Who or what is Chicks in a Food Fight?

Chicks in a Food Fight is a blog written by 4 awesome ladies who are fighting for...their health, their families' health, to feel good, and empower others through wellness!  We are fighting against . . . sickness, fatigue, pain, and excuses not to be and feel our best!

Our main weapon in our fight is food. The trick is to know which foods are your friend and which foods are your enemy. The daily choice of which food you put in your mouth not only will determine how you feel, but can have a great impact on how you live your life.

The Chicks have committed to "the fight" with no excuses, but we aren't perfect. All four chicks are on their own path to wellness, bringing support to each other through their different experiences and perspectives. These chicks want to share that same support with you!
 
Michelle Schwien is one of our Chicks. Find out how she found her path to wellness. Read her story below:

My story begins in High School.  I was eating the typical American diet.  I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and for dinner a casserole or some other meat and potatoes kind of meal.

I felt miserable everyday after lunch.  My stomach was so gurgly that the kids sitting around me could probably hear it.  I felt bloated and had trouble concentrating in class.  All I could think about were the sounds my stomach was making.  It was really embarrassing.

I went away to college and continued eating the same way and feeling even worse.  There was more stress in my life as I tried to work part-time, attend classes and often pull all-nighters to get my school work done.  My stomach was so bloated that at times I could barely urinate.  I made an appointment with the on-campus doctor.  He told me, without doing any tests at all, that I was a healthy 21-year old and gave me a prescription to see a psychiatrist.  He said it was all in my head!  I was so angry and frustrated at this point.  I felt like I knew my body and I knew that something was wrong, but nobody was listening to me.

On one visit home for the holidays, my mom took me in to the doctor for some tests.  They thought something was wrong with my bladder and catheterized me (really fun!) and found nothing wrong.  Nobody did any blood tests or allergy tests or ever asked anything about my diet.

Several years after college, still with continued symptoms, I was to the point where I just didn't want to eat anymore.  I felt so awful most of the time.  Somehow, and I honestly don't recall how, I stumbled upon the book Eat Right 4 Your Type.  I have blood type O, and for this blood type, the original blood type of humans, the book talked about how the first people with this blood type never ate wheat.  It suggested taking wheat out of our diet if we had this blood type, among many other suggestions.

I figured, why not try it.  Anything would be better than how I was always feeling.  Within days of eliminating wheat my symptoms that I had suffered with for almost 10 years were GONE!  It was amazing and I felt so much better.  I went on for years just eliminating wheat.  I would still eat bread, but I would eat white instead of wheat.  I ate rice and corn and all other grains and continued to feel pretty good.

Then several years later I began running and thought I would try a somewhat Atkins type of diet.  I cut out all grains/carbs.  I felt better than ever and pounds began to fall off of me.  I completed a half-marathon, which was a huge accomplishment for me, and then I hit a wall!  I suddenly gained 10 pounds, was having night sweats and felt tired all the time.  I was still running about 20 miles a week and couldn't understand what was happening.

Then a friend called and asked if I would like to join her in a boot camp at a local CrossFit gym.  I had been running a lot but thought a more well-rounded workout might be better for me, so I joined her.  The workouts were harder than anything I had ever done in my life, but I was really enjoying it.  Somehow during this time I also came across the Paleo diet/lifestyle.  I figured I felt so well eliminating grains that the Paleo diet just made sense to me.

I was doing these hard workouts and volunteering many hours at my daughter's school and working part-time, but feeling great!  Again, the pounds started to fall off of me.  But before I knew it, I hit a wall for the second time.  I was suddenly so sick and couldn't do much of anything.  I was coughing non-stop and no medication I took seemed to help.  After six weeks of coughing I saw a lung specialist and was given something to stop the urge to cough.  But I was too late, I had already strained all the muscles around my ribs and was in terrible pain anytime I moved.

So the workouts stopped and when I finally was able to return to the gym I had a hard time getting back to normal.  When I finally did get back to regular workouts and regular work and volunteer schedules, I thought I was back on track.  But I really wasn't.  I was tired all the time and would pass-out on the couch each night at about 9:00, still had night sweats and I had gained 10 pounds again.  I hadn't changed my diet and was doing hard workouts and couldn't understand what was going on.

I went to the doctor and asked her to do all kinds of blood work, I wanted answers.  My doctor was good but I didn't feel like she knew what the next steps were based on the results of my tests.  So I turned to a chiropractor/kinesiologist friend of mine for help.  She determined that when I was sick I actually had the Epstein Barr Virus.  That coupled with workouts that were stressing my body, my adrenal function, thyroid function and digestive system were all out of whack!

Again, I was angry and frustrated.  I was working out hard and following a healthy diet, all the things I was told to do and yet I was so messed up and not feeling well.  So what now???

Immediately, she put me on adrenal support supplements, digestive aid supplements and high levels of antioxidants and fish oils.  She also recommended I get a heart rate monitor and try altering my workouts so that I was never outside of the fat burning zone of my heart rate for more than a few minutes.  Within days, my night sweats were gone and my energy was starting to return.  I could tell I was digesting my food again and I began to work on making my life more calm.  The weight is not falling off of me, but it is slowly coming off at a more healthy rate.

Now looking back, I realize that the constant stress in my life (college, constant running, extreme workouts, normal daily life) has taken a toll on my system.  My body can only handle so much before it starts to shut down and I become rundown, overweight and/or sick.

The workouts on this blog are the workouts that I am now doing.  They incorporate all the elements from my CrossFit days, just in shorter duration and mixed in with slow movements like hiking and walking.  I am also working on being stingy with how I spend my time.  I am trying to eliminate stress from my life so that I won't have a flare-up of the Epstein Barr Virus.  I haven't altered my Paleo diet as it wasn't the issue, it was probably the only thing that was keeping me going.  I think I am finally on the right track to my best health ever.  The pieces of my puzzle have finally started to fit together!

This blog is helping me to realize my goals of good health through exercise, good food and eliminating stress.  I hope as you follow our blog that you will find this as well, as this is my wish for everyone!