When it comes to building a holistic MS lifestyle, navigating the daily journey of living with Multiple Sclerosis for most of my life has been long and unpredictable. I won’t lie—there have been some incredibly dark moments along the way. But today, I am in a really good place in my life, despite having MS.
Over the years, I’ve realized that keeping my body and mind balanced doesn’t come down to a single magic bullet. Instead, I focus entirely on nurturing my whole body mentally and physically through four pillars: diet, movement, stress relief, and sleep.
By shifting my focus to daily, natural habits, I’ve been able to transform my health and day-to-day comfort. Here is a look behind the scenes at the routine I use to stay strong, mobile, and peaceful.
1. Building a Holistic MS Lifestyle Through Flexible Eating
I’ve followed several specific MS diets since 2004. If there is one major thing I’ve discovered, it’s this: there is no perfect diet.
Today, my focus is simply on eating a wide range of nutrient-dense whole foods. However, through trial, error, and researching scientific data, I do strictly avoid a few specific things to keep my gut and body happy:
- Dairy: I cut this out because published research on PubMed has shown that dairy components can trigger inflammatory immune cross-reactivity, which may cause people with MS to experience more frequent flares.
- Gluten: I originally stopped eating gluten in 2004 due to a structured diet I was tracking. Years later, a functional medicine provider recommended I stick with it because gluten can increase gut permeability, often referred to as “leaky gut”. It just became a seamless habit that stuck.
- Eggs: I avoid these purely because they give me physical gut pain.
While I used to avoid all grains, I have successfully added non-gluten grains back into my life. Because I rarely eat meals that require them anyway, it’s not a big deal to me! I prefer to focus my time on packing my plate with vibrant ingredients.
👉 Looking for some kitchen inspiration? Check out my Anti-Inflammatory Recipe Page to see exactly what I’m cooking this week!
2. The Shift That Erased My Severe Heat Intolerance
For about 20 years, I suffered from severe heat intolerance. Anytime the temperature crept above 70°F, my body would completely shut down. My skin turned bright red, my eyes would black out, and my legs became so weak that I literally couldn’t walk. It would take hours to recover.
Eleven years ago, I decided to make a massive lifestyle shift with the guidance of a functional medicine provider. We addressed a few areas all at once:
- Checking my Vitamin D level
- Adding daily omega-3 and B-vitamin supplements
- Consuming flaxseeds daily
Three months later, I noticed my heat intolerance was completely gone. I tested it over and over, and it was truly gone. Today, it has been 11 years, and I can easily stay outdoors on 100°F days without my body shutting down. Because I changed so many things at once, I can’t pinpoint the exact cause—it was likely a combination of everything working together.
☀️ A Quick Note on Vitamin D:
Tracking your Vitamin D level with your provider is an incredibly important step. You want to ensure your numbers are sitting in an optimal range, not just a bare-minimum “normal” one. If you want to dive deeper into how I approach this, you can grab my quick Vitamin D Guide eBook for $3.99 where I share exactly how I track this metric. I never tell readers how much to take—that is entirely a job for your professional team!
3. Stress Response and a Holistic MS Lifestyle
I’ve dealt with stress my entire life, rooted in childhood trauma that trained my body to immediately default into “fight-or-flight” mode. My default was flight—hiding. For decades, whenever my MS body wouldn’t cooperate, I was incredibly mean to myself. One day I realized: If I talked to a friend the way I talked to myself, we wouldn’t be friends.
Working on my stress wasn’t about magically “lowering” the stressful events around me; it was about changing how I reacted to them. It took a long time, but I started by simply stopping mean thoughts the second they entered my head and replacing them with kindness.
I am fortunate to live in a rural area where I can step outside and immediately let nature calm my nerves. But you don’t have to live in the country to get this benefit! You can enjoy a backyard, a balcony, or a local park. You can even bring nature indoors by opening up the windows and curtains, or bringing fresh flowers into your room. Today, things don’t bother me as much. I still get stressed, but I don’t hang onto it anymore.
4. Sneaking Movement Into the Small Moments
I am not a big exercise person—it is definitely not my favorite thing to do! Because of that, I learned to make physical movement a seamless part of my existing daily routine.
Instead of scheduling grueling workouts, I focus on “micro-movements” throughout the day:
- In Bed: I do gentle stretches the moment I wake up before my feet even hit the floor.
- While Watching TV: I do sitting marches or ankle turns.
- In the Kitchen: While waiting for my blender to finish spinning, I do squats or counter push-ups.
- Hydration Reminders: I keep a timer on my phone that goes off every 20 minutes to remind me to drink water, stand up, and move my limbs.
Those little habits truly add up over the course of a week!
Resting the Nervous System
I am incredibly fortunate that I have never suffered from chronic MS fatigue. However, I still prioritize deep, mindful rest.
Every day, I practice mindfulness: I take deep breaths, relax in my recliner with my infrared light, and play relaxing music on my Alexa. I consciously tell my body to completely relax from my head to my toes. Even without the light, this practice is incredibly relaxing and does wonders to calm the nerves.
Living well with a chronic condition is all about discovering what makes your unique body feel vibrant. There is no one-size-fits-all plan, but focusing on whole foods, gentle daily movement, and radical self-kindness has made all the difference for me.
Finding Your Own Balance
Living well with a chronic condition is all about discovering what makes your unique body feel vibrant. There is no one-size-fits-all roadmap, but focusing on whole foods, gentle daily movement, and radical self-kindness has made all the difference for me. Finding your own sustainable rhythm is the most rewarding part of creating a holistic MS lifestyle.
What is one small lifestyle habit that makes you feel your best? Let me know in the comments below!
🧩 Want More Simple Ways to Support Your Health With MS?
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