The Inspiration

Back at the beginning of the year I was miserable.  Depression followed me like a cloud, I was obese (how I hate that word!), energy was a foreign concept and I felt like I was failing everyone around me. At an appointment for my youngest kiddo our doctor looked at me and asked how I was doing.  The following bout of tears resulted in an appointment for myself the following week and that is where my journey over the past 6 months began.

Diagnosed with depression I started Zoloft and fell much better, for awhile.  It did help get some roadblocks out of my way and I began working out with the Couch to 5K training program.  My goal was to run my first EVER 5 K on July 2. (Which I did!!!)  Enter Arbonne.  I had a 30 Day Feeling Fit Kit hiding in my pantry and I busted it out and started following the guidelines it came with, I had to make some eating modifications because I was still nursing my baby.  The following 6 weeks brought HUGE results!  17 lbs lost, inches gone, I was laughing again and I was starting to appreciate life! June rolled around and we got to go on vacation to see family.  I had plateaued in my weight loss and it seemed like something still wasn't right.  I was constantly battling bone numbing fatigue, my joints hurt, I felt foggy and drained and even with the relaxed nature of our vacation I couldn't pull out of it.  When we got back home I had a follow up with my doctor and I had some FUNKY blood work results. Three days and some another round of blood work later I found out I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. (Try saying that 10 times fast...)  While not awesome (at all) at least I wasn't just crazy and I finally had a REASON for how I was feeling. Again, sparing the minute details, I saw an endocrinologist, bought several books, read for hours online and began to understand the monster that I was up against.  I'm now on some thyroid medication and I have gone gluten free. The latter is not nearly as hard as one would think, especially if when you eat gluten again after being off of it you feel MISERABLE for a week afterwards. I'm feeling amazing and while I still have a long way to go to reach my weight loss and personal goals, I'm on the right track.

Enter Arbonne again. I had been rolling around ideas to help my family out financially as well and finding something for myself that helped me get out of the invisible mommy mode. For some reason I was thinking about starting up some venture in January and at some point had a light bulb moment when I realized that I'd be missing out on the biggest quarter of retail sales, THE HOLIDAYS!! So a couple of phone calls in with my amazing friend and now up-line, Jules, and I jumped in with both feet and haven't looked back! My first month has been awesome, I have much more focus for where I want to be in 1 and 5 years.  I've evaluated what I want more of in my life but also what I want less of.  I want more options and less financial stress, I want to vacation with my family and I want a venue to share my journey. I want a way to let women know they are not alone out there feeling overwhelmed by all life throws at them. I want to encourage, love and support these women, just like myself, to feel BETTER from the inside out.