10 Things I Learned Healing an Incurable Disease | Guest Post by Meghan Telpner

Five years ago I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a condition that is commonly believed to have no cure. I was given the options of surgery and medication for the rest of my life, still without the potential of a cure. My doctor told me that diet would have no effect and that I would have to learn to live with it.

Not one to play by the rules, I decided to create my own. I chose a natural route that included meditation, yoga, acupuncture, rest, and a diet comprised of whole, unprocessed foods. Within one month I was symptom free and remain so five years on. I have since become certified as a nutritionist and run a cooking school in downtown Toronto. I am firm on the fact that getting sick was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and getting well was the greatest adventure ever. This is what I learned healing from an incurable disease.

1. Take other opinions with a grain of salt. It is just an opinion and only our own opinions of ourselves and our current situation really matter. I received the opinion that I had an incurable disease and nothing I ate or did regarding my lifestyle would have an effect. I chose to trust my own opinion that this was not true. That has made all the difference.

2. Learn how to cook… really well. Prior to this experience I owned one cookbook called Help! My Apartment Has A Kitchen.Four years later, I own and operate a cooking school. I believed strongly, despite my doctor’s contradictory opinion, that a disease of the digestive tract would obviously be affected by what passed through it. It therefore became my mission to know exactly what I was eating and so I learned to cook from 100 percent whole ingredients. With all the processing happening in my own kitchen.

3. Yoga is more than twisting yourself into a pretzel. I used to be one of those before-work workout nut heads who rolled into the gym at 6:00 a.m., kicked my own bottom for an hour, and then raced off to work. When high-impact workouts were no longer an option, I turned to yoga. Yoga is a gazillion times harder than climbing a stair master or doing crunches until you want to puke—because it makes you actually look at yourself from the inside and realize some change has to happen.

4. Life may not always bring you sunshine and rainbows, but if you wait out the storm long enough, they always appear if you look for them. That’s all I have to say about that.

5. A cute outfit doesn’t mean much when you feel like total crappola. Great health makes you look (and feel) great—way more than high heels or manicured nails can.

6. Always, always, always trust your intuition. If you can’t hear it, that means your life is too noisy. Be still a little bit everyday and you will start to hear the voice, and over time you will learn to listen. And over even more time, you will learn that it is always right.

7. When you do something in your life that other people deem impossible in their life, you suddenly become  labelled “an inspiration.” I like that I inspire people but I don’t wake up every morning with the thought, I am going to inspire today! I just do what I do, because it feels right for me. Likewise, the people I find inspiring are just doing what seems right to them. I think this means that we all inspire others in our own way, just by being true to ourselves.

8. When something goes wrong in our body or in our mind – whether it be a disease, an injury, or a broken heart – “fighting” it doesn’t help us heal. It creates more resistance. When we can learn to feed and nourish and give ourselves what is needed to work with the challenge rather than against it, that is how we heal.

9. Vegetables are delicious. They used to make me gag. Then I learned I just didn’t like hard chunks of carrot in my salads. There are loads of other ways to enjoy carrots and loads of other vegetables I love to eat. I just had to get creative and explore the unknown.

10. I am better off happily creating than creating to be happy. We think that if we work now, even if we hate it, that the benefits or payoff will bring happiness to the future version of ourselves. When I think back five years to who I was dating, where I was working, and the life I thought I was working towards, it is definitely not what would make me happy today. Wouldn’t it be a waste of precious time to take on misery now and try to achieve something that is only serving to satisfy and bring joy to a future version of myself? I would end up disappointed for a good portion of my life.

Things can change in an instant, with a diagnosis, a disaster …  anything! The greatest gift we can offer ourselves is to wake up happy, excited about the day ahead, and go to bed pleased with the job that we did, accepting that the process itself is the outcome, and that we did our very best at every given moment.

Meghan Telpner

BIO: Meghan Telpner is a Toronto based nutritionista and sought after media personality thanks to her refreshingly humorous, engaging and real approach to healthy living. Her online cooking courses and health programs are improving the health of people around the world. Meghan’s book UnDiet, Eat Your Way to Vibrant Health will be released North America wide in April, 2013. Join Meghan’s community on twitter @MeghanTelpner, or on Facebook at Meghan Telpner Nutritionista. For more visit MeghanTelpner.com

Happy Allergy-Friendly Birthday! | Guest Post

I have vivid memories of attending birthday parties as a kid. I loved running around with my friends, playing games like pin the tail on the donkey and musical chairs. But what sticks out in my mind from the majority of the parties I attended was having to be very diligent about what I ate. I was sent with a list of instructions from my mom about what I could/couldn't eat and usually a bag full of food that was just for me. Now didn't I sound like the life of the party?!

