Can you imagine being a chef for over forty years and finding out you can no longer eat gluten, dairy, fat, meat or anything fried…?

I moved across the pond at the end of 2019. December 30th to be exact. Herman and I wanted to start the new year, a new decade, with a fresh face. Tired of the politics, violence and anger in the U.S. we chose to return to his homeland, Holland, while we got ourselves on track to move forward into the bigger world.
Our goal is to be someplace we can resonate with on every level and to enjoy the day to day with a limited amount of stress and plenty of sunshine. Holland, as you may know, is not it. Yes, it’s stunningly beautiful but plenty of sunshine is not part of the equation. We will move on, to sunny Spain (Valencia)  in about a month. But I digress.

Once we arrived here we were so relieved and grateful, everyday was like floating on air, moving through the day without a care in the world, no one to bother us, nothing pressing except what to make for dinner or where to find specific ingredients I like to cook with.

The first few months I was amazed at how wonderful I felt and I was doubly amazed that I seemingly could eat everything. In the U.S. I kept a conscious, healthy, lean kitchen, and yes, I cooked gourmet meals regularly, but with an eye on simple ingredients, prepared well, without heavy sauces, sugary desserts, or overly rich dishes. I went to the gym, did yoga, swam, took pilates and felt fairly healthy. Yes, I had aches and pains and visited the acupuncturist regularly but seemed to manage all my “symptoms” without too much effort.

Fast forward to the end of February 2020, and my body was falling apart. My hips were achy, my ribs were killing me, my knees were sore, I couldn’t sleep and I felt completely disconnected from my physical self. I knew things were out of whack and began to seek help. Acupuncture, physical therapy, doctors appointments and X rays, all left me with no answers. I found myself feeling depressed and hopeless and missed my routine more than ever. Then corona happened. Any chance of visiting practitioners was gone, the pool, which I was about to go to closed, the gyms all shut down. I was just getting ready to start a new routine and darkness fell.

I turned to a healer in the U.S. whom had helped me in the past with mystery illness’s, Lyme disease and generally not feeling well. We did a couple remote sessions which provided temporary relief. But my symptoms got worse and I knew my body was inflamed. I removed the bread, cold cuts and occasional pastries. I stretched daily, took long walks and bike rides, did qi gong, yoga and online fitness classes and the needle barely moved.

Then a light bulb went off. I had read an amazing book a few years ago, called Medical Medium by Anthony Williams and his teachings came back to me. I had all the symptoms of Epstein Barr and I immediately tuned into his podcasts and facebook page. There it was, the answer to my questions. Yes, my inflammation was out of control and rightly so. I had abandoned my whole life of eating carefully once arriving in Holland and suddenly took on the European way of enjoying food, thinking, how lucky I was to feel so good. But in a matter of months, my body fought back.
Thankfully, I have a dear friend in Connecticut who had been through the journey herself and had loads of experience with Medical Medium. She has been a wonderful coach and supporter of my stepping onto the path of healing. I have watched her go from being very sick to feeling really great and the MM protocol was the answer.

Yesterday I had an appointment at an orthopedic doctor in the next town and he confirmed what I already knew; it is time for a hip replacement. We will wait until we start our new life in Spain and until then I am committed to reduce the inflammation so I can move about more easily.

As of today, I am on day five of cleansing my liver, detoxing and eliminating the foods that have wreaked havoc on my system for the past six months. I believe in this journey. I already feel brighter, less lethargic, more energised. But, I have a long way to go.

Everyday I drink celery juice, lemon water, a detox smoothie and eat without fat, sugar, dairy or red meat. I am grateful to have found wonderful resources online and locally for the supplements and ingredients I need for my new life.

I will keep you posted as I improve and gain my strength back. I hope this might be an inspiration to some of you and if it’s just a story that provides some entertainment, that’s fine too.

To your health!

Bluberry cilantro smoothie 100% pure celery juice

stocking up on celery