Ashley Siedentopf - Feed Yourself Fabulous

FEED YOURSELF
Fabulous

ASHLEY SIEDENTOPF

Copyright 2020 Ashley Siedentopf.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,
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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Photographer: Sophie Webster

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-3792-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3794-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-3793-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019917410

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/22/2020

CONTENTS

Feed Yourself Fabu lous

A holistic health and nutrition guide to boost your wellbeing, beauty and vitality from wi thin.

Learn to nourish yourself naturally through nutrition, positive vibes, self-love, and mindfulness.

Fabu lous;

amazing, wonderful

F.A.B. (acronym)

stands for f abulous, a mazing, b eautiful

Be your own hero

My book, Feed Yourself Fabulous, actually had its own little setbacks. Initially, my idea was to create a cookbook; however, I soon realized that what I really wanted was to inspire and make a positive difference for others with my holistic, inside-out approach.

So, I decided to implement the basic wellness tips that I use for my own physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health; however, after a frustrating mishap with my hard drive, I had to start all over in the summer of 2017. After that, I had a miscarriage, and it left me in a bit of a funk for a few months. I just wasnt feeling like my usually sunny and energetic self. I found out I was pregnant again right before Christmas, and then experienced the suicide of immediate family on my husbands side right after.

Needless to say, experiencing grief during my first trimester depleted my energy on all levels and I tried my best to avoid stress so that I wouldnt have another miscarriage. All in all, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. Why wasnt my book out already? Why wasnt it done? I felt so bad.

Despite these experiences, or perhaps because of them, my inward journey over this past year and a half was filled with so much growth in all areas of my life, allowing me to refine, add, delete, and polish my story and work along the way.

In hindsight, I supposed it worked out better this way, because I get to share some of the wisdom that Ive learned through my setbacks. To be honest, as clich as it sounds, those times of struggle or sadness truly make you stronger, wiser, and better if you allow yourself to accept, let go, and learn from it.

Have courage, be kind, stay humble and love life

No one enjoys enduring the hardships of life, but sometimes, they help us find a greater purpose. Such was the case for me. My personal experience with medical hardship and my desire to learn about the importance of a whole-food-based diet are what led me down the path of studying nutrition.

It all started when I was 11 years old. I experienced some pretty painful, inexplicable symptoms regularly for over a year. On my twelfth birthday, in March of 1995, I was finally diagnosed with Crohns Disease. I remember lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip, completely shocked, terrified, and speechless.

They pumped my body full of high-dose steroids in an attempt to reduce inflammation. The doctors ultimately had no answers as to what happened or why. The only pain relief that worked was Demerol and Morphine a narcotic drug used to treat moderate to severe pain and comes with serious side effects including nausea and dizziness.

The most horrific part of those 10 days in the hospital were the tests and examinations. I was poked several times, was given an endoscopy, colonoscopy, MRI, and a Barium Swallow, where I had to drink 23 litres of a vile, chalky liquid. These procedures became part of my life.

After I was released, I was prescribed Cortisone, which is a steroid that prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation. This caused my face to swell, and it gave me mood swings, sweats, insomnia, and a very large appetite. I was also given Pentasa, a drug that was supposed to heal my gut but worsened the symptoms my hair started falling out, I felt sick after eating, and I experienced severe headaches.

Over the years, I was in and out of hospitals, tube-fed, and put on medication after medication. I was missing a lot of school and falling behind, so my parents decided to switch things up and try a holistic approach.

When I was 14, I had my first consultation with the Naturopathic Doctor. He gave me a long list of foods to avoid that seemed daunting, and the number of supplements he prescribed me seemed scary: digestive enzymes, fish oils, Vitamin B and D shots, L-Glutamine, Ester C, Probiotics, etc.

Within a few months, I had no stomach aches, no toilet troubles, and my appetite was back to normal again. I was absolutely thrilled and my doctors were surprised too. They had never mentioned anything about ditching dairy, sugar, wheat, gluten, and other processed-type f oods.

However, as time went on and I approached my early twenties, my health started to decline again due to poor eating habits and lifestyle choices. Flare-ups were worse, the pain was excruciating, and hospital visits became lo nger .

At the age of 23, I was living in Athens for the summer, and my condition was so brutal that I visited the hospital. The doctors said it could have been fatal if I had not come to the hospital that day.

The tests had revealed a large stomach abscess. Bacteria had entered my body, and my immune system was trying to fight the infection by sending white blood cells to the infected area. As the white blood cells attacked the bacteria, it caused inflammation, pain, and the death of nearby tissue, leading to the formation of a cavity.

Being bed-bound for two weeks in a foreign hospital with very poor conditions around me led to a profound moment of truth and acceptance: I have a disease, and the only one who can help me is ME.