How My Health & Nutrition Has Come Such A Long Way in Just a Few Short Months

As a [newly diagnosed] Crohn’s disease and [long time] IBS sufferer, I am burdened with symptoms such as severe digestive irregularity, fatigue and the inability to properly absorb and digest the nutrients which I consume. My symptoms were so severe they became debilitating. Although I’ve dealt with feelings of defeat, disbelief, and denial; thoughts of “why is this happening to me” and “this is never going to get better,” I can say that I have made a complete 180 in the severity of my symptoms. I couldn’t be happier. There is still progress to be made but it’s not as bad as it had been.

 Let’s take a trip back in time to where it all started...

The beginning of my Journey to what is wrong with Rachel

I was first diagnosed with IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, when I was 15 years old. It was pretty controlled up until about 3 years ago after having my second child. It was about 6 months after having my second child that my symptoms became severe. I suffered for two years with stress induced and food triggered IBS. In January of 2014, it became so severe I had trouble leaving the house. My digestion was extremely irregular. I was exhausted and irritable all the time and I spent hours every day in the bathroom. There were days I couldn’t even leave my house, not even to take my kids outside to play. In September, I had suffered with the severity for so long I ended up having to quit my job. After a negative result for Celiac Disease, my GI doctor and I both agreed we would try to treat my condition as IBS.

 I had to try many different ways to reduce my stress and start eating healthier. I had to follow special elimination diets, various different medications for my stomach and for my anxiety, and try to implement yoga or other activity into my daily life,  I spent about a year doing this, to experience barely any relief! I did however see much personal growth from this.

When it came to eating, I could not absorb anything I ate. I lost about 30 pounds in one of the unhealthiest ways there could ever be to losing weight. Every time I ate, my intestines would become spastic and my body would completely flush everything out of my system; before it even had a chance to digest. I was literally getting NO nutrition. This left me with that wonderful (not) symptom of fatigue. When I say fatigue, I mean severe. I would get tired just from standing! While my boyfriend and I would have a conversation in the kitchen I would have to sit down on one of my children’s stools because my body just couldn’t even stand there. It was terrible; and with two young children (4 & 2 at the time) it was so mentally defeating knowing that I just didn’t have the energy to be the best mom I could be to them.

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This fall my daughter started school and it was those afternoons when my fatigue would be the highest and I felt such guilt that I was too tired for my daughter after not seeing her all day while she was at school. The fatigue symptoms were challenging because it not only made me tired but it left me irritable and with a very short fuse. I carried so much guilt, but I thought there is nothing I can do about this.

How Crohn's Disease Affects the Body

In October 2015 I finally decided “I can’t live like this,” continuing these “experiments” of reducing IBS symptoms to no relief and scheduled a colonoscopy for October and a cat scan for November 2015. During the colonoscopy they found ulcers and inflammation at the end of my small intestine, and the cat scan showed inflammation in the same area on the outside of the intestine. This led to my official diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. Directly following the cat scan, my GI prescribed me my first set of steroids (Enticorte) that were supposed to help begin the remission process. Honestly, they did absolutely nothing for me or my symptoms.

I finally got to the point where I was just like “OKAY, you know what? I am going to give this Shakeology a shot! If anything, I’ll at least know by body is getting some proper nutrition and I’ll be able to stop taking my probiotics. I’m sick of taking medicine and capsules of EVERYTHING!” I signed up as a coach and received my first shipment of Vegan Shakeology the second week of December. I personally chose the Vegan shakes because I have lactose intolerance and wasn’t sure how whey would affect me.

Shakeology has changed so much for me! 

I actually have the energy to play with my kids and spend enjoyable time with them without feeling weak or fatigued.

December 2015 was my first month of Shakeology! I did have to slowly introduce it to my system for the first 2 days. Within the first week my energy levels were higher and my fatigue was almost non-existent! I felt like my old self again! I had energy! I didn’t get tired just standing there and I had energy to be the mom I want to be with my kids.

