I am a runner...

I am a runner. This is ingrained in me. I've been running my whole life, but started running on a team when I was 10 years old. I never considered myself a competitive person. I do not need to win every game in order to have fun; but I don't like people running ahead of me...so I had to be in front. I guess some people consider that a competitive behavior.

I've told my story a hundred times and a dozen different ways but I have yet to talk about this part. It hits me sometimes, late at night, this urge, this energy that I cannot explain. It's a desire so deep in me that it doesn't even make sense to me. I just want to RUN!

When I was diagnosed, almost exactly 2 years ago now, with celiac's, hashimoto's and stage 4 adrenal fatigue, the reason I went to the doctor wasn't because of all that pain, it was because it started hurting too badly to run anymore. That was my passion, running kept me grounded. I had this horrible pain in my lower left leg. Like nothing I'd had before, and I had been hurt several times in my running career. This was different.

I'd gotten shin splints before and what what that felt like becuase in high school my coach told me it was totally fine to run on shin splints (I just needed the PT to tape them every day before I ran). So, each day before practice I went to the school PT and had my shin muscle tapped to the bone so I wouldn't feel the ripping pain while I practiced. It didn't last long (about 4 months) before I could no longer walk without shooting pain. I stopped running at that point. 17 years old and I had to pause my passion to heal. It was shortly after that point that I was diagnosed with clinical depression and panic disorder. I should have known then!

Fast forward 10 years later, I am running every day and this new pain comes on. I knew I couldn't hide from this pain or tape it down. So I dug deeper. I went to a chiropractor who specialized in this sort of pain and help tons of runners. He told me it was muscle related and that he saw it all the time. I spent over $1000.00 just to hobble out a month later when he told me nothing was wrong and he "fixed" the muscle. Then I went to THE sports medicine doctor for the chargers and he ordered an MRI. He found not one, but 3 grade three stress fractures in my left leg. I could have broken my leg just walking around!

Now that I am sitting in this man's office, I have a few more questions. For starters, what in the world is so wrong with my body that my bones couldn't handle the pressure I was placing them under? Drum roll please...the celiacs disease had stripped my body of it's nutrients and weakened not only my whole digestive system but also my bones. Now, I was afraid of my kitchen (my safe place) and had no outlet (running). It's been two years now and everything I do for my health is 1st for my children so they never have to have a sick mom, 2nd for my husband so I can live up to my end of the promise to stick around through this life and any other, and 3rd so I can RUN. The desire is so strong and it comes down on me like a ton of bricks.

So, I want to tell you right now, if you have stopped something you love so much that it hurts, becuase of your health, please reach out and let me try and help! I want so badly to run again, and I will. But if you are struggling to get your passion back, do not ever give up that dream! It is part of who you are like running is a part of me.

I've given myself the grace to rest and heal and build my body back up for one more year, mark my words: you'll see me back on a track!

Be well, and get back out there my friend!

Let me tell you about my church...I feel "Glorious"

I grew up in a very confining church, with a set of rules and regulations that when bent led to a whole lot of judgment. That was never my style and I never felt comfortable judging or being judged for something I thought wasn't all that bad. Since I've grown and had my own opportunity to find my truths I've learned to feel spiritually connected in so many more ways than I ever felt in that brick building surrounded by people looking to damn me. Some of those things are: being connected to nature, through hiking, running, paddleboarding, walking next to the ocean, staring at a sunset and listening to music. Recently, an incredible song, that is gaining popularity by the second, has given me that "Hallelujah" feeling like nothing I have felt in a long time.

So much has happened in my life, as with any other 30 year old woman I am sure, but I feel like I had to dig my way out of a very large hole and then learn to sustain that way of life without much in the way of examples. None of this is meant to come off as a complaint. I am actually incredibly grateful for all that I have been through because it has shaped me into someone I am pretty fond of.

But let us get back to this song...

I first saw the music video while scrolling facebook, now watch carefully, this video is magical. I lost my grandmother back in February and I had no idea the impact on my life this event would have. I've lost several people, who I was extremely close with and I thought I knew then how to deal with grief. This was different. This video hit something in me that I didn't quite understand. Then I dug a little deeper. As you know by now, I could never stop at a simple solution. My crazy, never ceasing, always searching brain wanted more! So I kept listening and listening until I got some basic understanding of why these words are like church to me. When I got sick, so much of me was lost to a world of distain, disappointment, discouragement, and certainly distaste! I lost my connection to food and my outlet in exercise and then...I lost a bigger part of me...Hope. There were countless nights that I prayed I wouldn't wake up the next day. What was the point of putting so much pressure on all the people I loved if this was going to be my quality of life. When I finally stopped the pity party and decided I wasn't a victim, never had been and never will be. I started to get my life back. Now two years later, I am starting to feel things again that I hadn't felt in a long time.
Macklemore opens the song
"You know I'm back like I never left
Another sprint, another step
Another day, another breath
Been chasing dreams, but I never slept
I got a new attitude and a lease on life
And some peace of mind
Seek and I find I can sleep when I die"
Now, I'm back! I feel it, it's all coming back. Who I am, who I was and who I want to be, it was all there all along and I just had to uncover it again and again and fight for myself and stop apologizing all the time for who I am. This song, man, it says everything!

This is my journey, there are some serious bump, big ass mountains in the way. But I am finally learning to stop seeing them as blocks and to start seeing them as lessons. Changing this mindset and making the decision to stop bitching and moaning about how hard life is, has changed how I see every scenario in my life. Even the small petty things are lessons learned.

The chorus of this song is what really gets you, I dare you to listen to these words and not close your eyes, looking up, picturing the most incredible church chorus, singing, praising, appreciating the life you've been given. I cannot help but feel gratitude and, of course, GLORIOUS!

