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HOW TO STAY HEALTHY WITH AN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

The Universe works in such a crazy way sometimes. Ironically this blog post had already been scheduled as the How To Series post for the day. If you saw my Instagram post earlier today then you will understand how I am feeling right now and why I am talking about the Universe. I have less Chemo so it is time to get back on track with my healthy eating. I started my morning off with some Bulletproof Coffee and a Thanksgiving Stir Fry (leftovers) and feeling great so far!

You can listen to my latest podcast show here which explains it all…

As you may or may not know I was originally diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis lat year and now know that I do not have MS. I actually have an extremely rare autoimmune disease called NMO aka Neuromyelitis Optica.

You can learn more about it here…

Since then my personal and professional life has had to completely change. One thing I refuse to change is my positive attitude. Yes, I have those days that I cry and I am curled up in a ball in bed. But you will never see me posting a negative comment about it on Facebook. I just don’t want to bring negative energy or comments into my life!

My advice to anyone with a medical condition is to surround yourself with the most positive group of people. That includes your Doctors! Seriously even them! You have to be strong for yourself in order to get better and stay healthy. My mantra which you’ve probably seen me post before is Positive, Productive, Happy and Healthy. And this is how I choose to live my life…

The first thing I did when I found out I was sick was search for other patients online. I needed more information. I needed to speak with others that knew exactly how I was feeling. I was just thrown into a world of unknown and needed to find answers and others going through the same experience. And that is what I continue to do every day. Now I use my voice to help spread awareness about all of my recent diagnosis in the JUST FOR US COMMUNITY.

There are so many people out there that think they are alone. But they are not! They just need to want to find others out there. They need to be extremely proactive and want to do it. That is a must! Trust me it’s a full time zero paying job being your own advocate. I know my voice matters and can help others if I use it. I realized this when I started posting videos about my chronic illnesses. I’ve received hundreds of messages and emails from others wanting more info as well as providing me with info that I am so grateful for and messages thanking me because I made the video in the first place. That part is and still is crazy because I was just doing it for me! I needed an outlet…

I remember the day I got diagnosed. I cried my eyes out. My friends hugged me and told me I was going to be OK! There is no way I could hide this! I needed everyone to know so I could find others that were going through the same thing. I needed help and answers as this was the one thing I just could not fix or change. I was so frustrated but thank god for social media because that is where I found everything and everyone I needed to know! Part of me didn’t want to post because of clients finding out. But then I thought if they think I couldn’t handle their workload then they didn’t really know me. Everyone knows I am a Happy Workaholic and always have been. And they know my personality, which is I NEVER EVER give up!!!

And being healthy has a lot to do with how you feel. I personally feel that the less gluten, dairy and sugar are best. I’ve read up and researched a lot of “diets” and feel that everything in moderation is also the key to feeling your best. Everybody’s body is also very different. So go with what makes you feel your best. I go back and forth with eating meat. Some weeks I eat it every day and then I will go weeks without it. So you really just need to listen to what your body is craving in at the moment. What you do is up to you so just make the choices that will help you more in the long run.

Two very important things I would like to suggest you do are meditate and journal. Being around positive friends is one thing but you really need to be and feel comfortable in your alone time. Find a great book filled with blank ages and write your thoughts away. Trust me you will feel so good after a little “brain dump” session. As far as meditation I love using apps like Insight Timer and Relax Melodies. If you have an autoimmune disease you most likely will have some stress and anxiety that goes along with it. These apps will help you in that department. Try a few out the first week to see which ones work the best and then switch to one in the morning and one at night and use them consistently. I think even a quick five minute meditation will help you as you are just starting off!

I even love a good bubble bath filled with essential oils. Lavender and Eucalyptus work the best for me. If you want to learn more about essential oils feel free to check out my Doterra site here…

I would love to know if there are certain meals you love cooking. Please leave them in the comments. I post a lot of mine on my Pinterest as well as Instagram. I will leave those links for you below…

Pinterest

Instagram

Wishing you all a wonderful Monday!

KAG