So for years I really struggled with annoying, debilitating or painful symptoms that I was just told were to be expected for someone with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. I didn’t know any better, so I just assumed this must be true. I was raised to believe that the doctor had all the answers, and whenever you didn’t feel well, that was the route to go. I think the first time I started to question in my own mind if this was may not the truth was when although I was doing everything I was told, I was still getting sicker and sicker and my doc said “yeah, I don’t know. Let’s keep going, maybe it will get better” That just didn’t sit well with me!
I first got the idea that food could make an impact when I stumbled upon a TEDx video in 2012 from Dr Terry Wahls who had reversed her MS symptoms through diet. I wish I could shake her hand and thank her directly, because this one video was the start of the journey over the next 7 years of my life which took me from a point of wondering when I’d have to cave and go on disability, to feeling better than ever have. It wasn’t a direct path. It wasn’t sunshine and rainbows the whole way, and there were definitely many times along the path where I was tempted to throw in the towel on the whole thing. There were even times where I felt like “if this is the way my life is going to be, I don’t really want to be alive”, however today I can tell you the journey was so worth even the biggest of bumps in the road.
In 2012 I made a pretty major diet change. I was the multigrain cheerios with almond milk junkie, who counted calories, ate lots of carbs and avoided fat like it was ultimate enemy of life. Pretty much the complete opposite of the protocol Dr Wahls was suggesting, but I was so tired of living the life I was living that I was willing to give it a try. I wanted off the laundry list of meds I was living on, and I wanted the ability to start dreaming of the life I wanted again, knowing I actually had the chance to make that a reality.
Paleo = no grains, no sugar, no processed foods, no legumes, no dairy. Long story short, real foods don’t have ingredients. Steak = steak. Apple = apple. Carrot = carrot. Focus on those. Did this diet help? Yes. Eliminating all the processed crap is a good idea for pretty much everyone, in my opinion, however while I did feel some changes, I still felt there was more to the story yet I didn’t know what that was. After 5 years of following the Paleo approach, I was still living with cognitive struggles, chronic fatigue, and 24/7 nerve pain that was really threatening my mental health. In 2017 I was at the point of thinking “if I’m destined to live in pain forever, I don’t want to live anymore.” When I was in the darkest of dark places, my girlfriend encouraged me to try this ketones supplement thing a friend had been talking about. It was another of those times in my life where I was desperate for hope, and really had nothing to lose. I was also a major critic! I had try things in the past and just ended up disappointed, but I owed it to Amanda to at least try.
Thriving Keto 