“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~ Hippocrates

My food relationship started off like most other people. Your parents fed you, you ate it and repeated that routine daily. Until you moved away, at least. We didn't spend much time thinking about what exactly we were putting in our mouths, just that we needed to eat 3 times a day, because, well, that's what everyone else seemed to be doing.

I didn't start to pay attention to food, diet, and body until I realized that I didn't quite look like a lot of the other girls my age. For reference, I was strong in muscles and structure, very athletic, agile, and had a very low body fat percentage. Instead of celebrating my difference, I started to obsess about it. I would do hundreds of situps and various stretches a night before bed, I would constantly critique my physical appearance and feel bad about why my body was so different than what I was seeing around me and on television. I would obsess about what I was eating but would eat it anyway I would go from binge eating to withholding food from myself to lose some pounds. To top it off, I often heard my darling, beautiful mother chastise her lean frame over and over again, lamenting about how big she THOUGHT she was. I learned to feel the same way about my body and for many years to follow, I was constantly putting my body in a destructive pattern of constant abuse and yo-yo dieting.

During my early 20's I was in a cycle of too much self-scrutiny, malnourishment, and excessive partying. I was always tired, had chronic rashes, acne flare-ups, and less than normal mood swings. I spent a lot of money on gas, taking lots of trips to the doctors, and never found a solid reason behind what was plaguing me. My final straw was when a doctor told me that the cause of my constant rashes, was being allergic...wait for it.... to the SUN. Now while there may be some people who have a sun allergy, every single fiber in my being told me that was not my story. I mean, seriously. WTF? I'm a first-generation Nigerian American. Like my dad literally came off the boat. Well an airplane, but you get it. I decided right then that I needed to do something and get to the root cause of my issues.

I dragged my mood swinging, low energy, rash, and acne riddled self to a kinesiologist and naturopath. After some blood tests and a few meltdowns later, I discovered that I had a multitude of food-based allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances. Close to 60 to be exact.

After going into shock, lots of crying, and denial, I finally succumbed to my current reality and stopped eating the foods that were triggering my body and immune system. I got on the supplement bandwagon and started researching all I could about holistic health. That led me to The Institute of Integrative Nutrition ad receiving my certification as a board-certified holistic health practitioner (HHC), multiple yoga teacher training certifications, learning and practicing energy medicine techniques, and more certificates in nutritional therapy and detox.

It's been a journey, to say the least.

My most transformational food relationship was when after moving back home from South Korea in 2018 to West Texas. I was busy setting up our new life, setting up the house, buying cars, and everything else that goes into starting life over again from a new location. My body started SCREAMING at me. I had developed crazy nerve pain that shot down my entire left and sometimes my right. It got so excruciating that for months I couldn't walk or stand for longer than a minute. Everything from going to the bathroom to trying to get me a simple drink of water. Don't even mention trying to walk upstairs, fatigued me, and kept me in chronic pain. I sunk into the deepest depression of my life. So much so, that I contemplated taking my own life. As always, in my personal experience at least, when I have been in my darkest hour,

the Universe steps in and gives you the tools to create a new path.

There was a couple of days right before my new path revealed itself to me, where I was in too much pain to even want to eat. Because of my lack of appetite my body slipped into fasting mode. This is where the magic happened. Because I was now in fasting mode, I realized that my body was in significantly LESS pain. The pain was still there but it had reduced to the point that I could drive myself to Whole Foods and get a salad bar salad filled with healthy fats and beautiful veggies and no starchy carbs - this last part is important. I didn't know it at the time but what I later discovered was that what I was eating when I got sick was 100% plant-based, whole food vegan. I later found a holistic doctor - he practiced western medicine but was mindful of supplements, and how food and diet can make or break us. We took a lot of blood and got back a book (no joke) of my lab work. What I learned was that I was experiencing chronic inflammation in my body which was triggering my nerve pain because of the bulging and herniated disks in my lower spine. I was also experiencing insulin resistance, which is when your body (cells in your fat, muscles, and liver don't respond well to the insulin in your body and can't use the glucose (sugar) from your body to make energy.

I. WAS. SHOOK.

I was so angry at my body and even veganism for failing me. I was depressed because I didn't want to give up vegan eating, but knew moving towards a Keto lifestyle was the very best thing for me and my health. It's now been 2.5 years since I was at my worst. I did really well on Keto for about a year and a half, lost a bunch of weight, felt a bit lighter, going out and living life, and making new friends. I didn't feel 100% better but I was closer to whole health than where I was when I first moved back to the United States. And then I decided to stop Keto. I told myself I was curious about what my body could do since I've come this far on my healing journey. And while a part of that is true, a bigger part of it was my mindset around food and my formative years of self-sabotage, creeping back in. The weight started coming back, a pound a day! And STILL despite what was happening right before my very eyes, I remained on the path of self-destruction. 

Some lessons in life will beat you over the head repetitively until you finally learn from them.

