After years of struggling, Iamfinallyhealthier, happier, less stressed, have much more energy, and live a much more balanced life – all by making the simple change of listening to whatmy body really needed to heal itself. I wasn't dramatically ill – just constantly run down, sniffling, and pretending it was fine. I remember one of my colleagues saying: 'Weren't you just ill last month?' And that was when I first started thinking that whether my lifestyle and food choices were somehow affecting my health.
Understanding the Context
Iwas only five weeks pregnant and still giddy from the double success of my IVF. Iwas working out five times a week and felt amazing, and Iwas sure I could maintain my energy untilI popped out my babies and got back to the gym. Finally, Iwas diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, or UC, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The inner lining of mystomachis overactive due to a problem with my immune system, which leads to ulcers, stomach cramps, diarrhoea, anaemia and fatigue.
Image Gallery
Key Insights
I used to thinkIwashealthy. I didn’t smoke. I wasn’t overweight. I even walked to work and back, five days a week. My version of “eating well” meant skipping soda and choosing grilled chicken over fries.
Final Thoughts
Friends would often tell me, “You’re one of the healthy ones.” I noticed weight creeping on around mystomach when Iwas in my early 40s. Normally a size 14, my clothes started becoming tighter around my middle. I wasn’t eating any differently, but mystomachwas growing. A woman's life was turned upside down overnight after she collapsed and became paralysed with a rare disease that was initially diagnosed as MS. Victoria Johnston was fit and healthy when she fell at work in the spring of 2022, unable to feel her legs beneath her. “No way,” Ithought.
Could that be what was making mystomach hurt? I had always assumed it was what Iwas eating – maybe that Iwas eating too much, or not the right things. What they were about to revealwas something no one was prepared to hear. The doctor explained that Delicia’s pain was not ordinary at all.