'I feel glorious, glorious
Got a chance to start again
I was born for this, born for this
It's who I am, how could I forget?
I made it through the darkest part of the night
And now I see the sunrise
Now I feel glorious, glorious
I feel glorious, glorious"

How can this be just a song. It is changing parts of me I forgot to appreciate, parts I've forgotten to love about who I am! I was born to help people and encourage change in a big way. I have more to give and I am not stopping anytime soon. And now..."I'm back..."

"I said amen and hallelujah, let me testify too
Another morning, a morning, don't let self get in my way
I got my breath, I got my faith and I remember why I came"

Dear Wildlife...my experience eating clean while camping

Now don't get me wrong, I am pretty lucky. I have a trailer, a stove, a travel BBQ, a fridge, and a cast iron pan (I never leave home without it), and a family that eats the same way I do. So I realize I am at an advantage here. But if you want to be a clean eater, and your health is important to you 365 days a year regardless of where it is you are calling home for the week, then I've got a few tips for you.

Eating the way I do and caring for my body the way I do takes a lot more prep and forethought than simply grabbing something to-go. So, whenever I am going on a trip, be it 2 days or 10, I do all my meal planning, shopping, and prep in advanced. For this trip I sat down about a week early and mapped out all of my meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) with my family, then I shopped specifically for those meals.

Dinners for 10 days:
1. Hamburgers with Potato salad
2. Trout
3. Meatloaf
4. BBQ ribs
5. Chicken Salad
6. Sausage
7. Tacos
8. BBQ chicken
9. Steak Night
10. Out to dinner (we found a great little place in LeeVining)

Once I have my list now I know what to buy and what to cook ahead. Every night when I was cooking dinner during the week before our trip I doubled my meals. One night we had meatloaf for dinner and I made 2, and put one in the freezer for the trip. I made roasted chicken one night and cooked 3! Two I strip

ped down and froze for the trip, one we ate for dinner.

There are a few advantages to camping this way and only one disadvantage. The bad thing is all the time spent thinking/shopping and prepping. But the best part is: when you are out enjoying your vacation you can spend less than 5 minutes cooking each day! Less time cooking means a lot more time playing! Bonus: you get to feel great the whole time too!

For side dishes I made big salads, and brought tons of foil packets full of veggies and good seasonings. For breakfast we had paleo pancakes (I pre-cooked and stored in ziplock bags and reheated on a pan), with eggs (cooked fresh each day) and bacon (prepped ahead). For lunches we made tuna and chicken salad ahead and use lettuce for wraps. We brought tons of clean snacks like chips, granola, RX and lara bars, and cookies. We never felt deprived and we got to play from sun up till sundown without any interruptions.

All of this is to say, that it can be done. You can eat clean and be on vacation. There is nothing convenient about being a healthy or clean eater, but you can make your life easier by planning ahead and staying on top of things. If this is an area that you are really struggling with, let me help!

You can schedule appointments with me here as well as following me on social media for all the latest updates and tips here. I do hope this helps you!

Be well my friend!

If you give a mom a macaccino...

If you give a mom a macaccino, her kids will probably need a tissue, then she will realize that the kitchen is a huge disaster and start to clean that up first..."MOOMM!!!! I need a tissue again" then she will bring her daughter a tissue and realize the living room is also a mess and start to clean that up. Then she will have forgotten all about the macaccino and now it is cold, into the microwave it goes...and so on and so on until she gives up and dumps the damn thing in the sink. Mom - 0, Macaccino-1.

Have you ever read the book "If you give a mouse a cookie"? It is my all time favorite kids book because I totally relate to both characters. As a mom, I am the little kid helping the mouse by picking up after all of his misadventures in "helping". I also identify strongly with the mouse, starting new projects every few minutes and never quite finishing anything. At the end of the day there is this unimaginable exhaustion that never seems to be quite curved and yet...nothing truly got accomplished. I read this amazing story years ago and it totally resonated with me and gave me this beautiful analogy for motherhood. At least it was good preparation!


All of this to say...
1. Us moms need to slow down and drink our hot beverage!
2. We need to focus on one task at a time
3. Give ourselves a little more grace at the end of the day!
4. Mommin ain't easy but this little stage doesn't last forever. I am learning to love it instead of being sad for my messy house!

I am really working hard lately on trying to do one thing at a time and work on completing that task before I start the next one. (Although, as I type this I am sipping my drink...can't win them all!)

Be well my friends!

This is my journey too. How to survive a flare.

I pride myself on my level of care and love I provide my body but even doing all the good that I possibly can, I am not immune to my autoimmune diseases (pun intended). This year has been hands down one of the best so far. Starting in January (or a little before) I decided to stop being so upset with the lot my life had provided for me and start living to the fullest potential that I can. I really have given it my best shot to stop trying to control everything and instead let the universe guide my path. It has been truly a remarkable journey. However, whenever you are trying to make these great changes in your life other things will get in the way as well. My year and world was rocked to the core this past February when I lost my grandmother and had to deal with family drama beyond any possibly imagination. It wasn't the loss exactly but everything that came with it that shook me.

When huge emotional shifts take place in your body it doesn't matter how clean your pantry is or how many vitamins you take or the fact that I get 8 hours of sleep every night...it still took a major toll. This past few days I have been too ashamed to admit it but I was hit with a massive flare. One that has taken me down for several days and kept me from doing the things I love. I am trying to find meaning in it all...but maybe, just maybe the whole point is for me to share this experience.

I am on this journey right alongside you all. I am working just as hard as you are to reverse my cell damage and repair what has been taken away. Along the way there are going to be bumps and pain but it is about getting back up and seeing what you can do next.

