The Seven Steps I Took To Get My Health Back And So Can You

If you have been around my website, you have more than likely read up on my journey to health. Hashimoto’s, H.Pylori, Vitamin D deficiency, I had it all. Although Hashimoto’s cannot be cured, there are many things you can do to put it into remission and reclaim your health. Friends have asked me in the past to talk about what and how I did it, so here I am, sharing 7 steps I took to get my health back with you today. 

I do have to say though, the only thing I didn’t have and I wish I did, was to have someone to talk to who understood what I was going through! It would have saved me a lot of heartache and bouts of depression!

Okay, so let’s get into it! Below are the seven things I did to get healthier:

I took charge of the narrative

Conventional medicine will have you believe that there is nothing one can do to reverse autoimmunity, at least that’s what the doctors I saw said. I exhausted all avenues, running from specialist to specialist in search of answers. Once I decided to take charge, I started doing my research.

It wasn’t long before I was overwhelmed and depressed. There was a plethora of information out there but sifting through it was a challenge. I don’t regret it though, it was because of my research that I came across experts such as Dr. Mark Hyman. Although I could not access any functional medicine practitioners due to residing overseas at the time, I found a wealth of action steps on his blog that I could apply to my daily life. His blog posts, and some others which I talk about on another point, empowered me to be my health advocate and speak up and question what I didn’t understand. To seek out other therapies and treatments when conventional ones did not work.   

I started to eat healthy

This is a no-brainer. If I have learned anything from my experience it is that food is medicine. Wholesome, healing foods are all that you need to jump-start your body towards optimal health. You can exercise and cut calories all you want, but if the food you eat is processed and full of sugar you are sabotaging all your hard work. Here’s what I did from the get-go:

• I cut out gluten from my diet. There is ample evidence to suggest that gluten is inflammatory and can be especially problematic in people with thyroid issues. 
• I started drinking my greens in the form of juices and smoothies.
• I started the day with warm lemon water. 
• I incorporated broths and soups into my diet. If you are of South Asian descent then you may be familiar with Yakhni.
• I started cooking with good oils like ghee, butter, olive, and avocado and eliminated chemically processed oils like canola, corn, and soybean.
• I cut out sugar and artificial sweeteners. Not only did I have a mean sweet tooth, but I used to guzzle down several glasses of Diet Coke in one sitting!
• I started fasting twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays. Intermittent fasting is a wonderful tool to heal your gut and
• The black seed, which is anti-inflammatory, was part of my morning routine. I would take 1/4 teaspoon every morning before breakfast.
• I scoped out the best honey vendor in town, often dishing out close to $60 for a small jar of Sedr honey from Yemen. I would eat at least a teaspoon of honey every day, sometimes mixed with the black seed. I also used it as my sweetener of choice when baking.

I educated myself

We are so lucky to be alive in an age where information is literally at our fingertips. My research led me to inspirational accounts of regular people curing themselves and sharing their stories. One such story belongs to Joe Cross. I remember coming across his movie, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead on Netflix. In the movie, Joe talks about his struggle with autoimmune disease, obesity, and a host of other diseases and how he cured himself of them. I was so excited that I had my whole family watch it with me! I remember thinking that there was hope after all. 

I got moving

I started doing Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred program right around the same time and that helped me sweat out the toxins from my body. For accountability’s sake, I joined a group of friends who motivated me to take out the time to exercise. This has been the best thing for me to do, as I update this post in 2022, I am part of another friend’s group and the accountability is like no other.

I cleaned up my skincare and beauty products

When we think about what we put into our bodies we often neglect the fact that the stuff we put on it matters too. Our skin is the single largest organ of our body. It absorbs the carcinogens (formaldehyde, phthalates, and parabens) present in our makeup, moisturizers, and hair products into the bloodstream and can lead to endocrine disruption. I started checking my makeup and personal care products for problematic ingredients and switched to natural alternatives such as coconut oil for moisturizing and henna-based color to dye my hair.

I prayed

By far the most important ritual for me. Although I pray regularly, I took stock of the quality of my worship. I spoke to God like He was in front of me. I was desperate and I needed Him to heal me. 

I remember waking up pre-dawn and just sitting on my prayer mat for what seemed like hours, speaking to Him. 

I subscribed to different blogs and experts

This was instrumental in keeping me up to date on the latest research and news. I have these blogs and experts to thank for always providing information that increased my knowledge, gave me hope, and made me proactive rather than reactive when it came to my health:

• The Environmental Working Group 
• The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database 
• Mind Body Green 
• Dr. Mark Hyman 
• Lee Holmes 

So there you have it, the seven things I did to get back to health. They are truly powerful and helped me when all hope was lost. 

Do you know of someone with similar health conditions? Or perhaps you have experienced your own health concerns. How have you dealt with the challenges? Let me know in the comments and share this with a loved one so they can benefit too!