I was hooked after that!

I spent a good two years thinking there was no end in sight to these debilitating symptoms. A very long two years wondering if I was ever going to feel better again, believing there was nothing I could do about it.

But there was, and it was as simple as drinking Shakeology every day, guaranteeing that I would be getting seriously needed nutrition and that my body and mind would be able to perform better in all of my roles.  I am currently (February 2016) entering month 3 of drinking Shakeology every day. It is still successfully demolishing that ugly fatigue symptom and I am seeing more regulation with my digestive issues. I do at this point still take medications for IBS and Crohns, but by far the Shakeology has had more effectiveness than the Crohn’s medication has. . I have seen more regulation in my digestion, I no longer have to take a multitude of probiotics, daily vitamins and other supplemental capsules, my body is absorbing the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and my energy levels have risen significantly. 

All in all, Shakeology has by far allowed me to see the most improvement with my symptoms. I am beyond thankful I found this amazing (and delicious) way to help properly nourish my body and relieve some of my worst symptoms! I cannot say it has “cured” me. I have Crohn’s and it is incurable. But I will say, with the honest truth, that Shakeology has made the biggest and most effective impact on my, my symptoms, my health and my life. 

So what exactly is Shakeology? Shakeology is an extremely nutrient dense shake. It's more than just a protein shake. As depicted in the picture above it contains so much more than your typical protein drink or supplemental drinks. Shakeology contains more than 60 natural ingredients from around the world!  The co-creator Darin Olien literally travels around the world studying, researching, and locating the most whole, nutrient rich super foods the Earth has to offer us. (I want his job!) Sadly, most of the ingredients are not from America because of the amount of GMO products that are grown here. However, this is reassuring, knowing that these ingredients are not contaminated and are picked in their purest, most natural forms. How often do you come across something like this? 

Check out Darin Olien on Shakeology here!! I love his passion!

If you are interested in learning more about Shakeology and would like more info follow the links below:

Contact me through my Facebook page

Check out Shakeology 

or email me at rachelina2317 at gmail dot com 

**Disclaimer: Shakeology is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. However we do have thousands of customer testimonials and success stories featuring a wide variety of health issues that have been helped. Please reference Facebook.com/Shakeology and Shakeology.com/results-reviews-success-stories for more information.**

Decide. Commit. Succeed.

A couple of months ago I decided to take the plunge and started my own business as a fitness and wellness coach! While the business aspect has been a bit slow starting for me I have made incredible improvements in my health, fitness, personal growth and development and have made some amazing friends. To deter feelings of discouragement and defeat I have to keep reminding myself that, as with any start-up business, it takes time to start and grow your business. It doesn't all happen at once.

I chose this line of work because there are so many benefits and an infinite amount of learning criteria. The potential to earn is an incredible opportunity especially since I am a stay at home mom, but that is not the only benefit nor is it my main goal. Yes of course I want to create an income. I would love to be able to contribute financially for our family; help pay off the house, work our way to purchasing our second home, stay current and up to-date with our bills, be able to take our family on vacations, have financial freedom and comfort. Yes, with this business it is possible and it's definitely a motivator but it's not my main motivator. 

My motivation stems from the fact that I want to be my best self, to live my fullest and most wholesome life. To live healthy and strong, fit and confident. To gain experience, to continue learning and have the opportunity to help others find a way to live their lives fulfilled.

I long felt that I just didn't know what my purpose in life was. I was afraid to go to college because I was afraid it would end up being wasted money in a degree I would most likely never use. That was something I took note of growing up that happened to people around me and I didn't want that to happen to me. I didn't want a job where I was stuck behind a desk or a a career that I spent 80% of my day working. I was afraid to be tied down, suffocated and unhappy in a job I didn't feel passionate about. What job could I do that would actually mean something in my life? Not to say that any of the jobs my readers are working aren't good jobs, you may be very fulfilled with your career choices and that is fantastic and I am so glad for you. But for me I never felt a passion for anything I've really done. Until now.  