Monday evening I went home feeling a little off but I figured if I got a good night's sleep and took my vitamins I would feel better by Tuesday. Tuesday at 2am I woke up writhing in pain with a massive interstitial cystitis flare. One like I have never experienced in the past. Immediately I went through a mental catalog of everything I'd done that past weekend to see if I could pinpoint the culprit. I mentally scanned my food journal, sleep record, activity level, stress level etc., and yes I had worked a little too hard and on Sunday I had 2 glasses of wine instead of my usual 1 and I hadn't been getting the sleep I usually get...but overall it was the stress that brought me down. This flare brought me to my knees on Wednesday night in tears. I want to be there and encourage all of you that we can get through this. This isn't the flare that I won't recover from, this isn't the time to give up. So after I let myself release some of these emotions, I dried myself off, went to the kitchen and started the next treatment. I made a clay mask for my abdomen, took colloidal silver and an extra large dose of straight chamomile herbs to calm the muscles, put my infrared heating pack on and watched a movie. The point of all of this is to say that we can make it through anything we want. There is no problem that we cannot reverse if we work together and support each other. Trust me when I say, I want to help you too. I am on my own journey right here next to you and I want you to know that I won't be knocked down by these things and I won't let you get knocked down either.

Today, is a new day and I am feeling much better. I felt inspired to tell you my story as hard as it is. You all know by now that I have 4 autoimmune diseases and I am not immune to flares. I use them as a reminder to love my body and appreciate all the hard work it does for me and as a reminder to rest. We have too much to be healthy for, we have to be like the bobo doll and just keep getting back up!

Thank you for reading
Be well!

Sharissa Bradley

Impulsivity and Jumping in

"Hello, my name is Sharissa Bradley and I am impulsive"

"Hi Sharissa!!"

Almost every decision I have made I have made it impulsively: saying yes to my husbands proposal, having my first baby (and my second), taking jobs, buying a home, buying my car, starting projects etc. I am that person who can convince anyone of anything (maybe manipulative is a better word) and can convince myself of the next best thing like no ones business. But when it came to taking the plunge in my own health it took months of research and explaining and long periods of self doubt before I came to the conclusion that I had nothing else to lose.

Can anyone tell me why it is that when it comes to our health we can come up with one million excuses to not take the next step? Too expensive, cannot afford a coach, cannot afford to eat healthy, I am going to start on the first of the month, I need to start on a Monday but I keep messing up Monday morning so I have to wait a whole week to start again.

Why is this? Why isn't our health our number one priority. If you are sitting at home again spending another day too tired, too sick, or simply or not feeling well enough to be social or playing with your family then how come you cannot see it is time for change? Don't feel bad...I did the same thing. But why?

I want to tell you a little something about being an impulsive person that is so incredibly frustrating. I can be very easily convinced to try new things...next week I am jumping out of an airplane, this past Friday I walked a red carpet as a model (a 30 year old mom of 2 little kids...yes ME) because I am tired...truly sick and tired of letting my health control my life. I JUMPED and you should too.

For some reason we can be so easily convinced to buy the latest gadget, a new TV, remodel our house...but when it comes to spending money on changing your life it is so hard to make that leap. I know from experience. I spent most of my life satisfied with the fact that I was always going to be tired and weak and uncomfortable in my clothes because my doctor said that was a normal process of getting older. I was skeptical of the health trends and fads (or so I thought). When I finally hit my rock bottom I had no choice but to seek out alternative care. I went to acupuncture, chiropractic, integrative medicine doctors, and herbalists. I finally started to see some relief, that in combination with changing my diet I was able to reverse heal and become whole. It is hard to explain health to someone who has never felt well...I am selling you on a dream that you didn't know you could dream. When I was sick there was no one like me to help, I couldn't find someone who would hold my hand and teach me how to not only survive but thrive...so when I got well enough I became that person for everyone else. You do not have to suffer any more, you just have to determine what your health and life is worth to you. Do you want this to be your quality of life now? Or do you want the dream you didn't even know you could dream about?

Follow my pages, subscribe here, on facebook and on instagram and get some free tips every day, and when you are ready give me a call and I will show you the dream. You cannot afford to spend one more day missing your life, take a leap of faith and be impulsive for the right reasons.

Be well and thank you for reading,
Sharissa Bradley B.A., M.A., & C.N.C.

Come on body, get out of bed: Adrenal Fatigue

Come on body!! We push our precious bodies so far and they work so hard for us! Especially here in Southern California, I don't know about you, but I will push my body until it collapses (12-15 hour days sometimes). I am a typical overachiever, I was pregnant in grad school and had a 2 year old and still pushed myself to finish early. It is no surprise after giving everything else in my life 100% of my energy that at some point my body screamed out....STOP!

It is funny how it happens. We are going along, everything is fine, working hard and pushing ourselves. 4-6 hours of sleep is enough right? WRONG! Your body will figure out a way to knock you off your feet if you are not listening to it. Unfortunately, for some people that means their body stops working properly. This can show up in a variety of ways, you could be feeling slightly more tired than usual and no amount of sleep seems to help you catch up, you could be exhausted instead of exhilarated after a workout, you could be cranky for no apparent reason, or wake up feeling more tired than you were when you went to bed the night before, or maybe you are tired and cranky all day then around 6-7pm you get an enormous surge of energy and all of a sudden you could clean your whole house and do all your food prep. Everyone else is sleeping and even though you have been tired all day long (wishing you were in bed) yet now you couldn't go to bed no matter how hard you tried.

All of these symptoms and more are signs of adrenal fatigue. Adrenal Glands are tiny organs that live on top of your kidneys and help to regulate the HPA (Hypothalamus - Pituitary-Axis). They regulate hormones and are responsible for cortisol and adrenaline production. When you push your body too hard and don't give it proper food and rest these tiny organs can start misbehaving producing only tiny bits of cortisol in the morning leaving you sluggish and tired and higher amounts in the evening giving you that much needed surge of motivation at the WRONG time of day! Exercise will push these glands to produce adrenaline which will further tax them leaving you  more tired than when you started. Boy oh boy, what a complicated mess!!

