Day 372. 191 pounds lost.
Yesterday, when I was thinking about doing this blog, I was ready to pull out a verbal baseball bat on every MLM company out there, but that’s not really what I want. This last week has been an emotional struggle for me. One of the things that I deal with is the sheer amount of messages that I get, whether it be from the blog contact forms, Instagram or Facebook. I love it when genuine people reach out; the ones that are looking for advice or maybe they just want to talk. I enjoy those ones. I’m honored truly, that they would ask. It’s these other ones that I’m speaking about. Most of them all fall into one of the following categories:
- Someone wants me to try a product and they want me to post on it.
- They want to know if I’m interested in signing up for some “exclusive new business”.
- Someone wants to know if I’m interested in trying some new supplement, vitamin, or other related weight loss product. At times its been insulting because they imply I “need” it. This is probably the most nauseating one. Secondly, its a time waster. They reach out with questions like they’re legitimately interested in what I’m doing only to find out I’ve wasted my time typing because there was an angle. I’ve seen SO MANY ANGLES. Uggggg.
I was told about two weeks ago that I could make a fortune with one of these companies if I were willing to advertise the fact I had used their products from the beginning of my journey. They even went so far as to give me an estimate of my potential monthly earnings if I was willing to sign off on it. It’s hard to imagine it would be that easy, but they were serious. Makes me wonder how many people out there are poster childs for this bullshit which is why over time, I see supplements I literally want to run the other way. I don’t trust any of them anymore.
Here’s where I’m at. I’ve learned a great deal over the last year. I went against every doctor’s professional advice when I opted out of Bariatric surgery, in fact, my doctors were mortified that I would do such a thing. I had a tiny glimmer of hope that I could learn to listen to the needs of my own body and make good decisions based on what I knew to be facts about clean eating. There’s tons of free info out there on clean eating and intuitive eating, all you have to do is read. Clean eating is a deceptively simple concept… but at its simplest, it’s about eating whole foods — those that aren’t processed, refined, and handled, making them as close to their natural form as possible. I got rid of everything processed. If it wasn’t chicken, fish, or nuts – my food choices were entirely made up of the fruit and vegetable section of the grocery store. I was consuming more fruits and vegetables than I had ever done in my life and for the first time, I felt good.
One of the first things to go was dairy. When I ditched dairy, these are the magical things that went away: inflammation, poor sleep, sleep apnea, poor concentration, brain fog, low mood, low energy, heartburn, hemorrhoids, and daily headaches.
For a short period of time in the beginning of this journey, I was using vitamin supplements and essential oils. My kitchen was full of bottles of supplements from years of being convinced that everyone needs to supplement. I needed those Omegas, Vitamin B12’s, Adrenal Support, Ginger Root, I could go on for a mile here. I was dropping lemon essential oil into my water because I liked the taste. Spoiler alert, I learned over time that cutting a lemon in half and squeezing it into my water was just as effective and then I could rub the used lemon on my face in lieu of toner…. and THEN…. wait for it……. I could put the pieces of lemon rind into the garbage disposal to clean it out. #trifecta. Nothing against essential oils here, I still diffuse them. My house always smells like a nature walk or a Florida tangerine grove. Diffusing essential oils make me feel like I have my shit together. Come on over to my happy home.
Over time, I found that I needed to supplement less and less. I didn’t feel I was suffering from low energy, tiredness, weakness or any of the typical symptoms of nutritional deficiencies. Today I currently take zero vitamin supplements. Zero, which is the is the number less than one, and I’m doing just fine. In November I had a micronutrient test done and all of my nutritional levels were within normal range according to medical science.
So what’s my point? Does your body actually need the supplement you’re taking or…… are you just taking it to feel like you’re doing something “healthy”? Or better yet…… yes I would agree supplementation sometimes is necessary. ESPECIALLY necessary if your food intake consists of SHIT. If my body feels weak or tired, I typically think about fueling with avocado or nuts or pineapple (there are tons of things). I’m never thinking about pounding some pills or powders. The things your body actually craves CAN be found in food. I supplement with food. I know… crazy stuff here.
In short, I’m going to keep on supplementing with food. I don’t want any weight loss pills, shakes, patches, vitamins, powdered smoothies, or saran wrap to put on my body with gels so I walk around feeling like an ob-gyn visit. If you’re one these people that wants to introduce to one of these “amazing life-changing products that have helped millions of people” it’s a NO from me.
2017 was my year of “Yes”. 2018 is my year of “Nah….. I’m Good”. I guess I’m just going to keep on doing crazy. Cause its working.
Lovingly,
Bean
