How did a primal mama like me get a leaky gut? Well, I haven’t always been primal. The first 30 years of my life, my body saw plenty of processed food, medications, yeast, and inflammation. So even though the last 7 years I have lived quite primally, my body is now telling me that it has some healing to do if I want to stay healthy for years to come.
I’m an Air Force reserve physical therapist who stumbled upon the Paleo/Primal lifestyle in my struggle to become healthy. After years of eating “healthy whole grains” and the Standard American Diet (SAD) in an attempt to be … well… healthy, it backfired and I gained weight over the years and became so sick that I had to have my gallbladder out.
Everyone loves a story. Mine’s not glamorous or turbulent, but it’s real. And I believe there are more women out there just like me searching for true health and happiness. Here’s how I found mine.
Yoga as a form of physical exercise has been part of Louise’s life for over a decade. However, a recurring struggle with glandular fever left her physically exhausted and emotionally drained. For such an active, busy individual this was a huge blow.
Imagine a talented, driven and deeply imbalanced 22-year old woman. She’s a rising magazine writer. A champagne-guzzling, drug-poppin’, sleep-deprived, perpetually hungover party girl. Not a ton of self-esteem — but tremendous potential. And so much love to give — if she could only figure out how to love herself, first.
Growing up in Mexico I took for granted that nutrition was passed down from mother to daughter, and that products like corn and beans were staples of any healthy diet. When I came to the U.S. in 2007, I found myself separated from family and my long time family doctor. My husband on deployment in the middle- east and I was 5 months pregnant with my first child, living with my in-laws (which I had met only once before). This was not exactly my ideal support group for a first pregnancy.
How I changed my life around.
It took a long time for me to finally understand how important it is to keep fit and look the best you can.
Normally when you see people talking about depression or articles on depression, you see someone with their head in their hands not knowing what to do with the world. For me it was completely different. I still went to work, went to social events and lived life. Realistically I did not even know I was chronically depressed. I just got unhappier and unhappier as each day went on. I never went to a doctor for them to tell me I was depressed.
Andy came to me with a goal of losing the spare tyre. When assessing his body, he only had one previous injury to his ankle and was pain free. His posture was pretty good other than his forward head posture affecting his ability to breath. However, my ‘Holistic Health Questionnaire’ revealed that Andy’s digestive system was screaming out for help, so I knew that was the first thing we had to address.
As a result of a lifetime of contact sports, I collected my share of injuries; knee reconstructions, dislocated shoulders and a ‘spondie’ (spodylolithesis) in the lumbar spine. Pain was part of my life, in the lower back, knee and shoulder. Some days I ate pain killers for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
