My Personal Journey
Who Am I
A mother of two – I’ve lived half my life in India, and the other half in Singapore. I’ve previously been working as an insurance agent, but I now pursue leading my best life through inculcating fitness and wellness habits.
How it all Started
I was just about to turn 39, looking fabulously fit, having done, within the last 12 months, a 73-floor vertical marathon, two 5km runs, in preparation for a 10km run. I was also experimenting with two new sports, cycling and skiing - things I had never dreamt of doing before.
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I was on top of the world and couldn’t wait to start my 40’s!
The Trigger
But, just a year to my 40th I woke up screaming in the middle of the night with excruciating pain around my abdominal region & lower back. My spouse rushed me to the emergency and then followed a full-blown investigation. The cause - H.Pylori, a bacterial infection in the stomach that causes excessive acidity and if left untreated could possibly lead to ulcers and even stomach cancer.
The Treatment
I was put on 14 days of strong antibiotics and Proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s). It didn’t clear up the infection, but it definitely broke havoc on my immunity levels, led to immense fatigue and destroyed my ability to digest and retain nutrients. I was constantly exhausted and irritable, and it significantly reduced my quality of life. Followed another round of stronger antibiotics which i couldn’t refuse for the fear of ending up with Cancer. Five years ago I had seen my mother go through it and that ended emotionally breaking me.
Antibiotics not only kill the bad bacteria but also the good ones in your gut and though my symptoms of infection were clearing up this round but they were not completely gone. 6 months gone and I was still on PPIs to keep acid reflux, onset of sudden stomach pain on bay.
The Recovery
It was almost my 40th, and I decided that this could not be the lifestyle I chose. I started researching and reading into healthier living, and decided to heal myself through the right nourishment. My diet was already pretty restricted, and I did not crave “junk food”. However, I started understanding all the different types of food that are considered healthy, are anything but - full of refined flour and hidden sugars. I started incorporating whole foods - but was still suffering with acid reflux.
I decided to go away to a yoga and wellness retreat, where I learnt that diet was merely a part of the cure. There was a lot of emotional turmoil within me, and the gut was the emotional center of our body. I had to dive into my past to understand and fix it, before I could fix my present self. I had to work on reducing stress, tuning into the right exercise routines, work on my relationships and bring a balance in all of them - something no doctor had ever mentioned in the initial journey to fix my gut issues!
I experimented, practised and managed to re-energise myself to finally enter my 40th year in good health. I was finally off the PPIs, and I could truly appreciate the power of balancing a nutrient dense diet with regular exercise and managing relationships and emotions. Friends and family started to approach me with questions, and I started holding informal sessions with them. This urged me to learn more and explore my new-found passion, and I found myself working to become a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach.
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Now
Now that I’m certified, I want to focus on giving back, and helping those going through similar problems. I have gone through a lot of trial and error, and have finally found the way after multiple iterations, and I can happily say that I am truly in the best health of my life till now - but I know that having someone to guide me through it all would have been invaluable, and would’ve helped me recover faster.
I want to be the coach I didn’t have, and provide individuals with the support and guidance to navigate through the world of confusing dietary theories, exercise theories, ingredient labels and lots more.
