It was only a matter of time before I became a health freak. My grandma was one and passed it onto my mom, who of course passed it onto me. I grew up being conscious, but wasn’t always an advocate. I have since graduated college, slowly becoming a label reader, essential oil lover and nerd for of all things health related. I’m doing it without the earthly support of my Grandma, but that makes my passion even stronger. I know she sends her love from above and while I may not be able to have those conversations with her, I hope to fill my journey with those who I can.

Like I said before, I wasn’t always an advocate. I used to think my grandma was crazy when she would pull out the organic syrup that always tasted awful compared to my sugar filled one from home. I would also kick at my mom when she would put Thieves essential oil on my feet when I was sick.

Fast forward a few years and I am off to college. Which has a funny way of influencing 3 a.m. pancakes or pizza and bad decisions with every late night and early morning. Although those decisions seem awesome at the time, your body also has a way of telling you when enough is enough.

Then I went to Thailand. And well…while I’d go back in a heartbeat I’d rather not experience the stomach pain that I did. I’m not just talking a tummy ache. I’ll spare you the gory details and stop right there. The three months following my return, the pain did not stop. I experienced extreme cramping and discomfort and lost 10 pounds.

Something had to be done. I was tested for a parasite. The doctors said nope, you’re fine! Well…fine to me meant keeping food in my body a little more than 30 minutes, therefore I was not “fine.” So, I took it upon myself to heal my broken tummy, which I found meant my whole gut.

Your gut is like your second brain. You would be so surprised to find out that most of your health problems could start in your gut. Luckily, there are many ways to support and promote a healthy gut. Which I found that lovely summer after Thailand.

While I was in Thailand, the only relief I got when the cramps were happening was putting lemon essential oil on my stomach. After doing research only recently, I stumbled upon a parasite related issue that sounded just like what I experienced.The suggestion: lemon.

Woot! So I did one thing right, however it only worked momentarily because the issues were much deeper than the surface. So deeper I went into healing my gut. These were the things I was doing to do so.

1: Kefir. My mom started growing her own so I could drink it in a smoothie every day. Thank you Aunt Jessie for the kefir grains that make me gag when I watch my mom retrieve their yummy kefir juices everyday. (It’s a texture thing)

2: Added pre-biotic and doubled my probiotic. Thank you Shaklee.

3: No processed foods or sugar. Okay I am also human, so don’t believe I had no sweets, because I’d be lying.

4: Research. My curiosity kicked into high gear, questioning everything and seeking answers to questions about all food and it’s role in my body.

5: Exercise. This was hard at first because I was so weak and was used to working out everyday. So for me, exercise came with the realization that healthy includes days off. I learned to listen to my body when it was giving me signs, something I still follow to this day.

Slowly but surely my body healed. I felt amazing after the summer of healing. Then college hit again and my gut was the punching bag. Again I realized how my health depended on the decisions I made every day.

From this whole experience and up to this day, I have grown to question everything. I knew that I felt better when I filled my body with good things, simple as that. Organic things. Unprocessed whole foods.  I still eat dark chocolate and splurge on dessert sometimes and that’s okay. But if there’s a better way to make food, I’ll find it.

It’s not easy. It’s hard. The systems set up to keep us healthy and safe are not doing the job. When we should be able to believe what the box says, we can’t. We believe the lies and marketing that try to get us to buy products. The word organic does not translate to healthy. “All-natural” has no regulations or guidelines for using the term and even though we think it may have essential oils in it, it was only created to look and smell like one. All to make money. Become a label reader and you’ll soon realize how simple life can be.

So there’s this tab called “Well-being.” Right here. A category that will soon be filled with stories about my journey. We’ll dive into a lot of different topics, but the overall theme is maintaining a healthy lifestyle amidst this mess of a world we live in.

Naturally, “Well-being” led to “Well-made,” but that’s a story for another day.

Love & Stuff,

KT