To cultivate: “to foster growth…to improve by labor… to seek society of friends.”

This word defines me. At this very point in time I am on a journey; an exploration, if you will, into wellness. This journey started about 4 years ago, and with every day I get further and further.

I guess we should start at the beginning.

“You have stage 3 precancer.” Those words forever changed my life. At 24 years old, after a routine visit to my OBGYN, I was told I had precancerous cells on my cervix.

The pamphlet I was given told me there was nothing I could do but monitor it, and hope I wouldn’t need surgery to remove it. I was also told that if I had to have surgery that getting pregnant or holding a child full term would be difficult.

At 24, this was not something I had even begun to think about, but suddenly it was the only thing on my mind.

I went in for further examination and asked if there was anything at all I could do to heal myself before surgery. Luckily, the NP I work with said she had done some research on her own and found a correlation between cervical cancer and the immune system. She suggested I take vitamin C, folic acid and try exercising and eating healthier

So began my journey into wellness.

It started with the choice to finally join the online fitness program I had been half ass following for years. With the support of my boyfriend (now hubby), I took the plunge purchased my Tone it Up nutrition plan and jumped head first into one of their fitness challenges. For the first time ever I had a reason to stick with a workout program, and to learn how to properly fuel my body. I read that plan backwards and forwards, started waking up at 5 instead of 7am, and stuck to the plan. I dropped 20 LBs within a year.

After a few months on the program my doctor reassessed my condition and recommended surgery. When they did the actually procedure they were shocked by how small the infected area of my cervix had shrunk. The doctor said because of how small the area was during the procedure I would most likely have little to no complications for pregnancy in my future. He said he couldn’t believe that in a few short months the abnormal cells had shrank a so quickly.

Instead of saying to myself “you’re healed! We can quit this now,” it only fueled my fire. If I could rapidly heal my body in a few short months with diet and exercise, there must be something to this wellness thing.

So here I am today. I am constantly on the hunt for new nutrition information, new workout ideas to keep me motivated, and information on women’s health. My diet has changed immensely even since joining Tone it Up, and I am still so hungry for any new science I can get my hands on to heal the body through food.

I created this blog so that I can share my passion for food and it’s healing properties with other women. I am blown away that in 2018 it is not common knowledge that what we put into our bodies can help heal us even more so than some medicines. I want to share my love for delicious, hearty, filling and nourishing food that also happens to be super healthy.

This is just the abridged version of how I fell in love with food and wellness, but I continue to fall in love with the process over and over again. The story is never ending.

It is my hope that through sharing my journey, I can help even just one person heal themself from the inside out.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy what is yet to come!

Love and Light,
XOXO Rae