In 2007, prior to studying nutrition, I knew I had to quit smoking. The problem was that I had tried to quit a bazillion times before and I always gained weight. So I knew I had to try harder this time. Surfing the web on dietary advice yielded much less results back in those days but what I did find was the low-fat diet.
“Perfect. I’ll do that” I thought, so I quit smoking and followed the low-fat fad.
Little did I know that I was following the recipe to gaining 20 pounds.
“Oh no.”
I felt very betrayed by this. “Soooo I wasn’t supposed to substitute sour cream and onion chips with baked cheese flavoured goldfish???”
Where did I go wrong? I was so confused.
Anyway, all this eventually led me to enroll at The Institute of Holistic Nutrition (IHN) where health was taught in a less conventional way. IHN challenged my belief that we had to have whole wheat bread with our 3 glasses of cow’s milk a day and that I had to count calories in order to lose weight and it was explained to me why the low-fat diet put 20 pounds on me.
Practicing what I was learning was exciting to say the least. Not only did I lose the 20 pounds, but I simultaneously reduced the inflammation in my body which ended up changing the course of my health for many years to come.
Here’s how.
In my late 20’s I was diagnosed as mildly autoimmune which my specialist thought might manifest as Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is also in my family. Prior to studying at IHN I started to get symmetrical pain in my hands that would switch to my knees on any given day. On some days I wasn’t able to open my thermos at lunch because of the pain in my hands and on others I had to take the elevator instead of the stairs because of my knees.
Fast forward to one of our courses where we had to do an elimination diet for one week which would deprive me of many of the staples in my kitchen. As painful as this was, this experiment was invaluable because it gave me my first real glimpse at the incredible power that food holds over health. For better or for worse.
After about 7 months of pain in my joints, only four days on the elimination diet gave me significant relief and that told me what I needed to know to move forward: “I have so much more control over my health than I think.”
Those four days were my personal game changer. I would never have figured that out on my own. My firsthand experience of using food as medicine has been at the core of all the healthy changes I’ve made since and a big part of how I coach my clients and raise my kids.
17 years later I’m still cigarette free, opening my own jars and running up the stairs. I have also had the incredible privilege of teaching and inspiring other people to take charge of their diet and helping them to make transformations in their own health.
If you’re not feeling your best or you would like to make some of your own health transformations, I can show you how holistic nutrition can be your game changer.
If you’re interested in learning how holistic nutrition can transform your life, book a free discovery call here with me. I’m available for in-person and virtual appointments at the Rose Health Clinic in Toronto.