Sick & Young...

I recently watched this movie - "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." It was a documentary about a man in his early 40s struggling with Urticaria (an autoimmune disease characterized by hives due to having too many histamines in your body  due to constant exposure to inflammation). This man was on many medications, but for 60days he changed his diet with nutrient rich foods - vegetables & fruits - combined with exercise. Within 60days he was off most of his medications & lost nearly 40lbs. It is amazing the power of natural foods.

I was always sick. I always had ear infections or bronchitis as a kid, which would leave me bed ridden for days. I struggled with acne well into my 20s. I had dysmenhorrea at 16. I struggled with asthma, allergies, and IBS from 22-26. All of these treatments were with medications. Medications that potentially poisoned my body. No one looked at the food I was eating or how I was damaging my body with Accutane, Birth Control, tanning, diet soda, & processed foods. The madness continued and I was diagnosed with anemia at 25, cancer at 26 & Celiacs at 27. Granted, I have always been active and ate "healthy," but I was not perfect and my old "healthy" consisted of low fat, diet soda, processed frozen meals & sometimes whole foods. I was more fixated on a calorie and fat intake than I was about the overall nutritional content of the food. I am sure my cancer was not 100% caused by my food choices, but I am sure that eating an "American diet" for 26yrs played into me being a risk for developing a chronic illness before 40.

Over the last 3yrs, I have really cleaned up my diet. I eat a diet of primarily organic foods, green smoothies, veggies at every meal, no soda, no processed foods, & gluten free. I am no longer anemic & I have healed my colon, so there is proof that changing our diet works.

The reason why I chose to post this picture, because I have met too many young people afflicted with cancers, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, and nutrient deficiencies. Typically you do not see sick young adults, but more & more young people are getting diseases that typically afflict the elderly. These are diseases that have to do with what we eat - wrappers, fast food, and diet/low fat crap fill our cabinets & stomachs. American diets are fixated on quick-fixes, affordable, easy access, and of course weight loss. Time & Time again I hear many excuses.  

The most common excuse is- "Healthy food is too expensive." Processed-diet food is too expensive, but raw fruits & veggies, beans & grains are actually more affordable than diets consumed with meat, processed foods, soda, and snacks. I will spend 50-80 a week at the grocery store pending on if we need cleaning products. I also shop at Whole Foods, so imagine what it would cost if I shopped at a less, high chain store.

Another common excuse is - "I do not know what to do with it." I have learned that with cooking, recipe books, blogs and networking with healthy-minded peers on pinterest have helped me find more vegetable based meals. A lot of my recipes I have found are on my Pinterest Board. I have also learned to sneak vegetables into every meal to help transition my boyfriend (whom was raised on meat & potatoes) to eat beans & veggies at almost every meal. It is not exactly easy for me to prep dinners & lunches. I work two jobs & three days I work 13hr shifts and my boyfriend works in NYC and will sometimes pull 60-70hr work weeks. We will make meals that will enable us to have left overs or meals that can be frozen and thawed to use on nights where we need to cook in a pinch. I also have a few "go to" meals that we eat when I have no time to prep food.

The last excuse is - "I have no time to  exercise." I make time to exercise 3-5x/week. With exercise I aim to get 1.5hrs on my days off from work & if I miss one of those days I will squeeze in 30min before working. This can be walking, weights, running or weight lifting. I have found that either before work at 5am, after work, or only on my days from my 13hr shifts work for me. You just need to look at your week & plan out time. I coordinate this with my boyfriend, so chores get shared & if we did have kids that too would get split, so I can fit in exercise & he can fit in his alone time.

If you are reading this you might think - "This girl has cancer again, so how does she know that diet will help her." My cancer came back, because the damage has already been done when I got the cancer in the first place. Cancer is due to DNA changes & mutations in our cells, which results from inflammation, PH imbalance, exposure to toxins & even genetics. In my case one cancer call could not be killed by traditional chemo & it mutated again. Once a cancer cell forms & cannot be killed, it can stay alive regardless of what choices you make. This is not stopping me from eating right. Now it mutated, I am fighting it again in the best way I know - treating my body right, staying fit, keeping active, and keeping my stress threshold low. What is now different from 2010 at diagnosis to where I am at now, is that over the last 3yrs I have chosen to delve deeper into other dietary issues that lead to disease & inflammation. I have read many books, blogs, watched documentaries and have seen many specialists & I will continue to read & learn.

When I refined my diet, I made a few small changes at first. When you start eating healthy these are some easy ways to start:

• READ LABELS - No Hydrogenated Oils, No High Fructose Corn Syrup; No Canola Oil; No Corn Oil; and make sure your products are not made from GMOS (Genetically Modified Organisms). What is a GMO?

• Remember 1 fruit, 1veggie at every meal & if I snack its either fruit, veggie or bean based. 

• Green smoothies!!! I have a Nutribullet & I swear by blending my fruits, veggies & nuts everyday Green Smoothie Ideas!  

• Remember the DIRTY DOZEN when it comes to buying organic. I prefer all organic fruits & vegetables, because they taste better to me.