7
My teenage and adult life were filled with self-loathing and yo-yo dieting. I look at pictures from back then now and think I look pretty damn hot, but back then, I saw an obese, ugly woman. Truly. I took this self-loathing to the extreme of cosmetic surgery in an attempt to force my body into this idea of perfection and hoping this perfection would get my then husband to love me and want only me.
Undealt with trauma. Self-loathing. The stress of intense cosmetic surgery resulted in complete adrenal burn out. (Leaky gut and gluten intolerance played a part in adrenal burnout, chronic inflammation and auto-immune issues, too, but that is a story for another time.) By the end of 2014, I’d packed on almost 80 pounds, had no energy or strength in my body and was sleeping 20 hours a day. Yes, it was that bad. No, traditional doctors did not help me.
I knew rest, emotional healing and nutrition were paramount for recovery. So, I began searching for something that would help. Along the way, I learned how awful soy, gluten and GMOs are for the body. I also spend thousands of dollars of various systems that may work for other people but did not help me.
I also took that time to really work on and heal my relationship with my body. There was a lot of emotional releasing and forgiving that happened during these times of physical exhaustion. It was a priceless lesson in slowing down, letting go of perfection and learning how to really listen to and take care of my self and my body.
Then, March 2018, I was given a six-day sample of Zeal along with a 6 day sample of Smart coffee from two different friends. I was skeptical, but still desperate to feel 35 years old instead of 60. Seriously, my partner is 14 years older than me, and he was kicking my butt with his energy level and stamina.
Day 1: I put the Smart Coffee packet in my morning coffee around 7am. Around 9am, I took my first dose of Zeal and then at lunch time I took another dose of Zeal. What did I notice? Nothing.
Day 2: Same routine as yesterday. I woke up feeling rested for the first time in a long time and remembered having very vivid dreams the night before. What did I notice? I wasn’t exhausted and ready for bed by 8pm like normal.
Day 3: Same routine as the day before. I woke up feeling ALIVE, motivated and ready to get stuff accomplished. Even better, I actually had the energy and stamina to keep going. Deep cleaning. Catch up on laundry. Weed eat the entire yard—because we don’t have a push mower and I’m nuts. Then I was ready to pressure wash the outside of the house, clean and organize the patio, go grocery shopping, making dinner from scratch AND finish off the day getting naked with my man in the most mind-blowing way.
One week into this experience, I committed to a daily morning routine of a 10-minute walk, 10 minute beginner yoga and 10 minute meditation. I felt amazing! (I ran out of coffee. I kept going with Zeal twice a day and added the coffee back in as soon as my order came in.)
Three weeks in I signed up for and successfully completed Lori Harder’s 7-day Fitness challenge. It was intense and challenging, but I felt so amazing. The excitement from having my energy, drive and motivation back was intense.
Fast forward to now, nine weeks in, and I am down sixty-one inches (and counting). I feel amazing in my body and feel better than I felt in my twenties BEFORE adrenal burnout. I can also tell that I’m making huge progress allowing my gut to completely heal.
The miracle of giving me my life back—that is the reason these products are in this magazine. I share this experience with you because there are so many of us struggling in our relationship with our bodies because our physical body just doesn’t feel good due to aches, pains, auto-immune issues, chronic inflammation, mental/emotional issues and the like.
Each one of those has a nutrition issue at its base—and its important to give your body nutrition that is bioavailable and easily absorbed. Both of these products are able to do that—and have given so many others their lives back full of happiness, health and wealth.