How to Overcome Chronic Illness: A 6-Step Guide to Healing Your Body

If you are reading this, I’m sorry.

If your life, or the life of someone close to you, has been touched by chronic illness, I offer my deepest empathy. It is one of the most challenging experiences a person can endure, and it can feel like a never-ending loop. But don’t give up. Your solution is out there. The fact that you are reading and researching means you are one step closer. You have to keep going—sick, tired, or both. Unfortunately, the only answer is to keep pushing forward. That is the magic pill and silver bullet. You have to start—or continue—putting in the effort, even when it feels like you've tried everything. Even when it feels like nothing is working. You have to keep trying. You have to keep showing up. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. You are capable of healing yourself.

I suffered through excruciating stomach pain for years with seemingly nothing wrong. My journey to a pain-free life was not straightforward and came with many tears, setbacks, and false hopes. I have tried more remedies than I can count, from traditional medicine to prayer, meditation, many different "snake oils," and a few helpful supplements. If I were starting my journey over again, this is the advice I would give myself. Every journey and ailment is unique, but I believe this advice can be helpful to anyone.

Step 1: Go to the Doctor

More than likely, you've already been to more doctors' offices than you can count. However, if you are at the beginning of your health journey—or haven’t already seen a doctor—my first recommendation is to see a general practitioner. This can be, arguably, the most frustrating and invalidating step in the process. One of three things will happen here: You’ll either walk out with a diagnosis and a care plan, be instructed to follow up with additional specialists, or be told that it is unclear what is causing your pain. The subsequent steps can be followed for any of the above three scenarios, but I’ve written them to address the latter two.

I was bounced around to many specialists, poked and prodded, had countless tests run, only to be told that everything looked healthy and in line with general figures. While I was grateful to have my "health," this was incredibly frustrating. Being sick day in and day out and then being told what I was experiencing was "completely normal" made me feel invalidated and, quite honestly, a bit crazy. Looking back years later, I am grateful for the doctors who helped me and for ruling out many diseases. While it didn’t feel like it at the time, this put me one step closer to healing my body.

Step 2: Get a PhD in YOU

Once you have ruled out any obvious diseases or infections, your next step is to take note of everything about yourself. Simple enough, right? More specifically, start paying attention to the following: What are your routines? How do they make you feel? Where do you feel things in your body? How do different meals and routines impact your mood and body after a few hours, one day, or multiple days? Keep a record of everything you can think of—from food, sleep, and stress to exercise, social interactions, work, travel, and hormonal cycles. In this step, I want you to reconnect with your body. If you are disconnected from your body for any reason, you may need to consider therapy. Yoga is also a great way to reconnect with your physical self. If you’ve experienced some form of physical trauma, you may be dissociated from your body. While this may have served as a protective layer at one point, it may no longer be serving you. Connection to the body will be a key step in healing your pain. Being connected to your body means being able to identify and describe sensations. When you feel overwhelmed, you’ll be able to notice that you are overwhelmed, figure out what is causing it, and self-soothe or fix whatever is triggering the problem.

Step 3: Experiment

Once you’ve reacquainted yourself with your body and identified certain patterns in your life that are either working or not, you’ll want to begin experimenting with new routines. I loved following different health influencers and copying their morning routines, diets, exercises, or supplements. It became a full-blown hobby of mine to discover new routines. Start small, and start easy. This should be fun! Not everything will work, but give each new thing a week or two (unless it’s obviously not working) and notice how it impacts your health. Keep the things you like and move on from things that aren’t for you. I love listening to The Skinny Confidential: Him & Her Podcast for new ideas of healthy routines to try.

Step 4: Gut Health

You need to eat vegetables. Sorry. One of the most pivotal changes in my health came from a 10-day long cleanse consisting of whole plant foods. At the end of the 10 days, I had the best bowel movement of my adult life. After this cleanse, I became wildly interested in gut health and the gut microbiome. The best analogy I’ve heard to describe what’s going on in there is to think of your gut microbiome as a garden. There is both good gut bacteria, which you can think of as the flowers, and bad gut bacteria, which you can think of as the weeds. If left unchecked, your garden will become overrun by weeds, leaving little room for the flowers to flourish. The best way to nourish your garden is by eating high-fiber foods, including plenty of fruits and vegetables. Aim for 30 different plant-based foods each week. This can include nuts, seeds, and herbs.

