It’s Been Two Years. And I’ve Done A Lot. The Naturopath: Revisited.

Last week I went back to see my amazing naturopath, Christine Matheson after not seeing her for more than two years.

Following my food sensitivity testing appointment in March 2009, she went on mat leave and I was left to fend for myself through the 3 month elimination diet that followed. She gave me great guidance to take with me as I embarked on the challenge and recommended another naturopath should I need further assistance. She returned from mat leave in the fall and as a result of my new job I’m back to having benefits which I am fully taking advantage of! A lot has changed since March 2009 and last week I got to recount the tale of my last 2 years to her:

Diet

This was obviously a huge change over the last 2 years. Within two weeks of eliminating a lot of foods from my diet, I started to feel better than I had in more than a year and half. I started off by cutting out the foods on my sensitivity testing list for 3 months. Following the three month period I brought many of the foods back in (minus gluten, dairy and eggs) and then that summer decided to go vegan.  Eliminating all animal products was something that we had talked about prior to the elimination diet, but it was absolutely my decision in the end. My diet has been pretty consistent since then and I feel amazing eating the way that I do. We discussed some items for tweaking and revitalized my supplement protocol to ensure that I continue feeling the best I can.

Work

Quitting my job and going to nutrition school was inspired greatly by my journey to healing. 2010 was such an amazing year and I’m so happy that I followed my heart. I’m still currently half a nutritionist and back in the office world, but I know that my “time off” was much needed. In the last 2 years I’ve been working to achieve a balance of things that make me happy with things that allow me to live the best life possible. I like where I’m sitting right now and am looking forward to the coming months. We talked about work/life balance and some strategies/resources to keep me happy and stable throughout the insanity of work/WW/school/performing that can sometimes be is my life.

Relationship

This was a big one since when Christine left, I was still engaged. Talking about the break up was actually more painful than I expected. Joey was a big part of my life for a long time and he was with me through a lot of change. While really sad, our break up was the right thing for both of us. That being said, the actual break up left me broken in more ways than I realized initially; There were some things that happened towards the end that really messed with my head and I’m still working to put the pieces back together. Much of it is related to body image, my weight and my general self esteem, which have been things I’ve struggled with over the last year. Talking this through with Christine really highlighted how much of a sensitive topic this still is for me. It’s definitely a work in progress, but I’m going there and feeling better every day.

The Pill

Going off the pill was another thing that we had wanted to tackle post-elimination diet and after some deliberation I went off the dreaded pill in the spring of 2009. If you’d like some great info on why not to be on the pill you can check out some informative posts on Meghan’s blog. There are numerous reasons why I should have gone off the pill but the main one was this: it was making me crazy. My hormones were so manic and all over the place that it was incredibly detrimental to my emotional health and well being. With some assistance from the brilliant ladies at Red Tent Sisters, I started following the Justisse method and felt in tune with my body and. Much. Less. Crazy.

There were lots of other details along the way but those were some of the big things we discussed in our time together. In some ways it was therapeutic and in others kind of painful, but overall I felt really positive when I left.

Christine gave me a lot of credit for all the changes that I had made. Sometimes I take for granted that this is just the way that I live my life. I forget that it’s not easy to have made all of these changes and live the way that I do, because it’s just second nature to me now. I’m so much healthier than I was 2 years ago and I have so much to be thankful for. She assured me that I looked fantastic and had so much to be proud of. It was wonderful to hear this from someone outside my immediate circle and the small suggestions and tweaks I’m going to make as a result of our visit are going to make things that much better.

• Back to supplements including some anti-inflammatory agents and a probiotic
• Suggestions for getting sugar back out of my life (due to the candida, I cut sugar out of my life during the elimination diet and slowly over the last two years it has creeped back in. It needs to go again!!)
• Recommendations of a visit with the clinic’s osteopath, a full physical with a naturopathic doctor and referral to a psychologist

I’m so excited to be seeing my naturopath again. She is fantastic at what she does and I’m really looking forward to stepping up my game and taking things to the next level with her guidance. I know that the changes are up to me, and I’m ready for them! I’ve come a long way on this journey and believe that this is just the next step. Sometimes I forget how far I’ve come and it was very grounding to reflect upon transformation that I’ve made. Because the universe felt I needed an extra little bit of perspective last week, I received the following email from a reader on the same day I went to the naturopath:

Subject line: Read your blog by accident

and just wanted to say you are a very inspiring woman...

i am a cancer survivor and have been waiting for the opportunity to start my journey back to health

i was looking for a copy of the a lulu lemon bag for my friend and when I found one and somehow

when i pulled it up it was on your blog.  reading about your health regime was very inspirational. keep up the good work!

betty

Betty – you honestly made my day and put everything into perspective for me. Thank you

[source]

For more information about Christine and her awesomeness, you can check out her website. You can also check out the website for Mahaya Forest Hill where she is currently practicing. Everyone was incredibly sweet and they offer a variety of services including osteopathy, chiropractic, homeopathy and acupuncture.

What changes have you made over the last couple of years? How does it feel to revisit the changes you’ve made and see how far you’ve come? How do you keep those changes in perspective?