Hi there! Well, most of you who read this will probably already know who I am and what's going on. But for those who just happen to find your way to this blog, I'll give some background before jumping right in!
My husband was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis over 15 years ago. It has been a huge struggle learning how to cope with this mean, ugly disease. During this time, we have tried just about everything we know:
- Medication changes (pretty much everything out there)
- Steroids (both short and long term)
- Dietary changes (many, many, many and just about every kind)
- Vitamins/supplements
- Chiropractic
- Acupuncture
There have been some things that helped a little, some things that helped at first but not for more than a few days, some things that made no difference at all...the list goes on.
In the past 8 months or so, my husband starting getting flu-like symptoms about once a month. Chills, night sweats, exhaustion, headaches, fever, etc. We had no idea where it was coming from. We suspected it may be a reaction to one or more of his meds, and decided we wanted, we NEEDED to do something to get the horrible prescription medications out of his system.
We decided enough is enough. We want my husband healthy. We want him to really be able to start LIVING life and not just getting through it. It is high time we take control of his health - well, as much control as we have over anything in this life.
We have been working with our chiropractor in a relatively new field of natural healing called Nutrition Response Testing. It is difficult to explain, but the process is to identify what nutrients the body is lacking and needs to help heal itself properly, and then provide those nutrients through whole food, quality supplementation and a return to healthy eating.
The great thing about this is that he is evaluated every week to see how his body is responding. FINALLY - a program that realizes the body CHANGES depending on what is going on in your environment, inside your body, and everything around you. When he goes in, his supplementation program is changed based on what his body shows AT THAT TIME.
I'm sure as I go along here on this blog you will read more details about my husband's health, some issues we have had, our successes and drawbacks. But suffice it to say - we have good days, we have bad days. But our health and nutrition through food is changing drastically. And that's what this blog is about. Our adventures and attempts to revolutionize our eating and get back to basics.
Almost all processed foods have been removed from our house, and we are striving to use only organic, natural products from here on out. We are buying our fruits, vegetables, chicken, beef, seafood and pork all locally from like-minded farmers and companies. Commercial products, snacks and meals have now been replaced with "cooking from scratch". I am attempting to remove most of the chemical cleaners from our home to make it as healthy as possible.
We are not a go-get-em "green" family. We just want the best possible environment for my husband and for our little girl. And to do that, we believe that we truly need to "start from scratch".
So here we go. A journey to go back to simplicity - the basics, the fundamentals. A collection of recipes, foods, experiences and just life in general as we find joy in the midst of this trial. I hope you'll come along for the ride!
