Writer + Allergy-lifer + Studying yoga & nutrition.
Hi! I'm Adrianna, an Australian living in San Francisco with my husband Damien and dog Jackson.
When I was 21, my food allergies developed into food-chemical anaphylaxis. Since then I've worked hard to heal my body through nutrition, yoga, meditation and study. I'm also really interested in the meeting point between sustainable and ethical living - I think we all want to live sustainably and ethically (no one want's to hurt fluffy animals or cut-down rainforests), we just don't always know how.
This blog is an exploration of all these elements to make a more intentionally lived life.
Food. My food-allergy story started when I was 21 and having dinner one night at my parent's house. My Dad was making an entree with scallops and I decided to taste some, less than 1/2 a teaspoon, for the first time. We knew something was wrong immediately when I started coughing, getting lightheaded and found it difficult to speak cohesively.
That night I ended up in the emergency ward of our local hospital with my first anaphylactic allergic reaction. Since then, my parents, sister, husband, friends and I have spent years of our lives in ambulances and hospitals, with allergists, nutritionists, and medical practitioners, keeping me alive.
Since then I've educated myself on food chemicals, and the breadth of food allergies and elimination diets, in fact, I'm still learning. Today, I'm now studying to become a Nutrition Consultant with Bauman College in Berkeley, California.
Yoga. I fell into yoga when I was really sick and couldn't do any exercise that would increase my body temperature because I'd get anaphylaxis reactions. And to be honest, I didn't dig it. It made me tired, grumpy and my mind felt busy and uncontrollable. But I took a beginners class with a lovely soulful, calm, and kind teacher in Brisbane, Australia, and I haven't looked back. Two things I'm finding really inspiring at the moment are Yoga with Adriene and Simple Habit.
Sustainable and ethical living. With so much riding on how we not only treat each other, but treat our planet, sustainable and ethical living is my number one life priority. I know the whole topic can be completely overwhelming and frankly political, but I've found making small daily changes and talking to the friends you love most about your beliefs, really does set the world on fire.
If you're just figuring out sustainable and ethical living, here are some pointers:
- Almost all your household products are tested on animals and have poison in them. Period. The easiest way to mitigate this is to choose one or two brands you trust and then only use their products, so you don't have to use precious time researching again and again what to buy in what situations. Some go to resources I love include:
- Cruelty-Free Kitty: A resource guide that allows you to search brands and find out if they're testing on animals or not.
- Credo Beauty: A beauty retailer, think Sephora, that stocks only ethical brands - they've done all the hard work for you, now you just have to decide where to spend your precious pennies.
- Zero waste is completely possible and changes how you see the world. Two people that truely inspire me are wonder woman Anita Vandyke who's a zero-waste guru, with an inspiring Instagram and a brilliant new book called A Zero Waste Life: in thirty days; and Kate Arnell from Eco Boost, who's just a real sweetheart and great at sharing practical youtube videos on how the heck to get started. Click here for one of my recent posts on the topic to learn more.
- Also Who Gives A Crap, available in Australia, the US and the UK, is my go to company for toilet paper, paper towel and tissues. To read more about their raison d'etre, click here.
With love,
Adrianna
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For collaborations or inquiries, please contact me at: adrianna.webster (at) gmail (dot) com.
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