So where am I now? My original doctor closed his practice at the beginning of 2020 which was the best thing to happen to me since I was forced to find a new doctor. I found an AMAZING healthcare practitioner who specializes in educating and treating women about their health and she's also a hormone specialist - y’all our appointments together are over an hour long. She listens and talks through EVERYTHING with you. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this level of care has been. I've never felt more seen, heard, and validated in my life in regards to my healthcare. Through even more blood work and tests, we discovered that my progesterone and testosterone levels were basically non-existent - THIS IS HUGE as this was the root cause for a lot of the symptoms I was experiencing. Unfortunately, my first doctor completely missed this issue. Which begs the question of HOW LONG I've been living like this. It's been at least a decade of not feeling 'normal' no matter what I tried. Also, along with my insulin resistance, and chronic inflammation, my original doctor thought that I could have PCOS and diabetes. Thank the Universe for my current doctor, because of her specialized training, she was able to diagnose me correctly and treat my symptoms accordingly. I am now on a bioidentical hormone replacement for both progesterone and testosterone. AND I've gone back to eating Keto. With all this combined, I'm S L O W L Y starting to feel like who I have been trying to be. My moods are stabilizing, I feel happier and less triggered and the weight is finally starting to come off. It's also important to note, I also took a food sensitivity test through EverlyWell so I could learn and then eliminate the foods that cause any type of inflammation in my body at the present time. Again, not 100% - YET but I feel very optimistic that I'm on the right path. The difference now is that I've also worked on my mindset to help release the old body traumas and patterns that I have been carrying around with me through self-reflection, journaling, BEING HONEST with myself, energy medicine like reiki and Akashic records to help free the energy keeping me stuck. It's been a long time coming but I'm so excited to continue my journey towards my best self and total health and to share it with you. 

Update 4.22.2021

With the help of my EverlyWell food sensitivity test and the teachings of Anthony William, Medical Medium, not only am I back to eating Vegan again (since 12/28/20!!!) but I’m starting to feel really good! Keto always works for me until it doesn’t. The weight loss stops and I not only gain back 3x what I lost, but I was starting to feel slow, cruddy, and not myself again. What I’m learning is the root cause of all my issues is a combination of experiencing Epstein Barr virus and a slow and stagnant liver. This has been causing my hormones to be off, the dark circles under my eyes, chronic fatigue, brain fog, depression, anxiety, insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and a whole host of other ‘mystery’ symptoms that feel like have been with me for a lifetime. I’m still healing, but I feel hopeful and optimistic that I’m on the right path to TRULY start to heal my body. I eat whole plant foods, stay away from the foods that are bothersome to me based on my food sensitivities, and the Medical Medium ‘no foods’. I’m down 10 lbs from my highest weight and as long as I stay away from my trigger foods, I’m feeling more like myself again. I’ll update as I move along my journey and make sure to check out my Instagram as I share what’s on my plate on my stories if you’re curious!

All of this - the bumps, roadblocks, and small wins have been truly mind-blowing - in the best way possible.

I've learned that taking care of myself and what I feed my temple is the ultimate form of self-love and self-respect. I've learned to always be an advocate for my health and wellness. Just because someone is a doctor, doesn't make them an expert on YOU. If you feel something is off and you still don't feel your best, search until you find someone who HEARS you and will help you in the ways you need. I've learned that even in my weakest moment when I want to give up, that I am so supported and loved by the Universe/Source/God. And that with faith, hope, and some determination, I will always find my way to victory. I've been humbled to learn not only how strong the human spirit is, but also how fragile life can be for us all. The darkness has helped to pave the way for light and I have never been more deeply grateful for everything I have and have been through in my life. I've always felt like a strong person and this journey has shown and taught me just how strong of a force I am. I've discovered how empowering it is to take care of myself and take charge of my health and the power of what we eat and its impact on us is a vital part of our wellbeing. That just because we may 'master' a certain way of eating if we don't pair it with mindset work, energy clearing, and alignment, that we are only as strong as our last binge, or bad habit. I've learned to treat myself with the utmost care, love, grace, and compassion. I’ve learned that there is no one universal diet. What may work for one, doesn’t always work for others. We are all so unique and bio-individual that to try and fit into any mold other than what works for us can be detrimental to our health and wellbeing. I've made a lot of mistakes on my health journey and it's also taught me that if I can't foster and find forgiveness of myself, then all the steps I try to take moving forward are not as powerful potent as they could be, if I can't find forgiveness for the self-sabotage, for the ways I may not have been an advocate for myself in the past and forgiveness for not being 'perfect.

Where am I going from here?

For now, I'm happy to just be in the moment and take things as they come. I'm excited that every day is a day closer to my healing. I'm loving all the self-discovery of myself, the healing of my inner child, and making yummy foods that work for my unique body. I'm excited to cook and to share some of my food inspirations with you and turning some old comforts and favorites into Ifoma friendly and clean keto awesomeness. I am okay with not knowing or having a time frame of how long this keto lifestyle will be in my life and instead of constantly wanting it to be different, I've accepted and making peace with exactly where I am, which I'm discovering, was one of the hardest parts for me. 

Where are you on your food and health journey? I'd love to know so I can love on you and tell you just how perfect you are, in this exact moment.

For food-induced drooling, and general silliness, make sure you check out my Instagram, and come and follow along!

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I'm excited to get to know you and to be on this adventure with you! <3

In health, hugs and unicorn dust,

Ifoma xoxo