So what do we do when we find it nearly impossible to get our heavy body out of bed every morning? How do we heal these precious organs and get out of our incredible bodies way of healing itself?

1. Make sleep your #1 priority!!
(Side note: I was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal fatigue 2 years ago and my doctor told me this and I literally laughed in her face. I told her, "you know I have 2 children under 3 years old and you want me to sleep 8-9 hours a night??").

This is the most important thing you can do for your body. Our bodies heal when they are at rest, if you are not sleeping, you are not healing.

2. Stop any physical exertion that you can. Walking is great but nothing too hard and do not push yourself! If at any point you are getting that adrenaline surge, you are further taxing those tiny organs.

3. EAT!! When you skip meals your blood sugar tanks too low, when your blood sugar gets too low your body over compensates by producing adrenaline. You are not running on your "stored fat" you are running on adrenaline. Excess adrenaline will get stored in your fat cells as toxins. You are not doing yourself any favors by skipping meals. Eat regular meals and keep your body running on glucose and fat not adrenaline! Give those puppies a rest.

4. Eat high quality foods and enough to keep you satisfied all day.

5. Practice some self love! You have pushed your body to it's breaking point, now it is time to give it some grace and for goodness sake #loveyourself

6. Get a coach: find someone (if it isn't me) that can help you through this process. It is a long road but one worth taking. Especially if you have someone leading you every step of the way!

If this sounds like you, please reach out, I would love to help you heal!

Be well my friends.

There is no such thing as a magic pill...

It is very rare that I will sit on the couch and watch TV. I am the type of person who needs to be constantly busy. If I sit down for any length of time when the sun is still up I start to think about all that needs to get done and I cannot relax. With that said, last week I got hit with the most horrible flu bug. Getting this flu, in part, was exciting (I'll explain this in a minute) but mostly it knocked me off my ass! I was stuck on the couch for a few days with such bad nausea that all I could do was chill (very unlike me) and I watch regular TV with commercials *gasp*. It is amazing how many drug commercials there are these days. One in particular struck a chord with me. 

There is a new weight loss drug out there called Contrave (clever name). The pill claims that it works on two areas of the brain to control your craving (pleasure center) and to make you feel fuller longer (hunger center). With possible side effects of depression and suicide. The commercial shows women working together to form a brain and shows women in restaurants refusing dessert. Why is this such a big deal? Why is this so frustrating for me?

There are a few key points this ad is leaving out about what exactly this pill is doing to your brain. Any time you take a medication there is going to be some effect. As long as you are taking this pill you will be stifling your pleasure center in your brain that area that makes you feel good and the area in your brain that tells you are hungry. By clogging those receptor sites in your brain you'll also be blocking your natural hormone production of the hormone leptin. As well as the hormone ghrelin. The "hunger hormones," leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is a hormone, made by fat cells, that decreases your appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite, and also plays a role in body weight. If you block your own bodies production of these two hormones you will never be able to control your cravings and therefore weight gain.

You cannot block these hormones without having some seriously negative repercussions. Not to mention blocking the pleasure center of your brain (the one this drug claims will help you stay away from French fries and ice cream) what other pleasures are you going to be blocking? It’s no wonder the two biggest side effects are depression and suicidal thoughts. Don’t mess with your brain people. Our body knows exactly how to heal itself, it knows exactly how much to eat and when to stop. There are other problems at play here and there is no magic pill to cure them. Especially not if you want long-term results. You cannot take a drug to cure cravings.

If you or someone you know is seriously struggling with an uncontrollable appetite or cravings and uncontrolled weight gain, please know there are bigger things at play and there is no one pill. Get yourself a coach, or call me and we can work on it together. Please let me know if I can be of any help to you. My goal is for lifetime success and longevity!

Be well friends!

An Open Letter to The Universe

The month of April, for me is the month of mindfulness and I want to share something very personal with you. My business coach taught me to ask the Universe for what I want. So this is my open letter to the Universe.

I strongly encourage you to figure out exactly what it is you want in life and start asking for it. You can use my letter as a model if you'd like. Most importantly, you need to know that you are responsible for your own reality and one way to break the cycle is to know what you want and ask for it! Here is my rendition:


Dear Universe,

Thank you for my life and existence, my gratitude for this life is immeasurable. I would like to allow myself all this life has to offer and stop keeping myself from love, peace, joy, abundance, and above all happiness. I will do that by spelling out my letter to the Universe.

I want to own my own business but not let it own me. I want time for myself and my children without feeling guilty for taking the time for those things. I want financial independence, freedom, and wealth in all areas of my life beyond any measurable scale. I want to get out of my own way and stop abusing myself by withholding love and affection from myself. If I can only love others as much as I love myself; I want to show myself unconditional love. Because I deserve it. I want ringing positivity in my household.

I want to feel so amazing on my own health and healing journey that I cannot help but spread wellness to everyone I encounter. I want enough joy to share. I want to help change the lives of women everywhere so no child ever goes without a mother.

I deserve to be paid well because the information I have is valuable, important, and worth sharing. My time and education is worth paying for. I deserve to buy myself nice things with no added guilt. Dear Universe, I am willing to meet you halfway. I am willing to live on a set spending plan and cash diet. I am willing to attend 2 marketing events each month. I am willing to give myself "me time" each day because I am worthy of self care. I am committed to allowing the Universe to send me the women/men/and families who need me, in tremendous amounts. I believe this is all possible because I know this is my path, my journey, my calling, my passion, and my gift. I will not settle for less, because I am worth it!

_____________________________________________________________

I really hope you find this letter inspirational. I also hope you are able to figure out what is most important for you and learn how to ask for what you want. We have the ability to attract positivity into our lives if we are willing and open to accept it. This is a hard lesson for me and I am just starting my journey. I hope this finds you well!

