Category Archives: MS

Four Year MS Anniversary

I posted yesterday on Instagram, to celebrate my Four Year MS diagnosis Anniversary but thought I’d write a little bit more from the heart over here on the blog. 

The theme for this anniversary is to think about creating space in my life.

Sunday, December 2nd, 2018 was my MS diagnosis anniversary.

4 years ago, after over the course of a week, the right side of my body had gone numb so I drove myself to the hospital to figure it out.  I sat in a hospital room alone, after several hours of waiting, a CAT scan and then an MRI to be told by an internalist: “You have de-myelination on your spine, we’ll need to do another MRI with contracts to confirm but you probably have MS.”

You can read the entire diagnosis story here. I jokingly talk about going through the 4 stages of grief as fast as possible in the hospital to move to acceptance so that I could figure out how to live with this thing called multiple sclerosis. I knew that I would have to learn to live with instead of fight against this disease and I do believe that has been one of the best mindset choices I’ve personally made. 

When faced with a diagnosis, we can easily get mad at it. Think of our bodies as flawed, fragile or even broken and something we need to fix. My simple choice to call MS my sidekick and learn to live with my disease, even embrace it was a choice that no one taught me. No practitioner guided me to this thought process. I intuitively was guided by my inner voice to use this language and make this choice and it’s served me so well. 

I often refer to my MS as a daily reminder, a tap on the shoulder and a voice saying: “hey did you take care of yourself today?” 

Most days now I forget I even “have” it. I barely even tell new people I meet unless I’m sharing information about why I’m so proactive with my health or at an essential oils class when I’m sharing when I was introduced to them.

4 years later my life looks a little different.

Eating For My Body

I’m still eating a modified (I was able to reintroduce some foods off the to avoid list) autoimmune paleo meal plan. I still avoid inflammatory foods, and foods I can’t digest. I had to reduce my alcohol consumption and I’m still working on reducing my coffee consumption. However, I have a thriving digestive system. Just ask my 💩😂.

Exercise & Fitness

I’m not obsessively obstacle course racing basically every weekend. In 2015, the year after my diagnosis, I totally was on a mission to prove that I was stronger than MS. Unfortunately I wasn’t stronger than adrenal fatigue.

I’ve learned what type of exercise and amount is actually better for my body than extreme pushing. It’s funny how a disease can show how to treat our bodies a little bit better than we might have been. 

Sleep

I prioritize sleep. Those 8 hours 🙌🏻🙌🏻 are my secret weapon. The only time I’ll sacrifice sleep is when I find a new Netflix series I’m obsessed with. Just ask Mike what happened at the end of November when I discovered the Last Kingdom. I may have stayed up a few nights just to watch a few episodes!

Managing Stress

I’m still figuring out the whole stress thing although I’ve got a multitude of tactics to calm me down should I start working up an anxiety sweat. However, I’m still prone to get easily overwhelmed to situations. I’m just a little better at focusing on my breath, getting present and not taking on the feeling of overwhelming responsibility in certain situations. 

Reduce Toxic Load

I’ve done a good job at eliminating my exposure to toxins to keep my immune system un-confused. I truly believe that if we give our bodies an environment to thrive in our immune systems can function as they should instead of attacking parts of our own body.

We’ve got a Santevia Water system at home, I order grass-fest, hormone free meat from truLocal, we buy organic produce as often as possible. All our cleaning products are made from simple ingredients and essential oils. I’ve switched over all my beauty and makeup products to ones that rank well with the EWG to name a few things. 

But the last piece of the puzzle…

Doing vs. Being

I’m still figuring out how to DO less. After being challenged 3 years ago by my naturopath to not be superwomen I pondered the glorification of doing things. 

So while the wheels started turning, I cut a few things out of my life, I always go back to my overachiever ways. I’m truly addicted to achievement. 

I love my achievements. And I’m proud of them. To be honest, they are a way I see me leaving my legacy on this world so I don’t want to stop them. 

I know how to take care of myself as I go after my goals but I’ll still fall into the burn out trap every now and then. I just recently did it again.  

In October, I started a new full-time job, I launched Organized Brides, announced that I was co-hosting Believe NYE 2019 (Yoga NYE Event) and I threw myself back into my dōTERRA business after taking time off for the wedding and honeymoon and hit burn out by the end of the month. 

