You know me now as the gal that does yoga and hikes all the time. Back then I was different. I didn't hike for over a year and there was very little if any yoga in my routine. I was an ashen color with thirty more pounds and very little muscle. More often than not, I was covered in rashes and had some infection or virus you didn't want to catch. As you can imagine this illness affected my entire life.
There is one consolation in being sick...
the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before.
-Henry David Thoreau
With that quote in mind and hope in my heart, I found wellness through food. The week of Thanksgiving I changed what I ate - everything I ate. I began eating the green things and all sorts of things that smelled and had weird textures. I found legumes - not just beans in chili. I discovered nuts & seeds. These things made me feel better. They fueled my hope for life off the couch.
After exhausting so many other possibilities, it was what I ate everyday that gave me life. It was food that set me free. Many of my current food choices are because of that Thanksgiving hope from four years ago. When I talk about food and its healing abilities, it's because I've experience it first hand. I don't just advocate for a "healthy" diet; I strive to share and inspire you to discover for yourself the healing potential in your grocery store and farmer's market.
Thanksgiving is a time to gather and celebrate harvest... the fruits of life. For the second year, my celebration will be a gluten-free, vegan celebration. Continuing many of my choices from Thanksgiving 2007 and the additional release of gluten and dairy 3.5 years ago, I am excited to join friends for my favorite holiday.
This Thanksgiving... I celebrate life, relationships, farmers, choice, knowledge and food - whole food (not that chemical stuff). I am truly grateful for all that I am and am able to be. I am grateful to those around me and the gifts they share. I am grateful for you.
I am grateful.
