It is still unbelievable to me that I am now a healthy 55-year-old woman in the best shape and health of my entire life! Prior to this, I had been chronically ill for over 20 years and on a disability for 10 years. I no longer suffer from Lyme Disease, Babesia, Bartonella. parasites, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, migraines, PTSD, hypoglycemia or adrenal fatigue.

How I did it!

1/ Paleo Diet- balanced blood sugar
2/ Buhner’s original Lyme Protocol
3/ Modified Hulda Clark Bowel Cleanse
4/ Detoxification
5/ Intensive parasite cleansing
6/ Healed my digestion
7/ Drank sufficient water
8/ Restored mineral deficiencies with hair testing
9/ Restored essential fatty acids
10/ Supported the adrenals
11/ Exercise that was appropriate for each stage of my healing
12/ Eliminated toxins
13/ Surrounded myself with loving and supportive family and friends
14/ Lots of sunbathing and barefooting
15/ Sleep  7 – 8 hours per night
16/ Developed a strong spirituality

Highlights from the Past Year

Back to school!
I spent 10 months studying with the Nutritional Therapy Association to obtain my certification as a Nutritional Therapy Consultant. I spent most evenings studying, reading and researching. This kept me far busier than I cared for, but I am grateful to have graduated and learned so much with the NTA. You can read more about it in this article.

Maintained a full caseload of clients
My practice has grown to full capacity. I have tried to keep my prices as low as possible while offering the best practical approach to supporting those with Lyme Disease, co-infections, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, mental illness, chronic migraines, sugar imbalance and so many other illnesses. Obviously, nutrition is key but so is digestion, mineral balance, hydration, restoring essential fatty acids and just giving the body the basics for great health.

The tools I use are Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) and the NutriQ.  The Nutri-Q is a complete Health Assessment Questionnaire that will ask you specific questions about symptoms that you are having. This is a very sophisticated nutritional software program which reveals which systems in the body are needing nutritional and supplemental intervention. If you are interested in booking a consult, please go to my contact page for a list of my fees.

Sold our house in Canada!
I have a small apartment here in Playa del Carmen. It is very inexpensive and has allowed me to do what I do. I have adopted a very simple life and enjoy a walking lifestyle. It is very healthy to walk for groceries, meeting friends, local appointments all on foot. I have grown accustomed to living without a car and all of the other material possessions I had in Canada. I find the less I have, the less I have to worry about.

Stopped dying my hair!
I have decided to embrace my grey hair. It has only been 4 months but it is coming along nicely. I just couldn’t handle putting those chemicals on my head every 5 weeks. I am embarrassed that I did it for as long as I did. I am always the first to tell my clients that if they can’t eat it they shouldn’t put it on their skin. I will be writing a post on this in the next couple of weeks.

Menopause
I am happy to say that this transition was quite seamless. I really didn’t have any difficulty except for a few months of hot flashes. I completed this phase when I was 54.5 years old and my energy, outlook and weight all have remained steady.  I never took any hormonal treatment, and understand today that if a woman’s body is balanced, her hormones will be balanced as well. It is really not that complicated, but we have to take care of our diet, digestion, hydration, mineral balance and practise good self-care.

Typhoid Fever- A game changer!
A month ago, I came down with Typhoid Fever here in Playa del Carmen. It was brutal, to say the least. It became crystal clear to me that I had been driving myself extremely hard for the past year and a half. The non-stop stress of work and school had finally caught up with me. My dream of opening a guesthouse here in Playa del Carmen for those with chronic illness is not practical. This is a project that would require my undivided attention 7 days per week. The stress would be too much, and my health would suffer, no doubt. This experience taught me that I can only do so much, and I need to let go of this dream. I am about 90% recovered as I write this post. Apparently, full recovery from Typhoid does take some time.  You can read more about my experience with typhoid here. 

 A look at the year ahead!

Canada
I will be returning to Canada for 5 weeks over Christmas and New Years. I miss my family so much! So I will dust off my winter gear and try and adapt to those frigid temperatures. I hope to do some snowshoeing. I’m really not much of a winter activity girl but will do my best.

Africa
My dream has always been to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I am long overdue for a holiday and need a rest from this past year. I will be taking a month off in January so I can climb Kili, go on safari and hang out in Zanzibar for a bit. I really need to unplug from the internet and have some quiet time with nature, my Higher Power and whoever happens to cross my path.

Embrace life as a digital nomad
I will be working and travelling over the next 6 – 9 months. I have no plan, other than to continue with my consults and spend some serious time in Spain and Italy. I’m just trying to figure out how I can pack my blender and a Berkey water filter system. This should be interesting.

