The Role of Fear in My Chronic Illness.

Travel helped me realize that something bigger was happening than just wondering if I would find food. I was simply afraid! I had good reason to be afraid. I couldn’t eat over 30 different foods, just being in the sun or heat made my body feel instant pain and lead to horrible headaches, I was having daily migraines, and I was so fatigued that very little activity would make me feel so tired. I was a hot mess! These things were all my reality and worth considering as possibilities for why travel was not possible or wouldn't be worth it for me. But they were just fears. Fear is something that puts us into a cage. None of these meant I should give up my dream of seeing the world, but they did make me doubt if it was possible. 

Fear can hold us back from living life. Fear keeps us down, from leaving the house, from enjoying our lives. Fear was that annoying friend that would remind me that my body was unwell and sometimes push me into a flare up.  Fear was that demon on my shoulder telling me that travel was not for someone like me. 

For over 9 years now, I have struggled with an intolerance and reactions to sun and heat. I’m taking heat over 70 degree fahrenheit and being in the sun for even 5 minutes would put me into a full on flare that lasted days. It was becoming so frustrating! As a kid and young adult, I loved the summer, playing in the sun and heat until bed when possible. But summer had become my enemy. I went to doctors asking for help. They would do tests on me and were stumped for answers. They told me to stay out of the heat and sun as much as possible, drink water, and come back next year. I felt frustrated, I had no idea what to do. The result was that I spent 8 years out of the sun. I would live only in air conditioning. I barely saw friends at home because their homes were too hot, my house too dark, or the shade from trees was not cool enough for my body to handle. While traveling, I had to go out in the morning or at night, braving it when there was enough shade to allow me to not overheat. I lived in the shadows and I was sick of it. 

For seven years now, I have been changing my diet and lifestyle and mind to help my body heal from the chronic illness that stole my body from me. I was careful and protected myself like a mama bear protects her young. And I saw such an improvement in my health! In the last year, I’ve been able to add some foods back into my diet that I had previously lost, I slowly was having more energy than before, my migraines went from 7 a week to 4 or 5 a week. I felt so much better.  But I still could not handle more than 10 minutes in the sun and heat over 75 degree fahrenheit, I decided this was my next thing to tackle. At this point it was safe to say that I had an unhealthy fear of the sun and heat. I was terrified. And I honestly had good reason to feel that way, but also it was not helping me to heal. My body was trying to keep me safe, it was protecting me. It was loving me. But trying to avoid all sun and heat was adding even stress to my already tired and burdened body and mind. And that made me more sick.

I had a doctor that had told me that my health is like a tea cup. The tea cup holds all the problems and stresses for me. My childhood home was extremely stressful and unhappy and I had trauma from this, and this trauma filled my tea cup.  As a kid, I was always sick, my diet was not full of the nutrients that I needed, and this filled my cup up a bit more. As an adult, I could not afford a place to live for many months, I moved to another state, couldn’t find a job, ate what I could get, and all this overwhelmed me. My family was a constant stressor and I would feel exhausted by just seeing their names show up on my phone caller ID. There were several more things and basically my tea cup was almost full. At 22 years old, I started working for a refugee resettlement agency, I LOVED the job and the people I helped but I had A LOT on my plate and mind. I barely slept. This all overflowed my tea cup! I started getting daily migraines, my stomach was in crazy pain always, I reacted to almost every food I ate, I had no energy, the heat and sun issues started, and I had to deal with the trauma I had. I went on like this for 7 years, overjoyed to be helping people but doing while in SO much pain. I knew I needed to rest or something worse would happen. I left my job and traveled for 13 months. I slowly felt better.  Fast forward to the summer of 2019, I finally felt better than I had in so long. I decided to face my fear of sun and heat, head on and teach my body to handle it. 

I had done sauna in Europe and South America during our travels in 2018. I was afraid to sit in heat but my fear was overridden by the desire to engage with culture and people we met while traveling. I did it and while it was hard and I didn't always feel incredible after I wanted to do it. I realized after that this might be a ticket towards health for me. I knew it could fail miserably and I might get worse but I had tried everything else and I was desperate and open to trying anything. I wanted to teach my body that sun and heat aren’t bad things in themselves, in fact they are both good things. Heat causes you to sweat and this is a pathway for the body to release toxins. Sun is one of the ways the body receives vitamin D, and vitamin D is a necessary nutrient for health functioning. My goal was to train myself to slowly handle small doses of both.

