Divine Dish Journey
I am so glad to be back with Divine Dish. I wanted to share a bit about my hiatus, and it wasn't because I didn't love Divine Dish... it was hard to be away, but I learned a lot and I'd like to share.
Ever since I recovered from cancer, I've been on a health journey to find the best balance for my self and my body. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted with barely any repercussions on my body system. But since my entire inner biome was changed with the harsh chemo treatment, plus no longer having the metobolic support of estrogen in my body, I soon learned that I could no longer do and eat nearly in the same way as before.
My feet would swell so much it was hard to walk. I gained weight so easily. I had general fatigue and my face was puffy. I had brain fog. My thyroid began producing too much thyroid hormone, and I was diagnosed with Graves disease, an autoimmune disease.
That's when, with the guidance of my doctor, who suggested that rather than ingest a million more meds, I look at my food to see if my body system was sensitive and reacting to something, and the nurturing, stable help of Chrissy Emerick, I began following an AutoImmune Protocol diet (AIP.) This was an illumination diet designed to reset the body without any inflammation foods.
Inflammation foods would include any nightshades (peppers, tomatoes, potatoes) mushrooms, all grains (wheat, rice, corn, barley, etc.) all beans, nuts, sugar... all processed foods... there's more but this was already super limiting.
What I could eat were: fruits, vegetables, meats.
Chrissy had done a similar diet and was familiar with some food to eat, and most importantly the feelings that would come up as a result of my body purging that I would need support with.
At first I quite enjoyed the salads, chicken, steak, salmon, broccoli, guacamole, hummus and baby carrots every day... but it got repetitive really fast. It was hard.
But I began to feel better. That was the important thing. My feet stopped swelling, I felt clear-headed (it cleaned a lot of my ADHD symptoms) and I lost about 7 lbs in 3 months, and I was still eating a lot.
Josh even helped and got involved with cooking our meals, going to the local butcher to get farm-fresh meat. He began planting vegetables in our back yard, and even took some time at night to make a planter to keep out the vermin. He loves his plants very much and cares for them multiple times per day.
The AIP diet was meant to last a few months. Towards the end, I was feeling dull with the limits of the diet chomping at the bit to go back to the creative variety and support of Divine Dish. Chrissy noticed that in my excitement, I seemed to nearly throw away all the hard work I had done with AIP because I wanted to get back to DD, and missed the point which was that the AIP phase was there to support my body... I saw this energy and made a new choice to honor my body and my health, to prioritize it.
I continued because my health mattered to me.
And then, when i was ready, I rejoined Divine Dish.
There is a re-introduction period after AIP. You add one of the non-AIP foods one at a time and see how your body responds.
What I learned is that my body likes dairy, rice, and eggs, but not wheat, mushrooms, and sugar. I've still got to see about beans, corn, and nightshades. It felt really good to know that I was getting to know my body and partnering with it, and that I could easily modify DD dishes.
My journey with food continues to grow and I continue to learn a lot, and most of all, to surrender and listen to my body. Even though I wasn't on the menu for several months, I still felt close to everyone here and knew I would be back. And when I was, there were the perfect meals waiting for me. I am so appreciative of Divine Dish, and thank Chrissy, Jason Emerick Jeff Divine and Shaleia Clare Divine very much for this wonderful blessing.
