It’s been a while since we really dove into this blog. We are now diving back in and going to try and have some fun along the way. Our lapse in posting started when we got derailed by COVID – what was that again? All those months that the world was shut down and we just stayed in our little hidey holes and never went out.
After we were finally released from our prisons, and rubbed our eyes and ventured out into a strange new world we posted some blogs about eating out in a post COVID world and how businesses were responding to the new guidelines.
As our lives slowly regained normalcy (or what one might argue) we just got busy with work, lives, and other adventures. We became grandparents!! We are blessed with two beautiful grandchildren. Claire, now 3 and Elliott all of 11 months. I am forbidden to post pictures in any social media per their mom, and frankly I wholeheartedly agree.
I feel though, that ever since COVID I just have not been myself. I gained a ton of weight, and no matter how much I worked out, or how healthy I ate, I just could not shed. I was tired, listless, uncomfortable in my own skin, felt awful as I kept buying bigger clothes, not to mention the enormous pain in my hands, knees, frankly all over. My blood pressure, pulse rate and cholesterol, all high. Even my sugar started to increase. I knew I needed a change.
My journey started about around April or May when I had dinner with a very good friend. We were expressing our normal complaints about health and wellness when she told be she had been to a homeopathic doctor that amongst many other things had her cut out gluten and dairy. She said her inflammation was better and she felt like she was on the right path.
That is what I needed. A doctor that looks at all of you, mind, body and spirit. I go to the cardiologist, they talk just about your heart, your general PC takes some blood, takes your blood pressure, listens to your lungs and basically says your levels are not great, but not so bad that we will intervene. Your “lady doctor” well, we know what she does.
I started cutting out dairy and gluten as an experiment. I even cut back drinking which I was doing way too much of. Within a couple months, I started to see a dramatic lessening of the pain in my hands and knees. I still did not feel great, although I did lose about 10 lbs. in this period. I was still looking for the right Homeopath, or functional medical doctor.
I kept seeing an old high school friend of mine posting on Facebook about the clinic she worked at and how they were really making changes happen, not only with her personally, but to many people. I decided to give it a try. The place is the Transcendence Family Wellness Center in Sterling Heights, with Dr. Josh Henks.
The first month or so with the clinic had me doing a huge myriad of tests. As I don’t want to divulge all their secret sauce, I will just say they were extensive and included a multitude of blood tests and food insensitivity tests.
During this time, as Dr. Henks is a Chiropractor by trade, I also started with chiropractic care. I finally started the 6 month healing journey that I so desperately needed.
The first 7 weeks involves a deep cleanse and detox, purging all things from your diet such as all foods you are intolerant to, caffeine (yes, no coffee!! ARRGH) alcohol (what?) processed foods and many other things. Within this seven weeks I was able to stop taking all medications, such as Prilosec, and my asthma medicine. No more acid reflux!! Between cleanses, super restrictive diets and fasting periods, not only do I feel better than I have in years, I have lost a total of 26 lbs. to date, which is amazing!! I am pulling clothes out of my closet I have not seen in years. And this is just the start of my journey. I am only entering now week 7, so excited to see where the next 4 months will take me. I ham learning a new way of life, no just a temporary “diet”. I feel like 40 year old Jen again! I also finally have energy (and less pain) to play on the floor with my grandkids.
Omar has also joined this journey with me, albeit not exactly the same. He is successfully following his own wellness journey, and he too has lost a bunch of weight (he looks fantastic) and he is also feeling worlds better.
So long story short readers, yes, I know, “too late”! Omar and my posts from here on out will focus on navigating the world of dining out, chasing healthy options and bold flavors. Omar will focus on overall calories, choosing this vs. that to make better choices. I will review restaurants also by their ability to cater to special diets, such as gluten free and vegan. And what to eat off the menu that won’t put your health into a tailspin. Also, we will be getting much more brutal. The caliber of restaurant food has gone down dramatically and we want to save you valuable money by not going to subpar restaurants that allowed their quality of food and service to crash and burn.
That does not mean we won’t eat Green Lantern again, or enjoy an ice creams sundae, it just all had to be in moderation.
We are also going to be adding a new category into our “Brews, chews and snooze” and Omar will start to blog on “booze” giving you a rundown of different bourbons and his interpretations. We will take you on a journey as we journey off to Kentucky for a bourbon tour road trip, but not until of course our pool is closed!
So, stay tuned for new exciting things coming to Jomar’s Brews and Chews!
