About Me
My name is Veerle, which means Traveling Warrior. It seemed like an appropriate name for my website. The warrior gets the best out of me. It ensures that I remain flexible and do not get set in my ways. When I started this site in June 2018, my goal was to, in addition to my work as an artist also write a blog with articles of my journey through the different phases of my life.
Spirituality
In my teenage years, I was very unhappy, without knowing why. To try to understand this grief I dove into spirituality and read several books by Eckhard Tolle, Don Miguel Ruiz, Esther & Jerry Hicks, Stolp, Janosh and Paul Coelho. I often did this secretly and didn't talk about it with anyone outside my direct family. At that time, New Age spirituality was considered a strange thing, and it was not as normal as it is today. With reading all those books, I hoped to achieve an "awakening" so that I would feel better. However, this did not happen.
Self-esteem
My self-esteem has always been very low and I regularly punished myself because I thought I was too fat. In addition to binge-eating, I also felt an intense self-loathing, especially towards my own belly. I didn't feel good enough. This feeling never went away. No matter how much I read New Age books I read, and no matter how I tried to think positively, I felt inferior. I tried very hard to think and live well, but I was still very unhappy.
Depression
After my mother died in 2009, I fell into a severe depression. This was a very difficult period in my life, but fortunately I managed to complete my Art studies. During that period, I felt no emotions and I overate (binged) daily. I gained 20 kilos in a years time and got a fungal infection; Candida. The latter caused me to take a critical look at my diet. For nine months I followed the Candida diet. Eventually, the candida went away, alas in combination with medication.
Ask for help
From an early age, I was taught that you should be able to do everything yourself and that you don't ask anyone for help. So I had built a great resistance to reach out to someone about my problems. Eventually, I got to a point where I didn't know what else I could do to feel better. One night I had a bad trip taking space cake. Although this was very frightening at the time, it gave me a insight into the core of my being. It showed me the naked truth, as it were. An insight into myself. I felt all at once how dark, sad and desperate I felt inside. I knew at that moment that I couldn't do this alone and had to seek help. So I decided to go to therapy.
Intermittent Fasting
My mental health improved because of this and at the same time I also came across intermittent fasting . I recovered from my depression, lost 66.2 lbs, learned to enjoy food and to cherish myself. I also got rid of a large part of my sugar addiction. Still, I was quickly knoked out of balance. From one moment to the next, I could go from very happy to very angry, only to suddenly feel very sad. This was very tiring. Not to mention, my periods are very painful each month. These are so painful that I had to take the maximum dose of Ibuprofen of 400 mg for two days in a row.
Mental Health
Because I am very interested in (mental) health and nutrition, I tend to read a lot about this. I always try to see what the developments are in these areas. When I'm curious, I try it out to see if it works for me. I won't do this until I've done enough research to know what I am diving into. I have told myself is that I always try to stay open in the nutrition department, and try not to get stuck on old ideas. It's unwise to keep eating anything just because you've always done so. Since November 2019 I have started eating the Carnivore diet, and I noticed that my mental health improved by leaps and bounds. I now feel more balanced (mood swings are gone) and I am more confident in myself than I have ever been. Also, it seems that my painful period is a thing of the past! I am cautiously optimistic, but if this continues, I will certainly tell you more about this.
I feel calm, light and free. Of course, I also hope to inspire you to get the best out of yourself. Sometimes this is not something you can do alone, so if you need help with this, I am happy to assist you!
If you are curious about my work as an artist, I would like to refer you to
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