Pamela’s journey to better health through diet is filled with wisdom, and the story she tells is very entertaining and inspiring. She would tell you in her teenage and young adult years, her staple meals were chips and ketchup and macaroni and corned beef and everything else highly processed. According to her siblings she was the macaroni and corned beef ‘specialist’. Her secondary school day was not complete unless she had an Oh Henry!, which earned her the nickname “chocolate”. Now, her favourite type of cuisine is plant-based cuisine, quite a remarkable change from her childhood and young adult years, and has now earned her the nickname “ the health police”.
In your younger years, your staple meals were chips and ketchup, macaroni and corned beef and a daily “Oh Henry!” chocolate which earned you the nickname of “chocolate” tell us about that experience.
Flashback to my earlier years, I was not health-conscious in the least and I certainly didn’t want my mother’s ground provisions and vegetables. However, I thoroughly enjoyed her baked lamb, especially on Sundays, and the Christmas ham, and her unique baked chicken (that was somehow still a bit greasy but finger licking). My mom adopted some of my grandmother’s dietary habits of eating from the ground and picking food from the tree and she expected the same from her children. In my lack of knowledge, I outright rejected her cooked ground provisions and vegetables as for the most part I hated all of them – to me they were just tasteless and a waste of a meal. Eventually came my mother’s ultimatum “eat what I cook or cook your own food.” That was music to my ears so I gladly agreed to cook my own food. In time, reality stepped in and I struggled to maintain preparing my lunch and dinner along with completing tons of homework.
Naturally, I turned to quick, easy and tasty meals so my love for potato chips “thoroughly bathed” in ketchup became a regular staple. Then my favorite macaroni and corn beef for which my siblings gave me the title of the “Macaroni and corn-beef Specialist” although they hardly partook of my perfected meal.
My daily consumption of an Oh-Henry chocolate for about 6 years, started because I was uncomfortable with the body image I saw in the mirror. I was petite and my friends had a plumper body with more defined curves- a look that I had preferred. To rectify this, I figured that eating the chocolate would help to fatten me up but was I so wrong. My close friends started calling me “chocolate” but never cautioned me that the road I was paving may lead to health issues and a climb down the stairs of health- eventually.
As I reflect now, I should have eaten my mom’s food and embrace her detoxification method (raw castor oil straight up😁- every summer vacation). At least I cannot say she didn’t try to pave the healthier way for me but I wanted my own way- my health-destructive way!
There must have been a remarkable change from your teenage aged years to now. What started you on your path to better health and earned you the new nickname of “health police”?
Yes! There has been a remarkable change from then to now. Just like most people, my decision to focus on better health started because of my battle with health issues. As a teenager and into my young adult years, I found myself making regular doctor visits and receiving prescription after prescription for: chronic severe migraines (which caused me to black-out anytime and anywhere), imbalanced hormones (that led to a medical opinion that I would not be able to conceive aka have children) and chronic constipation.
I was stuck, frustrated and unhappy with the constant feeling of being unwell and the diagnosis from the medical doctor that I would be childless and have to live on a migraine inhaler.
It felt like my life was now at stake.
I was at the crossroad and had to make a choice-either a childless life of constant bodily pain or better health.
Not only was my current lifestyle not working for my body, but I realized how damaging it was as well. So with great determination, I chose better health and embarked on a personal journey to improve the quality of my life.
Breaking the old habits and creating healthier ones was challenging and even discouraging at times but I had to make the change for “me”. Soon enough the link between the food I ate and how my body felt and looked became abundantly clear- not only to me but others.
My life was transformed, and I wanted the same for everyone. The reality was that I could not reach everyone so my effort was initially concentrated on my family and close friends. As I saw the amazing results from their transformation, my passion for helping more people live a healthier life became much stronger. So fortunately or unfortunately, those who sat in close proximity to me, at work, had my full attention with their dietary choices. Every day they were encouraged to avoid the junk food, drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables and prepare their own meals. This started me organizing health challenges among my colleagues both locally and regionally. They benefitted from sampling my lunch and snacks, plant-based recipes to make healthier meals and of course stopping by their desk or in the lunchroom to see what they were eating- eventually they started calling me the health police. Some would even remark to their colleagues that were caught not following the challenge rules “I am going to report you to the health police” and you can be assured they did.
My passion had been born but I felt limited in reaching more people, so I started public health promotions and developing corporate wellness challenges, especially for my colleagues at CIBC First Caribbean International Bank. Churches, primary schools and even the Barbados Community College Dance students and University of the West Indies -Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination students benefited from my Health Challenges.
What have been the actions you took to get to better health? Was it difficult? If so, how did you persist?
For several years, I lived a life of pain, fear, exhaustion and frustration until I discovered how amazing my body could feel, when I nourish it with healthy food, positive thoughts and exercise. My desire to cross the bridge from “wanting to feel well” to “actually feeling well” came with a decisive change in my mind-set. I took a quantum leap on the path to better health.
The process though was often quite challenging and many days I felt like giving up, plus when I started my journey, plant-based eating was still quite embryonic. I had to find ways to cope and also feed my body to maintain my new and healthier lifestyle- it was hard is an understatement.
I cannot stress enough the importance of finding your “why”. Knowing why I needed to make the change kept me going and years later my WHY still keeps me on the journey. Although it was not an easy road, there was simply no going back for me. My struggles, frustration, chaos, pain and sleepless nights were not in vain because now I can help others on their journey to better health.
What have been the results of your consistency to achieve better health?
What began as a desire for me to learn how to eat right and live healthy, also started me on a new educational journey in natural medicine and weight management. The principles were empowering and taught me the value of health and how to be more responsible in the way I treat my body and the lifestyle choices I make. As I applied the foundational principles of health to my own life, my health issues started to improve and are now gone. Three pregnancies later (Mikah, Nefertarri and NaiJanni Cumberbatch), busy lifestyle, more hormonal changes and an aging body, I have maintained a healthy weight and improved quality of life.
Today, I am feeling younger with smoother and healthier skin. I have consistent higher levels of energy and sharper focus. Gone are the roller coaster emotions and the annoying bloating. Amidst the struggles, pain, tears, setbacks and frustration, I am elated that God has given me a second chance to live the healthy and vibrant life I’ve always wanted.
What’s your greatest achievement to date?
My greatest achievement is the publishing of my first book Plant Based Cuisine: Complete Nutrition For Healthy Living – a culmination of 18 years of research which started as a result of my battle with nutritional health issues.
Plant-based Cuisine is more than a recipe book. Actually, it is a nutrition coach without the hefty price tag.
Let me take this time to say: Every day you do one of two things, build health or create disease. If you want to live a more vibrant life now and well into your senior years, I implore you to interest yourself in a healthy diet, exercise, self-care and the prevention of disease. No one else will do this for you!
My journey to better health is adapted from my interview with the Nation News Paper Better Health Magazine
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