I still haven’t grasped the concept that it’s ok to DO less and that it doesn’t define my worthiness or world acceptance or love. To be honest, I love that I still have something to learn. Otherwise this life would be pretty boring and I’d feel like I’d hit a level and that I didn’t need to grow anymore.

So as I move through December my focus is on making space in my life so that I can DO less. My body, my addiction, needs this next. 

AIP Pumpkin Pie ala Aubrie De Sylva

Robyn Here: I asked my bestie, Aubrie De Sylva (you may remember her from the podcast) if she’d share the recipe with me for the Pumpkin Pie she made while staying with me a few weekends ago and she wrote up this lovely post. I feel like she needs her own blog or at least I’ll convince her to write for the blog every time she bakes for me 🙂 Ok, Aubs… take it away…

Ok friends. There’s a point I’d like to make first before you read further.

Take me seriously.

About this recipe.

AIP Pumpkin Pie

The quality of your ingredients determines the outcome of your pie/baking/cooking. I promise you this, and while it may seem simple, it’s very much overlooked. Invest in good quality organic ingredients. Use fresh/whole spices where possible – people think I’m crazy, but there’s a huge difference in cinnamon qualities, using fresh rasped nutmeg (yep – it’s a thing!) and cloves you’ve dried yourself vs a pile of dead ingredients that have a shelf life longer than most pets.

Take the time to roast your own pumpkin for this. 1 medium pumpkin will give you approximately 3 cups of puree – perfect for this recipe!

The other thing I’d like you to follow?

The preparation instructions. As we are all aware, AIP / Paleo / Vegan food does not include the use of many typical baking ingredients and their benefits. While gluten is awesome for making elastic flakey dough, and butter certainly helps – eliminating these two means we need to replicate the conditions in which they are prepared and included in the recipe, with a bit more caution.

Without further delay…

The CRUST!

  • ½ cup coconut flour – this is super absorbent!
  • ½ cup almond flour (if on the elimination diet and you are cutting out nuts sub in another gluten-free flour like cassava flour)
  • 1 cup gingersnap cookies – gluten free and pulsed in a food processor until crumbly
  • 2 tbsp tapioca/arrowroot starch
  • 1 tbsp grass-fed gelatin (dry powder) – We used Great Lakes Gelatin
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • .5 tsp ground ginger
  • .25 tsp baking soda
  • .25 tsp fine sea salt
  • ½ cup cold coconut oil (not melted or solidified), cubed or separated into small cubes/chunks
  • 2 tbsp raw honey/maple syrup – warmed so it’s runny

Preheat the oven to 350, and pull out a trusty pie plate/tart pan – I like Emile Henry’s ceramic tart baker. In a food processor, pulse all dry ingredients until homogenous in texture. If you’re concerned, pull out your blade and take a fork to sift through and make sure there are no lumps. The last thing you need is a clump of gelatin turning into a golf ball in your crust. Place coconut oil pieces in dry ingredients then pulse until just combined – this should look almost sandy. Repeat with the raw honey. The ingredients should just combine and start to clump together. Place in tart pan and spread out using your fingers until an even crust covers the base and up most of the sides.

Place in oven for 15 minutes and bake – enjoy the smell while preparing…

The FILLING!

This, now this is easier than the above.

  • 3 Cups Pumpkin Puree – if you really want to know, I roast my pumpkins with some coconut oil and sea salt slooooooowly – I like the salty against the sweet. If you wanted to be super fancy, you could use acorn or butternut squash here too! But when at Robyn’s house I had to use store-bought pumpkin puree from a can (gasp!)
  • ½ cup coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp coconut milk/cream/milk powder – author’s note – SUPER handy for smoothies, buy some. It’s amazing.
  • 3 tbsp hot water
  • 1/2 buckwheat or regular honey, can sub in for maple syrup here – but note this will affect flavour
  • 1 tsp rasped nutmeg – Robyn here: she had to use dried powder and may have gasped. And if on the elimination diet phase of an AIP protocol you can leave out the nutmeg. 
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp grass-fed gelatin

Combine all in a saucepan, mix until just blended then turn the heat on until mixture starts to slowly bubble – should be at medium, and stir constantly to ensure ingredients keep blending. After 10 minutes, remove from heat to slightly cool.

