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Flawed yet Functional

Life free from autoimmune captivity

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Menu Plan

Week of Eating AIP | An Easy Low-Pressure Week of Healthy Eating

Filed Under: Autoimmune Disease, Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan, Type 1 Diabetes

AIP Thanksgiving Menu

Filed Under: Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan, Recipe

Baby Steps to Eating Healthier Food | Stock Your House With Healthy Food

Filed Under: Food & Nutrition, Health, Menu Plan

Autoimmune Protocol to Manage Type 1 Diabetes

Filed Under: Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan, Type 1 Diabetes

Menu Planning 101, Part 5 | How to Stay the Course

Filed Under: Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan

Menu Planning 101, Part 4 | How to Shop & Stay on Budget

Filed Under: Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan

Menu Planning 101, Part 3 | The EveryMeal Menu Plan

Filed Under: Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan

Menu Planning 101, Part 2 | How to Make a Grocery List

Filed Under: Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan

Menu Planning 101, Part 1 | A Dinners-Only Menu Plan

Filed Under: Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan

Coming January 1: Menu Planning 101

Filed Under: Food & Nutrition, Menu Plan

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Welcome!

I'm Emily, and I am passionate about using food and healthy habits to transform lives with autoimmune disease. Here you will find healthy recipes that follow the Paleo or Autoimmune Protocol diets, strategies to create a life free from autoimmune symptoms, and encouragement to press on!

Do you want to live your best life? Then you are in the right place! Read More…

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Autoimmune Protocol to Manage Type 1 Diabetes

Wilted Bacon Summer Salad | AIP and Paleo Recipe

Happy Thanksgiving!

flawedyetfunctional

Maximize health through food🍴
Type 1 Diabetic in Grand Rapids 🇺🇸
❤ Lover of Jesus, my home, cooking, warm drinks, and my family 🥑 Lead a healthy l

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What is one of your goals as a mom/parent?
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Even before my oldest was born, I knew I wanted to teach him to love reading.
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Sights like this thrill me to no end.
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Happy Wednesday!
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#readers #lovetoread #teachkidstoread #lifelongreader

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Whenever I ask "where do you need help?" in regards to healthy eating, the response is always breakfast!⁣
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How do you eat healthy food during that rush time of the day?⁣
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My best breakfast is roasted vegetables + protein. Simple yet satisfying.⁣
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But how do I do it? ⁣
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1) Chop vegetables the night before and store in a mixing bowl. (Key step! Save time and dishes!)⁣
2) In the morning, pour oil, salt, and pepper over the vegetables then pop in the oven to roast 30-ish minutes before breakfast (skip the stirring halfway through, they'll be fine!).⁣
3) Shower/get dressed/get the kids up/etc. while the vegetables are cooking.⁣
4) Cook sausage links in a skillet (they cook fast, less than 10 minutes!)⁣
5) Serve breakfast!⁣
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Yes, it's no pour-cereal-in-a-bowl quick, but with a bit of planning and back-and-forth to the kitchen you CAN cook a hot breakfast in the morning!⁣
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How do you make healthy breakfasts? ⁣
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Check out today's post on FlawedyetFunctional.com for a savory roasted carrots and broccoli recipe that's perfect for breakfast!

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Getting things DONE today!
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Video editing and writing for me.
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Finishing a HUGE wine rack for Dan.
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We have over 120 bottles that need to be filled then racked...BUT we don't have a rack to hold them...so the wine sits in the carboys awaiting the completion of this wonderful behemoth!
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What are you up to today? Crossing any projects off your list?
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#flawedyetfunctional #woodworking #winerack #danishoil #homewinemaking #homemadewine #blogging #videoediting #writing

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I'm feeling fiesty and fanatical today, so I'm going to go out on a ledge and say it:⁣
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If you've been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, an anti-inflammatory diet should be your next step after life-threatening medical attention.⁣
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Why do I think this? Let me share a bit of my story...⁣
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Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in April 2017. I changed my diet within a few weeks and was able to manage my blood sugar INSULIN FREE for the next 19 months. 19 MONTHS!⁣
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After reintroducing insulin to my diabetes management routine in December 2018, my blood sugar remained very stable with very tiny doses of insulin (small according to my endo). ⁣
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From August to December of 2019, my blood sugar has been rising and thereby my insulin dosages to combat it. Just before Christmas I decided to double-down on my diet and do a little AIP-reset. My blood sugar dropped immediately, and my insulin dosage dropped from ~14 units per day to 5. Yes, 5!⁣
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The best part of my story is that it's not just me! I know other t1d or parents of t1d who are experiencing the same thing!⁣
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Food is powerful.⁣
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Food can heal.⁣
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Are you willing to try it?⁣
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Check out flawedyetfunctional.com for more questions and answers about diet change and autoimmune diseases!