**Please feel free to replace the word Universe with whatever rings true for you. For me the word Universe is synonymous with God.

. 

MindSet Challenge 2017

I have been getting down on myself and I can recognize the patterns. It is time to change my mindset. So, along with doing my whole30 challenge group every month this next month will be special. Starting April 1st (this coming saturday) I will be incorporating the miracle morning into my routine. This is a #mindsetchallenge and I will be committing myself to 30 days of the miracle morning.

April will be all about whole foods and whole mindset. If you haven't heard of the the miracle morning check out the site. You can buy the whole book or enter your email address and get the two chapters free that you need to get started. The goal of the miracle morning is to give yourself time every day with the intention of bettering your world. The rules: wake up at least 30 min earlier (the book recommends 1 hour but I am going to start with 30 min) and give yourself 5 minutes each with each task.

The tasks: Silence, Affirmations, Visualizations, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing (journal). The two downloadable chapters give more information on each of these things but I will give you a brief intro of what I do. I like to do my silence, affirmations and visualizations after I journal. I like to get all my thoughts out on paper and then use those thoughts to create my affirmations for the day. After this I like to read from an educational book  (I really use this time to better myself physically, emotionally and mentally) lastly I go for a nice walk around the block. If I am lucky my kids are still asleep and I can sneak out while everyone is resting and go for a quiet walk. What I notice is that I cannot seem to pay attention to my music. Business ideas and family hacks start flooding my mind and I want to use the time to work through all that the universe is providing for me.

You can do these in any order that you'd like to do them and you can take as much time on each one as you'd like. I like to do about 5 min total on visualizations and affirmations but I read for about 20 minute and my walk its typically more like 30 minutes. Do what works best for you! Here is the 30 day quick start guide with a calendar to mark off the days. I will be keeping track of my journey throughout april on my Facebook page and on the blog.

I really do hope you decide to hop on and join me on this challenge. Only good things can come from this and who knows maybe the next challenge will be #noTVmay. Please let me know if you have decided to join me so we can keep each other accountable! I am hoping to have the opportunity to see your lives change too!

The importance of keeping a "clean" pantry

On February 21st my grandmother passed away. Growing up I had an incredible connection and relationship with my grandmother. When I was older and out on my own I would pick her up once a month and take her to lunch and a movie, even older still I would go to her house once a week for tea and cookies. She got me hooked on drinking tea which is a love I now share with my friends. There is just nothing like a spicy tea with gingersnap cookies. Up until about 5 years ago we were very close. Outside family members eventually pulled us apart and I lost my coveted relationship. I only got to see her and ask for forgiveness just one day before she left us. This past 4 months has been riddled with death in my family and in my close circle of friends and in these horrible moments of grief and longing I want to reach for my go-to feel-good snacks. For me it was: chocolate chip cookies, sourdough bread with cheese, and my all time favorite, peanut butter and jelly. Of course, following the the autoimmune protocol doesn't afford such treats. In fact there isn't a single thing in my list of comfort foods that could be consumed without utter pain and regression.

This brings me to my point. About a year after my initial diagnoses my entire house got cleaned out of all the things I couldn't eat. I kept a few "clean" snacks for my kids...things I wouldn't be tempted by. I continue to shop this way now. I do not buy or allow any foods in my house that would hurt me. I am blessed to be surrounded by people who support me and my goal of extreme and complete health.

By having a clean pantry and a clean fridge I cannot easily grab the things I think will make me feel better. The argument: my grandma died this week and all I wanted was comfort foods, if I am already hurting what was a piece of gluten cake going to do to me, but my pantry was clean and my fridge was clean and I couldn't make bad choices, this is the importance of being prepared.

This isn't just true in times of hurting this is especially true if you are starting out your journey. It is a lot easier to fail if you have all the bad things at arms reach.

If you just jump in and don't prepare yourself then you are preparing to fail 

If there is anything I can do to help support your journey or help you clean out the bad things, I am here for you!

Turning 30 and reflecting back

Turning 30 felt more significant to me in many ways. Of course, there is a societal aspect of pressure involved in turning 30 and being in a certain place in life but this was different. This birthday really felt like a milestone for health. I needed to prove to myself that I could be just as strong, if not stronger, than I was before I got so sick. I truly feel like I was robbed of 2 years of my life (directly following the two years that grad school took). Illness stole my energy, my strength, my happiness, and tested my faith and, on occasion, my will power. I tried not to give up hope so I gave myself an imaginary timeline. By the time I turned 30, I told myself I would be strong, I would run, hike, be awake all day, play with my kids, and discover the purpose for my illness. I am proud to say that the weekend before my 30th birthday I spent 5 days hiking and exploring. I cooked and and ate incredible food, that I wasn't afraid of, all in a TRAILER! I am prouder to say that I have found the purpose of this whole mess, or rather, it found me. I spent so long wondering if I'd ever have a good day and now I have so many good day it is hard to even recognize the bad ones. All of the fear, hard work, and discipline with my diet (all the times people asked me "so what can you eat?"), sleep and alternative medicine has paid off 10-fold. More exciting and more joyful than my own health journey: I have discovered the reason for being sick was to teach me empathy for others struggling down this path. I pray every day asking for more people to help, to let me help them win their battle. My journey is clear now and my future looks bright. I am so grateful for my tribe and my community for getting me where I am and grateful that "30" provided such a beautiful deadline for the hardest part of my calling. Please accept my humblest gratitude for the birthday greetings and well wishes, especially to those who made time to see me, this year meant the most all. Thank you.

Now is the time to seek health and wellness. I'd sure love to help you if I can.

In health,
Sharissa

Meatloaf Recipe: MMM....Bacon

After I was diagnosed I felt like my world came crumbling down. I cook. I cook for love, for comfort, for stress, for my family and for nourishment. Telling someone, who spends more time in the kitchen than any other place in the house, that they cannot eat the food they have been preparing for 15 years felt like a big ol' kick in the gut!

