Let’s welcome this week’s warrior, Avital!
Hi, I’m Avital! I was born in Brooklyn, NY, grew up in Houston, Texas for 19 years, currently living in Long Island, NY for the past 3 years, but will be moving back to Texas in August!
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at the age of 13. I was experiencing symptoms for months (felt like years though) and doctors said it was all in my head, nothing was wrong with me, even though clearly, I was severely underweight and in pain. Finally, another doctor realized something was wrong, I was sent to the ER and had to be admitted. After a week of testing, I was finally diagnosed and had to have emergency surgery to remove part of my small intestines.
At first, nothing changed, I was in denial and didn’t want to accept or face the reality that life was going to be different… I went back to eating the same SAD (Standard American Diet) and was in a constant fight or flight state (my parents fought a lot), which caused my symptoms to get worse, and had to get multiple more surgeries after that…. I was on many different medications, which progressively continued to get worse, then finally 6 years ago, I decided to take my health into my own hands and go on a holistic healing journey. I changed my diet, lifestyle, and mindset and did a ton of trauma healing…and now, I have been able to reverse most of my symptoms (pain-free, normal bowel movements, energy, etc.), naturally and without medications.
I am grateful for my diagnosis and all the challenges I went through because they led me to take control of my life and create my healthiest and happiest life. It also led me to find my purpose of becoming a certified Integrative Nutrition Coach and helping dozens of people all over the world in their own healing journey back to health. I am mindful of what I eat, my stress levels, and my daily habits. I can’t eat the SAD diet anymore as it will trigger symptoms, but I am ok with that. I have fallen in love with healthy eating and taking care of myself and prefer to live my life that way. I do still have occasional digestive issues if I choose to eat something that triggers my symptoms, but it quickly passes. How resilient and strong I am, no matter what life throws at me, I am able to overcome it. I also learned that the body has an innate ability to heal, we just have to provide it with the right things to support it and I am so grateful for that.
I have learned to be patient and have connected to my spirituality, which has helped me so much in this journey. Life is freakin hard on top of having to deal with IBD and all the things that go along with trying to heal, so give yourself grace, stop being hard on yourself, that only makes it much harder than it needs to be. Focus on doing the things that are going to help you in your healing journey and be kind and patient with yourself. And don’t forget to have fun and enjoy life along the way.
For fun I like to travel, dance, paint by number, cook, and eat 🙂 I want people to know that they have so much power within themselves to change the trajectory of their health and that healing is possible, you just have to believe it and take action.
Thank you so much for sharing your IBD journey with us Avital! Be sure to give her a follow on IG @thrivewithavital