Holidays & Social Gatherings While on the Medical Medium Lifestyle

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My first year living on this Medical Medium Lifestyle made me realize how emotionally connected I was to food, especially around the holidays. I remember feeling so anxious, upset, frustrated, and sad all at the same time. The holidays stirred up so many emotions in me. At one point I didn’t even feel like participating in anything. Plus I was still terribly sick (was feeling fatigued, anxious, & felt faint most of the time) and didn’t want to talk about it with anyone.

The first year was the hardest. My top 3 challenges were dealing with: Food, People Asking Questions About My New Diet, and Dealing with Past Memories and Traditions. I’m happy to share that as the years went on it got much easier to deal with them. In fact, I actually look forward to celebrating the holidays. So here are my top 3 challenges and how I dealt with them.

1. Food ( what to do around Social Gatherings)

It is totally possible to be social while living this Medical Medium Lifestyle. I did find it challenging at first but like everything else I figured a way to make it happen. Here’s 3 things that I do to enjoy the company of others.

1. Bring my own food: If I am going to someone’s house I always like to bring my own meal. Now if it’s a potluck then I usually choose to bring an appetizer. I particularly like to bring roasted vegetables. It’s something a little more hearty and helps to keep me satiated for a longer period of time. My friends and relatives are aware of my diet and these days they actually make 1 or 2 dishes for me. So when that happens I usually bring a veggie platter with hummus or an avocado dip.
2. Take time to look over the menu: Going to a restaurant may seem taboo, but honestly it’s completely possible. When I’m heading to a restaurant I always take time before hand to look at the menu. The cleanest ones are usually the side dishes. Sometimes you can get lucky with health conscious restaurants. They often use clean ingredients so you’ll have more choices and may even find an entree.
   Okay now I know this will sound odd but, I normally stay away from salads, unless it was a raw vegan restaurant or something. I feel it’s too much of a risk with the possibility of cross contamination. Plus, salads are quite expensive and are never big enough for me. Most of the time I’m left still feeling hungry. So instead of salads I like to order plain baked potatoes with a side of avocado and lemon. One it’s filling and two because it is cooked the heat will help to kill pathogens if there are any.
3. Eat before: This is by far the one I do the most. Sometimes I don’t want to research or cook so I just eat before. I make sure to get enough glucose for energy and eat lots of greens so that the mineral salts will help keep me satiated. In addition to eating before I also bring a couple snacks.. All I do is excuse myself from the group and then head to the car to take a couple of bites. Another thing I do is carry raw honey packets. I just ask for some lemon water from the restaurant or bring my own and then add some honey to it. Sipping on this helps to support my adrenals.

The holidays can surely make you miss foods you used to eat. I totally understand and I myself struggled with this. Luckily there’s millions of others on this Medical Medium Lifestyle and some great recipe developers who have been able to replicate many festive dishes.

Here are a couple of websites for some holiday recipes :
• Medical Medium
• Plantiful Kiki
• Muneeza Ahmed
• GirlGoneWildBlues

2. People Asking Questions About My Diet

Diet. Let’s be honest it may be difficult for you to talk about and it can be a very controversial topic. Talking about it can be as sensitive as speaking about religion. I usually share with people, “I eat this way for health reasons”. This often helps to keep the peace and avoid strong opinions or comments. Once people hear that it’s for my health I normally don’t get much push back or negative feedback. Majority of the time, the conversation switches and symptoms become the main topic. At this point, you will have the choice to continue to speak about your health or you can just declare it as something private.

Something also to be mindful of is that family members & friends may need some time to adjust to your new healthy life. I know it may seem unfair as they should just automatically be okay with it but….before you quickly cut them out of your life, give them a little time. They may just be unsure on how to connect with you. Keep in mind we connect over food and meals so the change in diet may leave them lost for a period of time. Not to worry as you make new memories they will be able to adjust and the relationships will go even deeper.

Do know it’s not always a peaceful interaction. I’ve had people make comments or jokes about my decision. Yes it can be hurtful, but try your best not to take it personal because they are usually a self defense mechanism to help themselves feel comfortable. The reaction is often stems from them not understanding rather than a personal attack on you. Sometimes I think the thought of them putting themselves in my shoes was also a bit upsetting for them. They often shared how they felt my healing lifestyle being so restricted, difficult, and something they couldn’t imagine themselves doing. But those crazy reactions do eventually stop over time. What happens is that they realize the relationship stayed the same and over time they are able to find peace with the changes.

3. Dealing with Past Memories and Traditions

I often tell people that you sort of have to go through a grieving period when changing your lifestyle. For a moment you’ll be sad as your past, sick, unhealthy self disappears with all its traditions. But that will all pass as you begin to create new traditions with your new healthy life. And when the next year rolls around you’ll be excited to celebrate all the new traditions.

Also keep in mind that you are not the only one who will be grieving. Your family and friends will go through it as well. Some will get frustrated and may get angry. They may poke fun at your new lifestyle or even say negative things about your choices. A word of personal advice, try not to take it personally. Trust me more often than not, it is stemming from a place of fear on their part. Believe it or not your change can create fear in them.

Why is that? There are a couple of thoughts that could be happening. One could be around their uncertainty on how to connect with you. With your new change you probably won’t be enjoying the same food together or going to the restaurants you once both loved. Does this mean the relationship will fall apart? Absolutely not. It just means you both will now need to explore and find other ways to connect. This may feel extremely challenging and frustrating at first but from experience this will deepen your relationships.

Another thing that could cause fear is that your new lifestyle triggers uncertainty within them. Meaning that it could possibly promote the opposite of what they believe in and they then feel some internal emotional pushback. If someone is not confident enough or is not comfortable with their own self this difference could trigger fear. Do know that this could go both ways. You too could be feeling this because you may be not as confident in the choices you’ve made for yourself. Try to embrace the fact that we are all different and it’s okay. Relationships can still exist even though we may have a difference in opinion.

Be Grateful & Create New Traditions

I know that these times can be an emotional rollercoaster of feelings, which is why I like to focus on being grateful. Taking a moment to reflect on all the healing I’ve experienced helps me to remain grounded during those times.

I am someone who suffered with numerous symptoms for almost all of my life. I’ve experienced the frustration that chronically ill people battle with on daily basis. I have also gone through periods where dying almost seemed easier than living. For those reasons I am so very grateful to be healing. Honestly, I see my lifestyle as a gift from God, an answer to my prayers, & an opportunity to live.

So if this is your first holiday on your healing journey, hang in there. I promise these uncomfortable feelings will pass. It will be challenging but I know you can push through it. Now go on…get excited! You have a new tradition to create!!!