It took about 6 months for my food anxiety to settle down. I instantly felt like everything was being taken from me. I could no longer run (adrenal fatigue) and I was too scared to cook or eat foods that other people prepared for me. Every place I went I felt like someone was going to poison me. Mostly because I had spent the better part of 10 years saying that gluten intolerance, sensitivity, allergy, and celiacs were all made up as a hoax to help people chose a new trend. Clearly, I believed that the karmic world would come back to me for belittling an entire culture of people trying to heal their digestive tract and hence the rest of their lives. 

After the initial 6 months of being terrified of food and basically living on smoothies and gluten free garbage from the grocery store. I slowly began to get my confidence back in the kitchen again. I started by trying all new recipes (short story, I'll save you the reading, I failed...miserably). It was a waste of my time and a waste of money. Then I realized that about 70% of the meals I had so much practice making were safe for me minus one or two substitutions. Then and only then did Sharissa get her groove back (see what I did there). With taking my already honed skills in the kitchen and making only minor tweaks, I was back. Finally I could feed my family again. So from now on I plan to share with all of you every Thursday either one of my own recipes that should look similar to your regular weekly meals or I'll share a fellow bloggers foolproof recipes that I have tried and successfully enjoyed.

Tonight for your viewing pleasure (too bad there is no such thing as smell-a-screen) my "throw all the crap in your fridge into a bowl, mix it together and call it Meatloaf" 

Recipe: Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1. 1 Medium Onion

2. 1 large carrot or two small carrots

3. 2 cloves of garlic

4. 1 cup of mushrooms

5. 2 lbs of ground meat of your choice (I do 1 lbs turkey and 1 lbs ground beef)

6. 1 egg

7. 2 tbsp almond meal

8. 3 slices of bacon (optional)

9. Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Dice ingredients 1-4 and saute until fully cooked and soft

2. Mix 1-7 and S&P  together in a bowl

3. Form into a log on a sheet pan

4. Cover the meatloaf with the 3 strips of bacon

5. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until fully cooked (time may vary depending on how thick the meatloaf is)

6. Serve with some yummy root veggies and prepare to be comforted.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and it becomes a super quick and simple weeknight meal for you!

Surgery, Ice-packs and stitches: The ins and outs of endometriosis recovery

The weeks leading up to my endometriosis surgery, I searched the internet looking for personal accounts of what the surgery entailed, how I would feel before, during and after. I found only the webMD version of what I was facing. From that account I figured I would be up and going about my "normal" life after a few days of laying in bed being pampered. During my pre-operative appointment with my surgeon I asked him the questions I was dying to know the answer to: how bad is recovery? Is this worth it? Will I feel better after? How long will it take to feel better? At this point, my surgery was scheduled on a Monday morning and I had taken that day off of work and planned to be back to work by Wednesday. He very politely informed me that I would not be able to walk let alone drive or sit in a car comfortably for at least a week. He was far less reassuring than the watered down WebMD version. But, what did he know. He was a male, he had never had an emergency C-section after 36 hours of labor. I knew I could handle this and anything it threw at me.

Boy was I wrong...

The point of the post today is to put an accurate depiction, on the internet, for women everywhere to know exactly what to expect from this procedure and the recovery.

My surgery took place on Monday morning at 7:30am. I was nothing short of terrified of what they'd find inside my body that had been causing so much pain for such a long time. Being wheeled into the OR I remember physically shaking and the staff trying the mood light. Seemingly minutes later, I awoke in recovery feeling very beaten up. Like someone had just run me over with a car. I could walk and understand clearly what the staff was explaining to me. I arrived home and was in bed by 12:30pm. Not too shabby medical staff, not too shabby.

Some things they didn't explain to me: I had long burns under my armpits from being strapped to a bed tilted head first towards the ground. The gas that they pumped inside my so they could clearly see my organs (which left me looking like I was about 4 months pregnant) doesn't have a way to get out of the body so it settled in places like my diaphragm and collarbone. The pain from my surgery didn't hit until about Wednesday morning because the gas and burns caused so much pain that it far outweighed the rest. The rest of the recovery was to be expected, all my organs were swollen from the places that the camera bruised or the laser burned excess tissue. The incision sites hurt for another week and the overall feeling of sensitivity has still not gone away.

Life has returned to somewhat normalcy, I have returned (begrudgingly) back to work and for the most part I can wear regular cloths (so long as they do not rub on any incisions).

My advice for anyone embarking on this journey. I know that very soon I will feel 100% better and recover better off than I was before the surgery. I know the pain relief is coming and I am going to have more good days than bad. I do not regret this procedure one bit. I simply wish I had been more informed and had taken at least 10 days off to recover fully. The scar tissue, endometriosis and cysts that were found and removed gave me and my spirit such validation that it made the whole experience worth it. I could not have done this procedure without the love and support of my family and friends. I am beyond grateful that I had the opportunity to have this procedure and that I had so much love and support behind me.

Endometriosis, Surgery, and healing

As I get ready to end the night, before I go get my organs scraped, I am reflecting back on my health journey. Years before I had my children I was diagnosed with endometriosis and at the time I trusted everything my doctors said so I went on hormones to control it. After my children were here I was healed!! No more pain, no more worries. Until it came back. With a vengeance. Now it is everywhere.

I have done everything I can to be productive to heal my own with food, supplements, rest, sleep and stress management, chiropractic care, acupuncture, and myofascial release massage. It has gotten to a point now that I had to concede and have the tissues removed. In no way do I see this as a failure of my attempts, but an incredible option that I have access to.

After spending the last year desperately attempting to heal my microbiome and reduce the leaky gut and reseal, I was nothing short of terrified of what opening my body up and introducing antibiotics to it will do. But I am resolved in knowing that this is another step in my healing journey. That it is okay for me to not be in pain anymore and it is okay for me to move on with my life. I hate to think of how this particular pain has affected my life and I am so ready, now only 12 hours away, to begin another stage of recovery on my long path back to health, healing, and wellness.

