This past week marked two years since I woke up to health. After years of thinking that stomach pain was just a normal part of life (“oh wait, are you not supposed to look five months pregnant at the end of every day?”), my body finally had enough and I was forced to reconsider how I looked after myself. What I discovered was that the foundation of my health starts with what I eat. I wrote about this in “Waking Up to Health” after I explored using nutrition as a way to improve my health. As it turns out, it really is a powerful tool.

These last two years have been an incredible journey and I have learnt so much. Like how to make my health a priority; how to feel well consistently and have more energy; that ‘treat yo’ self’ is different than ‘hurt yourself’; the impact of stress on the body and how to use physical activity and mindfulness to mitigate it; and that what we do and what we eat can have a profound impact on our future health. I’ve also learnt that it takes a little extra effort to eat well, that it requires you stay dedicated, that eating out won’t always be easy but it is definitely manageable, but most importantly that life after gluten and dairy is still a great one, and that when it comes to health, unquestionably a better one.

I discovered these things once I made the decision to make my health a priority by eliminating the things that I was obviously allergic to (like my foes gluten and dairy) and cutting out all the other things that left me feeling unwell (like processed foods, refined sugars and bad oils). Now, every time I eat I try to make the most nutrient-dense, whole food choice possible. I just think about food differently. My philosophy changed and that was the real key to making this a total lifestyle shift instead of just a fad diet. Once you know that every food choice you make is a way to either prevent or incite disease, it is a really powerful motivator.

Life is different now. Gone are the days of consuming nothing but grains from morning to night or gobbling up junk food without another thought. I am thankful that those days are behind me because with them also went the constant pain and discomfort, the lethargy, the low moods and frequent illnesses. That’s not to say I always stick to a perfect diet or that I always feel fantastic, far from it. I still indulge in cheats and treats now and then (I’m a sucker for chips and salsa and sometimes my sweet tooth leads the charge), but when you think about nutrition as a way to create and maintain better health, it makes all those choices a lot easier. And it also helps you look for alternatives that use more nutrient dense, cleaner ingredients (like cookies that don’t need cups of white sugar). Getting back on track also happens more quickly now. There’s been a few times lately when I’ve used stress as an excuse for making a poor food choice and I’m immediately reminded why I changed my diet in the first place: because it’s just not worth feeling sick. I know not to expect perfection of myself, but I also know I’ll never go back to the way things were before.

That’s because the results of healthy eating keep me going. I feel better, I look better, and I have way more energy. And the more I learn about nutrition, the more I am motivated to step up my game. I’ve discovered the remarkable happiness bullet that is green juice, the gut restoring tools of bone broth and fermented foods, the anti-inflammatory nature of turmeric, the possibilities of grain-free living, the amazing dairy-free alternatives and that time spent meal prepping is well worth it. But there is so much more to learn: like how to pack more nutrients into every meal, how to continue the repair of my gut health so that I can benefit from all the nutritional goodness I consume, how stress and mindfulness impacts my health, to new recipes and beyond. The truth is, it’s a journey, but one that once you begin you may become so enraptured with (and that maybe like me you might fall in love with nutrition and become so passionate about health and well-being) that it will become unthinkable that you would walk any other path.