Looking back now, I see that it all has worked out the way it was meant to so far. The one thing I knew I wanted to be in my life was a mother. I had always looked forward to being a mom. Today I am blessed to say that I am a mother of two and I have the opportunity to stay home with them. During the frustrating moments I may take it for granted, but overall I would never want it to be any other way. One of the deciding factors of transitioning to staying home was my medical issues. When we first made the decision that I would officially quit my job I was severely sick with IBS, irritable bowel syndrome. It was the longest year of my life, longest two years until finally receiving an official diagnosis of Crohn's Disease. When I put the recent events of the last 5 years into perspective with my adult life, and lack of a career choice, I am extremely grateful for the way things have worked out. If I had made a career choice in my past I probably would have lost all of my success in whatever that career was after having kids and getting sick. If it had been a job I loved I would have been dealing with even more stress than I already was. I have been stuck in a tug-o-war between having to leave my job I loved and staying home with the kids to be a full-time mom and get my health back. I know parents, especially moms, have been there and it's not a decision I would want anyone to have to make.

My journey to live a healthier life began when I got sick. It allowed me to change my perspective and I learned that I need to take care of myself. I realized that the most important aspect of my life, the one that needs to be treated with respect, is ME. How can I live my best possible life if I am not taking care of me? You are the creator of your own happiness and that includes your health. This was one the biggest things I've realized in the past 2 years and it has led me to where I am now. 

I am finding the ways to live healthy, in as many aspects as I can. I am taking action and make changes to my daily life that will enable me to live everyday full and healthy. Yes, of course, I have my bad days. We all do. And this is only the beginning; this career choice, becoming a fitness and health coach, learning more about my self and how to live my best life. From this I have committed myself to my life and my journey. I have made a commitment with myself to use everyday as a new step to living a healthy life. And I am committing myself to my business and helping others along the way. That is my favorite part of this business, besides the required personal development. 

As a part of my commitment, I entered myself in the Beachbody Challenge for the program PiYo. My challenge started February 1st.  This challenge is a 60 day commitment to myself; my body and fitness, my nutrition and my self-discipline. As a part of this challenge I need to follow the program schedule and workout everyday. I also need to follow the PiYo Lean Eating guide, this is the part I slacked on the first time around using this program. The workouts aren't a biggy for me, I mean they are tough and they work you. But I've been doing them almost everyday for the last two months and they are my favorite workout. It is a combination of pilates, yoga, and cardio. The hardest part of this challenge is the eating! I really need to create stricter eating habits, which is ironic considering nutrition was the aspect of this whole wellness path that got me started. But I really needed to put my foot down and take action. Finishing this challenge will not only help me get, and stay, fit and active, it will also help me create better eating habits AND I'll get a free t-shirt and entered into a $$ prize drawing! 

During my prep-week the week before my challenge I had to really sit down and plan my first week! I needed to come up with a way to make sure I ate the proper amounts of everything and was eating the right foods! The eating guide simplifies this for you by giving you a calorie target plan and the number of servings you should be eating each day, of each food group per plan. That was the simple part. The hard part was making sure I actually was eating the right things, I wasn't skipping meals or binge eating at night. Carbs! Carbs have been the hardest part! I'm limited to two tiny servings of carbs. This is hard for a potato girl! However, I knew that this was my weakness so I had to figure out something to eliminate this hurdle. 

Enter in Food Prep Fridays! I scoured Pinterest for hours trying to find the perfect meal plan printable, however I ended up making one myself so that I could start my meal week on Friday. That's weird I know, but our payday is Thursday so that is the day we grocery shop and Friday's are also my "rest day". It just made sense to me to start the "weekly menu" on a Friday. It worked very well during week 1 and it even helped me stay on track with my eating over the weekend. Which I'm sure we can all agree that weekends are when our habits slack the most! I even created a little "portion tracker sheet" so that I can track my servings of each food category throughout the day! This has been really helpful because I have a clear visual of whether or not I am meeting the required amount of servings and foods. 