Post surgery I intend to continue my regular eating, sleeping and various additional therapies to keep the tissues from reforming and reattaching. As well as keeping my gut sealed! I know I can prevent it if I am able to start with a clean slate. I have so many people loving and looking after me that I know I will heal quickly and with ease.

Endometriosis plagues so many women and in so many different ways. For me it affects my colon, bladder, uterus and surrounding areas. When it first started I only experienced pain 2-4 days per month. I now have about 2-4 days a month that are pain free. Each system in my body is affected at different times but I never seem to get a solid break from it all. If you or someone you know is dealing with this please feel free to reach out to me as I would love to hear your story and offer any guidance I can, and/ or hear any guidance from you. I wish only for more awareness and more days of pain free, than pain filled. Cheers to all you women that have it worse than I and know I am fighting right there with you and for you.

I know this is not a quick fix and I will not recover 100%, but I know it will bring relief and I will fight every day to treat this naturally without hormones or by having any of my organs removed.

One year anniversary from diagnosis date

June 3, 2015

I was sitting in my doctor's office waiting for results back from my celiacs panel. I remember that morning telling my husband how I wasn't nervous to get the results because celiacs disease was a joke and gluten intolerance was made up by the same people who said MSG was bad. It was a trendy fad and it would be forgotten about it 10 years. Up to this point I had recieved my hashimoto's diagnosis and was dealing with several other health problems, including a lump in my neck that had gone undiagnosed because even after an MRI and ultrasound the doctors could not figure out what it was. This doctors appointment I felt no fear of results and thought it was a waste of my afternoon and a babysitter. I had no idea how the words "you have celiacs disease" would have affected me and my family at that point.

My doctor walked in the office, sat in a chair next to me, and as nonchalantly as you could ask "how's the weather?", said to me: "today you are here to get your results, let's see, oh yea, you have celiacs disease." "your numbers are extremely elevated but don't worry you just need to stop eating gluten and you'll be fine". I kid you not. That was the whole conversation. Nothing about why this happened or how to get better or which of my 500 ailments the disease was causing...simply, stop eating gluten. I remember feeling like I had the wind knocked out of me. I couldn't quite catch my breathe for the rest of the day. I called some friends who have celiacs and asked for some advice, that was too overwhelming. I told my family, but we didn't really have a clear understanding of what it all was. Then the scientist in me took over and I dived head first into the research. My first few weeks without gluten were filled with gluten replacements and more crap as well as a huge die off of symptoms which had me practically bedridden. Over the year that followed I slowly cut dairy (after learning about casein), grains in general (going paleo), and finally for the biggest change and improvement I went full autoimmune protocol or AIP.

The ups and downs from this journey have been like a crazy roller coaster. I am stronger now that I have ever been. I lost about 40 pounds, started gaining some energy back and learned that I was truly the one in control of my circumstances. I am still not in the place I want to be. I have a tattoo picked out for the day I am back to 100%. I thought today would be the day but it is not. I am celebrating in other ways. I am still gaining new momentum everyday and still learning how to heal everyday. This journey has a higher purpose and I am trusting in this path.

If this blog post sounds a little too familiar to you, make sure to find someone who can support you through this process. If you are scared looking at day one, know that it will not kill you and all the trouble will be worth it. We have a choice every single day to take one step forward or one step back. Today is proof that I have survived 365 days of making the choice to heal. It will continue to take time as it took 29 years to break down this body but I will keep doing what I can to build it back up! Cheers to one year and cheers to the next 29 healthy happy years!

Adventures on AIP (9 weeks) and 1 year gluten free!!

Today marks 9 weeks of strict AIP!

When I first heard about the autoimmune protocol I was sitting in a nutritionist's office and I was literally bouncing at 4pm. This was pretty typical for my body. I would either be so tired and sluggish that I was asleep (or close to it) or I was jittery, anxious and talking about one mile a minute. My adrenal glands had stopped doing what they were supposed to. Whether that was from an HPA-axis misfire or if my body stopped remembering how to take cortisol where it needed to go who knew.

Sitting in her office, I recall telling her my symptoms from bad headaches and exhaustion but not being able to sleep ("wired but tired") to bladder pain that could not be controlled with any pain medication. She asked about how long these things had been going on and I laughed. She told me to be patient. I needed to be strict gluten and dairy free for at least one year to heal and then highly recommended Eileen Laird and her book and podcast. I am by nature a questioner and by career a researcher. So naturally I took the next 2 months to listen to every episode of the podcast "Phoenix Helix" and read the book on AIP as well as collect as many cookbooks as I could. After being 100% strict paleo for a few months and giving up nuts for a candida issue going AIP was only one more jump: no nightshades and no chocolate. The nightshades took themselves out after I had an anaphylactic reaction to tomatoes in an in-and-out drive through ("you know what you did tomatoes!!"). I took the leap on April 25th, 2016 and on April 27th I won a place in Angie Alt's SAD to AIP in 6 group. God was telling me I was on the right path to healing. Along with winning that spot I won 4 cookbooks that I already had saved in my amazon wishlist. GO ME!

Reflecting back on this whole process. I wish I would have started sooner!! Of course everyone says that and I am sure that I wasn't ready until I actually took the plunge. The food and preparing food has come very easy to me, especially with the help of "The Healing Kitchen" cookbook (this one is by far my favorite and my go to for meal prep). I finally, after about 7 weeks, got the hang of meal planning, batch cooking, and where to buy all of my groceries for the week. I hate not having anything that is convenient but I am learning to prep when I feel awesome so there is always something in the fridge for me to grab. I miss treats but I know someday I will eat the best chocolate chip cookies ever and it will have been so worth the wait!!

