My story

I could write  a book on my health history, literally. Lucky for you, I’ll provide a synopsis. I was born with a congenital heart defect and grew up thinking going to yearly check-ups to a cardiologist was normal. At 14, my heart and health was on the decline and I was put on the heart transplant list. A few days later, I received the gift of life. You can read more about that here.

Since my transplant, health wise, I’ve done very well. I decided to do Whole30 after one of my transplant coordinators mentioned it to my mom. I read It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways and decided I was tired of feeling tired, and Whole30 could be my saving grace.

May 2015, I did my first Whole30 and took my boyfriend down with me. We both lost weight and felt so much better. It was truly amazing. Like most people, food freedom didn’t come easily and I fell off the wagon and gained the weight back. Jan. 2016 I did my second whole30 and in Sept. 2016 did my third round.

Learning about my food allergies

During my third round, I had random lip swelling and it really shook me up. The first time it happened, I was at my parents house. I took Benadryl and we hopped in the car to head home. About an hour into the drive, I woke up and started hyperventilating. I thought my throat was closing up. My boyfriend, who was driving, told me to take deep breaths and calm down. Luckily, that helped and I was fine.

It only took my lip swelling one more time to go see an allergist. He suggested a food allergy test. After the test, I learned I was allergic to chicken & wheat. I’m not joking…I’m allergic to chicken. Normal, right? Even though the doc told me to cut out chicken, I ignored his suggestion. I’d eaten chicken my whole life…so why stop now? There was no way I was truly allergic to chicken. Well, obviously, my lip swelled again. I’ve now been chicken free since Oct. 5 and, of course, I haven’t had any lip swelling. I’ve also cut down on my wheat intake. I’d say I’m about 95 percent wheat-free.

So there you go.

There’s a short synopsis of my health and food history. I hoping to use this blog to share reviews, recipes and my random ramblings. I hope y’all enjoy and I apologize for the crappy photos…it’s a skill I’m working on.