Welcome to BeWell with Dana a Little more about me

I started this website so that I could connect with people who care about their health as much as I do. When I began my health journey years ago I didn't fully understand how to navigate all the dietary theories that I kept reading about. So while in the midst of a detox I decided to become a Vegan. If you read my about me page on my website you would know that was after I was diagnosed with Celiacs disease 2010. After many years of being a vegetarian on and off it seemed natural to take the dive into Veganism. And yes, I will be the first to say that I felt really amazing for a very long time. My weight seemed to always stay consistent even when I had long breaks from my regular workouts. I had tons of energy, and my brain clarity seemed right on. I was vegan throughout my pregnancy with much chagrin from my doctors and family. I survived and my daughter was raised vegan until I decided to go Paleo in November of 2016. I must make note that I breast feed her up until she was 19 months, so in part she had an extremely healthy start to her life! That is something I really take pride in. I am not one of those people who say, oh well I am lazy, give her pizza. I am so the opposite, and will go to great lengths to ensure she is feed proper nutrient dense food.

So when I hear vegans preaching about how amazing they feel, YES I do believe you! I do feel we as a society tend to eat as per who and what those we idolize are eating on social media....and although this is not entirely true, the point is we can be easily influenced. Right now It seems to be all about Plant Based Diets, and Paleo....and who am I to say that I am not influenced even as a Health Coach. However, if the diet is one that truly helps then maybe the power of suggestion and social media is a great tool for people to find better health! I absolutely love reading so many amazing Paleo bloggers. I can stay up on my phone looking through pinterest at Whole 30 recipes until my eyes hurt! I totally admit it!

OK, Back to me and why I am no longer Vegan.....

So it was October 2016, and my Immune system was really weak. My eczema was in full force, causing me so much discomfort. I felt like real sh*t...The recent miscarriage I had in September left my body in an Auto-Immune tail spin. I could not catch up, nothing I did helped heal me, no amount of green juice or salad, vitamin, whatever tricks I knew or new things I tried seemed to get me back on track. My gut health was so pour, fermented foods (although something I highly recommend), didn't make a dent.

I realize that I spent the last 2 plus years being pregnant, with only 1 successful pregnancy, and two misses. Plus breast feeding my daughter for 19 months, it is safe to say that my hormones really hated me. I hated them, the feeling was mutual.

* (You can see from the bottom photo the beginning of the eczema returning, 2nd photo in full force, 3rd photo 7 days after animal protein, beginning to clear).

After a nice long talk, and several visits to the Chiropractor - My hero Dr. Alan Sherr ( Northport Wellness Center),(www.northportwellness.com) he convinced me to try the Paleo Diet...He himself was a vegan for 21 years so he understood my extreme fear of eating meat again. He met me on my level, and treated me with respect and gave me the information to come to the decision on my own. And once I made the jump and purchased the best organic chicken I could find, with in a few days I felt like a human again! And I realized just how important eating meat was for MY BODY!

* (Pictured to the right is me prior to meat, just a week before. To the left is roughly two weeks, my skin was healing, and the dark circles were leaving).

Now, my fellow vegans I love you, and honor you. But My body can not sustain itself on plants and grains only. In fact grains hurt me. A grain-free, diary-free, diet serve me well, with the addition of high quality meat and fish I am back on my game. Finally losing weight, and living!

There is so much more I want to share regarding breast feeding but that will be for another post.

Thanksgiving 2016, here I am in my parents kitchen with my very first Paleo pumpkin pie. I had a great time eating and enjoy a little piece of Turkey!

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BeWell,

Dana :)