First things first, I want to say that I talk about things that I have experienced and personally do. I don't babble and act like I know what I am talking about when I don't. I share personal experiences or the experiences of people I actually know for the sake of validity. I figure the world has enough bozo's that talk the talk without walking the walk. Trust me, I not only walk the walk that I talk; I sprint.
I am one of the people that never catches the common cold, I have never had the flu and rarely come down with common communicable diseases that go around no matter how many people hack in my face when they are getting their hair or makeup done. My immune system is made of steel and I attribute that to the fact that I was raised in a home where my mom cooked 6 nights a week with vegetables she grew in our garden and made almost everything from scratch. Processed food was not a commodity back then and what was available we did not eat. I can remember going to friends' houses as a kid and when they would pull out the junk food I wondered why we did not have that at our house. Soda? Yeah... no. Candy? Umm... it was more like yogurt raisins and banana chips. Chocolate? We had Ovaltine and Carob. Our sweet indulgences consisted of getting take out Chinese from Debbie Wong's, Pizza from Theresa's, our occasional family outing to Ponderosa or simply when my dad would pop popcorn... and we are not talking about Jiffy pop with butter, we ate natural kernels popped over the fireplace in an old fashioned iron popcorn popper. I grew up in Massachusetts where we used the fireplace more months than not, and when it was in use we popped away. The only time I can actually recall getting candy was when I would go to my Memérè and Pepérè's house or to Harper's grocery just across from where they lived to buy 5¢ candy. My Memé always had glass dishes filled with ribbon candy; Pepè had butterscotch in a "secret" drawer and Charleston Chew's in the freezer. Grandparents are supposed to spoil you I suppose. ;) And they did... with CANDY!
It wasn't until I got older that I truly discovered junk food and how yummy it tasted. Then when I moved out on my own at 17, I decided I would indulge and make it "easier and more convenient" to cook so, I added processed food and junkie snacks to my recipe list. I still cooked for myself most nights but being that boxed and frozen foods were the "thing" I cooked many things that came out of cardboard. It became sort of a fad to eat quick and "zap" everything... voila! It took me 14 years and nearly dying from a violently overactive thyroid to finally realize WHY my mom did not have this stuff in our house growing up; and with this discovery, I became knowledge hungry. I started disecting labels, scouring the internet and reading every pamphlet I could get my hands on. I learned what I was consuming and absorbing. I began to live healthier again. And it felt good.
In 2010 I began dating someone which led to eating out much more and I must admit that I was enjoying being wined and dined again; it had been a long time since I had "dated". After seven months of eating "different", in April of 2011 as I was sitting in my boyfriend's office one day waiting to go to lunch together, I had a random, completely out of the blue stabbing pain in my side. I immediately broke into sweats and felt faint and like I would throw up any second. Corey rushed me to an urgent care office where they discovered I had experienced a gall bladder attack. A few months later by the recommendation of the doctor, I had my gallbladder removed. Since then, I have had terrible issues with digestion and was on a mission to find out why. >>>> To be continued
I am one of the people that never catches the common cold, I have never had the flu and rarely come down with common communicable diseases that go around no matter how many people hack in my face when they are getting their hair or makeup done. My immune system is made of steel and I attribute that to the fact that I was raised in a home where my mom cooked 6 nights a week with vegetables she grew in our garden and made almost everything from scratch. Processed food was not a commodity back then and what was available we did not eat. I can remember going to friends' houses as a kid and when they would pull out the junk food I wondered why we did not have that at our house. Soda? Yeah... no. Candy? Umm... it was more like yogurt raisins and banana chips. Chocolate? We had Ovaltine and Carob. Our sweet indulgences consisted of getting take out Chinese from Debbie Wong's, Pizza from Theresa's, our occasional family outing to Ponderosa or simply when my dad would pop popcorn... and we are not talking about Jiffy pop with butter, we ate natural kernels popped over the fireplace in an old fashioned iron popcorn popper. I grew up in Massachusetts where we used the fireplace more months than not, and when it was in use we popped away. The only time I can actually recall getting candy was when I would go to my Memérè and Pepérè's house or to Harper's grocery just across from where they lived to buy 5¢ candy. My Memé always had glass dishes filled with ribbon candy; Pepè had butterscotch in a "secret" drawer and Charleston Chew's in the freezer. Grandparents are supposed to spoil you I suppose. ;) And they did... with CANDY!
It wasn't until I got older that I truly discovered junk food and how yummy it tasted. Then when I moved out on my own at 17, I decided I would indulge and make it "easier and more convenient" to cook so, I added processed food and junkie snacks to my recipe list. I still cooked for myself most nights but being that boxed and frozen foods were the "thing" I cooked many things that came out of cardboard. It became sort of a fad to eat quick and "zap" everything... voila! It took me 14 years and nearly dying from a violently overactive thyroid to finally realize WHY my mom did not have this stuff in our house growing up; and with this discovery, I became knowledge hungry. I started disecting labels, scouring the internet and reading every pamphlet I could get my hands on. I learned what I was consuming and absorbing. I began to live healthier again. And it felt good.
In 2010 I began dating someone which led to eating out much more and I must admit that I was enjoying being wined and dined again; it had been a long time since I had "dated". After seven months of eating "different", in April of 2011 as I was sitting in my boyfriend's office one day waiting to go to lunch together, I had a random, completely out of the blue stabbing pain in my side. I immediately broke into sweats and felt faint and like I would throw up any second. Corey rushed me to an urgent care office where they discovered I had experienced a gall bladder attack. A few months later by the recommendation of the doctor, I had my gallbladder removed. Since then, I have had terrible issues with digestion and was on a mission to find out why. >>>> To be continued
Next Monday I will post part 2 of this story.
Stay tuned ... see ya next week!
Until then Be Healthy!
~Shelley Giard~
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