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I had big plans for today. BIG plans.
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I was going to get so much done for FyF: write an email, draft some blog posts, and edit videos...
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God had other plans.
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Today I need to be a mother, a comforter, a bucket holder, a calming presence, a book reader, and a tear wiper.
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It's days like today that expose my self-centeredness. Today was going to be about me. Dan and I had a plan for childcare and activities.
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But all of that had to change.
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And I was met with a fork in the road. Will I (A) willingly give up my sleep and time for my activities to care for my son or (B) will I try to juggle both responsibilities?
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(B) is going to leave me exhausted and short on patience likely snapping at everyone by the end of the day.
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It must be (A), and it is not an easy choice. Yes, it's the obvious choice, but it is also the more difficult because I have to sacrifice my wants and desires.
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It's the challenging, difficult, wonderful conflict of being a mom.
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#sickday #motherhood #choices

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I'm still in the holiday spirit over here...anyone else clinging to their Christmas tree and holiday decor for dear life???⁣
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I love the lights and don't look forward to taking them down!⁣
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Anyways...the point of this post is to share a tasty new recipe I made for one of our Christmas gatherings: Paleo Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms! SO GOOD!⁣
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My mom likes to shake things up every year so she always has a fun whole-family game and a different food theme every year. This year the food-style was small plates or appetizers so I whipped up these "cheesy" Paleo-friendly stuffed mushrooms as part of my contribution. ⁣
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Man, were they tasty!⁣
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If your holiday celebrations are done yet (or if you need some dinner inspiration), check out flawedyetfunctional.com for this yummy recipe!⁣
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What was the best food you ate this Christmas??⁣
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P.S. The family game this year was to make a new Christmas carol from 5 randomly selected Christmas-themed words. HILARIOUS! Each family unit worked together to create and perform their song. I've forgotten some of ours but it was something like this (to the tune of jingle bells): ⁣
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Jingle bells - Donkey smells - Can't remember this line but included "tree" - The Christmas program got delayed cuz the decorations faded away⁣
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A new classic, am-I-right??

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Does the kindness of other people surprise you and at the same time warm your heart that there is still good in the world?
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We took our family skiing on New Year's eve, and my boys are young enough they need help getting on the chair lift. So this picture is our every journey up to the top of the hill.
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It is ordinary.
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The "normal" for us.
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But yesterday, a mom out skiing with her family saw us and thought "what a precious sight, a family skiing together! I bet that mom would love a picture of them all on the chair lift."
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You know what? She was right!
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She snapped this photo then caught me at the top of the hill and asked for my phone number to text me these pictures. She said she thought I'd like them.
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I'm still blown away by her kindness. Yes, not only would I like pictures of my gang on the chair lift, I would LOVE them!
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What unexpected kindness have you received or given lately??
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#flawedyetfunctional #kindness #downhillskiing #skiing #family #familyskiing

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Family sausage making night! .
Final Haul!
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We made 22 pounds of breakfast sausage total. About 12 pounds was stuffed into casing to make sausage links. .
For breakfast, I usually pair the links with roasted vegetables or paleo friendly cereal.
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The rest was bagged up as bulk ground breakfast sausage. I keep the bulk sausage around to make breakfast hash (search "sausage mushroom hash" on flawedyetfunctional.com for a delicious AIP & Paleo recipe!).
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There's always a little extra left over, and you can see those in the two glass containers on top.
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Also we ate some links for breakfast this morning.
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In total, this should be 20 meals or so! Woohoo!
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#flawedyetfunctional #aip #breakfastsausage #homemadesausage #nitratefree #knowyourfood

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Family sausage making night!
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Er....next day!
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After letting the links age overnight, I'm packaging them into breakfast-sized packages and popping them in the freezer!
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Someone asked how long this takes and how much sausage we get. Great question!
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For budgeting reasons, we usually make about 22 pounds at a time (that's two pork butts (~17lbs) plus about 5 lbs of fat). It takes us two to three hours depending on interruptions, and difficulties with the grinder. We had a blockage of fat this time that we had to stop and clean up then continue grinding.
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22 lb in 2-3 hours is not a max. I'm pretty sure we could do more than that in the same amount of time. Much of the time is devoted to cleaning the appliances.
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#flawedyetfunctional #breakfastsausage #aip #knowyourfood #cookfromscratch #thesausagemaker #westonmeatgrinder #homemadesausage

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Family sausage making night!
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Step 4: stuff the twice-ground sausage meat into sheep casing!
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#flawedyetfunctional #aip #homemadesausage #knowyourfood

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Family sausage making night!
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Step 3: the fine grind
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Yes, most sausages need to be ground twice before stuffing into the casing!
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#flawedyetfunctional #breakfastsausage #homemadesausage #meatgrinder #cookwithyourkids

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Family sausage making night!
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This is step 2, the coarse grind.
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(Step 1 was the last post. Cut the pork butt, chop & add additional fat (for a 25/75 fat/meat ratio), and mix in seasoning.)
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#flawedyetfunctional #homemadesausage #breakfastsausage #meatgrinder

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Family sausage making night!
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If you've ever wondered how I eat sausage when some spices are not allowed on AIP, here's the answer: we make our own!
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#flawedyetfunctional #breakfastsausage #homemadesausage #knowyourfood

