About Instinctual Wellbeing

Hello there! I’m Mitch: husband, cat dad, author, health coach, yogi, paleo/AIP enthusiast, and your guide here at Instinctual Wellbeing.

I started this space back in 2014 when I switched from a vegan to a paleo, and soon thereafter, to an AIP diet. This was a necessary transition for me in my healing journey, as I was trying hard to heal from multiple autoimmune conditions, as well as persistent depression and social anxiety. Eliminating trigger foods like dairy, grains and nightshades made a HUGE difference for me. I felt better than ever and it seemed as if my 10+ years of being bounced around in the medical system due to “mysterious” illnesses may have finally been over.

So at first, this blog was mostly a place to help others transition to a paleo or AIP diet. Interestingly though, as my understanding of healing autoimmunity evolved, this blog also evolved into something greater.

I realized that while diet definitely played a big role in healing, it wasn’t the full picture. How did I learn this? Well, after the initial healing occurred from switching to the diet, I hit a pretty big plateau and in some ways even backslid a bit as I continued to be strict and regimented in my diet and healing. I once again felt frustrated when I couldn’t shake a few of my pesky autoimmune-related symptoms, and especially when my brain fog returned. “I thought this was supposed to be the miracle diet!” I exclaimed. But as you may know by now, there is no silver bullet to healing autoimmunity.

Over time, I learned the hard way that factors such as mental and emotional health, family and relationships, career, home environment and spirituality, were equally important when it came to healing chronic illness – relying on diet and supplements alone can only take us so far.

I ultimately reshaped how I looked at healing chronic illness and I’ve since gone on to say that diet will only help us get 80% well; we must go deeper to achieve the final 20% of our healing.

With that, I quickly learned that balance (one of the most difficult lessons for me to learn) must be achieved in all aspects of life in order to fully and truly heal.

Today, Instinctual Wellbeing is dedicated to helping you simplify your life, find balance, and get back to basics. I believe that behind all the social conditioning and beneath all the pain and the hurt we sometimes feel, we are already well and we are already whole. Our bodies know this, but our minds tend to forget. So sometimes we just have to chip away at the stuff that’s keeping us sick before we can allow ourselves to be well.

That’s why you’ll still find AIP Recipes and helpful autoimmunity Resources, but you’ll also find many posts about maintaining a healthy Lifestyle (including a healthy dose of laughter!), as well as “Consciousness” posts directed at helping you gain mental, emotional and spiritual clarity. Learning about all aspects is important to fully heal and get back to your natural state of wellbeing.

In Health,

Mitch

UPDATE 10/28/20: Please note that as of November 1st, this blog will likely remain inactive. Feel free to still enjoy the posts and resources that I’ve created over the years though, as they will remain live indefinitely. If you would like to follow along with my new endeavor, please join me over at humblHuman.com. Be well!