So in 2019, I found a local gym that had a sauna and started going weekly. I was adding minutes every few weeks, and felt so proud of my body! Next step was being in the sun more. The summer of 2019, my husband and I lived and worked out of our suitcases for 3 months on the Oregon Coast, Seattle, and in Victoria, British Columbia. The thing these places all have in common was less heat and short periods of sun. It made me feel more safe to go on walks outside knowing that it wasn’t hot and that there would be shade or clouds somewhere. It gave me confidence to start getting sun. I spend most of that summer outside in the summer. I started outside first for 10 minutes a day, and each day added more time out in the sun. At first, I didnt feel better but I knew I needed the sun and felt that if I could get more sun then it might help my headaches. Nothing else was working and I was sick of avoiding the sun and heat. Because my gosh it is everywhere! 

-My reality was that heat and sun gave me instant migraines and then led me to react to foods more easily. And this made me tired and stressed out and then led to more migraines.

-Fear told me heat and sun were bad and to stay out of the sun and heat. 

1. I agreed with fear because sun and heat obviously made me sick and it was trying to protect me.

2. But I also knew fear was holding me back from further healing. I had done the hard work of healing through eating a healthy diet, reducing  my exposure to chemicals and toxins, i did many cleanes, reduced stress and anxiety, I was doing the hard work of working through mental trauma I had from my childhood, I was getting better. I had spent 7 long years doing this. But I was still really vitamin D deficient and this was adding to headaches and the supplements were not fixing it alone. I could feel that I needed sun. 

3. So armed with this awareness and goal, I started my journey of slowly doing sauna, spending short times out in the sun and when I could safely and in a fun way I would combine heat and sun. I started to sweat again, I started to feel better, my migraines reduced to once a week. 

4. I wasn't mad at fear for holding me back from enjoying summer, for keeping me in a dark house alone for hours and hours a day, for keeping me away from friends homes and parties, that wasn't going to help me now. I decided fear needed to not hold such a front and center place in my life. Instead, I thanked it for its service in keeping me safe, and alerting me to problems. I told it that it had served its purpose in my life and that it was released from its duty and needed to go now. And you know what?! It has listened! I'm not saying that I don’t react to heat and sun but that now I am able to get sun and sun without freaking to beforehand and making it worse. I feel more feel now. 

Fear can be our enemy or our helper. You get to choose. What do you want your life to look like? Do you want to let fear be the main or only voice you listen to? Yes, fear served a purpose in life, but it was not a “friend” I always wanted around, because it was suffocating me and was my enemy many times. So I chose to listen to it’s warning alarm of the problem, do the hard work of healing, and then tell it to go its way. It was both my enemy and helper at times. But I was not going to let it stop me any longer!

Change of View..Change of Way??

You know those books, the Eat, Pray, Love ones that show a downtrodden white, westerner who finally takes the plunge and travels for long periods of time and returns home a changed person. Is this a real possibility or just a fairy story?? I half thought it was possible and half believed it was a marketing scheme from a large company. But after traveling to 44 countries and having many friends from around the world, I now believe travel is truly life-changing if you let it be. My friend, from Syria, would talk about American ways of living and communicating and dealing with conflict as dysfunctional and I felt on the defensive at times. While a large part of me knew he was right, I knew I grew up in an abusive home, came into adulthood with trauma, lots of health issues and struggled to make strong relationships, I felt it my duty to defend those things. But now I think I’m starting to be able to see past my American socialization and upbringing. My time in France has finally been the needle in a haystack I needed to see that there are some American oddities that may be hurting us, this is one:

• We, Americans, feel the need for others to always agree with us, and feel threatened if they have or show a different point of view from our own values and beliefs. When people have a different value I often feel I need to defend my own. I have many friends, Conservative/Republican and Liberal/Democrat who cancel others if they disagree with that person thoughts, ideas, and beliefs.

  • The French like to debate with each other and love when something has a different point of view. It allows for stimulating conversation and an opportunity to grow, change that view/belief, and showcase what ideas/knowledge you have.

