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You are here: Home / Archives for Enjoy Life

Enjoy Life

My Story

June 13, 2011 by KerryAnn 49 Comments

Note: I am neither a dietitian nor a doctor.  I do not dispense medical advice nor do I offer any information on treatments nor cures for any medical condition. Always consult a physician before proceeding with any treatment.  Our full disclaimer is at the bottom of this page.

—

In June and July on the blog, we’re going to discuss gut health.  Gut health is a hot topic in the traditional foods world because so many people are not healing despite a traditional foods diet.  I became seriously ill and healed my gut before the currently fashionable diets came out.  This is my story.

A very wise man in my life often tells me, “A problem well stated is half solved.”  Five years ago, we knew all of the problems, but had none of the answers.

I was born 7 weeks early to an undernourished mother who was 95 pounds when I was conceived.  My childhood was rather uneventful health wise, other than huge tonsils and repeat ear infections.  I grew normally and had none of the digestive problems associated with celiac disease.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2001 and was told I’d never had kids.   I changed my diet to traditional foods after seeing my cat, Blue, have an ‘incurable’ and life-shortening health problem healed by a species-appropriate diet. I was told he wouldn’t live long and would require expensive, difficult medication until his death.

It had worked for him why can’t it work for me?

 

[Read more…] about My Story

Filed Under: Best Of, Celiac disease, Dairy, Food Allergies, Food Matters, Grains, Gut Health, Health, Series Tagged With: butter, Celiac Disease, children, dairy, Enjoy Life, ER, fat, flu, food, Gluten Free, IQ, kids, liver, MSG, October, ONE, PCOS, Whole Foods

What will you do when you get that call?

March 9, 2011 by KerryAnn Leave a Comment

A few days ago, my best friend got that phone call that everyone dreads.

Your daddy has had a heart attack. The doctors don’t think he’ll make it through the night.

GET. HERE. NOW.

She did what everyone would do. She grabbed enough for a road trip, threw it in the car and took off for a long drive. All she could think about was getting there as fast as possible.

On the way there, she called me to let me know what was going on. Trying to stay calm, she recounted the conversation and what details she knew. She told me later that she didn’t even think about food until she hung up the phone with me, about half-way through her drive. She was headed to a large military town, but it only has one grocery store chain and no health food stores. She has multiple food allergies and doesn’t fare well when exposed to an allergen.

Her daddy did make it through the night. She was having to go to her mom’s house do laundry and had to run by the store to buy basic necessities. She was then faced with the dilemma of having to go to the limited-selection grocery store and find safe food, figure out what to fix without having any of her recipes with her, find safe pots and pans to cook it in at her mom’s house, and keep it safe and segregated in the fridge while a trail of friends and family come through the home. It took time away from being at her daddy’s bedside and provided to be a considerable stress.

Of course, if you have a cast iron stomach and can handle fast food, pot-luck, or hospital cafeteria foods for as long as you need, you’re ok in the food department. But what about clothing? Toiletries? In a rush to get out the door, would you forget something? If you have children, would you have to suffer through their boredom and confusion while you’re going through what can arguably be considered one of the most stressful events in your life?

What would you do? You’re lucky if all of your family lives locally, you can just call a friend and have them swing by your house and drop off whatever you might need and you can run home for food and sleep. But if you have any family out of town, how can you prepare so that you don’t have to worry? Is it possible to just grab-and-go, knowing you have what you need?

You need a bug-out bag.

[Read more…] about What will you do when you get that call?

Filed Under: Bug-Out, Elder Care, Emergency Preparedness Tagged With: breakfast, chicken, children, chocolate, clothing, cookies, emergency, emergency preparedness, Enjoy Life, family, fast food, food, food allergies, hospital, kids, laundry, soup, stress, Toiletries, travel

Navigating Events with Food When You Eat Differently

November 27, 2010 by KerryAnn 5 Comments

The Holidays can strike fear into anyone who feeds her family in a particular style, such as low-carb, traditional or whole foods, or has a child with food allergies or intolerances.  There are mounds of forbidden food everywhere you go.  You receive invitations to events that contain a sea of smiling faces, some thinking they know better than you what your kid needs to eat.  “Just a little taste won’t hurt!  You’re just too controlling, let them live a little!”  They sneak your child bites while an accomplice across the room ties you up in conversation.  There’s dearly loved Great Aunt Matilda who would never feed your celiac child an un-approved bite, but wants to hold her plate of gluteny-goodness in one hand while she kisses and loves on your little one in the other, not realizing the damage it could do.  You desperately don’t want to hurt her feelings, but you don’t want your little guy throwing up for days or wetting the bed for a month, either.  Then there’s those who mean no harm, but just haven’t heard the news yet or don’t realize that what they’re giving your child could make them sick.  You can’t glue your kids to your legs the whole event; they just want to go play with the other kids.  Yet you fully realize that in the room runs the gamut from people who are helpful and supportive to people who would gladly sabotage you.  It’s enough to make any mama grab their kids and run screaming from the best of events!

Then comes the reactions to the food you have brought.  No matter how beautiful or ‘normal’ the dish, people turn their noses up at it with a collective “Ewwww!”  To them, different = disgusting and their minds snap shut just as quick as their jaws when offered a bite.  Your plate is the only one who comes home barely touched beyond the servings you spooned out for you and your kids and the one serving your supportive aunt or adventurous brother-in-law took.  Your husband’s extolling your cooking abilities to the family is met with blank stares.  Many people assume because you have made something different, your food doesn’t contain sugar/flavor/spices or any other myriad of attributes or ingredients they deem ‘normal.’  I once had to tell someone at a church event that store-bought gluten-free cookies weren’t health food and they did contain white sugar, they just didn’t contain the protein that would make me sick.  He turned his nose up at my plate of store-bought cookies until he learned that they weren’t ‘nasty health food.’

To many people food equals love, and love could never hurt.  The denial or changing of food, no matter the reason, evokes a very visceral reaction in some people that comes from places you can’t even begin to fathom.  [Read more…] about Navigating Events with Food When You Eat Differently

Filed Under: Celiac disease, Food Allergies, Holidays, Kids, Uncategorized Tagged With: beef, chicken, children, cookies, dessert, Enjoy Life, family, food, food allergies, kids, soup, sugar, white sugar

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Meet KerryAnn

I'm KerryAnn Foster, a crazy vibrant Jesus Freak with a heart full of hope. I'm not afraid to love on the least of these or get my hands dirty. This blog is my journey from ineffective, uptight, obese wallflower to a woman on fire for God and living the most vibrant, passionate life possible!

I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with my husband, Jeff, and our two teens. I blog about self-confidence, health and home, homeschooling and living a vibrant, wide-open Jesus-centered lifestyle. I have over seventeen years of real food, natural lifestyle and health experience. We have homeschooled our children since birth and both Jeff and I run home-based businesses. We're crazy, we know it, and we love every second of it!

Read about my journey to health through celiac disease, PCOS, food allergies, obesity, adrenal fatigue and heavy metals.

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