Many of you have been curious and inquiring about my recent increase of energy as mentioned in my last post. Now is as good as a time as any to explain both that increase of energy as well as announcing a book soon to be released that I have been working on all summer. And yes, my energy increase and my new book are connected.
But let me back up first. Our last year and a half has been full of both pain and new beginnings. Last year, I was pregnant with Aria and had really bad morning sickness. That knocked me out of the running for a couple of months. I was just getting out of that phase, when we found out that my husband’s mother had stage 3 colon cancer. All of our attention and emotional energy went to caring for her. Within two months, she had passed away. That left us just a few months to emotionally process before our daughter Aria Sono was born. Her birth was……exciting. She was a surprise breech and there were some tense moments as I was giving birth. We were incredibly grateful that all went well. But since I had lost a fair amount of blood during her birth, it took me a long time to recover. During my recovery time, other issues that were emotionally straining cropped up, as well as a terrible experience with fleas in our house. Then, our four year old had a suspicious mole on her foot. It took a few weeks to be able to take her to the doctor and then a few more weeks before she saw a specialist. They were stressful weeks to say the least. All ended up being completely normal and fine and we were incredibly grateful once again. And that brings me to this summer.
And why do I share all of this? These last few years have taken a real toll on my energy, emotionally, physically, the whole bit. I felt worn to the nub, tired out, but also extremely grateful for the blessings I do have in my life. I have a beautiful family to care for, love, and help. Emotionally, I felt a huge relief after a lot of stress. Physically, I was a little behind. This really isn’t surprising as I believe I have suffered from adrenal fatigue since high school, and most certainly have struggled with it since my second daughter, Elena, was born.
Almost on a whim, I thought it would be fun to put together a small ebook or booklet of recipes for the summer. My husband thought it was a great idea and with his help I started planning. But I couldn’t keep it simple (as my husband ruefully knows), and my idea soon blossomed into a full sized book of salad recipes.
What that has meant, is that I have been testing and retesting salad after salad. While we eat a fair amount of vegetables on a normal basis, we were consuming a much higher amount than normal. I was also testing many main dish salads that included a lot of high quality protein. Once again, we normally have adequate protein, but I definitely had a higher amount consistently.
While I really loved the recipes I was coming up with and enjoyed them, I wasn’t expecting any noticeable change in health. But I soon started feeling better physically-not so tired out. Then, I started not only getting a lot of extra work done on my book, but also being able to get back on track in my household chores, which had gotten behind. Then I decided that I had so much energy that I wanted to start home schooling my 4 year old this summer officially, rather than waiting until the fall. And then I decided to start planning out the fall schedule for my husband’s and my music studios. Let’s just say that my energy increase has been noticeable not only to me, but to my family (and husband) as well! In fact, I feel better than I have for a very long time.
So the end result of all of those vegetables and meats and fruits was that I was not only writing a book with young children under my care (which makes life interesting), but I was also being able to care for them more effectively and be more on top of my chores (okay, okay, not completely always on top of them, but a definite improvement). And this was despite the fact that I still nurse my 8 month old several times during the night. Oh, and one more thing, before I was tired enough that it seemed like too much effort to invite a lot of people over. Now that I am feeling better, I am excited and willing to put the effort out to have people over pretty often.
If nothing else, I feel like writing this book has given me a new lease on life. The title of my book is called “Fresh: Nourishing Salads for all Seasons”. It has green salads, fruit salads, pasta salads, potato salads, lentils salads and more. I happen to really love the recipes in this book (and think that they are some of my very best recipes). And I want to introduce you to more about the book soon (next week!).
But today, I wanted to close with sharing why I think that these adjustments in my already healthy diet really helped me regain my physical health.
In the book The Mood Cure
I did not take any amino acids, but I did eat plenty of protein and lots of varied produce, including both vegetables and fruit. It has certainly worked for me. At first, I noticed that if I went a day or two without any my large bowls of salad, I wouldn’t feel quite as good. But now I have evened out so much, that I feel pretty good (despite getting sick last week) even on days that I don’t have the most balanced diet.
I am thrilled.
Of course, it was great eating this way too because I was having so much fun creating new and exciting meals that were simple as well as delicious. I am truly excited about the book, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it. But I am even more excited about the increase of energy I’ve had.
So there you have it. My energy increased because I decided to write a book.
Latest posts by KimiHarris (see all)
- 2 Ingredient Peppermint Bark - December 21, 2022
- Herbal Hibiscus Lemonade (Keto, THM) - March 16, 2022
- Creamy Curry Red Lentil Soup - December 8, 2021
I have been reading a book about a regenerative diet called The Whals Protocol. Which is a paleo diet, based on this very idea that by eating enough vegetables and protein we can regenerate even from a severe illness like MS.
In her diet she recommends 9 cups of vegetables daily including 3 cups of greens, 3 cups of sulfurous and 3 cups of colors including some fruits.
Her results are pretty remarkable, and as a medical professional she substantiates her diet with data.
Sarah
Sarah,
I love Dr. Wahls work! Truly remarkable! When eating this salad rich diet, I wasn’t using exactly her protocol as it wasn’t high in sulfurous foods, but it certainly was getting close. 🙂