‘This whole process opened my eyes to how individual health and wellness is for everyone.’
An Illinois woman lost her menstrual periods after years of eating disorderly and exercising too much. Hoping to get pregnant and start a family in a natural and healthy way, she and her husband embarked on a radical overhaul of their diet and in doing so changed their bodies, their lives and their futures.
Joelle Kurczodyna, 35, lives with her husband Jim, 36, and their three children on a 5-acre property in northern Illinois, and they are expecting a fourth child in March.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Joelle, who has a degree in dietetics, shared that she had always been “very healthy and active” growing up. But all that changed once she started restricting her diet and increasing her exercise.
“I never received a diagnosis, they just told me to take the birth control pill to get my cycle back,” she said.
“At the beginning of our tripit was tempting to just try a pill or sterility treatment that the doctors told me would work. But I knew deep down that this was not the best option for us. I could have missed the rough ride we endured, the weight gain, and the waiting. But in doing so, we would have missed out on the immense health and growth that Jim and I experienced.”
obsessive diet
Joelle, once an avid marathon runner, started watching her calorie intake as a teenager just to lose a few pounds. And before long, her restrictive lifestyle intensified.
“It started innocently enough,” he said. “Starting at the age of 16, I started restricting my diet and increasing exercise, specifically long-distance running. I was able to easily drop a few pounds, so I kept going. I started to be very conscious about counting calories, choosing low-fat and fat-free foods, and running almost every day.”
At age 20, she had already missed her cycle and weighed about 100 pounds (45 kg) or less. She was constantly cold but she had hot flashes at night, her hair was thinner and she was more irritable and withdrawn.
She said: “I was 22 when Jim and I got married. I got so wrapped up in this image of being a ‘skinny runner’ that the idea of making changes terrified me. However, my desire to have children was even greater.
“To get pregnant, I needed to get my cycle back.”
choose royal Food
Joelle had the support of her loved ones as she reassessed her options. It was her sister, who had graduated from chiropractic school, who introduced her to the concept of a whole, unprocessed, anti-inflammatory diet after attending a 2011 seminar on the topic.
Having decided to get her life back, Joelle began researching as much online as she could. She discovered dentist and nutrition expert Weston A. Price, whose proposal for links between “real” nutritious foods and bodily health hit home.
“Being an all-inclusive person, I eliminated all processed foods from our fridge, freezer, and pantry overnight and started buying only real, whole foods like meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and dairy. . I also stopped running and switched exclusively to walking,” he said.
Joelle learned that she had to source her food locally, so she started frequenting the farmers’ market. With all his heart he allowed his food to be his medicine and began to eat nourishing food.
In the first year of eating real food and listening to her body’s natural hunger signals, Joelle gained 40 pounds (18 kg). She struggled to accept her changing body and cried a lot, but her hot flashes disappeared, her hair thickened and she laughed harder than she had in a long time.
‘I’m thankful’
After 12 months of Joelle’s new regimen, her cycle returned.
“It was so exciting to know that my body finally felt safe enough for my cycle to come back after years of being in a state of stress,” she said. “However, I knew that I still had a road ahead of me. There were clear indications that my hormones were out of whack and there was more healing to be done.
“Another whole year went by before we got pregnant and we actually had a miscarriage. At that moment, I knew that my body was not yet in the ideal place for conception. So, we take the next few months to just focus on eating, resting and having fun.”
A year after her miscarriage, Joelle and Jim were happily pregnant with their first child, a girl. They named her baby Eloise, which means “healthy woman,” to reflect her hopes for her.
“Even though it seemed so long at the time, looking back, I’m grateful,” Joelle said. “My body had time to do the healing it needed so that when she was conceived, I came from a feeding place and could give her everything she needed to be a strong, healthy baby.”
Having a child encouraged Joelle and Jim to reevaluate their goals. Together they wrote a “family mission statement” and made their shared values tangible. They already had chickens, large gardens, and a beehive on their 1/3-acre lot in the suburbs, and were immersed in the local food and farming culture, but longed for a farm on which to do more.
“We knew that the right move for us and our values was to have a little bit of land and freedom to really live the family life that we were looking for,” he said.
Today, Joelle and Jim have the land they dreamed of with a dog, two cows, chickens, and some pigs. Joelle homeschools the kids, Jim left construction to farm, and the couple blog together to share ideas, tips, and recipes: farm from scratch.
Joelle reflects that the most difficult journeys in life are often the most rewarding.
She said: “This whole process opened my eyes to how individual health and wellness is for everyone. I was quite taken aback at first by the unique treatment options I received from doctors that in no way seemed to address what I was treating.
“Some can have a very healthy pregnancy while a size 2, this wasn’t me. My body needed to go through some pretty drastic changes to be ready to support another life. In the end, I needed to be my own health advocate…this was a grueling and sometimes lonely road, but it ultimately empowered me to educate myself and be in tune with my body in ways I never knew were possible “.
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Louise Chambers is a writer, born and raised in London, England. She covers inspiring news and human interest stories.
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