What Got Me Interested?

Lately, I’ve been devouring anything health-related. Everything from podcasts, books, and webinars. There’s so much information out there to be learned about our individual bodies, and how we can better care for them!

One podcaster I’ve really enjoyed listening to this past year has been Wellness Mama host, Katie Wells. I mention her because her podcast is what largely sparked my interest in and passion for my personal health and the importance of educating myself to better care for it.

Raising six kids of her own, she started the Wellness Mama back in 2006 and is a true inspiration and example of a mother who has prioritized the health of her family first. 

She’s armed herself with incredible knowledge in everything from herbal remedies, to nutrient-dense foods, habits to create greater community/connection, how to have fun while exercising, and finding healing (both physical and mental/emotional).

I have absolutely loved being able to follow her journey and have learned so much just from listening to her podcast throughout the past year.

Where It All Really Started

To tell you the truth, my complicated relationship with my own health and acute attention to it started way back when I was probably about 10 years old.

I always struggled with healthy eating and the consequences that come with that.

I remember growing up eating the all-star lineup of Little Debbie treats, Hostess delectables, Kid Cuisines, and Bagel Bites. All the kid-friendly marketing and design around these products made them seem entirely innocent choices to a kid who didn’t know any better.

Many times, I just wanted to have what my friends brought for their school lunches. A crowd favorite at the time were those Starkist tuna and cracker lunch packs. I loved the added relish in the tuna—so good! Another year, I just HAD to have oyster crackers like my friend Andrea.

To a little kid, the food I chose to put inside my body had little to do with nutritional content, and everything to do with fitting in.

The “New Kid”

You see, I grew up always being the “new kid” at my schools. My dad’s work took us back and forth between Maryland and Japan every couple of years, which meant a lot of having to start from scratch when it came to making friends at school.

I was used to “fitting in,” or just trying to assimilate with everyone else as quickly as I could. Which sometimes came down to even the food I ate.

Of course, none of this was a conscious decision. It was more or less a survival mechanism I had acquired through the experiences of moving so frequently.

Not to say moving is a bad thing. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without those experiences, and I know they have shaped me for the better.

I just don’t know if it was beneficial for my eating habits.

The Land of the Rising Sun, The Home of the Free

In many more ways than food, Japan and the U.S. could be considered opposites. The Japanese diet relies heavily on vegetables and seafood, and their main staple is rice. The average American diet, on the other hand, is pretty meat-heavy, with more emphasis on potatoes and pasta, than rice.

Japanese portion sizes are typically pretty small compared to US portion sizes.

I remember thinking how hilarious it was when we would go to fast-food restaurants in Japan and they would hand you a dixie cup when you asked for a small drink!

So ultimately, my diet fell somewhere in between Little Debbie, oyster crackers, rice, and spaghetti.

Finish Your Food!

Looking back now, another thing I realize impacted my eating habits was the way my family ate.

Though a seemingly inconsequential detail, at family dinners, we were served set portions and always expected to finish our entire plate before leaving the table.

I think this might have been a pretty common practice for families at that time, but looking back I see that probably wasn’t the best for my health.

The Benefits

I can definitely attribute my LOVE for food to these life experiences, living in different countries and learning from friends definitely exposed me to a variety of foods and I was always up for trying something new!

I also developed an appreciation for the rich, amazing flavors and seasonings that different cultures offer (we had off-campus lunch at my High School and my friends and I took advantage of it, grabbing bites all over and eating at our favorite curry restaurants on half-days).

Spending time with my relatives and eating their carefully prepared meals also created an intimate relationship with food—one that not only provided flavor and enjoyment but also held memories and associations with family.

How I Started to See Diet’s Effects

After years of putting a combination of healthy and junky food, and in many cases, an excess of it, into my body, I began seeing direct effects on my health.

It all started with a particular summer when I was eleven and especially suffering, and has, for the most part, continued today.

I remember being troubled about my health and having my dad take me to a Japanese hospital. At the time, I couldn’t speak or understand Japanese very well so my dad translated. I tried their medicine and their suggestions, but nothing changed.

When we moved to the states, my mom took me to another doctor, and then another doctor. Every doctor I went to had essentially the same advice but didn’t think anything serious was wrong.

