I understand the wellness struggle

Correct me if I’m wrong but sometimes I get the impression that my patients and blog followers believe that my healthy life style comes easy to me.   In a sense, they’re right... but it just comes from years of practice. 

There was once a time that my diet consisted of copious amounts of Pizza Hut, pizza and soda as well as meals from Burger King, McDonalds and Jack N The Box.  In college, I was no stranger to pasta with heavy Alfredo sauce and hamburgers (almost daily), midnight subs, po-boys on the regular and very irregular leafy green consumption!  In my reality, healthy eating consisted of a meat, starch and vegetable! Like most Americans, lettuce and tomato on my burger counted as veggies and a small side salad with iceberg lettuce topped with lots of ranch was a plus.

My mom cooked every night growing up and I knew that her home cooking was my best source of nutrients.  Lean Cuisine was a close second.  

I was a child of the 80s- TV dinners, microwaved everything, margarine, Tang, low fat everything, Pringles, crock-pots and casseroles.

It wasn’t until I got tired of regular bloating, gas, sluggish bowel movements, horrible menstrual cycles, challenges with uterine fibroids, headaches, upper respiratory challenges, weight gain and high cholesterol... all by 22 years of age, that I started to entertain the idea that my food could be making me feel awful!  Now, this was pre-grad school but post undergrad where I had spent every Summer working in a hospital.  Going into alternative medicine saved my life!  In grad school, friends snacked on apples and toted lunch consisting of colorful salads.  Class mates tried to problem solve ailments starting with diet modification and classes supported a holistic approach to wellness.  

Where would I be now if I hadn’t modified my food intake years ago?  The notion makes me shutter.  

So yes, now my healthy lifestyle does come easy but it didn’t always.  I know what the alternative feels like. I’ve taken 1 baby step at at time, sought supportive circles to encourage wellness and committed to my best version of me.  I know how hard it can be but I know anyone can do it!