One Year Down!

New Years 2014At the beginning of 2013 I made two resolutions: to become healthy and to write this blog as a way to keep myself motivated & educated.  As I have been reflecting on this past year the last two days, I feel so blessed that I’ve been able to meet and exceed my goals.

A year ago, I was starting to learn more about nutrition and natural healing and seeing some results, but I wanted more.  I wanted freedom from my chronic pain and illness.  I knew that it would take a lot of work… sorting through all the confusing, contradictory and controversial information on health out there to decide what I should follow and what would work for me, as well as consistently following the new diets and routines that I needed to integrate into my life.  I have plenty of room to improve on my health habits this year, but I certainly did better than ever in 2013.  While it’s easy to let vanity take over and feel bummed about the weight I never lost, I must focus on the true healing I’ve experienced.  I can’t remember a time where I got sick as little as I did this past year. And I went from being in near constant back pain to only every once in awhile now… y’all, it is life changing.  I enjoy life so much more now that I don’t have the cloud of pain hanging over me. I am so thankful to feel great almost every day when I wake up.  I pray that you’ve experienced healing too, this year.  If you have, I’d love to hear about it, and even share it here!

As for this blog, I could have never imagined all the success it’s had this year (even with my lack of consistency!).  I felt compelled to start it because of all that I was learning… I wanted my friends and family to be able to share in the healing that I was experiencing.  Honestly, I never imagined that this blog would reach as many people as it has.  I simply wanted an avenue to share with people I knew, and if only 20 people ever read it, I would have been thrilled.  But I’ve gotten visitors from all over the world!  In 2013, I had nearly 6,000 unique visitors to this site and I simply cannot believe it!  I’ve received great feedback from readers that my blog has helped them find reliable sources for health recommendations, that it’s opened their eyes to information they hadn’t heard before, or that it’s been nice to have a summary of topics that they wouldn’t have the time or energy to research otherwise.  I love this stuff, so I am happy to help 🙂 To close out the year, I thought I would share my most popular posts of 2013 in case you missed anything!

Most Read Post – Kombucha Home-Brew during Fabulous Fermentation Week

Most Pinned Pinterest Image – Whipped Coconut Milk

Most Popular Recipe – Parmesan Pesto Chicken & Herb Stuffed Brussel Sprouts

Most Controversial – Why I’m Not a Vegan

Most Reader-Shared – Soy it Ain’t So and Why We Get Fat

I have been reading lots of interesting books lately and I’m excited to share lots more in 2014, so stay tuned for more posts soon.  Be sure to hit the “Follow” button at the top right corner of my site to get an email whenever I publish a new blog if you don’t want to miss anything!  And leave a comment to let me know what you would like to see more of on this blog… documentary reviews? book summaries? health controversies? recipes?  I’d love your feedback!

Wishing you a healthy & hopeful 2014!

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Happy New Year!

Dinner on New Year's Eve - Lamb Loin with Minted Smashed Parsnips and Carrots

I’ve never been one to have a new year’s resolution, but I am finally going join the bandwagon and make one.  Judging by the crazy amount of Weight Watcher’s commercials and plastic surgery advertisements out there right now, I’m guessing that a lot of people out there want to lose a little weight.  I’d be lying to say that’s not part of my goal as well, but there’s much more to my resolution than just my weight.  This year, 2013, I want to become healthy.

They say the keys to keeping a resolution are achievability and accountability.  As if one overwhelming, ambiguous resolution weren’t enough for me, I also decided to start a blog. Well, actually, I’m hoping that the commitment of regularly writing blog posts will be a motivator for my pursuit of health.  I mean, what better way to stay accountable than by putting this out there for the world to see?  I plan to take this one post at a time, committing to researching and writing about my new knowledge and progress step-by-step.  With such a long road ahead of me, I think motivation is crucial to keeping my goal. The more I understand, the more motivation I have to change.

I’ll share more about my health history later, but essentially I’ve struggled with unexplained health issues and chronic pain my entire life.  For years, I looked for answers and cures the conventional way with no luck. Recently, I have finally begun to discover understanding and healing through nutrition. My newfound passion for all of this has opened up my eyes to so much hope that I feel compelled to share it with everyone I can.

Illnesses like obesity, cancer, food allergies, depression, insomnia/lack of energy, hormonal issues and pain have become commonplace in our world, but they are not normal.  So what is normal?  What does it mean to be truly healthy?  And with so many dieticians, nutritionists, doctors and celebrity experts out there claiming different solutions, where’s the truth in health?

I hope you’ll join me on this journey as I share my research on nutrition and holistic medicine and learn how to live healthy in a real world.  I’ll share my reviews on books from the experts and controversial documentaries, try new recipes, buy organic groceries on a budget, and document my healing progress.  All I ask is that you keep an open mind, as I’ve had to… this is going to rock our world… a lot.

Wishing you a healthy & hopeful new year,

Christine