Taking the time to prepare a beautiful meal for me

Hi,

So I've been tracking my happiness AND dealing with some gut issues for several months.  Gut issues are really hard to tackle.  If you suspect you may have gut issues I recommend going to a doctor, if your doctor doesn't seem familiar with this, or brushes it /you off, find a functional medicine doctor that does.  I don't know how to go about that.  I got frustrated with my doctor and took this project on myself.  If you've been reading my articles you know that sometimes I write in kind of a round about way and I'm sorry, but I hope you get some benefit from this article.

Tonight I prepared a wonderful meal for myself, according to the book the Plant Paradox by Dr. Steven Gundry.  I have been doing my own research once I was sure that what was going on with my health was related to gut imbalance.  I changed a lot of my on the go habits... still working on it.  But one of the things that really fills me up, is preparing a full meal, and sitting down with all of the food at once, and turning off or closing all distractions.  I cannot tell you how much love I feel from this action.  Its as if somebody else loves me, that's how much love and fulfillment I feel.  I recently/finally got Dr. Steven Gundry's book the Plant Paradox.  I recommend this book to anybody, even if you don't want to try the diet, there are a lot of really delicious recipes!

I've been tracking my happiness to raise my bar of "normal happiness levels" and sitting down to a full meal for myself is one thing - to my surprise - that fills me up better than getting a massage or even hanging out with my closest friends.  I think what I feel in that moment, is "you are worth it, you put this much effort for anybody else, but you deserve to enjoy this delicious meal, and you deserve these nutrients."  I hope this inspires you to take the time and do something that fills you up emotionally if not physically as well.  If you don't know what to do I'd encourage you to try this book the Plant Paradox.

Back to the gut issues.  This all started because I was not pooing regularly, and had gained 20 lbs over my heaviest.  I knew something was seriously wrong.  I was becoming allergic to even more things, I was already allergic to dairy and gluten, and when I had complained to my doctor again, (for several years in a row) about fatigue, she said you know you are getting older.  That is BS, I am too young to feel as old as I was feeling.  Having all the background of holistic health and "miracle" healing that I have seen in my family, I took this on myself (ps I don't believe in the traditional model of medicine that is practiced in the US).  I have not done a bowel test, which I know is the best way to test for gut issues.  But I have cut out sugar, and most lectins, maximized how much time I spend out side, prioritized my sleep, made sure I was drinking lots of water, and upped my pro & prebiotics, and while I have made A LOT of progress,  I am so relieved to have it all spelled out of what to eat or not to eat in this book. 

Hope you enjoyed my rant, please try out preparing a wonderful meal for yourself, turning off all distractions and enjoy the love you have prepared to nourish your wonderful body.  I am still a little speechless of how fulfilling or loved I feel from my own actions.

​Sending you much love, Jessica