My Story

I'm on the left (the tall one)

My story starts when I was 3 or 4 years old. My parents had become worried because I was more than a head taller than any other children my age (see picture to the left). After trips to our regular GP and then to an endocrinologist, after bloodtests for thyroid and adrenal gland issues,  my parents fears were allayed. I would simply be a tall kid, at least six feet. There was nothing wrong with me except for extreme growing pains and a big appetite. 

I continued my abnormal growth spurts until I hit puberty. At 5'5 in sixth grade I finally stopped growing altogether (I'm still that height today.) Stranger still I began to gain weight rapidly, and my period--which should have made it's appearance, never showed up. I grew DD breasts though and my waistline expanded.  Around this time my parents put me on my first diet...the Atkins diet, which was all the rage at that time. On that diet I actually did lose quite a bit of weight and was finally the tall and lanky girl my parents wanted, and my period finally started and stayed regular until the atkins diet became unsustainable. By that time I was in late middle school, in choir and theater, and in all advanced classes, between practices and school nobody had time to sustain a diet of fruits, vegetables, and meats.

Off my diet, I started to gain weight again, my periods went erratic and then disappeared altogether, and it was around that time that my OBGYN diagnosed me with PCOS and early insulin resistance , placing me on birth control pills and saying if I'd just lose weight and not eat so much, I'd be fine. Around this time I also started experiencing what my family calls "the Skaggs stomach." Its a nice term for explosive diarrhea and a constantly upset stomach--we all have it, my mom, brother, and my grandpa who the stomach issues were named for.

Up through college I continued to try any diet I could to change my body and growing waistline, and my period and stomach issues continued. Cutting out fat left me hungry and tired, cutting out carbs left me lethargic and constipated, and calorie counting didn't seem to reduce my waistline at all, even when I added in extreme exercise.

About four years ago (at 24) I started noticing that my periods, when they did show up, were heavy and very painful. I saw doctor after doctor complaining of abdominal pain that lasted during and then past my heavy periods, hair loss, abnormal hair growth, and mood swings. I found a doctor who finally did a laproscopy to find that my body was ravaged by endometrial growths throughout my abdominal cavity. His solution: lose weight. It wasn't until later that I'd find out that endometriosis is actually an immune system issue.

One year ago I went to a reproductive endocrinologist, armed with my own information, determined to figure out what was wrong with me. To my great surprise he listened, the first doctor to do so and not just see my weight. He agreed to test me for a myriad of diseases in order to get to the root of my issues. As you can see, something has been going wrong in my body since I was little and I was determined to figure out what. Four weeks later I was diagnosed with Hashimotos and LADA Diabetes. Both are autoimmune diseases.

Hashimotos is a disease in which the body is attacks it's own thyroid and LADA is latent auto immune diabetes, which is type 1 diabetes diagnosed later in life. Finally, I knew at least one of the root causes. My body was working against itself. Instead of attacking foreign invaders it was attacking itself, and more than likely had been since my early teens (hence the insulin resistance). It just took this long, and one very patient endocrinologist to see it!

Unfortunately though my endocrinologist's helpfulness stopped there. He wanted me on insulin and synthroid right away. He wanted to fix my autoimmune issues with a pill, with no thought to WHY my body's immune system was broken. No amount of arguing could persuade him. He said I was more than likely "born this way" and that I'd be on these meds for the rest of my life.

That wasn't good enough for me. I'd researched things this far and I wasn't going to give up. There had to be a reason, other than genetics, as to why my immune system wasn't working. I wasn't going to just take a pill and accept my fate. Both those diagnoses were serious and would affect my ability to lead a healthy life and even to have children!

I began to read medical journals, articles, and watch documentaries. I read blogs and books until my eyes crossed, searching for answers. I cut out gluten and dairy based on my research and that was my first clue that most of this was in fact about diet and environment. Eating gluten free took care of my "Skaggs stomach." I was no longer plagued with debilitating trips to the bathroom and constant stomach aches. I tested it on and off just to make sure it was the gluten. Off of it my stomach issues disappeared, my hair began to grow back, and my joints (which had ached since I was a kid) stopped hurting. On gluten, the stomach issues immediately returned, and my hair fell out in chunks.

I cut out conventional dairy next. By conventional I mean the puss and antibiotic, growth hormone ridden milk and cheese you can get so easily at the store. Instead those were replaced by raw cheese and milk I bought directly from a farm about 30 miles away. And since I couldn't afford to go all the time, dairy was intermittent.

As I did both of these things a strange thing happened. My periods started to come back, and gone were the debilitating cramps and abdominal pain that followed. But I was still tired, and my blood sugars weren't low enough to be out of the woods yet. And even though I'd stopped gaining weight (thank goodness), I wasn't losing anymore either. I'd plateaued.

After watching a documentary called The Perfect Human Diet , I decided it was time to do an experiment.  I'd tried everything else, and gained some health back, but I wanted more. Thus, this blog!

For six months I'm going to start eating strictly paleo (meat, fish, vegetables, fruit), as well as cutting out an environmental toxins such as chemicals in cleaners etc. On top of that I'm not going to be doing conventional exercise. Instead I'll focus on interval training, isometrics, and weight lifting (all of these are much more like what our ancestors would have done, than running for miles upon miles.)

I'll be weighing in monthly with measurements so you can see my progress. My hunch is that I'll find the more I cut out modern environment toxins (chemicals, GMOs, hybridized grains etc) the healthier I'll get. One things for sure...I'm not willing to lay down and die, or to subject my body to taking medications for the rest of my life, all for the sake of convenience.

I believe that God wants so much more for me than that, and I'm willing to fight for it.

Join me won't you? I'll need your encouragement, your faith, and your company as I go on this journey. I welcome helpful comments and emails, but please keep your criticisms to yourself. I, like you, spent years researching nutrition and wellness and there is probably no argument or diet I haven't heard of. Save yourself the time. If this isn't for you, just give me a high five for trying and walk away.

Otherwise, welcome to my journey. I'm in the fight for my life and I intend to win!