Welcome to A Tasty Remedy!

Hi!  My name is Suzie, and I have an autoimmune disease.  No, I don’t normally introduce myself that way.  If you knew how much it was top of mind for me though, you wouldn’t be surprised if I did!  I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2011, following a stressful and emotional divorce in 2010.  (Is there such thing as a non-stressful divorce?)  After having my life turned upside down; moving out of my house and in with my parents (yikes!), losing family and friends, my dog, and questioning everything about my past and my potential future, my overall health began to decline. 

Rewind back to my teen years, and I don’t remember a time when I didn’t hurt somewhere in my body.  My ankles, hips, wrists, elbows…  There was always an excuse for the pain.  I played the violin daily, so that was the “reason” for the wrist and elbow pain.  I rode horses daily, so that was the “reason” for my ankle and hip pain.  Oh and my wrists and elbows probably hurt from that, too.  I was diagnosed with tendonitis and started massage therapy once a week.  Although that was pretty nice, it didn’t fully help any of my pain.  So, I learned to ignore it.  Put it to the back of mind and pushed through. 

Fast forward to my twenties and I was tired.  All. The. Time.  I felt lazy.  I’m sure my boyfriend, turned husband, thought I was lazy as well.  A full Saturday of running errands and I didn’t want to move for the rest of the night.  Weeknights on the couch, cuddled up with my chocolate lab were what I looked forward to daily.  And the pain continued, with at least the excuse of riding horses to be the blame.  I was unhappy and I hurt.

My divorce was finalized in August of 2010 and I felt like I could really start over.  I continued to show my horse, Dude, traveled with friends, and bought a new home for me and my cat, Toby.  Following a horse show that fall, I began to have a lot of pain in my fingers.  I shrugged it off like I had for years, but when the bruising started, I knew something was up.  A trip to my doctor’s office and some blood tests later, I learned I had some of the markers for Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I didn’t even know what that was!  I was referred to a specialist and was on my way to heavy medication, and a lot more pain. 

I had days that I dreaded getting out of bed.  I had days that holding a pencil at work, or using the mouse was painful.  Walking from my desk to the restroom or anywhere else in the office was painful as well.  Some days I couldn’t raise my arm away from my body.   It took a major kick in the butt to push me to do something about this.  I was tired of the medication.  It improved my joint pain, but I didn’t feel healthy.  Then a friend introduced me to the Paleo diet.  To be honest, I was very skeptical at first.  It went against everything I’d been told was “healthy” for my whole life.  My normal diet of low fat, whole grains and turkey bacon became a thing of the past.

I dipped my toes in, making small changes.  I noticed I was starting to feel better!  It didn’t take me as long in the morning to loosen up, my joints weren’t as puffy or painful, and my energy level was increasing.  I could go a whole day without needing a nap!  Oh and the best part of all, my RA factor decreased by 9 points!  I began to decrease my medication and continued to eat better.  My boyfriend, now fiancé, was incredibly supportive along the way and noticed these positive changes in me as well.  Maybe medication was a band aid and food was the real remedy!

 

I’m not perfect with this whole clean eating thing, and I don’t know if I ever will be.  I’m still learning!  What I do know is that I’m making positive changes to improving my health and overall wellbeing.  I read whatever clean eating nutrition books I can get my hands on, and trust me, there are a lot out there.  Changing my diet has rekindled my love for cooking, too!  It’s exciting to get in the kitchen and create something delicious that I don’t feel guilty about eating!

Well, that was a lot about me!  Let’s get to why we’re here.  I want to provide you with healthy and delicious meals, that are easy to prepare for you and your family.  Along the way, I also hope to share what I have learned from many of the wonderful resources out there in the Paleo community.  So that’s what I plan to do for you.  What will you do for me?  It’s pretty simple on your end.  If you show up, I’ll keep at this!  You will help keep me motivated in this journey that’s not always a smooth path.  Sometimes a little accountability really does the trick! 

Thank you for being here!

Suzie