How I'm Healing from Chronic Illness · Jessica Eats Real Food

Sweet friend, I think you ended up here because we have some things in common.

I think you care about food + how it affects your health just like I do + I love that. But most of us didn’t just stop eating gluten or dairy or soy or sugar for the fun of it, right? Most of us have a reason. And so, before we jump in any deeper, I want you to pause + to be really honest with yourself:

Have you ever felt like you should feel better than you do?

I know that I have. In fact, I feel like I’ve spent the majority of the last 17 years feeling that way. I had chronic migraines, fatigue, extreme digestive issues, food sensitivities. I’d tried every protocol, diet switch, supplement + I was at my wit’s end. (Remember my Gluten Challenge?)

I tried thing after thing with some success, but just like it got better, it always got worse again. I just knew there was a deeper reason I felt unwell. I also knew I was almost ready to give up searching for it. Being your own advocate is exhausting.

And so, last year when I was FINALLY diagnosed with Endometriosis (read about my diagnosis here or how to pursue your own), I immediately experienced an overwhelming sense of relief. After years of searching, I had a diagnosis. But then, as the days passed + I read + researched, I quickly found myself in an overwhelming downward spiral. Navigating illness alone is scary.

I remember lying in bed, exhausted, and totally overwhelmed by how sick I felt, weighed down by all of the worst-case-scenarios of infertility + unrelenting symptoms that I’d read online. And yet, somehow in that moment, I said to myself,

” I am well. I am strong. I can heal and live out my purpose. God put me on this earth for more than this.”

I somehow knew that even though those things weren’t true about me then, they would be. There was a deeper level of healing that I needed to pursue. I had tried all the practical things I could get my hands on + I felt more isolated, overwhelmed + stressed than ever. I decided to make a change.

I knew that I wanted to live a life of fullness + purpose…not a life of symptom management. I wanted to be an active participant of my real life from somewhere other than the couch. I wonder if you feel any of that too…

Since I wanted to feel a way that I hadn’t felt, I started doing things I’d never done before. And do you know what? They worked.

I started sleeping better. My digestive health became much more normal + I even felt a spike in energy. My days have felt more full of joy + my monthly cycle has, each month, come with less + less pain. Suddenly I have capacity in my days to invest in people, to grow my business, to pursue my purpose + it feels amazing.

You can do this too, sweet friend. You can take control + make a change. Really, you can. And it doesn’t matter what your life or your sickness looks like now. I know that these practices will change your life.

If I can do it, so can you + you don’t have to do it alone.

How I’m Healing from Chronic Illness

Chronic illness, or even living with undiagnosed chronic symptoms, is real, and it’s physical. I don’t believe for a second that the fatigue, digestive issues, the hormone imbalances or the pain is just created in your head or mine. So please know as I share the tips that have been changing my life that I am in those trenches with you + I’m there with all of the compassion + all of the empathy.

Chronic illness is not a mindset disease. However, healing from chronic illness and embracing a life of purpose and fullness WITH chronic illness is absolutely a mindset journey. You can’t heal your body without starting with your brain and your heart.

Here are the exact things that I’ve worked through to turn a corner in my health that I didn’t even know was possible. Here are the the things I’ve learned as I navigate just how I’m healing from chronic illness with grace, with self love + with compassion.

You can’t love a body you hate. Healing isn’t easy + it requires hard work. Do you think you’re more likely to do that work for a body you hate or a body you love? Exactly. This is perhaps the most important part. It’s so simple, but it’s not easy. You have to believe you are worthy of healing before your body will heal.
Stress makes everything worse. It’s imperative to learn to lower the stress in your life by managing stressors that you can control + learning how to cope with the stress that you can’t change. Otherwise the anxiety, depression, sleeplessness + pain will only get worse. Intense stress affects everything – relationships, sex drive, eating habits.
You are UNIQUE: What works for someone else, even with the same symptoms or diagnosed illness, might not work for you! You have to acknowledge the realities of your real life, your real illness + to create a plan that actually works for you. A plan that allows space for rest, for changing with changing seasons, for different definitions of health. A plan that’s created for your body + your life, not from a textbook.
Trust yourself + make changes: Your treatment plan is going to change, just like your illness does. What you need now isn’t the same as what you’ll need in 6 months or what you needed a year ago. You have to learn to really tap into your brain, your body + your heart to be able to adjust how you’re healing as you need to. Trust your body! You know it better than anyone else.
Foster routines + rhythms that naturally create space for rest: We are all exhausted + overworked. No matter if you’re a stay at home momma with babies or working a 10 hour day in the city, life is a lot. Finding ways to create routines in your days and weeks that remove the overwhelm of laundry, working out, “when is the bathroom going to be cleaned”, etc. can create space in your brain + space in your days for resting when you need it…which you will. We are humans. We need rest, especially if you’re living with chronic illness or fatigue.
Diet + Movement + Sleep matter: But the amount of information on the internet about THE THING that you should be doing in your diet or exercise or sleep routine is enough to make someone sick. Start small, remember numbers 4 + 5 above – what you try has to work in your real life or it won’t stick + it won’t work. Also, what movement or foods work will CHANGE + that’s a good thing.
Believing you can be well: Again, this one is simple, but it’s so not easy. What you believe is what will come to pass. Meaning, if you believe you will never be well, you won’t be. You’ll constantly be looking for signs that affirm the belief that you won’t be well. It’s just how we’re wired. But, if we can switch that belief + really find faith that we WILL be better than we are now…changes are, we will be.

How I’m healing from Chronic Illness + can help you too.

Do you see yourself in anything here like I thought you might? I bet you do. If you want to feel better, like you know you should or could feel, I want that for you too. I can walk you through this every single step of the way. Curious how? Check out my program, Your Unhindered Health.

Sweet friend, you can do this!

P.S. We walk through all sorts of stuff together over on instagram, so come hang out!