It’s not often you get to spend the day with a world famous naturopathic doctor, but when you do, you sure as hell make sure you come away knowing more than when you woke up that day.
Dr Terry Wahls is infamous in the world of natural medicine, known best for using the Paleo diet to manage autoimmune conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (which Wahls herself suffered from).
But her approach is also used to help other conditions such as diabetes, fertility, digestive issues, skin conditions or simply just for people wanting to having more energy and feel better in themselves generally.
I would recommend seeing a naturopathic doctor with experience in successfully using a dietary approach to illness at least alongside your GP, since GP’s don’t get the training required to understand how powerful a medicine food can really be.
The Paleo diet involves eating meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts & seeds.
No grains, dairy, legumes or processed food are allowed.
Some people do a more relaxed approach, eating organic dairy and beans too.
I was at the conference helping out for the day as being a health professional myself I would be able to help visitors with any questions they might have.
It would have been easy to focus on the food advice, but that’s quite simple really. In fact I pretty much summed it up in the paragraphs you just read.
So rather than tell you to eat healthy food (you know that), I thought I’d tell you the things that really struck me as significant in ways we often forget to consider.
Here are some thought provoking ideas I took away from the day. You might want to revisit this post every so often (save the link to your ‘favourites’), some of them take a bit of pondering and time to digest, if you’ll excuse the pun.
1) you have immense control over everything you do – where you live, what you eat, your physical activity, who you spend time with, even your thoughts.
2) learned helplessness is the belief that you do NOT have this control. Thankfully this negative belief can be unlearned.
3) nothing happens in isolation – mental health, gut health, immunity, metabolism, stress, fertility…its all interrelated.
4) you may have ‘stuff’ that holds you back – illness, lack of time, money etc. You also have many things in your life that can push you forward. Focus on those.
5) consider how you can help others via helping yourself. If you are happier and healthier, you will be a better Mother, a better partner, daughter and friend. You’ll probably even start making your family healthier food for starters. You will also be an inspiration to others wanting or needing to improve their health. Pay it forward.
6) to be a hero is to separate yourself from the ‘normal’ crowd and take your own path, because the ‘norm’ is not serving you (or them). Lead the way.
7) do not underestimate the power of relationships. Surround yourself with people who support and encourage you to improve your health, rather than ones who try to steer you off track.
8) stress is not bad. Too much bad stress is bad. Stress is a much bigger contributor to poor health than you likely think.
9) health choices either take you closer to, or further away from, your goals. Rarely are they neutral.
10) pretty much every health condition, from the mildly annoying to the serious, can be at least helped if not cured through lifestyle choices alone.
What do you think? Any in particular that resonate?
Let me know in the comments below.
And if you’re not feeling your absolute best whatever the reasons (even if you don’t know the reasons) then click here for a FREE 30 minute diet & lifestyle planning call and we’ll get you feeling amazing again.