Write an E-Book
I have been asked many times to write a book so people can find everything in one place. I agree! My website/blog now has quite a few articles and it is difficult to find my protocol in an organized way. So this is my logical next step. I will try and write a simple step-by-step guide that will be easier to follow.

Practice radical self-care
This means taking the best possible care of myself – doing all of the above to regain my health. I know that I live in a world that is constantly trying to chip away at my health and vitality. I do know that I have been given one body. It is the most valuable possession that I will ever have in my entire life.

Love as much as I can!
In the end, it really is about loving God, each other and ourselves. I don’t always do this very well, but it is something I continuously work on.

Never, ever give up!
To those of you that are suffering, never, ever give up! You have to fight back! Once the body has all of the nutrients, proper digestion and self-care it will heal itself. If you are having difficulty recovering take a look at this article.  10 Reasons You Can’t Get Rid of Lyme Disease and Parasites. There might be a few things that are holding you back.

If you are interested in booking a consult, please go to this page for nutritional therapy and hair analysis.

Blessings and Best of Health!

Brenda

Feature Photo- Ashlie Woods

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I never, ever thought I would be back in school at the age of 54.  Since recovering my health from lyme disease, chronic fatigue Syndrome, fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, chronic migraines and several co-infections, I felt I needed to help others.  I have been in complete remission since November, 2014.  You can read about everything that I did to recover here.

Last summer, August 2016, I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain. This was a promise fulfilled in thanksgiving for my healing. I prayed about what my next steps should be in life.  After hiking over 900 kilometers, it was loud and clear that I was to get my certification with the Nutritional Therapy Association as a Nutritional Therapy Consultant. Once I read through their philosophy and reading list, I knew this was the right fit for me. I already had many of these books in my collection, so the decision was an easy one to make. This certification is the perfect complement to my work as a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) Practitioner with Trace Elements Lab and Lyme Disease Coach.  My previous college diploma in Addictions Counselling has enabled me to work with several clients that have disordered or addictive eating patterns as well.

NTA’s Philosophy

Nutritional Therapists, as envisioned by NTA, teach the importance of properly prepared whole foods that are delicious, nourish our bodies, and restore good health. Once foods have been highly processed, as most foods in America are, there is no combination of carbohydrates, fats, and protein that will ultimately be healthy. As dietary fads alternate between diets high in carbohydrates, and others high in protein and fat, one thing has become very obvious, there is no one perfect diet for everyone. While some people thrive on a diet relatively low in fats, for others the increase in carbohydrates is devastating. Likewise, Atkins-like diets high in fat may have helped some people, but for others have been completely inappropriate and even dangerous. NTA teaches the concept of bio-individuality. There is no perfect diet for everyone. Nutritional Therapists are trained to help each client find the right types of whole foods that will restore balance and enhance their ability to heal.

“Although all wellness-minded doctors appreciate the importance of proper diet and nutritional supplementation, it is often very difficult for them to do the proper evaluation and dietary counseling necessary to support optimal healing. Nutritional Therapists are trained to work alongside these practitioners either in their offices or in private practice to support the doctors’ diagnosis and other therapies. The NTA website can be found here.

The picture below was taken in Las Vegas at our recent 3 day workshop. We had the privilege of meeting Gray Graham the founder of the NTA. He is an amazing teacher and really walks the walk as a  great nutritional therapist.

Today

I have been really busy trying to keep up with my clients, plus take the necessary time for study.  Somehow, I am managing to keep up! I am fortunate to be able to study and work entirely online. I am so amazed at what I am capable of accomplishing each day with a laptop and a great internet connection. We are called digital nomads, and are becoming more and more common all over the world.

I am still living in Playa del Carmen in my tiny one bedroom apartment. My life is quite simple but very focused. Each day I exercise, shop, work, study, eat and repeat!  There hasn’t been much time for socializing, but that will come again in time.  My body continues to heal and gain strength.  My mind is getting clearer and the cognitive issues from years of chronic Lyme Disease are becoming fewer and fewer.  I am still very determined to open my guest house here  for those with chronic illness. Hopefully, it will be up and running by January, 2018.

All and all, I am living a purpose-driven life.  It feels good to be healthy, productive, peaceful and happy. This is so different from my 20 years of sickness.  I honestly can’t believe that I am the same person.   Food is powerful medicine!

Blessings and Best of Health,

Brenda

Photography – Ashlie Woods 

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