Written by contributor Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship.

“Less cellulite at 30 than 20?” My friend was ready to eat the next words out of my mouth when I told her I blamed one dietary change for my incredible loss of cellulite.

Quite often others counter my claim with a strange question: “How do you know?”

I’m sure their intentions are simply curious, but it’s a little uncomfortable to answer the obvious: “Um…I can see it.” My husband, as the only other person qualified to analyze the situation, concurs (with great joy, I assure you).

Men, I’ve noticed, do not worry about their cellulite. They also do not discuss monthly flow, experience PMS, or bear children. Although women often go to great lengths to prove that they are equal to men, we are far from “the same.”
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When I was 24 years old, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. At that time, I was utterly uninterested in health, nutrition, and natural living. I was living in Europe, so I walked everywhere I went, but my diet was full of processed convenience foods and sugar. Lots and lots of sugar.

I started taking Synthroid, which is the typical drug that is prescribed to most women who are diagnosed with hypothyroidism. After moving back home to Texas about ten months later, I was still struggling with the same hypothyroid symptoms that had led me to the doctor in the first place. One oh-so-well-meaning doctor told me that I must be depressed and offered to prescribe some anti-depressants. After being abroad for two years, I was smack in the middle of reverse culture shock, but I knew I wasn’t depressed.

That experience led me down a road that has totally changed my life and continues to impact me even now. I began reading, researching, talking to people, seeking out second and third opinions. I began to see that there was a big wide world of non-traditional medical approaches to treating thyroid disease – as well as a slew of non-medical options.

I eventually found a doctor who listened to and treated me holistically, as a whole person, with interconnected parts (imagine!). We started new medicine, new supplements, and – ding! ding! ding! – a new diet. “Diet” – as in, the way I eat as a part of my lifestyle on a regular basis – not a temporary way of eating. The latter doesn’t work. The former can change your life forever.
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Written by contributor Amy Thompson of Progressive Pioneer.

Planning for my daughter’s natural birth began long before her actual due date.  Being a researcher by training and nature, I read voraciously.  Everything from Taking Charge of Your Fertility to Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.  Consequently I incorporated natural methods into my prenatal regimen, the actual birth, postpartum healing and even the recovery from an unexpected hospitalization three weeks after the birth. [Read more...]