I didn’t know it at the time, but my body was crying out for help

This memory is so vivid, it’s like it happened yesterday.
I was driving home from the gym, my second session of the day. I had been doing cardio in the morning, going to work from 7 am to 3 pm, and lifting in the evening.

It was early spring so although it was only a little after 6 pm it was so dark outside. I had cut yet another lifting session short because of a migraine and no energy.

I sat at a red light, tears streaking down my face, one hand holding pressure over my right eye to keep my vision clear enough to see to drive home. Without the pressure, the migraine I had was making me blind.

I made it home somehow, laid down on my couch just to rest for a few minutes before showering and getting into bed.

Before I knew it, my alarm was going off for work the next morning. I had slept on the couch all night, in my sweaty gym clothes, no blanket, phone battery on 2%, hair in a messy bun, and my dog looking at me like I was a stranger.

And to be completely honest. I don’t blame her. When I looked at myself in the mirror, that reflection was a stranger.

In truth, that night, those symptoms, weren’t uncommon.

The exhaustion I felt in my soul, the ache in my bones, the headaches turned into migraines that were unrelenting. I was working out more than ever, eating less than ever and weighing heavier than ever.

Not only did I feel like shit, I looked like it too.

Little did I know, this was only the beginning.

I was an expert at ignoring these symptoms. Slamming another coffee, silencing that alarm with another energy drink. Powering through the part of me that begged for sleep when my 4 am alarm went off for cardio in the morning.

I was determined to silence and ignore my hunger cues. The stomach growling was just a nuisance. The urgent runs to the bathroom were just a part of life.

I couldn’t think straight or focus. It was like my head was in a fog. I was forgetting things at work. I completely forgot about a date I had set up with my friends only remembering because they called me asking where I was.

My periods would disappear for months at a time only to come back ten-fold with debilitating pain. I was constantly breaking out, my hair was thin and dull.

I had a complete meltdown in my kitchen saying, “I can’t even keep the apartment clean and I have a robot.”

I was a MESS.

And I would have stayed a mess if I had continue to try silencing the symptoms that something was wrong. It took a lot of trial and error, but I finally got to the root cause of these issues and solved it from a cellular level.

I did the hard work so you don’t have to. If you can relate to any of this, then your body is also asking for help. It doesn’t want to be silenced. It’s telling you it’s drowning and you won’t throw it a float.

Here’s what finally healed me:

1. I stopped training so much. No more fasted cardio in the morning and strength training in the evening with little fuel.

2. I started eating more and focusing on nutrients.

3. I rested more. Taking full days off from the gym and the peloton.

4. I walked more. I moved my body in a way that didn’t cause additional stress.

5. I improved my gut health. Prioritizing foods that supported healthy digestion and limiting those that inhibited it.

6. I listened to my body. I ate when I was hungry, and stopped eating when I was full.

7. I learned to cope with my stress, not just shove it down and ignore it.

8. I slept at least 8 hours at night, even if that meant going to bed early.

9. I stopped trying to be perfect and do it all. I let go of the laundry list of things that kept me “productive,” read that as busy.

10. I cut out the toxins in my life, everything from food to water to plastic to people.

The same is possible for you, and it doesn’t require turning your life on a dime. We can transform you with small steps every day.