Most people don’t know this about me, but I suffer from an autoimmune disease. The formal diagnosis is still to be determined, but my type-A personality finally got the best of me and my body decided to attack itself. The disease can show itself in many different ways such as allergies, hair loss, GI issues, or, like me, joint pain.
In my mid-30s, I started to feel pain in my hands and wrists. Several months passed where I wore carpal tunnel braces and tried various PT exercises that a dear friend of mine taught me to do, but there was very little relief. At one point, my fingers became so swollen that I couldn’t wear my wedding rings or any of my other rings. I even had to go to the ER one afternoon to have them surgically cut off my finger because I couldn’t get them off no matter how hard I tried.
My doctor was running bloodwork, but we still couldn’t pinpoint what was happening. As time passed on, I didn’t have any answers and my symptoms got worse when the pain went to my knees. I could no longer go from sitting to standing without being in excruciating pain. I was frustrated and mad at my body. All I could think was “How can this be happening? I eat healthily, I exercise, I don’t drink, and I don’t do drugs.” I lived my whole life trying to prevent the onset of disease and this was the thanks I got.
One thing I have come to learn is that aging is an inevitable process – we all know this, but we don’t ever really stop to think about it (at least I didn’t). Although I lived this healthy lifestyle that I thought would keep me young and healthy forever, I had to accept that this isn’t always the case as time passed.
Most of us will suffer from something at some time because our bodies are just like a car: with time and age comes more needed maintenance and repairs. In my case, I needed to make changes to help reduce the inflammation in my body. I already ate right, but more changes could be made to manage my personal symptoms, such as paying attention to certain foods and how they made my body feel when I ate them.
For me, one of the foods I had to give up was peanut butter. It was natural peanut butter, but I started to realize that it was not good for me. My body felt achy, I got funky stools, and my eczema occasionally flared up. It took some time to accept this because I LOVED peanut butter – I had it literally every day for breakfast on my toast. Once I got my head around the fact that peanut butter no longer loved me, I had to walk away from it. The pain that came from eating peanut butter was just not worth it.
Another food that I had to give up was cow’s milk. It ripped my stomach apart every time I had it. I started trying different non-dairy milk options and found that my stomach felt so much better. I could get away with eating some cheese, but using milk in my coffee was just not possible anymore. I also switched to almond yogurt and used nutritional yeast when I wanted a cheesy flavor on some of my foods.
It’s really important to recognize that our bodies are constantly changing – and continuously address those changes. If you change your perspective and accept that some things are beyond your control, it will make the transition a lot easier. The market is loaded with alternatives for all of those foods we love but don’t love us back. You must keep an open mind: it won’t taste exactly like what you’re used to, but it will be good enough and you won’t suffer the negative side effects. I hope that you will take some time today to listen to what your body is telling you and start making changes for the better.