Hi. My name is Natasha George and I am 41.
In July 2014 I become very unwell. I had been in a steady decline of health for about 4 years before that with headaches, low stamina and recovery, and a general feeling of being not quite 100%. However in July I was sent home (via the hospital!) from work with what was suspected as being a stroke. My face was tingling and had drooped on the left side slightly. To cut a long story short, I spent the next 4 months doing conventional neurological tests in terms of MRI’s and reflex tests, plus I visited 4 separate neurologists (costing me a great deal of money but just couldn’t get a straight answer!). I continued to have tingling on my face but now also on my left side from my toes to my shoulder and on my face around my eye. It ranged from mild to debilitating. To make it worse, overnight I seemed to develop chronic fatigue that was so bad on many days I barely got the kids home from school before going to bed. Once I dropped them off in the morning all I could do was come home and sit or sleep until it was time to pick them up. The future was looking grim. I had been told by the first neurologist that I had MS. I refused medication and saw a second one who said I didn’t have it but he wasn’t sure what was going on! The third neurologist sat on the fence and said he wasn’t sure one way or another. Finally I flew interstate to the fourth neurologist and he confirmed that no, I didn’t have MS but that I had basiral migraines. I was given a script for medication again. I took it home and before I could think of starting it I told my husband that I needed two weeks to see if I could do something about this myself. I was so sick of being told different things that I decided it was time to take control of the situation back to me. The reason I wanted to find an alternative was that for many years I suffered with Crohn’s disease and had felt much worse on the medication that I was being given for it, rather than just having it. Eventually it went into remission naturally. I wasn’t about to repeat the years of trying to diminish the Crohn’s symptoms. This time I wanted to cure the cause.
I started looking in to alkaline and plant based diets and the positive effects they were having on health. Luckily for me, I stumbled across Crissi’s website and it turned out she lived about 2km from me! Talk about meant to be! So we met, I cried, she listened, and I have been buying her meals weekly ever since (that was October 2014). I’m am also now on her Fitness Model programme and hope to compete this year. I have lost 5 kilos since October with no real change other than diet. I now have more energy again so have been able to walk daily and do Pilates twice a week but other than that, the food has been the biggest change.
I can’t thank Crissi enough and know that the Vegan diet is right for me and my body. As I was vegetarian for most of my life I feel that being Vegan is no sacrifice and I am able to be a great role model to my kids as they grow up. I will now get to see them grow up which is the main thing. Embracing a Vegan lifestyle not just from a food perspective is very liberating and empowering and I feel much better inside and out for doing it.
