IF YOU DIDN’T COME FROM A HEALTHY FAMILY, MAKE SURE A HEALTHY FAMILY COMES FROM YOU!
My parents were not health focused. We had a very standard American diet. They just didn’t know any better. I often wonder where my passion for health and wellness came from!?! I remember being a young girl filling out college applications trying to select a major thinking….”HUM, what do I want to do for the rest of my life?” I had no idea! I remember choosing Nutrition and Dietetics solely because even if I didn’t use this education as a career it would be helpful in my everyday life but having no idea what I was really signing up for.
While doing my undergrad internship I became very discouraged with the field of nutrition as it had been presented to me. I was shadowing a dietician in the hospital and we were working with a gentleman who had just had open heart surgery. My job was to do a quick little education talk around good nutrition for heart health. We then charted his patient file and I asked what next? When do I follow up? How do I know if he needs more support? How do we know what happens to this patient. And her response was shocking to me……..we don’t.
Wait, what? I had an immediate heart shift and decided to not pursue nutrition as a career in this capacity.
Fast forward several years…..I was working for a genetic laboratory and learned some very valuable information. I learned that I was carrying a mutated gene that does not allow my body to methylate, remove and process toxins efficiently (my mom and I had this in common). Our bodies have a built in filtration system and were designed in such a way to recognize chemicals and toxins, process them and get rid of them but this MTHFR mutation slows my methylation process down quite a bit. Hence why my lifestyle may look a bit extreme to some. Actually, about 30-40% of people have an MTHFR mutation and are unaware so our bodies are collecting, storing and holding onto these said toxins causing issues and contributing to disease. So with my mom being diagnosed with breast cancer and now my dad have heart surgery many wonder what role genetics plays here. Our genetics are definitely important but what’s even more important is the information we provide our genetics. I love the functional medicine approach because it focuses on the cause of disease and in most cases it’s multiple factors. Which is why my mission is always to inspire you to live your healthiest life and that includes choosing whole foods, staying active, removing toxins from your home, personal care products, working your lymphatic system to ensure your detox pathways are always open and choosing gratitude and appropriate stress management tools.
While walking my moms breast cancer journey we learned that 95ish% of all cancers (all disease really) is directly related to your environmental factors. That single bit of information changed my life forever. We immediately began making what lifestyle adjustments we could but my mom was fighting for her life. She was weak, sick, and weary. My heart was broken watching her suffer so much, knowing she needed to make some big lifestyle changes only lacking energy, motivation and discipline to do so. My heart was softened and my focus turned to prevention. I ultimately lost my mom to cancer and that is the moment Purposefully Well was planted on my heart. The truth is, there are so many things out of our control that contribute to our health in a negative way. But that makes controlling the ones we can that much more important.
I began struggling with my own health roughly 2 years after my mom passed. Through my own health journey I found lymphatic health and specifically ASSISTED LYMPHATIC THERAPY. This tool has been a crucial part of my own healing journey because it helps address stagnant lymph on a deep level. With my MTHFR mutation my body really benefits from this therapy to keep the sewage system of the body (lymphatic system) flowing optimally so it can detox well, keep inflammation low and my immune system strong.
So with many years of research and a heart to help people understand the importance of good lifestyle choices you get the Tonya you see today. I’m not perfect, its not about that! Trying to be perfect actually makes this process unenjoyable and adds stress to your life. Trust me I have been there too. I just encourage you all to start small. Choose one area and be open to learning new habits.
How can I help you on your journey? I’m curious, what would you like to see more of here on the blog? I would love to know what inspires you, what motivates you? Knowing this, helps me serve you all better.