Is this way of living healthy for us as a people and society? I feel in my body that it’s not. I instantly feel the need to defend and retreat when others come at me talk about their opposite from me views. I don’t always know their motivation but their demeanor says it’s more to to win a fight, than have a conversation. Maybe our desire for creating safe spaces has led us to separate more than we should from others of differing thought. There’s always a need to separaste from others who are unsafe, like me with my birth mother and sister but then there are others maybe I should stick it out with and try to show them a different way to share their views. Maybe if Americans has the social and communication skills to discuss views we would be so in fear when others disagree. Maybe we could instead listen for their points and opinions and experiences and why behind their views before we discount and go on the offensive. Maybe we could give space to the other to speak and they to us. Differing opinions is okay as long as it’s not putting others in danger and is looking out for our neighbor and going out with live first. 

Travel is a good teacher and has changed my life. What lessons have you learned from traveling? 

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5 Myths that you can’t travel with Food Reactions or Chronic Health Issues + Reasons that just AIN'T TRUE!

Life with chronic health issues and food restrictions can be SO limiting and TIRING! You might be wondering if traveling is possible. Like what if I don’t find food? Will I have fun? What if I get sick? What if it’s stressful? What if I have a flare-up of symptoms? These are valid worries that I’ve felt. But then I went out and experienced travel for myself. So here’s my journey of addressing these worries...

Myth #1 - “I won’t find food I can eat.”

In Athens, Greece, I found sheep milk ice cream!

You’re not crazy for feeling this. This is a reasonable thing to fear. This is what led me to do a “test-run” of long-term travel before quitting my job and traveling for a year. It can be daunting to travel knowing that there are certain foods or ingredients you need to avoid. Finding food while on a restrictive diet can seem like a paralyzing task anywhere in the world. Needing to avoid certain food creates a challenge but not an impossibility. 

I am allergic to gluten and wheat. I am extremely intolerant to dairy, soy, and corn, and I am sensitive to 20+ other foods. I’m not going to lie, it can be a challenge. I’ve had moments where I’ve gone into restaurants and stores without finding any food I can eat and walked out crying. I’ve walked through amazing foodie cities with my mouth watering, knowing full-well that I couldn’t try the local cuisine because it wasn’t safe for me. 

But I’ve also had moments where I found that the world was my oyster because I could eat almost anything I wanted to without fear. I’ve visited countries fully expecting to cook all of my own meals, and then suddenly found restaurants and cafes that were completely safe. I’ve found the joy of scouring local markets for alternative ingredients for local cuisines, and then replicating local recipes so I could try my own version of the local dishes that I would have never thought of if I had just stayed home.

I’ve had to learn to compromise, to be adaptable and let my expectations go. But the joys and experiences I’ve had taking the leap of travel has filled my life with joy and made every food victory taste just a little bit sweeter.

Myth #2 - “It won’t be fun to travel with health issues.”

This one depends on your mindset and your attitude, not on whether you have food reactions and chronic health issues or not. I’ve traveled with a bad attitude and had no fun at all. I've traveled with adventurous excitement and had the best time of my life. The time in my life that I had no fun at all traveling, I was only gluten-free. The times that changed my life have been when I was reacting to over 30+ foods and had chronic migraines. Attitude is key! In life there will always be something to complain about, but that doesn’t mean you have to! You get to choose how you live, react to situations and see the world around you. It’s important to choose a positive mindset! When you do this you might even find that you react less to food and have better health. Prepare for travel by mediating regularly, journaling through your fears, and talking to a friend. You will be alright!

Myth #3 - “It will be too stressful.”

Life demands a lot from us. New environments can be stressful, but at the same time they are an opportunity to let go of the stress of our normal lives. Letting go of the normal routines and busyness can lower stress by removing some of the demands on our plate. Life shouldn’t be only these things. It’s good to try new things, rest, have fun. I’ve found travel is actually when I experience my best health because home is where the most stress is for me, and a break can actually put me ahead. Plan the details out: accomodations, long distance transportation, restaurants, markets, and daily transportation. Know the sites you want to see. But keep it simple! You don't have to have every minute of your trip planned out, and you probably don’t need to hit every place on some guidebook’s “Must See” list. Let yourself take long walks. Explore. Sit on a park bench with a tea or coffee and soak in the city. Go to a cafe and sit for hours over your meal. Travel doesn’t have to be complicated and at a rapid pace, you enjoy it more if it’s not.