Being so hyper-aware of allergies and what was and wasn't typically in both homemade and store bought food at such a young age definitely wasn't something I enjoyed. In fact, I hated it! All I wanted to do was eat what the other kids were eating! But knowing the ins and outs of cooking and eating for allergies has come in very handy over the years, more than ever, now, as I have a child of my own who is leaning in the direction of being just like me in the allergy department (sorry kiddo!). But I'm ready. I can swap out ingredients in recipes like nobody else. So if you're new to the allergy arena, cooking either for your own little one, or that poor, allergy-riddled kid who will be coming to your son or daughter's next birthday party, here's a bit of help. Just a few simple swaps can make any recipe safe for even the toughest-to-feed child.

So what's on the menu for an allergy-free party?                                        

  

Snacks

It's a party so toss out a bowl of salt 'n vinegar chips and some Doritos and you'll be all set, right? Wrong, especially for dairy sensitive kids. Salt 'n vinegar flavouring, for example, almost always contains milk ingredients, and of course, anything nacho-flavoured will as well. But this doesn't mean you can't have easy snacks lying about. Just choose crowd pleasing yet safe flavours like salted; try corn or rice chips for gluten/wheat sensitive individuals, served with salsa or guacamole; or pop your own kernels and top with a little olive oil and different herbs or nutritional yeast for a healthier popcorn.

Fruit and veggie platters are always safe bets as well, and can be made more appealing by using different shaped cookie cutters (stars, hearts, etc.) or creating fruit kebabs. 

Main Course

Pizza, hot dogs and deli sandwiches are all great regular party staples, but can be loaded with danger for the allergic kids in the group. If you're looking to make a meal everyone can enjoy without a ton of work, I suggest sticking to whole foods. These are foods that have not been processed in any way. You know all the ingredients because you can see all the ingredients, right in front of you. If the idea of serving just whole foods is leaving you a bit stumped, I suggest the following, very easy to handle homemade fare, which are all kid and adult favourites, made allergy friendly. The best part is, those with regular diets won't even know they're eating 'safe' food!

• Chicken breast tossed in gluten free breadcrumbs and oven baked for everyone's favourite - chicken strips!
• Chicken wings made by ditching any flour dredging and opting instead for a salt and pepper toss before throwing them on the bbq
• Tacos - you can even have a 'make your own' taco bar set up with corn tortillas/shells, rice, beans, veggies and meat
• Homemade burgers - turkey, beef or veggie - with regular buns as well as gluten free buns or lettuce for wrapping the patties of wheat sensitive diners
• Meatballs, omitting the breadcrumbs or eggs, depending on the allergy
• Sushi platter, safe for most, so long as you steer clear of any rolls with sauce (soy allergy) or any tempura rolls (gluten allergy)
• Side dishes - potato salad (use olive oil instead of mayo for egg allergies), green salad, macaroni salad (gluten free macaroni is easy to find!), potato wedges baked in olive oil and herbs, rice or quinoa salads...the options go on and on here!

Birthday Cake

If you'll be making a cake or cupcakes from a box mix, there are a few swaps that can be easily accomplished. Usually, the recipe on the box calls for the cake mix, water, butter, vanilla and eggs.  Let's address each one separately.

Dairy Replacement

For a dairy allergy, you'll obviously want to avoid the butter. An easy substitute for butter in a baking recipe is an equal part of mashed up fruit, such as pear or apple (canned or fresh, either works). The fruit flavour will be subtly present in the finished product, which isn't a bad thing, I personally enjoy it, but it's something to be aware of, especially if you have potentially picky eaters. You can always add in a few dairy-free chocolate chips (like those made by Enjoy Life Foods) to distract them though! If you don't want to use fruit, another option is to use coconut oil as a butter substitute. If you've never experimented with coconut oil, I recommend it! It comes in a tub-style container and is actually solid at room temperature, not liquid, so you can scoop it out just as you would with butter. It can be a bit pricey but you only need to use 3/4 of the amount the recipe calls for. Example - recipe calls for 1 cup butter, use 3/4 cup coconut oil instead. Just like the fruit substitute adds a bit of extra flavour, so too will the coconut oil. But if you enjoy the taste of the tropics then you'll like this swap.

Egg Replacement

To replace eggs, there are a few tricks. Eggs act as binders in recipes so you're looking for something that has a sticky quality. The easiest option, if you're already running to the store, is to buy a box of egg-substitute. It's just a powder mix to which you add water. I like EnerG brand myself and it's pretty readily available. If though you'd prefer to use ingredients you already have on hand, you can try any of the following to replace one egg: 1/2 mashed up banana; 1/4 cup tofu (make sure soy isn't an allergy issue if going this route); 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp water; or a mix of 2 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp oil and 2 tsp baking powder.

