05/27/2013 Fed up

This is me after only one restaurant meal yesterday.  Everything else I consumed was prepared at home with fresh local ingredients.  My chest and upper back are covered in hives and I'm tired of living like this.

My journey actually began in 1991 when all of the sudden I was covered in hives from head to toe.  Spent 10 days enjoying a cocktail of benadryl, both liquid and pills with no relief.  Finally went to the doctor and was given prednisone and a stronger antihistamine.  Still no relief....off to the allergist I went.  After extensive blood and skin tests all results were negative.  So I was told to change all my makeups, detergents, soaps, etc.  Still no relief....I lived like this for several years and then decided to lose weight....hmmm finally found a little relief, but noticed that when under huge amounts of stress the hives came back and also where present when I ate processed foods. Tried to change my diet, but when you have learned to cook and eat using packaged foods your entire life, it is very hard to change yourself and your entire household.

Three years ago my life changed and I found myself living with someone that enjoyed eating fresh vegetables as much as I did.  We thought we were doing everything right, but I still had hives.  So we started delving deeply into the things we were eating on a daily basis.  We paid more attention to reading labels and if there was something on there we couldn't pronounce, a dye (yellow #5...etc) or two very prominent ingredients, maltodextrin & dextrose, we were not going to buy it or eat it.  It helped to an extent, but find that every time I eat out I look like the above pictures the next day or even a few hours after eating.

In the last couple of months, facebook has exploded with "No GMO's" sites and statuses.  I had never heard of a GMO until reading a status from one of the sites I like "The  Farmacy".  The first thing I read was that GMO's became very prominent in our diets in the early '90's....yes the light bulb came on...1991 the year my hives appeared.  Maltodextrin & dextrose are made from processed corn, Corn is the biggest GMO food out there.  Look at the labels of almost everything you eat those two ingredients are in everything.  I have even decided to stay away from them even if they are in my organic food choice.

As of today, my journey to healthful eating and living starts in a much bigger capacity than it has over the last three years.

I will no longer eat out, this will be hard since so many social activities revolve around meeting friends at a restaurant to enjoy a meal and a drink.  Please understand when I choose to not eat, but attend the function for the social aspect.

I will eat only fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, organic dairy, organic and grass-fed meats.

I am going to start using only all natural products on my body, most of which I will make myself.

I look forward to sharing my journey with whomever chooses to follow this blog.

Love and Respect

Michele Hoekstra