I believe in nature, living in the Now, and that we all have the ability to cultivate our own true peace.
I have always had a passion for nature and using natural ingredients to make my own products. After living a “normal” life with “normal” conditioning, I veered farther and farther away from my true Self and the health that nature intended me to have (and that I knew I deserved! I suffered from anxiety, depression, and a host of autoimmune problems. I knew that the immunosuppressants I was taking were no good for my long term health but didn’t know where to start. I sought out the help of a functional medicine doctor and a health coach who helped me drastically change my diet and lifestyle. With the guidance of the functional medicine doctor and the health coach, I cut out grains, dairy, refined sugar, soy, and nightshades from my diet. Began focusing on eating an anti inflammatory diet to allow my gut to heal. I started doing yoga and walking daily as well as removed any toxic products from my house to allow my immune system to rebalance. I also played around with meditation but believed I couldn’t do it because I could never clear my mind (more on that later), so gave up rather quickly!
Within a year, my Crohn’s disease was so mild I was able to slowly get off of the immunosuppressants and my joint and back pain disappeared. My periods of depression and anxiety were minimal. I was feeling good for the first time in a really long time! I was cooking most meals myself since eating out was hard but it no longer bothered me that I couldn’t eat certain foods because I realized how much better I felt. I slowly reintroduced foods to watch for reactions. I learned that dairy broke my skin out and caused joint pain. I learned that I had Celiac disease! To this day I can eat everything besides gluten. I choose not to eat dairy due to the fact that my body doesn’t feel great with it AND I don’t believe it is natural for humans to consume dairy (but I respect the bioindividuality of others). With that being said, if I am eating out at a restaurant, the only thing I am really strict on is no gluten so if a tiny bit of butter is in my dish, I don’t worry. We don’t go out to eat too often and it can be hard enough just having Celiac. I eat some refined sugar now as well but keep it minimal because sugar causes inflammation and feeds Candida (yeast in our gut). I am not vegan but eat a plant-based diet and decided to mainly post plant based recipes here because we ALL need more plants! When I buy meat or eggs, it’s from a local farmer who humanely raises and processes his meat. It is more expensive but worth it for my and my family’s health, not to mention the energetic aspect of humanely raised quality food.
Another huge part of my journey is the mental health part and how I opened up my awareness and spirituality. Like I said earlier, I gave up on meditating because I thought I just couldn’t do it. It was when I surrendered that I started noticing a difference. So what if can’t clear my mind for a 30 minute meditation? I will simply bring my awareness back to center. I started doing this by picturing my thoughts floating away as clouds, leaving me back in my Self and out of my nonstop thinking mind. Now, I do it throughout the day by visualizing myself being lifted into a higher consciousness. I never aligned with any specific religion but I knew that I believed in karma, synchronicities, and Mother Earth. After reading The Power Of Now and a couple of Deepak Chopra’s books, I now feel so much more at peace in relation to what the universe is and our place in it. I highly encourage you to explore spirituality in whatever way it speaks to YOU. Choose to be conscious in an unconscious world.
So why did I start this website? Maybe it is because every time my sister asks me a question or I explain to her why something is bad for us, she tells me “See. this should be on your website.” Haha not kidding! She’s been encouraging me for a long time because I research everything and after a lot of trial and error I have a lot of knowledge to share. I felt like there should be one simple resource I can go to and trust and I hadn’t found that yet! My intention is to create a space that is easy to understand and one where you don’t need to sift through all the fluff (as I call it) to get to the information/recipe. And, most importantly, a resource for my health coaching clients to find healing recipes and natural lifestyle tips! I hope this serves you well and please reach out to me if I can be of service to you!
With love, Amanda (Integrative Nutrition Health Coach)
If this information speaks to you, or you’re simply more curious to know what it is I do as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, check out my page on what I do!
There is beauty in nourishment!
In this journey, I learned that there is so much more to health than the food we eat. Our mental and spiritual health is just as important, and I find that in nature!