The health of your gut is tied to every other part of your body. If you experience chronic joint pain, cleaning up your gut health will inevitably help by reducing overall inflammation. In fact, many diseases and chronic pains stem from inflammation in the body. After just 10 days of eating a primarily plant-based diet, you will begin to reduce symptoms. I do not eat a vegan or vegetarian diet, but I prioritize high-quality proteins and organic plant foods. If, after nourishing my body, I am still craving something else, I honor those cravings and enjoy them.

If you suffer from eating disorders or disordered eating, working with a specialist to determine the best approach for altering your diet to include more plant-based foods is essential.

Step 5: Muscle

Point blank: You need to exercise. Caring for your physical health is the single greatest gift you can give yourself. There’s no sugarcoating this one. You need to lift heavy weights and engage in physical activity that raises your heart rate. It doesn’t have to be complicated, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Start with going for a walk every day or utilize the endless free YouTube workout videos. Move. Your. Body. If this is something you’ve tried and failed at in the past or is triggering for you, find a therapist and dig into your mental blocks first. Easier said than done, I understand, but you need to master your physical health for longevity and a pain-free life.

I remember wanting to throttle people who would tell me to "just workout" when I was in the worst of my illness. I felt completely unseen. How could these people even suggest exercise when just getting out of bed or showering felt defeating? That’s why I’ve placed this much further down the list. Hopefully, by the time you’ve completed steps 1–4, you’ll have a little more energy to dedicate to yourself. Again, start slow and work on building the habit first.

Aside from eating a more nutritious diet, exercise was the final nail in the coffin for my pain. And at first, I was very angry about it. I was angry that it was both this hard and this simple. That the entire time, my solution was staring me in the face. No amount of expensive supplements was going to solve my problem. Only consistent, simple exercise and nutrition were holding me back from the life I craved. I was angry that friends my age could eat whatever they wanted, party until the wee hours, and hate exercise, yet live life pain-free. I was angry that after so many years of trying every possible supplement on the planet, the biggest game-changer was just movement. To be honest, I still get angry about it. When I get angry, I let myself feel that anger. Saying out loud, "I hate this stupid exercise for my stupid health," usually helps. By the end of the workout, the endorphins are flowing, and I’m glad I showed up for myself.

Step 6: Blah Blah Blah

Hopefully by this step, things are 80-90% better, which is why I’ve called this the "blah blah blah" step—the nice-to-haves, if you will. Water, sleep, and stress reduction. Again, this advice used to infuriate me when I would read it. How the frick do you expect me to sleep well when I’m in constant pain? You’re telling me to reduce stress to help with my chronic pain, but my chronic pain is the very thing causing me stress? Clearly, these people have never been sick before! OK, great. Now that we’re on the same page, that’s why I’ve put this advice last. I think what this advice should say is to prioritize water, sleep, and reducing stress. This might look like saying "no" to a late-night concert so you can catch up on sleep. It might also look like setting healthy boundaries at work or in personal relationships. These are things that, alone, won’t necessarily fix the problem, but by prioritizing them, we can help to manage flare ups.

If you’ve made it through all six steps and are still experiencing pain, I implore you to take a closer look at your environment. I truly believe that chronic, undiagnosed illness is our body's way of signaling that something is wrong or that we are on the wrong path. Chronic UTIs might indicate we’re with the wrong partner or have unresolved sexual trauma. Hair loss and acne might point to a hormonal imbalance caused by stress from work or relationships. Start to notice the areas in your life that are causing unnecessary stress or where you could benefit from setting additional boundaries. If this is something you’ve never done before, therapy can be a very powerful tool to help identify stressors and learn how to mitigate them. Make sure your physical environment is both safe and clean. Healthy, safe relationships cannot be understated in their role in our overall health.

As for cleanliness, invest in non-toxic products for your home and personal care, as well as water and air filters.

The solution will likely not be just one thing—and it probably won’t be obvious or easy. But slowly, through trial and error, you will heal. If this is your first time venturing down this path, or if you’re at the beginning of your journey, it may feel overwhelming. The whole process is overwhelming. But I write this to inspire you to take your health into your own hands. This process took me five years. It didn’t happen overnight, and there were many setbacks along the way. I still experience the occasional flare, but on the whole, I have my life back. I hope this gives you direction on your journey, and I hope it makes you feel less alone.