Going Vegan!

3/17/2023- I Have had it with my health. One dr saying do this, another do that and I decided to start researching. I am type 2 diabetic, overweight and I have had a fatty liver for 12 years! I have keratosis pilaris on my arms and back, I tore my meniscus with a slight slip on a step and my knee buckled back. What happened to that carefree kid who ran and played in the woods all day? What happened to that young woman that loved to hike? “ your getting older” they said… yes I am also 47 and there are so many people my age doing these things, hiking the Appalachian Trail, mountains etc. Me? A couple miles of slight inclines and flat trail walking and I am toast for a couple days! 6 years ago I’d get up and goto work, averaging 10000 steps at work, take the pups out after for a 2 mile romp in the woods and still have energy to cook dinner etc. In 2018 my mom passed away and my whole life just plummeted. I stopped doing everything, I stopped enjoying life. I moved into her house so I could care for her dogs plus mine with a fenced in yard and i hibernated. Work bed work bed and I was never home otherwise. My daughter on the other side of town would let the dogs out for me. I was miserable. I was depressed and I just stopped being. In 2020 my oldest daughter got married and pregant and her husband was Air Force. She was with me til my grandson was 2 months old. Dad came home to visit but he was in tech school and she couldn’t go with him. I hyper focused on being there for her and her growing family. I didn’t know that I was also Bipolar at the time and this has a lot to do with how I coped. In the beginning of December I said good bye to them and they started their journey to California and I just crashed. I left for work and hit bottom. I sat in my wrangler in a field contemplating suicide. I was hysterical and ready to end it. As I sat looking over pictures of the last few years and my family I made a phone call to my Dr and drove  there. She wanted me to go the hospital but I couldn’t do that. I knew I could control it if I got the help I needed. She put me on Effexor and a couple other meds for short term control of anxiety etc. This worked! I felt better! It had so many side effects tho. I knew I had to change my life to get past this. I needed to move! It took me awhile and I met an amazing man. I’m still not the person he needs but I do love him with all that I am and I am working on me!

A month ago I started weaning off Effexor which is one the hardest antidepressants to wean off. I take my last dose on Sunday. I have found a new set of Drs up in Maine where I moved that actually listen. She put me on Wellbutrin which should help my depression, anxiety, bipolar and energy levels. My Aic is down to 5.8 with diet and ozempic. I am feeling better but I started doing more research into my conditions and roots causes etc. One thing that kept popping up was the American diet of fast chemical laden foods we eat and animal bi products. I was like what? I eat semi healthy on the keto diet! Was I? No. In countries without all the animal hormones and where animal products are scarcely consumed the chronic diseases we suffer from are few and far between. (The china study). So I stopped consuming animals and their biproducts instantly. I found some simple things to eat that are healthy while I researched. Lentils, beans, veggies and fruits. Then I found out about glyphosate and I will work on that too! Got a bit overwhelmed so I’m just trying not to consume a lot of that for now. I started following a podcaster who has changed my life. The reluctant hippie https://www.therefinedhippie.com/podcast

She has opened my eyes to so much and I am so thankful to her. I am not using animal products anywhere or chemicals on my skin etc. I’m still taking my meds and I started a couple of supplements to help like spiralina, B12 and some other keys ones. Is my diet perfect yet? No! Am I seeing changes? Sooo many! My brain fog is clearing, my ketaris pillaris is fading, my skin is clearer, my dark eye circles are less and my inflammation factors are noticeably less. My armpits are smelling less! I use all natural salt deodorant and haven’t used any non natural ones in a long time. I’d notice a smell some days before I even dried off from my shower. Like what? I scrubbed them! I barely have a smell now! Do you know that most gut issues can be fixed by giving up the crap American diet we consume? Huh I always figured if it’s on the shelf it’s safe. Irradiated produce to keep it fresher longer? They radiate our food and tell us to beware of radiation? Wtf America. We need to wake up. Here’s to my journey to a more ethical healthy being! Here’s to showing up for my loved ones and reconnecting with my guy!