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Attempting to recreate my mom's (or maybe my aunt's??) poppyseed bread!
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Gluten-free and dairy-free but defintely NOT sugar-free! Ha!
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What is your favorite Christmas treat from childhood?
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#glutenfree #dairyfreeholidays #dairyfree #poppyseedbread #theglazeiswhereitsat #christmasdesserts #christmastreats

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A common question I get in regards to my diet is what about my kids???
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Since I believe there is a good chance they could develop an autoimmune disease, since I have more than one, I keep them on the same diet as me to prevent further health problems.
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This means that my kids eat lots of vegetables. How do I do it?
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1) Involve them in the preparation of vegetables. Yes, it's hard sometimes but let them help!
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2) Let them taste and sample. Frozen green beans and raw carrots coated in oil and salt and pepper are my kids' favorite!
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3) Start slowly. Don't heap their plate with vegetables the first time you begin to eat them more regularly. Give them one or two and work your way up.
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4) Model enjoyment of vegetables. If your kids see you eating them and enjoying them regularly, then they will know that it is what they should eventually be like.
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5) Eliminate processed and/or sugary food. It will take some time, but you need to change their palate. If they are regularly snacking on sweetened or processed food then it will be more difficult for them to detect the sweetness in vegetables.
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6) Mercy sauce. There are going to be certain vegetables that are just plain difficult. Give them some mercy in the form of a dip like ketchup or mustard. Find a sauce that fits into your diet and allow your child to smother their vegetables if need be!
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What are your tips to get your kids to eat vegetables?
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#vegetables #getyourkidstoeatveggies #eatmorevegetables #kidsinthekitchen #kidchef @opinelofficiel

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What healthy lifestyle habit are you working on lately?⁣
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Creating healthy habits is an ongoing process for me, and sleep is one I'm constantly working to keep at the top of my list.⁣
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Why?⁣
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Because good, quality, sufficient sleep helps keep my blood sugar stable. ⁣
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If you are a diabetic, have you noticed that if you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, your blood sugar is more stable?⁣
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I have! If you have a hard time getting good sleep, check out FlawedyetFunctional.com today for a few strategies to help you get better sleep!⁣
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Photo: @diimejii

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Up before the kids...reading my Bible and journaling by the light of the tree...also drinking hot cinnamon spice tea!
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What's your happy place this morning??
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#flawedyetfunctional #morningroutine #journaling #readyourbible #hotcinnamonspice #harneyandsons @harneyteas #quiettime #mommytime #refresh

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What is the single biggest thing that has improved your health?⁣
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That's a difficult question, especially if you've seen huge changes in your health.⁣
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I'd have to say that ONE of the biggest changes has been eating vegetables at every meal. Yes, every meal, including breakfast.⁣
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Do you think eliminating gluten and grains will be too restrictive on you? It won't be if you replace those items with vegetables. ⁣
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Vegetables will fill you up WAY faster than grains and keep you full longer AND give your body so many more nutrients!⁣
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It's a win win! Try my latest recipe, root vegetable hash browns, to get more vegetables into your breakfast!⁣
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How do you get your veggies in each day??

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Do you fear your kids developing the same autoimmune disease you have?⁣
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Are you discouraged because your children have more health concerns than you EVER had?⁣
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Hope is not lost! While diet and lifestyle changes don't cure all diseases, they go a LONG way in minimizing or completely eliminating symptoms!⁣
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One of my goals in publishing Flawed yet Functional, it to help you live in freedom. Freedom from the symptoms associated with autoimmune disease, and FREE to live your best life.⁣
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Part of that freedom, is creating it in our children. Some autoimmune diseases are hereditary, and there are steps to take to prevent or eliminate an autoimmune reaction from triggering.⁣
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Want to learn more? Click through to FlawedyetFunctional.com, #linkinbio, to learn 5 strategies to prevent autoimmune diseases in your kids!⁣
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Photo: @ibrnphotography

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10 years ago today this lady was in part 2 of a two-part procedure to remove an AVM.
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Not to be too graphic, but they drilled a hole through my skull! That fact never ceases to amaze me, that they went into my skull, fixed my brain, and put me back together. Isn't God and modern medicine amazing!
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Here's a random tidbit from that time in my life: I was in the middle of orthodontic work, and my braces were interrupting the MRI imaging. My neurosurgeon had to call my orthodontist and cryptically, with no extra information (HIPPA!) Ask them to send someone to the Intensive Care Unit to remove the braces from one of their patients.
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So a very confused orthodontia tech arrived in my hospital room with a few tools and saying she was here to remove my braces.
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Once I explained to the severity of the situation, she not only removed my braces as best she could with manual tools. She took impressions for temporary braces, went back to the office to make them, and returned them to my hospital room... All on her day off!
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She and my orthodontist office or just another example of God's great provision through this time. I was tenderly cared for in so many ways by so many people!
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#avm #avmsurvivor #brainsurgery #frontallobe #godisgood #peoplelovingpeople
#caringpeople

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Type 1 diabetic, AVM survivor, Autoimmune Protocol dieter, DIY-er, Mom, Wife, and Lover of Jesus. So glad you are here today, and I hope you leave encouraged! Learn more about me →

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