01/07/2026
Four years ago, I wrote this under my blog account, Graceful Resilience. Today it popped up on my Facebook memories, and man…. It really resonated, especially since I had to go back through the AIP elimination phase, and am just now beginning to reintroduce foods again after 3 months.
I wanted to share it with you here.
💜
Today I was looking for some inspiration in the kitchen for some different ways to prepare veggies, and I grabbed a cookbook off my shelf. As I began to flip through it, tears welled up in my eyes.
I had grabbed The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, and when I flipped through the pages at the beginning that go over the AIP basics I remembered how HARD it was.
I remembered ...
🥣 Sitting down and crying in the kitchen because I didn’t know what to cook.
🛒 Getting overwhelmed in the grocery store because everything I picked up had non-compliant ingredients.
☕️ Tired mornings, frustrated because I couldn’t have coffee.
🛁 Crying in the bathtub while eating carob avocado pudding because I couldn’t have real chocolate. 🍫😭
But I kept going. I stuck with it, because I refused to stay where I was. I figured it out step by step and day by day. I found substitutions. I reframed my way of thinking about meals. I nourished and supported my body until it healed enough that I could successfully re-introduce foods.
About 2 1/2 years after reintros, this is just a second nature way of life for me. I didn’t just change my diet. I changed my lifestyle and it stuck.
But that growth, that healing that I worked so hard for has caused me to forget what it was like to basically learn an entire new way of existence.
I had forgotten how strong I was.
I had forgotten that I had supported my body and allowed it to heal itself.
I had forgotten that the power to change and heal myself and my life lies within me.
All I have to do is tap into it.
