Hey there!  You haven’t read my written word in a long time and there is one explanation.  The ‘Rona.  It’s changed my life.  I had retired from being a full-time stay at home mom in September, only to be forced out of retirement just a few months later.  Sigh.  I guess the universe decides different things for our lives.  Now, there are 4-5 kids here at a time and a work-from-home wife as well.  For the most part, we have enjoyed the relaxed pace of life.  I can really get used to it!  On the other, as soon as they started up “required” schooling, it has become nothing but overwhelming.  I am only bitching about it because it’s the reason I haven’t written.  Not only do I not have a moment to myself but the computer is working 24/7, as all of the children’s homework is now online and we have one very old laptop.  It’s limping along, but I don’t own the rights to it any more.

In the middle of The ‘Rona Crisis of 2020, which, I promise to keep my mouth shut about my “uneducated, everyone-is-suddenly-an-expert-but-really-I-am-but-whatever” opinion on this whole social experiment not all of us wanted to participate in (oops, I think I’ve given myself away), we got some heavy news.  On April 1 (April Fool’s Day of course) we learned that my wife has breast cancer.  Of course when we got the call they had no idea what Stage it was so we spent a week trying to feel out all the possibilities it could be.  The human mind can not not do that.

To make a month long story short and not get into the nitty gritty of the saga so far, the news is as good as it can be.  Stage 1, everything has been removed, the only treatment is preventative, etc.

Still, it’s heavy.  It’s not something you just get surgery for and move on.  It’s a lifelong shift in your health diagnosis.  It can change over time.  You are now labeled.  You now have “This Thing”.  I can’t tell you what it’s like to get a diagnosis, but I can tell you how it feels to be a spouse of someone diagnosed.  And I can tell you what it’s like to be extremely critical of the medical system already, only to be thrown in the belly of the deepest, scariest disease we know of, hoping, I think, that maybe in THIS arena, they do actually know best.  Until you realize they may not.

This post isn’t going to be about that saga, but I am sure it will be at some point.  I’m holistic. I have been for many, many years.  I don’t believe the medical community has any answers, aside from emergency medicine and trauma surgery.  I believe there are root causes, and disease always has a reason.

I am writing to introduce my short videos I have been posting lately.  I’ve been a clinical nutritionist for a decade.  I believe in food being medicine.  I believe we either use foods as bank account “deposits” or “withdrawals”.  I’ve always believed this, but I didn’t always follow it.  We’ve been blessed with good health, although this fall I was “diagnosed” with a subclinical hypothyroidism, which is extremely common with American women.  I was hoping I was just sliding under the radar with my health but it eventually caught up with me.  Thankfully, I do know the things.  Sitting in the doctor’s office being offered a “small pill” I could take every day to get more energy, I understand the sway and the attraction to the “fix”.  Easy peasy.  It’s easy to be a victim to my body, a victim to circumstance, to label yourself with “a condition”.  “I have hypothyroidism.”  “I have cancer.”

With cancer it’s scarier of course,  And, it’s even harder to admit you had SOMETHING to do with it.  None of us in our culture like to admit we have anything to do with what happens to us.  It’s much easier to be a victim to it.  To sit back and feel bad you were so “unlucky” and then to jump in the car that a valet pulls up and get buckled in, trusting the driver knows what he’s doing and where he’s taking you.

It’s much harder to admit you haven’t been practicing what you’re preaching.  It’s hard to admit you did anything to harm your body.  Especially with cancer.  But we all do it.  Every day.  We sometimes unknowingly do it.  Sometimes.  But more often we do it knowingly, pretending we don’t know.  That way we can find someone to blame.  “I didn’t know I shouldn’t!  They told me it was ok!”  It’s much harder to realize you not only need to find your own car, you need to teach yourself to drive it, and eventually realize you are the only expert in the world who is an expert in driving.

So, in November I had personally started cleaning up my own diet.  I was committed.  I was 90% there, although I was still drinking alcohol and trying to work in some cheating.   Now, it’s even more serious.  I feel SO blessed to have the knowledge of “how to drive a race car” in my back pocket, but I still need to put my money where my mouth is and do it.

I don’t have time right now to write a whole lot or do podcasts that I love doing, so I am starting to do short videos on little nutrition tips.  The takeaway for you is that I didn’t learn these overnight and I don’t expect everyone to hear them and think I made these changes, or learned these things in the past month.  But I do have a bank full of knowledge and a decade of finding the tips, cheats, studies, research, and know-how and I want to share.

The beauty of health and nutrition is that there is no “cancer diet” that’s not also a “heart healthy” diet that’s not also a “thyroid support” diet that’s not also a “diabetes and weight loss” diet.  There’s all sorts of flexibility but the food that heals cancer also protects you from dying of Coronavirus.

Which brings me to “The Terrain” Theory.  Which will be a COVID post.  No politics involved, just common sense.  We all are exposed to viruses and bacteria.  When we make our bodies strong (and, spoiler alert, it’s not by running marathons or eating every 2 hrs or eating donuts or avoiding all the people), they can withstand an onslaught of anything.  It’s not about avoiding exposure, it’s about being prepared for what comes your way.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my short videos and I will write, podcast, and blab more when I have a free moment!