Leaning Back In

I'm working my way back to health again.  Here's an example of what I've been eating lately, besides the bone broth and piles of greens.  Organic chicken livers, onions, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, rapini, kale and garlic star in this healthy bowl.  This is not a recipe, it just checks the boxes of what I already know to be nutritionally dense, inflammation-free food.

This time I'm inspired by a new cookbook and lifestyle management book, The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook, by Mickey Trescott and Angie Alt.  Check out their website at: AutoimmuneWellness.com

While I still utilize The Wahls Protocol a lot, especially for the delicious and easy recipes, I realize in hindsight that there's so much psychology that goes into a lifestyle change of any kind.  I felt worse about myself while I was striving to meet the requirements of the Protocol.  Dr. Wahls is a physician who healed herself from progressive MS with a specific, paleo diet based upon clinical trials that she first performed on herself, and then on others.  When I endeavored to follow the protocol last year, I never felt I got it right.  Eating meat so often made it difficult to consume the 9 cups of vegetables required.  I only successfully checked all the boxes one day out of the 6 months or so that I tried.  I didn't feel better -- stronger, but much more tired.  I felt foggier and more moody.  I felt I wasn't giving the Protocol the proper chance, but without feeling better from what I was able to consume, I wasn't inspired to continue.  Ultimately, I missed the easy, light-hearted, even-tempered vegan lifestyle I'd been following prior to trying Wahls, and I went back to it, for the most part, only continuing to eat salmon.  I still LOVE vegetables most of all! I felt less inept and less moody being mostly vegan again, so I was in denial for a while about the fact that the MS symptoms persisted, along with new symptoms I've since learned are from other autoimmune challenges.

Mickey and Angie's book is perfectly filling a need I currently have as I come to terms with my status today, after over twenty years with MS.   I really like the "template" approach to wellness Mickey and Angie employ in their book.  They note that there is not one "perfect" diet for everyone, and provide a framework that each of us can use for our unique circumstances.  This book is also about much more than diet, with practical advice about disease management and lifestyle.  I'm gleaning so much from this book.  I'm not ready to jump in whole hog (pun intended), since I've not read very far yet, but I'll endeavor to lean into the template as I'm able, while I enjoy reading.

The Wahls Protocol is clinically proven for exactly what I need, but I may not be the ideal subject for it.  Nevertheless, since being vegan is no longer helping me, there's no need to give up on the paleo approach on a different, more individualized scale.  I'm excited to learn more.