Ordinary women changing the world and doing something different. These are the stories worth talking about and are newsworthy, not celebs parading around in bikinis, dating other celebs, going to nightclubs, bla bla bla. It’s time the media gave just as much headline space for the every day women working to inspire others and who are creating something.
Rant over let’s get on with the point of this story!
Ella Woodward, 22, was an ordinary girl from London who loved her junk food. In fact she lived off candy, ice cream, cookie dough, peanut butter, chocolate and basically anything that had a high sugar content. In 2011 she started to get really sick, couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t stop sleeping and had chronic pain. She was eventually diagnosed with a relatively rare illness called Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS.
The syndrome effectively breaks down your autonomic nervous system: the system that controls everything that is meant to happen automatically in the body – your heart beat, digestion, circulation and immune system.
“As you can imagine this had a pretty devastating effect on my life. I literally couldn’t walk down the street, I slept for 16 hours a day, was in chronic pain, had blackouts, never-ending heart palpitations, unbearable stomach issues, constant headaches – the list goes on,” she told the Daily Mail.
Ella was basically bed-ridden, and was given medication including steroids, and was told she would have to be on these for the rest of her life. After a while, when the meds weren’t working as well as they could, Ella decided to do something about it and make a change of her own. Her change was a new diet. She went from sugar junkie to being a strict vegan and cut out all sugar, gluten, dairy and anything processed from her diet.
She started noticing a much bigger difference even after a few months of being on the new diet, and 18 months after starting medication, she was able to stop taking them completely! Throughout her new lifestyle change, she started a blog called Deliciously Ella where she would post her recipes online and share her secrets to success with the world.
It became so popular, attracting over 80k followers on Instagram, that she decided to launch an app which would make it easier for people to find certain recipes. Along with her newfound online fame, Ella was also studying nutrition at the College of Naturopathic Medicine
The became so popular she hit no.1 on the iTunes food and drink app category in both the UK and the US, and no.5 on the whole iTunes store. Not to shabby for a girl who decided to take charge of her lifestyle and make positive changes. Clearly her story is resonating with so many other people and she is using this experience to inspire others.
“It’s beyond inspiring to read that Deliciously Ella has impacted people’s lives in this way and I’m still so touched and humbled every time I read an email or comment saying that I’ve made such an impact,” she said, also adding it’s not about making money, but creating something positive that will help other people.
Wow, so happy for her! And what a blessing that she is able to help other people too. Good to know the drs. are willing to admit that she has a lot to offer too. We need more drs. like that.