Myth #4 - “I'll get more sick.”

Swinging on the edge of a volcano in Baños, Ecuador!

The reality is that you might get sick while traveling, it’s always a possibility. You could get sick at home too. Germs are everywhere. But if you are taking steps to build your immune system and working on healing, you can feel confident in your body. I don’t want to stay home anymore and let life slip by unlived, things unlearned, sites unseen, and people unmet. Adventurous souls like us are meant to be exploring, discovering, learning, meeting, seeing the world. We aren’t meant to be cooped up at home. I remember walking into someone’s house in my home city and finding the husband sitting on the ground and the wife on the chair. Neither of them talking or knowing what to do with each other, their children running around and they looked dazed out from life, like life had left them behind. They didn’t look or seem happy with their life at that point, but they were “comfortable” instead. They said they were hiding from a flu going around the city. But honestly my husband and I have found them in the same place every time we visit. 

Remember this: You get to choose how you live your life. Yes, leaving home has some risk involved. For me, it’s scarier to stay home. 

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” 

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Myth #5 - “Staying home will help me manage any flare-ups better.”

I, of course, don’t know what your exact health issues are and how bad your symptoms are when you have a flare-up. What I also can not say is that you won’t have a flare up while traveling. It is always a possibility. I’ve experienced a flare-up of my autoimmune symptoms while traveling. Was it annoying? Yes. Was I alright? Also, yes. It happens.  So I can’t say with all certainty that it is ok for you to travel without knowing your unique situation. But I can say that having a flare-up of symptoms while traveling is not the end of the world. And it honestly doesn’t feel any different if I have a flare at home in the US or if I have a flare-up while traveling in a foreign country. But what does matter is how I prepared for the possibility of having a flare-up. This applies to at home in the US or overseas. Preparation is key. Make sure you have a clean and safe kitchen to cook your foods in, have a comfortable bed to sleep and rest in and get adequate amount of sleep, plan out a schedule that doesn’t overwhelm you, figure out transportation options, know where hospitals and pharmacies are located in case you need them, have someone with you that knows your unique case to help you when you need it. These are tips you can use anywhere in the world. Don’t let fear stop you. You will probably have a flare-up at some point and it could be anywhere. I always recover, usually within a few hours or sometimes in a few days, rarely it’s weeks. I prefer to spend time around those flare-ups doing something I love and seeing places that breath life into me, rather than being at home alone, watching tv. 

3 Ways Travel Can Help You Heal From Chronic Health Issues

1. YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR ENVIRONMENT

You’re probably confused why this is my numero uno reason to travel. Well, I have a good reason, AND I think you might find that it could be a reason for you to travel too.

Over 9,000 feet in the Andes above Cuenca, Ecuador

A part of my autoimmune health issues manifest in my body’s inability to handle heat and sun. It just drives me NUTS. When I step into the sun on a warm day (AKA a day over 80 degrees Fahrenheit), I feel like someone has just lit my head on fire. YES that is literally how I feel and living in the Idaho desert is not ideal. Sucks, right?! Well I found a solution that gives me a break from feeling like this. I travel.

This gives me the ability to choose my location with temperatures that allow me to get some relief and the vitamin D my body craves in temperatures I can manage.

For this reason I spent an entire summer in the Ecuadorian and Colombian Andes sitting over 7,000ft where it’s not hot and its not sunny everyday. I spent one summer month in Victoria, B.C. and another in Stockholm, Sweden. These places are pretty temperate yet still warm enough to enjoy a refreshing dip in the waters mingled in the city.

You get the point. Find a location that allows you to have a break from an environment that might trigger your chronic health issues. Your body deserves it!

2. Travel CAN REDUCE STRESS

Sitting in a hammock overlooking the Amazon jungle near Puyo, Ecuador

Life demands a lot from you! There’s a reason life feels overwhelming so much of the time, and health struggles on top of everything else can cause our body to be in overdrive (in our sympathetic nervous system state) and not relax (go into the parasympathetic nervous system state). This decreases our body’s ability to digest well and adds to our body’s toxic load, which is obviously NOT GOOD for those of us with autoimmune health issues.

