Survival
My father’s huge family grew up depending on their garden, a milking a cow, hunting and even an abundance of rattlesnakes to keep themselves fed.
While I’m grateful that I got to bypass the rattlesnake eating experience, my father’s provident living habits carried throughout my upbringing, and continued to bless our family and neighbors with an abundance of home-grown food.
Looking back, I have so many wonderful memories of my parents in the kitchen preserving their harvests together. It gave me a sense of security to know they were thinking ahead and making sure we had some food security.
Getting sick
Despite the abundance of healthy food that was available, like so many of us I was mislead into eating a low-fat diet void of fat soluble vitamins. I also stayed up way too late, and stressed myself out. I didn’t understand how cortisol worked, so pushed my workouts way too hard. And by the end of my last college year, I found myself getting tired from the littlest things. I had inexplicable pain in various places in my body and I couldn’t hold a thought.
At 25, my doctor branded me “fibromyalgia” or FMS, and told me there was no cure. He said “It is unfortunate but you’ll be spending the rest of your life looking for ways to cope”.
Pivital lessons
Consequently, I tried in vain to improve my sorry state by just eating “healthy” (think low-fat) and exercising even more. But little did I realize I was making things much worse. Not knowing what else to do, I made a desperate decision to get some sunshine and enjoy some time with my grandparents while they were still alive. I shoved everything I could fit into my little hatchback and drove down to AZ and set up a fitness studio.
It turned out that the landlord of the building was in the process of creating a support group for people with FMS! In short, her research led me to a symptom-free life…and therefore to a place of deep appreciation for the lifestyle that my father had exemplified! She graciously endured my initial scoffing as she worked to convince me to eat butter and tallow, and to stop with the egg white omelettes and eat the freaking yolks for goodness sakes. 😊
Her website, fibromyalgiarecovery.com, explains a lot of what she found, which empowered us both to become symptom-free since the early 2000s!
Sh** gets real
Before being blessed with children, my husband and I took a trip to New Orleans. You can read here about what we what we witnessed as we ran for safety from hurricane Katrina. I learned some vital survival lessons, and just how fragile our lives really are. Seeing thousands of people suffering and feeling helpless triggered a passion to become more self-sufficient and encourage others to do the same.
Our philosophies
- Minimal store-bought inputs in the soil. (Think special compost techniques)
- Our livestock is always treated with herbs first, and in cases where those aren’t enough, essential oils are our heavy hitters.
- Hugely influenced by Joel Salatin, we’re working out the logistics of letting the animals do what they want in a way that makes things easier for the humans. win-win.
- The land must be nourished while it nourishes us.
My dutiful father, showing us how it’s done.
My complete FMS recovery details
You can read more about Liz Jaconelli’s story of recovery from FMS @kellythekitchenkop.com: Part 1 here. Part 2 here.
Please enjoy and pass it along to anyone you know who could benefit.
Best Regards and welcome to Orange Grove Road!
Graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences. Opened a fitness studio where she worked for many years as a personal trainer while helping clients achieve their fitness goals. As an NASM certified trainer, she now works in a studio helping people with restorative fitness when she’s not playing cottage farmer with her kids in her free time.
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