My Health Journey

Before you read any further…. I am NOT about diet culture. Admittedly, I have fallen victim (and even advanced) a diet mentality for many, many years. BUT, all that changed in 2016 when I started my (serious) journey to health.

My whole life I have struggled with energy. (And weight too. But, again, not wanting to focus on weight in this post because it’s not about only that for me anymore. Praise the Lord!)

Back to energy… I honestly thought I was just one of the unlucky ones who was born with low energy. My husband ran circles around me most of our married life. I was always so envious of how much energy he had. I was the one that would get 8-9 hours sleep, wake up tired, and would then count the hours until I could take a nap. I’ve struggled with iron deficiencies my whole life, and I always just blamed everything on my anemia. I always rallied when I needed to with the girls or my job, but when I could, I would crash, and crash pretty hard.

In 2019, my girlfriend, Jodi told be about FASTer Way to Fat Loss. I signed up in August and half-heartedly did Amanda’s program. True to my personality, I told on myself on-air one morning, and the next thing you know, Amanda was calling the station (from New York!) to “lovingly encourage” and hold me accountable. Turned out, Amanda lived in our listening area, and folks let her know I was talking about FWTFL. I invited her to the station in December, and that’s when my journey took the BIGGEST turn. We were sitting in my office, and she told me I needed to go see her Functional Medicine Doctor. She told me I needed a full panel of bloodwork to see what was really going on. She gave me Alex’s number, and I made an appointment immediately.

You all have heard me talk about Alex for over a YEAR now! I canNOT say enough about Alex. I remember sitting in her office for my second appointment when she was going over my bloodwork for the first time. EVERYTHING finally made sense! The anemia. The Hashimoto’s (of which I am now in remission). The vitamin D deficiency. The iodine deficiency (I hate salt). And the list goes on. I remember Alex saying, “Carmen, this is not your fault! You have these things, as well as hormonal things going on that even if you did everything perfectly, your body simply is not going to let go of this weight.” I distinctly remember both Amanda and Alex saying, “Weight is a symptom, not the root cause.” Alex said, “Let’s get your insides healed, and the weight will come off.” Y’all, for the first time in my life, I had HOPE! I sat and cried in her office.

Amanda Tress led me to Alex, and for that I will ALWAYS be grateful! They were both an answer to prayer.

So as I sit here several years later, I am down 20 pounds from the first time I met Amanda. But more than that, I have ENERGY like I’ve never had before in my life! I don’t feel bone tired. I don’t have to have afternoon coffee (although, I do simply because I have an emotional relationship with coffee!). I love FASTer Way to Fat Loss. I love Amanda’s workouts! I love leg day! (Get it, Haven & Le!) I love the Intermittent Fasting. I find it to be so easy, and can’t imagine eating all day like I used to. I love the carb-cycling. It all makes sense to me. I have been part of the FASTer Way family for over 2 years now!

AND… there have been a few more significant folks in my journey…

My friend Temple! For me personally, I am carb sensitive. I truly cannot eat as many carbs as lots of folks do/can. And when I do eat carbs, it’s sweet potatoes or whole food and natural carbs. Temple is a Dietician who has helped me see where I could tweak my nutrition even more. She’s very much in line with Amanda and Alex and pushes back on “conventional wisdom!” She’s simply fantastic. We’ve walked similar roads in that she too had to become her own biggest advocate when everything she was taught to do wasn’t working. As a matter of fact, back in the summer, I gained a quick 10 pounds, and it was Temple and Alex who helped me figure out I was estrogen dominant and how something hormonally had shifted in my body. Alex prescribed me high dosages of broccoli (yes, broccoli! in a capsule!) and some additional iron infusions, and it legit fell off within a month.

And lastly, there’s Jen Smiley with Wake Up & Read the Labels. Haley introduced me to her account in August. She has been a wealth of knowledge when it comes to inflammatory foods, oils, gums in our food, preservatives, etc. I’ve taken clean eating to a whole ’nother level…sustainable clean eating! I’ve cut out stevia, soy, and a bunch of other stuff. Jen often says, “If you don’t recognize what’s on the label, there’s a good chance your body won’t either.”

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I want you to have HOPE too!! I didn’t for the longest time, and I would give anything to go back to my 20s and 30s and search for the answers that I now have. I get HUNDREDS of DMs, emails and messages from sisters in our listening family that are desperate for these same answers. I truly wish I could walk with each of you, every step of the way! BUT, I hope what I’ve shared here will help point you in the right direction. Don’t settle. Don’t accept feeling badly. There is a REASON why you feel the way you do! Do something today that your future self will thank you for! And lastly… don’t fall for another quick fix that promises results but can’t deliver.

Here are some helpful links:

BTW, for those interested in FWTFL, Amanda’s last 6 week round of the year started yesterday. You can still join for a couple more days. Here’s a link she’s given us for $50 off. (the link is www.fasterwaytofatloss.com/#carmen).

Wel’ll also do a JOY FM round in January!

Connect with Temple here.