The main event! If you missed yesterday’s post, Scott and I went to Chicago to go to Danielle Walker’s cookbook tour. It was what I wanted for Christmas, and it was so worth it to get an experience over stuff.
We arrived before the doors opened. I’m glad we did because the line very quickly got super long. The caterers started carrying trays of food out to us. We were able to sample some of the recipes from her cookbook. Butterscotch pudding, sweet potato fries, and cauliflower hummus with carrot chips were handed out. I wanted to rip all of the sweet potato fries off of every tray that passed me. YUM! They were served with this BBQ sauce, which is also incredible.
When we got to enter the venue, my jaw dropped. It was held at Artifact Events, and so beautiful.
Her guest for the night was Alex. I honestly know nothing about her, but she was really stinking hilarious and she cooks. We were belly laughing through a good portion of the evening.
Danielle’s story is so inspiring. You can go read it here, because she will tell it so much better than I ever would. She has been able to get her autoiummine disease under control through food. She has gone off all of her medicines and hasn’t been hospitalized in so many years.
You guys, food matters! FOOD. MATTERS.
Several years ago, my doctor started looking into my thyroid. It was enlarged, and due to so many of my symptoms, she had me go for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed a texture on my thyroid which she said meant that eventually it was going to shut down and stop working. She wanted to treat me for Hashimoto’s disease by suppressing my thyroid until it stopped functioning on its own. I wasn’t a fan of this because all of my numbers were great on my blood work. I asked if I could try changing my diet instead. She allowed it, thankfully. I started following the autoimmune protocol very strictly. After the initial withdraw symptoms subsided, I felt really great. However, I was breastfeeding and ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. The doctors rushed me back and hooked me up to heart monitors to see what was happening because my heart rate was dangerously high. They determined that my body had gone into starvation mode. Somehow even though I was eating a TON of food, I still wasn’t consuming enough calories. I quit doing the AIP, and went back to feeling yucky and discouraged.
I’ve seen several doctors since then who refuse to diagnose because my blood work still looks fine– though my numbers have shifted more and more. I get it. I have every symptom of the disease and the appearance of my thyroid shows its coming. So, I have determined that I am going to just eat the way I knew I needed to. Maybe I can heal my body and never have to be diagnosed.
The book tour was so great. We both left feeling really inspired. Doctors always say that food doesn’t matter. But, it does. It matters so much.
We left with some really great swag bags full of some of my favorite foods. We got premium tickets, because that was all that was left. They paid for themselves with all of the goodies we took home. Everyone that attends gets an autographed copy of the cookbook, which is amazing.
If there is a tour stop near you, I strongly encourage you to go! Even if you don’t suffer from any food intolerances/allergies/autoimmune disease, it can help you love on a friend or family member who does. Plus, you get to eat delicious food and be so inspired.