up the emotional stress but it was also doing more damage because it was wearing doing whatever immune system I had left.

So what now? We keep the diet plan, eat a simple, conscious, cleaner Ayurvedic based meal plan. Keep seeing the acupuncturist, even if just for the feeling of serenity. Develop a self healing routine - use bath time to unwind, even though baths make me fidgety. Breathe.