My Story Part 4: How I Got To Where I Am Today
After having a conversation with the allergy and elimination doctor and the nutritionist, I was encouraged to hear that they believed implementing everything together could restore my son’s health more quickly. There began the journey of a protocol that seemed simple at first glance yet was a lot of hard work. He was diagnosed with leaky gut, and we were able to see all the foods that his body was intolerant to at the time, so the protocol given to him was specific to his needs. I was determined to do whatever it took to help my son be able to live a normal life, though, and wasn’t going to let any difficulty that might come up along the way stop me. The drive to the doctor’s office for myself and my son’s treatment was no joke. At times, the traffic was crazy, and altogether, we spent countless hours commuting back and forth! But I knew that they both had my son’s best interest at heart, and their desire was to get to the root cause of everything, which brought me so much peace.
When I think back to this time in my family’s healing journey, one moment, in particular, has always stood out in my mind: the doctor telling me during a consultation that “he is so young to have these issues – there are going to be birthday parties, events, all different things”…she didn’t want him to be miserable and miss out on life. I didn’t either. And this fueled me even more to make the necessary changes.
Part of the process was getting my son on the GAPS diet. We didn’t do the full protocol (it was the end of the protocol, which gave a variety of a good whole nutrient-dense food for him to have), but I learned so much from this alone. From sourcing the best grocery options to food preparation, cooking techniques…I was really beginning to understand how to prepare nourishing meals from start to finish. This book is a wealth of information and helped me learn how to make whey, cream cheese, yogurt, properly prepare grains, and so much more! It was an exciting time and I’m so grateful to have found the resources that I did.
Also, during the time of the protocol, I decided to homeschool my son because he was missing a lot of school since he was so sick. With this decision, I ended up bringing the other two boys home and decided to put a hold on going to nutrition school until later when I had the time. I wanted to focus on ensuring my kids’ health was good by continuing to nourish and cook homemade meals as much as possible. If you’ve ever been homeschooled or homeschooled now, you know it is one of the hardest jobs to do but also one of the most rewarding as well!
At the same time, I was still working with the nutritionist, so I made sure that I incorporated all the same food into my meals. It was just so much easier to do that rather than cook separate meals for every person. The rest of my family benefited greatly from the way I was cooking, too. It was good, nutritious food, and we were all noticing steady, gradual positive benefits.
During our visits to the doctor’s office, I was introduced to essential oils. Both the doctor and nutritionist hosted classes that discussed the benefits of the oils and how they can be used to improve overall health. There were so many ways to use them and not only did I fall in love with the amazing benefits, but I was ecstatic that they were a healthy alternative in my medicine cabinet for my family! It was a win-win! Inside the office, there was also a mini health store and a food store that was amazing to browse each time we went. Every time I entered the office, I was greeted with the most amazing aroma of essential oils and a beautiful display of thoughtfully selected products lining the waiting room’s walls. This is where I truly fell in love with not only good quality foods but good quality PRODUCTS for your health, self, and home.
I started learning about all the different (clean) products that I could swap for my skin, home and so on. Before this I hadn’t realized how all the products I used on a daily basis affected my health so much. (Our skin is our largest organ after all!) But as soon as I learned that there were alternatives that worked just as well as conventional name brands I couldn’t wait to make the switch over. There were suggestions for swaps in the garden, make-up, facial cleansers, essential oils, supplemental support, nail polish, seasonings…I could keep going! I found so many resources for holistic health products that were hand picked specifically for the purity of each ingredient and was overjoyed that they all surpassed my expectations. One of my favorites I came across (to this day I still use it!) is Redmond’s Real Salt. I love this salt so much that I’m now an affiliate for them (my code is ‘rosa15′ for 15% off) and recommend it to everyone I know. One of the most used seasonings in my kitchen that I put on just about everything is their organic seasoning salt.
I was so excited to shop for the products at the doctor’s office that my family knew for my birthday, Christmas or if they just wanted to bless me, that a gift certificate for the mini health food store would be the way to go. I absolutely became obsessed with swapping out anything that I regularly used on myself or in my home for something that was cleaner and healthier for us all.
During the time my son was on the protocol, the doctor and nutritionist also hosted educational classes at the office and I would make the drive to attend as many times as I could. I fell in love with nutrition and health and learning how switching to a holistic lifestyle can help restore our bodies. From this moment on I knew one day I would become a FNTP.
The protocol that we did for my son took about five months, and after that time, his health was completely restored. He was no longer allergic to every food he ate!! If there was a party or an event and he had some of the not so healthy food there, he would no longer react to it. He was finally able to enjoy a celebration without getting sick!! That was huge because, for so many years, he suffered without relief. I made sure that there was a balance, and that at home, I would continue to fix quality food, but then when he would go out, he was able to enjoy the fun foods that his friends ate because his body had been restored back to homeostasis.
Six years later, I finally went to school to become a FNTP, and it was one of the highlights of my life. I could have gone to school in my state, but I decided to travel because I loved the instructor, and my best friend had just moved to Texas, so it gave me an excuse to hang out with her! School was no joke. It had been decades since I had to study and take tests, but I’m forever grateful for it! I had to attend 3 in-person classes throughout the course, and there, I got to connect closely with my classmates. To this day, they are still some of my dearest and closest friends! With all that said, I honestly don’t think I would have ever gone this route if it had not been for the health issues my son and I developed. These challenges drove me to find the root problem of what was going on and find a way to restore our health as a family.
Unfortunately, so many health issues we as a society continue to develop to this day are caused by the foods we eat. I learned a lot about how our food is made, things that once I knew I couldn’t unknow. How the food industry engineers food to keep people addicted to unhealthy options, and I could see firsthand (because I had experienced it and my son had too) how eating processed food filled with chemicals, fillers, and ingredients that are so far from their natural state, has the ability to destroy people’s lives. Everyone is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all diet or lifestyle. We all must take into consideration health history, lifestyle, and so much more. But at the end of the day, we do have the power of choice: by choosing what ends up on our plates, we can achieve exponential healing.
My favorite quote I learned in school is from Chris Kresser, “LIFESTYLE LOADS THE GUN BUT DIET PULLS THE TRIGGER.” You can never go wrong with eliminating processed food and sugar and incorporating real, whole, nutrient-dense foods. At the beginning of this journey, I didn’t know how to cook, so I bought cookbooks to help me and would recreate my favorite dishes from restaurants in a healthier version. Now, we have a plethora of ways to learn how to cook! There are countless online resources, books, videos, and courses…the sky’s the limit, and the most amazing thing that I discovered is that cooking can be so much fun! The entire family can be a part of the process, too. Enjoy discovering your favorite flavors in the kitchen with real food, and you will be surprised by how much your body and health will appreciate it!
“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook, try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have FUN!” ~Julia Child
