Last year I came to the realization that I have lived thirty-seven years without knowing what it really means to love and take care of myself. Embodying an authentic vibe in this noisy confusion life will lead you to believe taking care of yourself is a problem. Don’t get me wrong, life is good, I work hard, and played harder. Then one day, I woke up and realized I take good care of myself—on the outside. Along the way I managed to forget how to take care of my inner world. When I made the decision to walk and live in the space of this new vibe, something magical happened. By allowing myself to acknowledge that changes, challenges, and hardships are here to deepen me and to remind me I do get a second chance.

Taking care of you is not as easy as it looks because it takes a lot of dedication and continuous effort every single day. When I made the decision to place a higher value on my time, the precious gift to wake up each day complete in my pursuit of wholeness, surprisingly, my days started to become more inviting again. Whether it’s going to the gym, feeding my body healthy fuel, and or taking time to relax and meditate at the end of the day, I realized I’m doing a disservice by not by connecting to who I am—to nurture myself from the inside out. Authenticity is underrated and there's no dollar amount that can be place on a vibe that ultimately results in inner peace. We have the right and responsibility to live consciously. So why cheat yourself or the universe of radiating good vibes into the sometimes unforgiving world. Essentially, when we stop properly taking care of ourselves, it can cause us to get out of balance and lose our power on how to take care of others.

Photographer: Aaron Velasquez

OUTFIT DETAILS

Denim dress: Purchased from a local boutique sale (Similar) | Patch work denim pants: New York & Company - Sold out (Similar) | White sandals: Calvin Klein - Seen here | Shades: Michael Kors - Seen here | Earrings: BCBG - Sold out (Another cool option here) | Bandana: Local beauty supply store (Better option here) | Clutch: ASOS - Sold out (Similar)

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Thank you for joining me on this ride of self-reflection. When I started blogging again, I promised myself to stay true and honor who I AM at the present moment. Blogging is an outlet for me and it encompasses more than an "OOTD" ! It's more so about self discovery with a heavy dose of style sprinkled in. My hashtag on social media is #MORETHANSTYLE and I have decided going forward I will not let anything or anyone dictate what I present to the world because what I have to offer is MORE THAN STYLE. It's an infectious vibe when we honor what our spirit is telling us because it will ignite the path to living a life fulfilled.

Until next time with love,

Eureka

For a long time, I only discussed my female health problem with family and close friends. Considered it my own personal issue, something people probably didn’t want to know about. My upbringing taught me you keep your personal life private and you just don’t share personal things like this. Whelp, it’s a new day and I’m attempting to be brave and bold in an effort to help other women with the same issue. Hopefully, sharing my story about uterine fibroids will empower the next woman to better understand their body, their choices for treatment, and ultimately feel better!

My story started 3 yrs ago when I had an ultrasound displaying various growths comprised of muscle and fibrous tissue called uterine fibroids. Before the ultra sound, I wasn’t familiar with the term "fibroid" and the full extent of damage they may cause. Each year during my annual exam my doctor would casually mention the growths are harmless and we will monitor them. Harmless.........Yeah right!!! Until, they grow and start occupying your entire precious uterus. She also forgot to mention if the fibroids continue to grow eventually they will have to be removed or treated via surgery or a heavy dose of hormone suppression drugs with side effects of early menopause. If I would have known the abnormal growths from the gates of hell would become a real issue, I would have changed my entire mindset regarding my health.

Fast forward to January 2016, not surprisingly I started to have some of the symptoms associated with fibroids like, frequent urination, constipation, and abdominal bloating. Waking up in the morning with my stomach resembling a pregnant woman in her final trimester is not my idea of bringing sexy back. This was my official wake up call and the next day I made an appointment with my gynecologist.

This pic was taken in January and as you can see I started to get some of the fibroid symptoms!

During the examination the doctor was not alarmed by the current size of my stomach and used medical phrases like it's 18 weeks in size. She also shared some of her previous surgeries she performed to remove fibrioids. After explaining her prize winning watermelon size fibroid removal story, she proceeded to give me 2 pitiful options: surgery or drugs! What immediately started to replay in my head is - I'm a 36 year old African American single female with no kids. Not completely sure why doctors tell patients to treat fibroids like they are a normal occurrence and we have nothing to worry about. Perhaps, it gives them the green light to perform surgery or prescribe us a new “clinical trial” hormone suppressant drug the pharmaceutical rep bribed them to try out in exchange for a trip to Aruba………. But I digress.

Being a woman with a full active life, and feeling that I wanted to "keep my original parts”, surgery and taking medicine was not an option. So I kindly told my gynecologist to keep her geeked up surgery stories to herself and I will see her in 1 month. At the time I walked out of the hospital scared and confused but determined to shrink the abnormal demons trying to set up shop within my feminine goodies.

My first step was to consult several doctors to get a second and third opinion only to receive the same response (surgery or drugs). Really??? So I took matters into my own hands and engulfed myself in research and read over 80% of women will be diagnosed with fibroids by the age of 50. Why? What is the root cause? During my research I stumbled across the key that unlocked my healing. There’s a direct correlation between fibroids, the function of your liver and estrogen imbalance. Basically, the foods we consume play a major part in the development and growth of uterine fidroids.

If dietary choices can so drastically impact my fibroid suffering, imagine what simple nutritional changes could do for my body. From that day forward I made a conscious decision to not let anything or anyone stand in my way. Operation "Get Healed" was officially in full effect.

My 7 step holistic regimen and what naturally healed my body:

1. Drastically limit your consumption of simple carbohydrates, refined sugar and processed foods.

2. Incorporate organic foods as much as possible. Food packed with hormones, specifically meat, feed the fibroid.

3. Juice beets, spinach, kale, ginger, and turmeric daily to detox the liver. Also add fresh turmeric to your juice and tea. Or take 3 or more turmeric capsule 3 x daily. This will decrease inflammation and stop excessive bleeding and pain. I add raw turmeric to my dandelion root tea every day.

4. Take an active dose of systemic enzymes 3 x daily. My dosage consists of 12 pills daily (6 in the morning and 6 at night). This has aided tremendously in dissolving my fibroids. I use Neprinol and Fibrovera from Arthur Andrew Medical

5. Exercise a minimum of 30 mins daily four to five times a week.

6. Avoid consuming anything packaged in plastic. Bottled water is the major culprit of estrogen imbalance.

7. THE MOST EFFECTIVE TREATMENT: Do castor oil packs every other day. I use Jamaican black castor oil by Island Tropic. Referenced article - http://fibroidnaturaltreatment.com/castor-oil-health-remedies-for-fibroids/

TIP: Weight control and diet helped to decrease the fibroids. A diet that limits red meat and is rich in green leafy vegetables, fruit, and fish is VERY beneficial.

Some of my favorite elimination guide books: http://gochefahki.com/product/fibroid-recipe/ & http://www.fibroidelimination.com/