After living with lupus, an inflammatory disease caused when the immune system attacks its own tissues and organs, for 10 years, Shirley didn’t realize the impact that leading a healthy lifestyle would have on her health.
After attending our nutrition team’s class, Eating Smart, Being Active at the Self Health and Advocacy Center, Shirley decided to change her eating habits from eating fast food and keeping unhealthy snacks in her purse to taking the time to prepare healthy meals for her and her family.
Her health condition requires her to eat a healthy diet. During the classes she learned about adding different spices to the meat to add flavor, rinsing canned vegetables to decrease her sodium intake and different ways to cook vegetables.
Before the class, she had never eaten kale and garbanzo beans. Now, the food items are part of her diet, and she includes them in her tomato and lettuce salads.
“I really make the sacrifice to get better and healthier food, and I wouldn’t have done it without the class,” she said. “It really, really motivated me to change.”
She isn’t the only one benefiting from her new diet. Her 5-year-old granddaughter and friends have gotten a taste of the healthier meals Shirley cooks, like cooking cauliflower with spices and using chicken and meat broth instead of gravy.
From cooking with olive oil, to buying frozen vegetables instead of canned vegetables to baking fries, the changes she has made have made a difference on her health. Most notably, she hasn’t had a lupus flare up and has begun losing weight.
With the positive impact her new diet has had, she regrets not leading a healthy life style sooner, she said.
“I’m truly, truly grateful and happy about what I’ve learned and how I’ve put it into effect,” Shirley said.
