Simla’s Story: Healing from Multiple Autoimmune Conditions. A Radio Interview with Alice Moore on Energy Talk Radio.

It’s up ! It’s up!

Alice and I had so much fun on this radio interview (you’ll hear a lot of laughing) and now I’m happy to share it with you. We chat about my experience healing from several autoimmune and other health conditions and explore the topic of food as medicine.

Click here to stream or download the MP3 recording of the show. I come on around minute 10.

Let me know if you have questions or suggestions on what you’d like me to share in future radio shows, teleclasses, or in my monthly eZine.

Enjoy!

Something Delicious is Brewing…

My first ever radio interview is on Wednesday, July 1st – my birthday!

Come join me and my host, Alice Moore, on “Coffee Meditations” – Energy Talk Radio – Wednesday, July 1, at 5pm PST by clicking here. We’ll be chatting about my experience healing from several autoimmune conditions (fibromyalgia, undifferentiated connective tissue disorder, chronic fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivity, and more) and exploring the topic of food as medicine. I’ll post the MP3 up later when it’s ready.
 
It’s summer and time for my annual trip to Turkey to spend time with my family. This is also the time I dream and create. So…
 
I have several transformative, revolutionary, and FUN new programs brewing, including some FREE ones for this Fall:
 
* From Invisible to Invincible (tm) : How to Take Back Control of Your Health & Live Well with an Autoimmune Condition
 
* Balanced Being Fast-Track Program (tm) :  The 10-Week Delicious Health Intensive for Busy Professionals
 
* The Truth About Cleansing Diets: Myth or Must?
 
And many more (seriously… you should see the traffic jam inside my head). 
 
A lot of my events and programs take place virtually, either online or via
teleclasses, so you can participate no matter where you are.

Drop me a line at hello(at)enjoydelicioushealth.com if you want advance notice of any of the programs above.

Or, better yet:

Stay tuned by signing up for my free eZine, Delicious Byte, by heading to our homepage – click here.

Turkey – White Bean Chili over Greens with Caramelized Sweet Potato

I created another impromptu recipe last night from my Mariquita Farms organic veggie box and some staple pantry items.

Here’s the treasure trove of veggies we got in this week’s $25 box (I don’t want to hear anymore that “organic is too expensive” — rubbish! blasphemy! untrue! More proof coming soon…): http://www.mariquita.com/Farmers%20Market/mystery%20lists/Piccino5-28-09.pdf. See this blog post for more info on eating organic for cheap:  https://delicioushealth.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/magical-mystery-box-of-veggies/

This is also a great “chili” recipe for those who can’t eat nightshade vegetables – it has no tomatoes, peppers, or white potatoes. Also great for allergen-free, delicious eating for autoimmune and the allergy-prone. For those careful of the oxalate levels (oxalic acid) in their diet, you can replace the chard with lower-oxalate greens such as the greens of bok choy.

This recipe is very filling, with LOTS of fiber, protein, immune system protectors, phytonutrients, and is a perfect warm/cold combo for a spring-into-summer dish!

If you share this recipe, please include a link to this posting and credit to Delicious Health, Inc. Thanks!

Turkey &  Navy Bean “Chili” Over Greens with Caramelized Sweet Potato
from www.enjoydelicioushealth.com

Generously serves 2

Ingredients

1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
8 small spring shallots (can use 1 medium regular shallot instead), finely chopped
4 small spring /green onion purplettes (can use 1 small or 1/2 medium red onion instead), finely chopped
1/4 lb. ground dark meat turkey
1/4 lb. ground white meat turkey
1 can organic navy or any other favorite beans, rinsed and drained (I recommend the brand Eden)
2-3 TBS of water or broth, optional
3 TBS fresh winter savory, finely chopped (can replace with fresh rosemary or thyme)
1/2 bunch fresh basil, leaves rolled and sliced into strips
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
6-10 shakes of Umeboshi Plum Vinegar – can replace with juice of 1/2 lemon plus sea salt to taste
Additional sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

2 medium sweet potatoes , scrubbed/washed, and punched with a fork all around

1 bunch raw baby chard, washed and torn into bite-size pieces, hard stems torn off and discarded (can use any baby or delicate greens, like spinach, or arugula, or watercress for a more peppery punch)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place prepared sweet potatoes on parchment paper on a pizza pan or cookie tray and let cook for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 400 for another 30 minutes. Then turn heat down to 200-350 until the rest of your food is ready to serve.
2. Warm olive oil over low heat in large saute pan for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add shallots and red onions, saute until tender.
4. Add ground turkey and saute until browned.
5. Add water / broth if pan too dry.
6. Add savory or thyme / rosemary, cumin and turmeric
7. Stir in the beans. Cook until thoroughly heated.
8. Season with umeboshi plum vinegar or alternative (lemon juice + sea salt).
9. Before removing pan from heat, stir in basil and let cook for 1 more minute.
10. Add black pepper and/or additional sea salt to taste.
11. Line half of plate with the prepared raw baby greens.
12. Serve chili on top of the greens. The greens will wilt and shrink in size.
13. Cut sweet potato open and place on other half of plate. No need for brown sugar, butter, or salt. You’ve got all the natural sugar, flavor, and fats you need in this dish.

ENJOY!

KNOW YOUR BODY. Tracking Your Autoimmune Symptoms is a MUST for Healing.

I had pepperoni pizza last night and it was GOOD! Two years ago, that was a total no-no, as my body was a mess and not ready to handle the onslaught of the pepperoni or the pizza dough or the cheese (all of which I react to where my symptoms flare up).