Once the pie crust has cooled down and you’ve removed it from the oven (you set a timer, right? RIGHT?), using a spatula, empty the contents of this pan into the crust and smooth over.

Chill for 3 hours.

AIP Pumpkin Pie

Grab a fork and some moderation and enjoy (or no moderation). Robyn and I enjoyed this with some cashew vanilla ice cream.

If you were me, I’d top with some sprinkled cinnamon as well. Nom nom nom.

I have no idea about the macros on this. Nor do I care.

Three Year MS Anniversary

My 3-year MS anniversary was December 2nd and I almost forgot. I actually thought it was December 4th!

I had this blog post all ready to go for Monday and as I sat down to write it on the weekend I looked up other MS Anniversary posts on my blog and the first one was all I could find.

The fact that I almost forgot this year’s and didn’t “celebrate” last year’s with a blog post is actually amazing. This means I’m no longer living in the past. I’m not tracking the days to an Anniversary date where I found out I have a new health sidekick in life. I’m no longer focusing on “what happened to me” but living in the present-day instead. I’m creating and living a life that fills me up. Where I feel vital and healthy and am focusing on that instead of just a diagnosis moment in time.

I tried to find my 2-year Anniversary post on the blog and I didn’t even post last year!

Most days I don’t even remember I live with this sidekick.

When I posted “Can I Say my MS is in Remission?” I didn’t really know what remission would look like? What does it look like to have constant health and vitality? Does it look like consistent optimization and healthy habits? Does it look like forgetting the diagnosis date?

I believe vitality in part is not dwelling on the past and not living with health diagnosis defining our every day lives. And for me, forgetting my diagnosis anniversary date was an amazing feeling.

Here’s to not dwelling on a diagnosis and celebrating finding vitality and constantly optimizing it.

The Healthy Slight Edge

I started reading  The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness by Jeff Olson on the plane to and from Camp Yoga California and was blown away with the concepts and how they so intricately resonated with the way I’ve been living my life.

When I was diagnosed with MS in 2014, I started researching and implementing healthy optimizations into my life.  If you’ve read the book then you know the simple principle of The Slight Edge is small actions repeatedly done over time create success.

I had unbeknownst to me, or at least unlabeled at the time been implementing this principle in my life in terms of the way that I eat.

I follow an auto-immune paleo protocol. The easiest way to describe it to others or restaurants is gluten-free, dairy-free and nightshade vegetable free (I found these to be hard for my body to digest when I did an elimination diet).

So when I eat gluten or dairy do I notice a difference in how I feel or immediate symptoms?

If I eat something at a restaurant with traces of gluten I notice that I’ll feel a little more lethargic or bloated but no one else would be able to tell. However, when I eat dairy or nightshade vegetables I have an immediate digestive reaction (we won’t get into details but you can guess).

So why am I so diligent in the way that I eat? Because I know the more I fuel my body with the foods that I can digest and get nutrients from the healthier, more vital, and more energetic I am. I know the less inflammation I’ll have in my body and the more optimized I will be so that my immune system doesn’t get confused and attack itself. I’ve mastered the mundane of meal planning (or as a society still labels it a diet) but I know that my actions every single day create health for me as evidenced by the nonprogression in my disease. In terms of the slight edge, doing repeated healthy actions every single day to create health and vitality in my body is so worth it. But that’s hard to see for many who focus more on the depriving aspect of meal plans than on the repeated positive actions causing overall health and vitality.

I also have applied the Slight Edge principles to the way that I blog, podcast and work on my side hustle every week.

I write 1 – 2 blog posts a week, publish a podcast every Friday and reach out to friends or acquaintances or strangers online to see if they’d like to try a sample of essential oils, follow up with someone who’s tried the samples or see if I can host a class teaching others about proactive health.

Am I a millionaire?

Nope.

Do I have the financial abundance that allows me to provide for my family, pay for my health care costs and travel multiple times a year?

Yup 🙂

My diligent slight edge actions in my side hustle also overlap with my diligent daily actions in my full-time career and how I plan and live a life that I love.

So this book is absolutely amazing. I very rarely post about a book until I’m all done and can give a quick review but this book is just resonating so much with me.

I’m halfway through and I can’t wait to give you a full review but I needed to pop on here and give you some quick food for thought on how slight edge actions really do create an abundant life for us in both health and wealth.