I did eventually have some tests run and was devastated when I was told I had borderline Hashimoto’s Disease, or hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).

I was sixteen at the time and couldn’t believe I was being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder before even graduating high school.

I cried and my mom didn’t really know how to comfort me. I took it hard.

The worst part was I didn’t feel like I could talk to anyone about it.

I was told to continue getting tested for it each year to monitor it.

Taking Matters Into My Own Hands

After my diagnosis, I was CONVINCED that my diagnosis was inaccurate. Sure, Hashimoto’s could be a side-effect, but I believed the source of my health problems did not reside in my thyroid.

At this point, since about age eleven, I had been conducting my own google searches and research between school assignments and tests and was finding articles about IBS, intestinal permeability, among other conditions. I also came across bacterial infections in the gut flora like Candida.

I put myself on a “Candida Diet,” making my own meals and taking recommended supplements from health articles I found online.

It was so frustrating to feel like I wasn’t being heard and that no one understood what I was going through.

It was a constant stress piled on top of all the other stresses I had to experience as a middle-school/high-school-aged youth.

Being told the basics of just getting more water or exercise felt like a slap in the face like they didn’t take anything I was saying seriously.

It was my hope that I could unravel the mystery of my suffering before starting college, but my body had other plans.

College

College was an intense struggle, I remember feeling sick and even spending all day in bed a couple of times because of bouts of pain. I was asking my brother for rides to take me to the ER at 2 in the morning and even making trips to the OBGYN because of pain.

There was added stress from living with people I had never lived with before, having to keep up with college-level coursework, working 20 hours a week, and maintaining a healthy social life.

Things got even more stressful when I decided to serve a church mission and moved back to Japan. Through all of this, my diet hadn’t improved at all and my eating habits were definitely less-than-ideal.

After College

These bad habits continued until recently.

I eventually graduated, started working, got married, and then stopped working.

Although it was a big deal for me to step back from what I hoped would be my career, stepping back has actually provided the ideal time for me to heal.

For most of my adult life, I’ve run at breakneck speeds to accomplish everything from school, work, career.

Now, I finally have the time to focus on my health and on getting better.

What This Means

For this reason, I have dedicated most of the last year to learn about health.

A lot of that started, surprisingly with learning about gardening.

For the most part, I had given up on solving my health issues. There were a couple of stints with a naturopathic doctor and diet changes and supplements, but I was always too busy to consistently stick to anything.

Learning about gardening opened my eyes to the importance of food, and to the fact that not all food is created equal. It opened my eyes to nutrition.

My dad sent me a magazine—Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet—and I started finding out how different foods can impact and even potentially cure inflammation in the body that causes auto-immune diseases, like my mom’s diabetes, or my Hashimoto’s.

I was finally starting to see the light and see that maybe there was still a cure after all.

What I’ve Learned, My Journey

Your upbringing and environment have EVERYTHING to do with your diet, nutrition, and overall health. I was sowing the seeds of the health issues I would be experiencing years later, with the incremental and daily diet choices I was making from a young age.

This, of course, was too serious of a realization for 10 or even 15-year-old me to have made on my own, but something years of attention, research, studying, doctor’s visits, diets, and experimenting have revealed.

My journey to healing is not completely over. I am taking serious steps towards that goal as of now, but I have not reached my destination.

I have, however, found things that are helping me feel better and it’s great to know that I’m at least on the right track.

Your Journey

I’m impressed if you’ve stuck with me through this whole long schpeel, but I also want to thank you if you have.

Sharing my story is uncomfortable, but I do it in hopes of helping someone out there who may be struggling with similar things. I want you to know you aren’t alone and want to encourage you not to give up on finding healing.

If you are struggling, the best thing is to let people know.

I wanted to keep my problems to myself for so long because I was embarrassed. The problem with that is nothing can change and you can’t get the help and support you need until you’re willing to open up to someone.

So, if anything, take courage from someone who hates opening up about these things—and is now writing to the entire world about it!

If someone like me, an incredibly private and reserved person, can do it, I’m convinced anyone can.

And if you’ve already tried opening up to others about your concerns and have been met with disbelief, criticism, or any other negativity, just know that you can keep looking for that support until you find it.

Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in you, to give you the motivation to do something about your health.

I hope I can make this a place of support for you, and help you on your way to finding healing.