When you get out of your normal demands, routines, and busyness, it can lower stress by removing some of the demands on our plate. Taking time away from the chores - not doing laundry, cleaning up the house, working, running from event to event, doctor's appointments, traffic, etc. - is necessary. Life shouldn’t be only about these things. It’s good to try new things, stay in bed longer, try a new food, lay on the beach reading a good book, walk around a new city and get adequate sleep.

I’ve found that travel is actually when I experience the best health because home is where the stress is for me, and a break can actually be the most healing thing I can do.

3. Travel BREATHES FRESH LIFE INTO YOU

Traveling with chronic health issues, known and unknown, can be hard and draining. But just living with this, in general, is a challenge. Working at my old job in social services with vulnerable populations was life-changing but also made my health much worse. The job was demanding of me physically, mentally, and socially. I had to ALWAYS be on. My cortisol was always high, I couldn't sleep at night. There was no breaks, no lunch, few resources, and practically no budget or support. It wore on me!

Running through Seattle, Washington

Traveling was my break, my downtime, and gave me the needed rest to keep going. It changed my attitude and stress levels because I got sleep, I ate 3 healthy meals per day, and had less headaches. I just felt better. My mental health increased as I took time to slow down. Depressing thoughts and anxiety were almost non-existent. On a social level, I was able to interact with so many interesting and open-minded people, and unlike my work in social services, their lives were not dependent on me!

For me, cortisol (the lovely stress hormone) decreases when I travel. While this may not be true for everyone, a well planned and prepared trip just might be the medicine you need to be motivated to keep pushing through the hard times. Pleasure heals our nervous system. Pleasure heals us from the everyday stresses of living in this modern, fast-paced, ever-more demanding, crazy Western world and the long-term effects of trauma on the body that comes from chronic illness and stress.

When we get to be mindful and present in our body we can release pressure and heal! So next time you are back on the stress-inducing quest to find a new doctor or a new remedy to your symptoms, consider pulling out a map, picking a destination, AND GOING!

It just might be the medicine you were looking for.

6 Ways TRAVEL Can Teach You HOW To Be Healthy

1. Travel forces you to move your body

In nearly every African, European and Middle Eastern country I've visited, it’s most common to walk everywhere. Sure, there are taxis and city buses everywhere, but what better way to enjoy a city than walk its streets?

I'd walk to the outdoor market to buy vegetables and fruits, then walk to a grocery store or butcher, and then a health food store to buy dairy free milk, gluten-free breads, etc. I didn't jump into a car to drive to Whole Foods or pull out my phone to buy something on Amazon. I walked everywhere!

I had to work for it - or walk for it - and carry my goods with me. It gave a natural way to get a "workout" in, and at the end of the day I always felt better because of it. It’s no wonder that the people in most of these countries are not overweight, movement is an ordinary part of everyday life!

2. Local, Fresh, Quality Food:

Outside of the US and Canada, Farmer’s markets and local butcher shops are almost always the cheapest places to find fresh food. More likely than not, there will be a weekly market or local produce stand within walking distance of your accommodation. Sometimes it takes a bit of research or talking with locals to find them. Going to the local market is a great way to see what the locals eat, and shop like a local. You will likely feel a bit overwhelmed and out of place, but with a little courage, a little cash, and the help of Google Translate, you have a rich experience!

Most major cities around the globe also have more western-styled Supermarkets where you can find a variety of things you are more used to, but they are often more expensive, and less of a cultural experience. The foods also may not be as fresh.

Contrary to the American way of life, buying in bulk is not always best. You sacrifice freshness and quality. Buying fresh and local means you get more of the nutrients that your food contains because it is still living (fun fact: vegetable are still living when they are picked). I found that the food quality was typically higher outside of the USA. Many countries outlaw the use of chemicals and pesticides that are legal in the US. I can often eat a non-organic diet and feel way better than I would eating an organic diet at home.

3. Holistic Medical Care:

There are many versions of medical care in our world. Not all look like the American version of western-reactive medicine. In many places, there is more of a focus on preventative health care. This is especially good for those of us that have chronic health issues and can give us some fresh ideas.

Victoria, British Columbia is a large island halfway between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. Because it is expensive to import goods to the island, there is a strong “buy local” movement and a communal mentality that is unique to the island, and in addition to that a strong holistic medicine community. While there, I scheduled an appointment with an herbalist who custom-made a tincture specific to my body’s needs. She had me test it over a week and adjusted it until it was perfect for me. Talk about feeling heard, seen, and cared for. WOW! And best of all, the appointment was free! If you have any plans to go to the area, send me a message and I can share her info.

