When you look at my About page, you will see a stark confession: My husband and I fell off the bandwagon. We gained weight back, our joints started hurting again, and we lost our drive.
But to understand exactly why we are fighting so hard to get back on the wagon today, you have to understand the terrifying medical emergency that started it all two years ago.
To give you the raw, unedited truth of that moment, I am digging into my personal archives. Below is the exact email I sent to a close friend, Ben, on August 8, 2024—just four weeks after a routine day turned into a health crisis.
The Archive: Email to Ben (August 8, 2024)
Hi Ben,This is a long read and I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to share with you a change in our lifestyle. Joe was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg almost four weeks ago. While in the emergency room, we discovered his blood pressure was alarmingly high. I know mine is also high from a visit I had with a doctor almost a year ago. It made us take a good look at ourselves and after some research on ways to lower blood pressure, we completely changed our eating and living habits.We cut out all processed foods (packed with sodium!!!! not to mention sugar and other additives) and we eat only fresh foods, canned no-salt added or frozen vegetables, and frozen fish (wild caught only). We are striving to maintain a 1500 (Julie) and 1800 (Joe) calorie intake per day. This is the minimum we each need just to maintain. We have added daily exercise of some sort – biking, hiking, kayaking, swimming and/or walking.We both have lost significant weight. Joe has lost 17 pounds some of which was fluid from his swollen leg and I have lost 6 1/2. We feel better and have more energy. My blood pressure is completely normal and Joe’s is almost but he is on a blood thinner and that affects blood pressure.In addition, I had a great deal of joint pain and was experiencing a lot of indigestion which I never had before. Joe has always had to deal with indigestion on a daily basis. Both of us have little to none of these issues now. It has been just three weeks and the changes we have experienced are unreal. We are never going back! We are eating to live and not living to eat. What a difference.
Reclaiming the Momentum Today
Reading those words today brings back a flood of memories. In just three short weeks of cutting out processed foods, my blood pressure completely normalized, my severe joint pain vanished, and Joe dropped 17 pounds of fluid and weight.
We felt ten years younger. We promised ourselves we would never go back.
And yet, over the last two years, convenience foods crept back in, old habits took over, and those aches, pains, and extra pounds returned.
I am publishing this email today as a reminder to myself, and a lesson to anyone watching: The human body responds incredibly fast to clean nutrition, but it is a lifelong commitment.
The math worked in 2024, and it still works today. We are dusting off our bikes, prepping the fresh meals, and doing the heavy lifting of eating natural foods once again.
If you are trying to reclaim your health after a major slipup, you are not alone. Let’s get back on the wagon together.