Update on healing: When I first started on AIP I was immediately hit with a very bad bladder infection it seemed completely defeating. How could this happen if I was doing everything right?? But after research and serious reflection I decided that my body need to detox and was going to do so by clearing each organ and my bladder just got hit first! Since that point I have gone in reverse order healing. This concept is taken from "Herring's law of the cure" If you are ill and you haven't read about this yet, start googling!! For the past 9 weeks I have felt almost all the old symptoms I had since I can remember being ill back in my single digit days! It has been hard and some days down right miserable. But I stayed on track with my food, made sleep a priority, got regular chiropractic adjustments, started using acupuncture for pain relief and upped the amount of nutrient density in my foods. I have more energy now than I have in 10+ years, I have regular periods, I sleep every night without sleep aids, I wake up almost every morning ready to face the day. Instead of sleeping 3 hours in the middle of every day I use the time to read, catch up on TV shows, batch cook, clean my house etc. I actually called my husband one day during my kids napped time and yelled on the phone "are you freaking kidding me, people have time in the middle of the day that they don't have to sleep, do you know how much I got done today!!!" I felt robbed of my time. Time that I have spent sleeping and trying to cope with life that I now get to enjoy!!

I still have bad days, but now I have one bad day a week instead of one good one. I have more hours every day spent feeling good than bad. I finally get to take my kids to the park and play with them! I have gotten something in my life back that I didn't think I ever would. I do not think AIP was the only missing link to my healing and I certainly have a long way to go.

Thank you for going on this journey with me. I am looking forward to continuing these posts about my journey and AIP. I don't think I am ready to start re-intros yet but I am getting closer and boy do I miss eggs, chocolate and nut flour cookies!!

Day #5 sugar cravings like whoa

Today was a weird day for food. Hubby left on his annual fishing trip waking me up at 4am getting ready to leave. As you know, those of us suffering from autoimmune diseases, you don't mess with my sleep!! I tried to get back to sleep but that is harder than going to bed in the first place. Makes it hard to be loving and express longing when your dragon monster not asleeping face is out and your trying to say good bye....yea well good bye already!

Starting off weird the ball kept rolling that way. I didn't eat breakfast till 11:30am and then I missed lunch because, well, breakfast was at 11:30am. Breakfast was leftover biscuits and bacon from day #4 and a glass of homemade kombucha (that was getting crazy expensive to buy every week!) and snacks were sea snax and a handful of dried apples. Dinner was awesome, my go-to burgers with mushrooms and avocado. But that wasn't cutting the sweet tooth so I made some sweet bananas from the healing kitchen cook book and it totally curbed the craving. Now just to figure out how to sleep after that sugar high!

I want to ramble for a minute about the importance of a good support system. I mentioned before that bubby tries but he doesn't understand he has the belly of an Ox! Being sick for this long really shows you who your real friends are. Those who aren't 100% in will show their true colors when they just stop coming around, or make sly jokes about your situation, or don't understand how grave the situation can be. And I used the word grave on purpose. Having to rely on other people for help and support for the first time in my life has been so humbling and it is clear to see who the people are who want to raise you up and keep you feeling strong and on the right path, and those who push against your will power. I am beyond blessed to say I have a truly amazing circle of people who love me and want to see this AIP journey help me and want to see me healthy again. Days like today, where I could have easily thrown it all away for a chocolate chip cookieC it's nice to know I have an amazing bunch of women (and hubby) to lean on. Going to bed happy!!

Day #3 and the best day ever! Day #4 and not much is new...HOW could I top day 3

Day #3 and 4 are lumped in this post.

Day #3 = the best day ever!

Because the AIP community is so small it seems like everyone is connected. There are a few big names out there and the women who lead this community are not only the strongest and most intelligent woman I have ever had the pleasure of reading about, but they are also the most giving and generous. I do someday hope to be as kind and giving as these women. With any other medical community it is easy to see the competition and the cut throat atmosphere between members of the groups. But not the AIP community. This group of individuals learns something new and then figures out any way possible to share the information to help everyone heal and is always giving credit where credit is due.

I got my start on the paleo and AIP journey because someone recommended I listen to The Phoenix Helix podcast, with host Eileen Laird. This woman is amazing! She interviews anyone and everyone that has insight into the healing community and does anything she can to make sure everyone gets to hear the information. From her, I learned about Sarah Ballantyne (The paleo mom), and Mikey Trescott. I signed up for their emails and learned about a giveaway from Angie Alt. The grand prize was signed copies of AIP books from so many big wigs, and her personal guiding assistance on the AIP for 6 weeks. Now if you remember correctly I only started my journey on Monday, and signed up for the prize the same night. Well low and behold early Wednesday morning I opened my Instagram to find out that I WAS THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!! I, for the first time in 2 years, started hysterically crying, not because I was ready to end my life from being a terrible burden on my family, but because someone cared enough about my healing journey to help me!! This is very new for me. Even being as sick as I am, I am still the first person to offer to help before accepting any myself. I am so beyond thrilled to finally have someone to guide me and teach me and support me!

This was only 12 hours after I laid in bed stewing over the fact that my darling husband "just didn't get it", he wants so bad to help me but he doesn't understand. HE can literally eat anything! Now I have help and support. So end of tears, wonderful wonderful day and I do not think day #3 could have been bad after that no matter what...talk about motivation.

Quick update on meals: today I had my fat tea and a smoothie from the healing kitchen cookbook, then leftovers for lunch. Dinner tonight was exciting because I tried some new stuff out!! I made BBQ chicken in the crockpot (BBQ sauce from the healing kitchen cookbook) and served it over sweet potatoes.

Day #4 adherance: Biscuits and breakfast sausage (healing kitchen cookbook) and leftovers for lunch and dinner. Nothing too exciting! Allergies are almost gone!!