In Ecuador, the country runs a national health system and the doctors themselves are oriented more towards naturopathic and homeopathic remedies than the US. which is usually more helpful for those of us with food allergies and chronic health issues. One of the more unusual methods of healing I came across was apitherapy, which uses bee products, including honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom to help you heal. I didn’t get a chance try this but I might return one day to give it a chance. Also In Ecuador, it was not uncommon for your doctor to make house calls to care for you as needed. Wouldn't this be nice instead of sitting in offices for hours and getting nowhere when you are really sick!?

4. maximize the food’s health benefits and minimize waste

In many countries around the world, it’s customary to eat the whole animal. In the USA, we don't really do this, frankly, it freaks us out. We eat the steaks, roasts, hamburgers of the cow and pig and then ditch the rest. But we are missing out on so much of the nutrients! And this isn't ideal if you have an autoimmune health issue and are not absorbing nutrients well to start with, your losing out on so many beneficial healing nutrients in the "trash" parts of the animal.

The organ (liver, heart, lungs, kidney) meats contain liver rich in Vitamin A, B 1/2/3/6/12, D, K, Folate, Pantothenic acid, Choline, Iron, Selenium, Zinc, and Copper. These are all necessary nutrients to help our body function, sleep, move and more.  

For those who eat meat, understanding the life of the animal is so important. Seeing the way many cultures who still understand their food has taught me the value of of respecting that animal that gave its life for me to live. Throwing away the “unusable parts” is a disrespect to the animal and to life itself. All animals deserve a good, happy life and our respect if we are the ones who will be consuming it.

If we mistreat animals or the environment around us, how can this make us healthier? Let me tell you, IT WON'T! 

5. Health Food Stores:

I found so many new brands and foods that I did not know existed before I had traveled. When I left the States, vegan cheeses that I could eat cost SO much and tasted terrible. In Europe I discovered vegan cheeses that tasted amazing. My taste buds came alive with the flavors, I missed cheese so much! In Bogota, Colombia, I found an extremely simple ingredient, gluten-free quinoa bread that tasted like normal bread! OMG, I felt SO scared that I had ate gluten because it tasted so good! I found this in one small shop and have yet to find it anywhere else in the world.

It's fun being an explorer and finding new foods that I can eat. My favorite way to see a city is by walking from health food store to health food store. This gets you off the beaten path and discover truly incredible places! This is one of my innumerable reasons for why travel is a must for those with food reactions.

6. Live Mindfully:

There is no single correct way of living life, and traveling lets you experience the cultural richness slowly crafted over thousands of years. You get exposure to new ways of living and seeing the world around you.

In Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries, there is a high value placed on being in nature. In Stockholm, a city of a million people, there are so many parks that make you feel like you left the city and stepped into a forest. I found that the Swedish people are so calm and relaxed because they are in touch with the nature around them, whether that's the forest walking paths, or the waters spread throughout the city.

In Spain, they know how to enjoy their dinner! They eat tapas, which are small plates of food that come slowly with wine and friends. A dinner can start at 8pm and last until 11pm or maybe even later. The waiter doesn’t bring the bill until you ask for it. They savor each bite, laugh loudly, and enjoy. In Italy, they eat large, quality meals but also eat it slow with good wine and with friends. They slow down to enjoy. Scientifically this is good because when you eat slow you allow your body to digest better. So let's take a lesson from them and enjoy each bite, laugh with others, and drink something we enjoy!

In some parts of Spain, it’s customary for stores to close down from 3pm to 5pm everyday. These hours are meant to be a period of rest for the shop owners and employees. This dates back centuries ago when people would take siestas (naps) in the middle of the day. In many parts of Germany, everything is closed on Sunday for a day of rest, even if you work at a supermarket!

Just writing this, I feel jealous of these people, so while we may not be able to actually take this time off in our own jobs, let's start incorporating rest into our lives. When our fuel reserves run down to nothing, then we know it is hard to keep going, and this is even more true for us with autoimmune health issues. So Lets go SLOW for at least an hour a day and see how much it helps our health!