Birth - 20 Years

I grew up like any other kid in the 90s, a lab rat experiment for food dyes, processed ingredients, high sugar containing packaged goods, and whatever else you can imagine. Dunkaroos, Yoohoos, PopTarts, Capri Suns, etc etc.. There is too much to even cover. Most holidays and birthdays involved candy and treats. I didn’t grow up with parents who were skeptical of the ingredient lists, so we ate Kraft singles for example, you know, the cheese that doesn’t melt. Anyways, I had dizzy spells when I was younger and a fainting spell once, which marked my low irons levels but I was never given any advice, direction or support regarding that aspect of my health.

So I grew up with slight anemia, eczema on the inner bend of my elbow creases, really itchy legs after getting out of showers, and white patchy skin in the summer. In high school I was never able to give blood on those Big Red Buses because my blood ran too thick and before I even entered High school, I was told (after getting a blood panel done) that I was on track to be pre-diabetic but again, I was given no advice, direction or support regarding that aspect of my health, and so I went on.

I continued eating what I wanted, like late night Pizza Hut and Klondike bars, early morning Dunkin Doughnuts, and mid day microwaved Hot Pockets. I shuddered at the choices I made, because now looking back, I see how truly under nourished I was.

I began my health journey in 2014, I ditched dairy to clear up breakouts on my face and it worked! Then I met my husband and we started cooking food together. Before that, I was living in my parent’s house and rarely touched the stove and oven. When I began cooking my own food, my life changed! I began making better decisions and decided to eat vegan because at the time, I fed into certain propagandas.

I Started my Blog

I had always been an avid journal writer, documenting daily lessons and monumental life moments but when I chose to start a blog in 2015, it was to share knowledge and inspiration that I felt should be widely known and taught. I felt that if these new discoveries could help me in my life, they sure could impact others and save many people stress and frustration.

I Felt Inauthentic

At the time of beginning my blogging journey, I felt confused about nutrition because even though I felt I was doing and TRYING to do everything "right", I was dealing with a chronic skin rash all over my body. I knew something was off with my health and so I felt phony sharing knowledge about topics as someone who was secretly struggling against this (self imagined) plague.

I was afraid for anyone to see my developing rash because I felt they'd offer their ideas of the many possibilities and solutions out there, to which I knew would send my mind in a million different directions. So if you're suffering through something silently, I completely understand! I felt it safer to battle my issue quietly with long sleeves and the occasional cortisone cream.

I was prescribed the cortisone cream by a dermatologist  who I'd hoped would give his educated "professional opinion" and maybe even a solution! The doctor looked down at ONE of my many marks and simply called it eczema and wrote the prescription in a matter of seven minutes (if that). This angered me because I had grown up with eczema and it never acted in the way it was presenting itself now.

Listen to your body! I knew cortisone steroid cream was just a temporary cover-up for my body rash and by using it, I was just quieting my body's alarm system.

Fueled by not having any answers, I began my own research. I weeded through many internet web pages and search engines, reading medical diagnostic possibilities with my same symptoms, reading other's personal experiences, and I delved deeper into Traditional Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine.

Lifestyle Changes I Made

Around the time I began to see my rashes I had made so many changes in my life that I didn't know where to begin to find the culprit. I thought it could be the dust in the new home I had moved into, or the pet dander from the new pets I had moved in with. I thought the water might be more harsh than my last home so I bought new filters. I did everything I could to keep my contact with allergens and triggers to a minimum.  There were a few things that made the biggest changes in my health and some were things that plenty of us put on the bottom of our priority lists, until our body is crying out for healing.

What I Have Learned

Since healing my rashes that year in 2015, I have since worked under a Regenerative Medicine doctor, and learned her 5-Point Model for Longevity, I've worked for a chiropractor, helping to run their cryotherapy tank and other alternative treatments, and have long worked as a Licensed Massage Therapist learning about the body, tension, and stress.

Through it all, I've learned the basics for health that span through all genres and ideas about wellness and I've gained a clarity that has helped me to zero in on the aspects of our health that should be of highest importance to us for longevity, and believe it or not, stress and sleep are at the top. Ultimately, I've so gratefully gained the knowledge on how to achieve a healthful peaceful life amidst everyday stressors. I understand the simplest roadmap for longevity.. now I just have to follow it and share it.

Our bodies are masterfully created and anything that is going on is telling us something. Anything that is seemingly without explanation, definitely has one or many for that matter, maybe even a chain reaction of explanations! We, as the deciding factors of how our bodies function, should not settle for a humdrum life of mediocre health with the choices we make. We should be thriving and aiming to be our most radiant selves. This only comes with greater knowledge of self and the ability to consciously make better choices for our lives.

Although, I went to school to be a financial accountant, I finished my AA for that degree only to become certified as a Licensed Massage Therapist. I healed my autoimmune condition through nutrition around the same time I began working as a Therapist.

I’ve since worked with chiropractors, naturopaths, and regenerative health doctors, and each year I grew my understanding of what it takes to live long. I LOVE my experience in this field because I now understand the simplest roadmap toward regenerative health.

What I’ve learned, amongst so much valuable information, is that stress is the common thread in any dis-ease, and this is why I prioritize and advocate for peace, for you and me!