Ashley says she’s lucky that she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the age of 30. It’s a diagnosis that isn’t always easy to get, but at a young age Ashley felt she still had a lot of options to try to treat her illness without medication.

After consulting with her doctor, Ashley decided to adopt a low-inflammation diet (lots of vegetables and fruits, no fried foods and minimal processed foods), along with a low impact exercise regimen of yoga and walking 10,000 steps per day.

In this instance, Ashley’s history of dieting may have actually been helpful, since she found it relatively easy to overhaul her healthstyle to make these changes, and it only took about three months for her symptoms to start improving dramatically.

An added bonus is that Ashley’s new habits have helped her deal with stress and emotional issues she has struggled with on and off throughout her life, and she’s been able to stay off of antidepressants for four years.

This is a fun conversation and we go into a lot of details about her morning routine, eating habits and favorite meals. Ashley was also kind enough to share with us a few of her favorite recipes below.