Criterion Living

My Path to Healing

My journey toward physical and emotional health began with the study of nutrition at the age of 20. Throughout my childhood and up to the age of 36 is was chronically ill with spastic colitis, strep throat, systemic yeast.  I began eating an abundant amount of fresh, organically grown vegetables, studying nutrition, exercising more and following an ova-lacto vegetarian diet.  My health improved somewhat.  I had grown up on a junk food diet, my mom made whatever was easiest or instant.  Lots of bread, milk, cereal, canned veggies.  But my grandmother was a fabulous cook, had a small citrus grove and grew lots o flowers, tomatoes, guavas, grapefruit, lemons, limes, tangerines.  I had developed a passion for cooking as a teenager, mainly I think because I loved great food!  Moms Minute rice and Shake’n'Bake didn’t do it for me!

 At 24 years old I developed spastic colitis.  At 27 I had my first bout with antibiotic-resistant pneumonia. During my 20’s I could not keep a job; every three or four weeks I would get a sore throat, sinus or ear infection. At 27 years old I met Rick O’Shea.  He tried, very gently, to get me to give up dairy and grains.  I could not imagine what I could still eat, or how to feed my kids. We began a debate that lasted for years! Even though Rick had more to do with me growing, and healing emotionally than any one else in my life, I didn’t want to hear it.

By the time I was 34 I had developed arthritis in my left knee as well as in my hands and hips. At 34 I got an ear infection that would not respond to antibiotics. I experienced a severe hearing loss in my left ear.   At this point I  removed dairy from my diet.   I felt considerably better within a week.   My oldest daughter, Heather, had always had very dry skin and very low energy.  My son Derek had always had severe allergies. My daughters Rachel who was three, and Katie, who was 6 months had been having health problems also.  Rachel with a twisted bowel and colic, ear infections, ADHD and severe sleeping problems.  Katie had colic and slept very little also.  When I went off dairy, thier problems with all this went away too.  I cannot describe the difference!   I felt “awake” for the first time in my life, clearheaded, energetic, raring to go.  The kids were sleeping through the night, no more night terrors!

 I also felt profoundly different emotionally. I felt very happy, hopeful of dealing with and solving so many of the things that had crippled me emotionally; co-dependency, depression, low energy.  Within a few weeks I returned to therapy, got out of a horrible marriage, started my Personal Cooking Service and had the most exciting year of my life!  The physical healing led to great emotional healing. My friend and teacher, Rick O’Shea had been trying to gently lead me to this for 9 years!  Finally, I could hear what he had been trying to tell me.  At this time, I went on a wide macrobiotic diet, lots of grains, vegetables, and seaweed. I felt 90% better.

At 38, pregnant with my son Tyler, I developed yeast problems again and also was diagnosed with Miniere’s Disease.  Back to the drawing board!   Rick insisted that my hearing loss and Meniere’s disease was linked to a gluten intolerance.  I finally got all the reading material that Rick had on nutrition, and sat down to study.  It was the most logical approach to health that I had ever studied so far.  It was all very simple, yet very logical.  I dove right in.   And was I glad I did!   Within a week the yeast cleared up, never to return.   All symptoms of the Miniere’s went away completely within six weeks. And I began to experience something I had never felt before; unbelievably high energy.  I woke up grinning, couldn’t wait to embrace the day.   Even as I child I had never felt such joy and contentment.  When Tyler was born it was not anything like when the other kids were infants.  He was born at home, nursed for about 45 minutes and fell asleep.  He slept through the night!   All night.  Woke up happy.  Never cried, slept for 8 at night, every night, until about 7 the next morning!  I couldn’t believe it.  No colds, no colic, just a sweet joyful little boy.  

From 1990 until 1998 I followed a diet that was completely vegan (no animal products).  My diet consisted of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.  Although I felt fabulous, the only problem I still had was an inability to gain weight. I had weighed 100 to 104 pounds all my life.  In 1998 I met a Clinical Nutritionist who began telling me I should go back to eating seafood because of the newest information on Omega-3 Fats.  Because he kept insisting, I asked him for more information on fats and their effects on the body. He gave me some articles on fats.  But I wanted to know MORE! Jeff Novick, head of Nutrition at the Pritikin Center in Miami, suggested I read a book called Fats That Heal, Fat That Kill, by Udo Erasmus. Finally, I found the depth of information for which I had been looking. After studying the subject, and realizing the impact of Omega fats on the body, I returned to eating cold-water fish. It was one of the best things I ever did! Through making that change and moving to the beach where I was able to be more active, I was able to gain 13 pounds!

I continued eating this way until 2005.   At this time I asked a group of Clinical Nutritionists I had met online to review my work. They steered me toward newer information on Traditional Diets, and the Weston Price Foundation. I again tweaked my nutrition after 4 months of intense study.  I added organic grass fed beef and bison to my diet along with organic free range chicken, rich meat stocks and substaintailly more fat.

People often ask me how I find the discipline to follow such a strict diet.  I try to explain to them that it does not take hard work to do. That the way I feel is so wonderful that it feels effortless to make the choices that I do on a day-to-day basis.

So now, at 58 years old, I am in the best health I have ever been in.  I practice yoga daily, lift weight 3-4 times weekly, dance and still have time and energy to enjoy my children and grandchildren, have a practice as a Nutrition Coach, teach cooking classes. I have written two books; “Optimum Nutrition”, and a cookbook with 810 wheat, dairy and soy free recipes.

I LOVE teaching others how to heal, how to eat right to meet their calorie and nutrient needs.  I feel strongly that the reason I was so ill gave me the opportunity to learn and be able to help others.

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