Today, however, I can have some once in a while and be pretty much ok because:

1. I know EXACTLY how it affects me.
2. I know EXACTLY how much I can have and how often, to stay balanced and not let my symptoms come back full force.
3. I know EXACTLY how to support my body afterwards to reverse the effects pretty quickly, within a day or so, so I can get on with it.

And that’s what I want you to be able to do.

If you live with an autoimmune condition, food allergies are a fact of life. If this is news to you, please read this fully!

The “chicken and egg” conundrum comes in because:

(a) Autoimmune means your body has started treating some foods as allergies / intolerances / sensitivities (these are different things) even if you were never allergic to those foods to begin with, usually because, now, your digestive system (which is intimately connected to your immune system) is compromised at a deeper level, and;

(b) When you eat these foods you make the Autoimmune condition worse, which may cause you to become allergic / reactive to even more foods.

And so, which comes first? The Autoimmune condition or the food allergies?

When it comes to Autoimmune, we need to stop thinking in a linear fashion, in straight lines, as in “A happens, then B happens.” It’s more of a circle, see. Think of all the letters in the alphabet strung together like on a necklace clasped around your neck. A, C, P, T are happening at the same time and they might all lead to B and even back to C and P again.

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED in your body. Autoimmune doesn’t just pop up overnight although it may seem like it (that’s how it showed up for me). If your head hurts and your feet hurt, these are not two disconnected, random symptoms.

And what complicates things even further is that no two people tend to react the same way or have the same symptoms.

For example, when I eat pepperoni pizza, I wake up with a puffy face and puffy hands, my ribcage gets sore around the lower edges and it hurts to breathe, I get a bit short of breath, and usually I start wheezing too. (And, yes, I have no shame or qualms about sharing this…) my stool gets whacked out – but even how that shows up is changing nowadays so I need to pay attention. (FUN! =) But for you, your reaction-causing foods and your symptoms are likely to be different.

The trick is to KNOW YOUR BODY.

YOU know your body best. Not your doctor, not me, not your mom. YOU.

For months, I tracked all my symptoms. I had almost 10 whole pages, typed out, of symptoms. At one point, it was so bewildering because my symptoms would change weekly, sometimes daily. Some would appear only once, such as my legs swelling up from the knees on down, and some were absolute constants, such as the pain in my feet, or tingling and numbness in my hands, arms, legs, and feet. These days, I don’t need to write it all down because now tracking these connections comes naturally; it’s become second nature because I tracked them diligently earlier.

In time, you will start noticing trends and you’ll get to know the signals your body is sending you. You’ll see which choices seem to affect which symptoms show up, whether it’s how much or how well you sleep, exercising too much or too little, inability to express anger, nervous or happy stress, some of your food (either what you’re having OR what you’re not having!). It really can be anything, as this is just life. It’s a circle. Everything is connected.

The point is, you can get your symptoms under control but it’s up to YOU.

If you ever need help figuring it out, you know who to call. =)

A Dream Come True: Nutrition Program Launch for My Autoimmune Clients

Today is the day! I am so excited and grateful and brimming with revved up energy.

Today marks the start date for From Invisible to Invincible (TM) , the program I’ve developed for my clients who live with an autoimmune disease… er, condition… er, inconvenience. Autoimmune conditions can include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, undifferentiated connective tissue disorder, lupus, hypothyroid, rheumatoid arthritis, and so on.

I’m joined by six amazing women (it just so happened that they are all women – women comprise a large % of autoimmune folks) in what promises to be an amazing journey for all of us. They’ve agreed to join me as a Pilot group – kind of a test group – to help me continue improving this program for a full-blown launch next year (2010).

Over the next eight months, we will explore the many facets of living with an autoimmune inconvenience and implement lasting, restorative nutrition and lifestyle changes to promote healing.

This is a jam-packed program with tons of information, experiential elements, and time-tested, proven methods… delivered in bite-sized pieces that are sustainable, fun, and revelatory, with me for support along the way.

Some of the hot topics we’ll cover are:

• What is the problem with my immune system? Why does EVERYTHING seem to be broken?
• How is autoimmune related to my food and life habits?
• How is stress related to my condition?
• What are the key foods I must eat to recover my health?
• How do I prepare these must-eat foods, especially if I’m too tired or have no time, or don’t like to cook, or can’t stand up long enough (like I, Simla, couldn’t, at one point)?
• What if I eat out?
• What must I STOP eating ASAP? These are hidden where?!
• What is toxicity? How is it related to autoimmune?
• What are the right ways to detox for autoimmune?
• What’s the deal with food sensitivities?
• Why can’t I get all the info I need with a food allergy test?
• How do I know what foods I’m sensitive to / intolerant of?
• How can I improve my digestive issues and/or IBS?
• How do other elements of my life fuel my illness or support my healing?
• How can I change the habits I need to replace?
• How do I prepare for when I am feeling “normal” again? Now what?
• What are the supplements that will support me? How do I choose them?
• What type of regular medical care and complementary / alternative medical care is available and best suited for my condition?
• What are the medical tests – conventional and emerging – that I need to ask for?
• Where and how do I find a great doctor?
• How do I deal with stress and anxiety?
• How can I sleep better, improve my energy, and lose weight (if I need to)?

And we’re just scratching the surface here.

So much to cover! And cover it we will.

Why am I doing this program?
Because I’ve been there and this is my passion. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pvLmudbsJI or read about it here: https://delicioushealth.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/the-power-of-words-and-pain/