Gluten-Free Replacements 

If gluten free is what you're after, well, you'll have to either make the cake mix from scratch with gluten free flours or try out one of the amazing new Betty Crocker gluten free cake mixes. They are available in yellow or chocolate at most grocery stores and are my go to when I need to quickly whip up a cake. I've fed them to avid gluten eaters and they can't tell the difference. If you'll be using the gluten free yellow mix, be sure you also use gluten free vanilla flavouring. The regular kind may trigger a reaction in gluten sensitive kids.

Planning an allergy-free party doesn't have to be a ton of extra work and ensures all the party-goers, especially the ones with allergies, feel included and just like all their friends. And having a safe menu allows you to relax and have a good time too, focusing on making memories with your kids, not worrying whether or not Johnny is staying out of the trail mix and Suzie has her hands off the icecream cake.

OneStopMamaShop is a blog offering advice, information and practical tips for all new mamas who are navigating the wonderful worlds of pregnancy and motherhood. 

The blog's author is based in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, so some of the posts are regional and apply specifically to mamas in that locale, though the many product recommendations, general pregnancy and baby-care information, and stories on the ups and downs of motherhood are universal, for any and all mamas to share in and enjoy.

I Am A Nurturing Mama | Guest Post

I'm guest posting over at Whispered Inspirations today as part of her 'I am a Nurturing Mama' Series and I'm so excited to be able to contribute to the discussion on such a global topic.  Every day we Mama's make difficult decisions for the benefit of our children and sometimes those choices require us to question the information that is present in society, which is exactly what my post is all about.

If you have a moment, head over to Whispered Inspirations and check out my Guest Post: I Am a Nurturing Mama.

Guest Posting | Adventures in Infant Diapering

I'm guest posting over at Accustomed Chaos today as part of her Infant Diapering Series.  It's been amazing to hear about so many unique diaper experiences and I'm so proud to have the opportunity to contribute.

If you have a moment, head over and check out my experience with Cloth Diaper Service.  And if you're not familiar with Accustomed Chaos, I highly recommend you take some time to browse around; the blog is full of great reading, including some fabulous gluten-free recipes!

Guest Post: DIY Fruit Based Facial Mask Recipes

I'm very excited to share my first guest post with you all. Tara V. from Go Green Street has provided some great DIY Fruit Based Facial Mask Recipes.  What's great about these is that you probably already have all the ingredients at home, and it will save you space in your medicine cabinet since you can make these recipes fresh whenever you need them.  I can't wait to try them out and I want to hear all about your experience if you try them out too!

Without further adieu, read on for Tara's DIY Fruit Based Facial Mask Recipes.  Once again, Thanks Tara!

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With summer here and the heat in full swing in most areas around the world, there is no better way to relax and cleanse the face than with a facial. As women we all want and need some pampering, but heading to the spa daily is just not an option. Many of the famous facial masks available in high-end spas and salons can be created at home for just a few dollars without harsh chemicals.  Here are a few of my favorite Do-It-Yourself facial mask recipes for summer.

Milk and Apricot Facial Mask

If your suffering from dried out skin, a facial mask with Apricot may be just the answer! Apricot is known for large amounts of vitamin A and its high mineral content. Apricot masks are great for people who suffer with eczema, sun-burn and itching of the skin. Revitalize and moisturizing your skin with the Milk and Apricot facial mask recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of dried apricots; chopped
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1 tablespoon of dry milk powder
• 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions:

Combine apricots, warm water, milk powder and honey in a blender. Puree in until
smooth; if the honey is runny, add an additional tablespoon of honey. If a
blender is not available, combine ingredients into a bowl and mash together and
stir vigorously until a smooth texture is achieved.

Apply to the face like a mask and leave on for 20 minutes. The mask can be removed with warm water.

Honey and Peach Mask Skin Glow Recipe

If your skin feels dried out, looks dull or you just need a moisturizing lift, this facial mask works well. Honey antioxidant properties help fights against skin damage and  anti-microbial properties known to treat minor irritations and sun burns.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium peach
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. yogurt

Instructions:

Boil the peach until it is very tender or you can poke it with a fork with ease. When soft, mash up and mix in honey and yogurt until everything is mixed well.

Apply to the face like a mask and leave on for 20-25 minutes. The mask can be removed with warm water and pat face dry.

Guest Bio: Tara V. publishes GoGreenStreet.com, a light green living blog dedicated to offering tips on eco-conscious and natural living. Mother of five beautiful kidlets, ages 8 months to 12 years, Tara loves all things eco-chic, vintage and natural. She considers herself “light green” among the shades of being green and enjoys organic coffee to keep her going. Visit GoGreenStreet.com today for more tips on going green!