An ME CFS Story...
Hi!
I'm Chrissy, and along with my sister Selina, we are chrissy cooks for ME. Our business was born from a desire to help others who are looking for a better way to support their body and feel great, even if you don't have much time or inclination to cook, or perhaps lack some expertise in the kitchen!
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Our core food offerings are designed to be rich in nutrients, full of flavour, hearty and filling, and of course, delicious! We don't believe you have to go without to eat well, and have a good selection of nutritious snacks, as well as some treats, to keep you going all day.
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Good diet and nutrition was a core strategy in assisting my body in its recovery from ME/CFS, so congratulations for taking a step in the right direction today by visiting our site.
Eating well should make you feel good and eating the good stuff (fruits, vegetables, legumes, pulses, nuts, seeds, healthy fats and protein) and avoiding the inflammatory stuff (wheat/gluten, refined sugars, too much dairy) is a vital component in any healthy lifestyle.
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Whether you have an illness, want to improve your sleep, reduce your stress or increase your energy levels, give yourself the lifelong gift of eating well and feeling great.
An ME/CFS Story...
My journey with lymphocytic colitis (microscopic colitis - MC), hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) and fibromyalgia.
I've had digestive issues since I was 10 and they've worsened as I've aged, but the only positive test I had was for lymphocytic colitis (I don’t recall any dietary suggestions being made). Over the years I suffered frequent bouts of extreme pain, bloating, cramping and diarrhea, which was unpredictable and impacted both my work and social life. Outside of that I was in good health, and learnt to get on with it.
At 32 I became pregnant with my daughter and had Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) which left me unable to consume anything, so I ended up being fed via a tube in my vein in my arm (parenteral nutrition). Although this was not a pleasant experience, I do believe the month or so break my digestive system was given gave it time to partially heal - my symptoms were much improved after, and bouts of illness less frequent than before.
At 36 the crippling fatigue that was to eventually leave me bedridden started to creep in. For me, unlike many others who are triggered by a specific illness, it was a gradual thing. I even joined a gym in an attempt to increase my energy, but it only made matters worse. Eventually, in October 2018 at the age of 39, with a 5 year old at home, I became bedridden, unable even to lift a cup of tea to my mouth some days. My doctor had diagnosed me with ME/CFS, but I was on a 2-year waiting list for the specialist centre. I soon also developed secondary fibromyalgia which I felt most in my arms - meaning that even if I had the energy to fold laundry, the pain in my arms stopped me. I had just started working with a naturopath, and it was with her support (which proved vital over those first 20 months) I started to make some serious life changes when it came to my diet and nutritional support.
Over the course of a few months I moved to a gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free diet. It was HARD! I couldn’t have done it on my own, but luckily my sister, and co-founder of chrissy cooks for me, was there and started to cook all my meals and snacks from scratch. The combination of being a lifelong vegetarian with my new requirements of no gluten or sugar made buying ready meals an impossibility - no-one catered for my unique requirements. Slowly I made small improvements until eventually I could get out in a wheelchair, or potter about my home. This may not sound much but it was a huge triumph for me, and one I don’t think I could have achieved without the changes I made. Eventually I could manage occasional short distances without the wheelchair, or a 30-minute chat with someone without experiencing an energy crash, but it wasn’t until 2022 that I found a way to recover more of my health - you can read more about that here!
Fast forward to 2023, and I have recovered enough to be ready to help others eat well and feel great. I have re-introduced some limited dairy, but stay clear of gluten, refined sugars and processed food. I eat as much of the good stuff as I can, (nuts, beans, pulses, vegetables, healthy fats etc.) and love the food I eat.
See our Resources page if you’re interested in recovery from ME/CFS, and to find out about the program I used to recover - ANS Rewire.