Finding Feel-Good Food
My grandmother passed away around the age of 70.
My mother passed away around the age of 60.
I’m not superstitious, but I turn 50 in 30 months & I have to tell you, I’m nervous!
Hannah was having bouts of unexplained fatigue & we realized she hadn’t been to any sort of doctor appointment for at least 4 years. Since she follows her gluten free diet, celiac disease no longer keeps her ill more than she’s well. As it turns out, she was being glutened at work, which led to the fatigue, but while we were investigating she had all the requisite bloodwork done & filled out the obligatory family history.
Our family history is shriek-worthy.
Cancer? Yep. Everyone.
Heart disease? Yes. All the men.
Diabetes? If you live long enough.
Mental Illness? Don’t ask!
What to do? What to do?
And besides our family’s celiac disease being combated with dietary changes, we also have Hemachromatosis, Ulcers & High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol - all in our immediate family. (Noah is the lucky one without a diagnosis, but at 20 he already has to watch his weight. Not sure which is worse!) We’ve learned we can prevent illness and combat illness by changing our diet.
Celiac Symptoms? Gone.
Hemachromatosis Symptoms? Gone. (blood donations are required, too)
Fibroid Tumors: Gone.
ALL from changing our diets.
And after many years of research, trial and error plus stocking up on the ulcer meds & probiotics I need whenever I change my diet, since my digestive system rebels, I’m going to take the next 30 months to heal through food.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
The hardest part of this? Feeling Selfish
My poor mom had no love language. She was such a damaged person, she didn’t know how to give or receive love even to me, her daughter. But because it comforted her, she did always have comfort food around. And I equate food to love to this day. Obviously, I’m not alone in this. Not even close.
When Joshua was recovering, we discovered he was hoarding food. I knew children of trauma did this coming from abusive homes, but didn’t know it could happen in a safe home where a child experiences a few incidents of assault from an outside source. As soon as we discovered it, food was everywhere in our home and the restrictions on eating between meals and whenever anyone wanted were lifted. I kept healthy options on kid level and a few fun fillers and (somehow) these choices were enough to stop the fear-based hoarding. My kids don’t have a faulty, broken, pathetic relationship with food like mommy. Thank you, God.
Every member of my family is on board with my health journey. They believe in me & they all have a love for good food. And if they crave something off the menu, they can drive to it. Anytime.
But it was the only “love” I received growing up & the idea of taking that away from my family immediately puts me in tears. Shouldn’t I have cinnamon toast & sweetbreads ready in the morning? Pancakes on the weekends? Shouldn’t we have dessert on the weekends?
Nope. I need to pour nutrition into my body while it heals. Or I’ll be the next one to have cancer. Heart Disease. Degenerative Disease of my choice. And I don’t want to die young. I want to be a mom, a grandma, a wife, an adventurer until at the age of 105 during a trip no one could believe I was able to take at that age, I die peacefully in my sleep. Next to David. He’ll go at the same time. We’ll have just celebrated our 85th anniversary.
Dream big or go home & become another statistic sitting in a chair watching other people on TV, right? Until you die.
I’m scared, but I’m doing it anyway.
I’ll be back to tell you all about it.