I have officially fallen in love with meal prep and having a designated "make ahead" day! I couldn't believe how much time I saved throughout the week by making my lunches ahead of time! This week my little man and I prepared our breakfasts and my lunches for the coming week. I decided in an attempt to cut down those carbs I would have salads for lunch everyday, this also is helping me get in those five servings of [fresh] vegetables. A big thank you to Pinterest and the infamous Mason Jar Salads!! I love mason jars! I use them for everything you could think of throughout the house as well as their original purpose, canning. But oh the inspiration I received from all of those Pinterest photos of mason jar salads! Ah-May-Zing! Seriously though, these things are fantastic! I did not once have to wonder this week "what am I going to eat for lunch?" I did not have to dirty any extra dishes during the week or take 15-30 minutes out of each day trying to come up with something healthy and then executing it. Grab a mason jar salad out of the fridge, empty contents into bowl or plate. Wah-la. Badabing. It's done! Keepin' It Simple.

My other big make ahead time saver for the week... Egg Muffins! Freaking genius! I eat eggs every single morning. No joke. Every morning its either two over-easy eggs or a two egg omelette with veggies. First things I consume everyday are coffee and then protein. Protein. Picture a zombie in the morning moaning "protein... must. have. protein." This is me, actually I'm not too zombie-ish, I'm one of those annoying "Good morning the sun is shining and you're beautiful" type of people. Just don't talk to me before I've had my coffee and protein, okay?! Anyway, back to the eggs! So if you're an egg eater that means you are standing over the stove every morning, dirtying a pan and a spatula and whatever else you need for your eggs...every day. I'm trying to be efficient here and get the most out of my day... cooking eggs is wasting my time. Again thank you Pinterest, for the inspiration to make egg muffins! So simple! My little man and I prepared 12 egg muffins with tomato, orange peppers and spinach. Each muffin is about 1 egg, so two of these adorable and tasty egg muffins is my serving of protein for the morning. Little man loves them too! Now all we have to do for breakfast the next 4 or 5 days is pop these muffins into the microwave and again Wah-la! Badabing! Time saved, nutrition granted! 

I told you, I am committed to this challenge! Yeah, I had to make some changes in my routine and habits to make this challenge work for me. But they weren't the end of the world and it wasn't that hard! It's not hard to make changes or commit yourself to something. It's a decision to make lifestyle change. Why wait until something our of your control comes around and changes things for you? Make those decisions to change something in your life, even something as simple as making a "Meal Prep Day." If you fully commit yourself to the things you want in life you will achieve them! 

This is about it for my week 1 take-away! I really enjoyed going back to the first couple of workouts in the program this week. I was able to put a little more focus on my form and I noticed A LOT  of changes in my strength, balance and flexibility than when I first started the program [back in March of 2015 and again consistently starting in November 2015.] So that was something I found really exciting this week! And of course the biggest take away from this week was the development of some new eating habits and planning habits that will be of extreme use to me for, gee I dunno, maybe the rest of my days! ;)

Decide! Decide to do something for yourself, to better you and your life. 

Commit! Create a plan of action and commit every bit of yourself to the decision you made. Challenge yourself and be your own cheerleader! Root yourself on along the way. You're opinion of yourself is the only one that matters.

Succeed! Stay consistent in your commitments! Persist and persevere. Give it time, stay on course and you will see results and you will have succeeded.

Are you ready to make a decision to change your life today? Head on over to and follow my Facebook Page. I would be honored to help you reach your goals in fitness, health and/or this amazing career opportunity. 

 
P.S. This is my little accountability partner lately. My kitty Garfield. He visits me everyday while I am on my yoga mat, watches while I work out and always jumps in my lap when I sit down at the computer to work! :)