“I now have an abundance of energy!”
MY TRANSFORMATION STORY
Name: Jules S.
My Story: I thought I was enjoying my life, my work and my family, but my body was telling me otherwise. I considered myself healthy (I’m a Nutritional Therapist) and eat a clean and natural diet, so couldn’t understand why this was happening to me. Walking was like trudging through treacle and it became increasingly painful for me to move and even use my hands. I resigned from my fun but physically demanding full time job and felt like a failure. Then the guilt kicked in. It comes harder, faster and frequently when you become a mother! I was suffering and felt I was making my family suffer. Never one to ask for help as I consider myself strong and independent, I had to learn to accept help and understand that people wanted to help because they cared about me.
Apparently I was just stressed and exhausted because my bloodwork was normal. Eventually it turns out I was iron deficient anaemic and took action to remedy that. Getting my energy back has been slow but steady progress.
For my physical health, I started indoor ‘walking’ to improve my stamina and started to praise myself for every step rather than berate myself that I wasn’t as sparkly and bouncy as I used to be. After my ‘burn out’ but before I even started this Walk STRONG program I was only able to do FITIN15 workouts and my daily yoga. I progressed to the barefoot sunset walk because it was 30 minutes (I would do it when supper was cooking). I would NEED a lunchtime meditation but not necessarily have bundles of energy to do much else during the day. However, I now have an abundance of energy to home educate my daughters, run my own holistic therapies business, work part time in a health shop and study my passions (living, health and well-being). I still treat myself to a daily meditation (I call it finding my ‘spirit level’) and still have heaps of energy at the end of each day. For that I am grateful beyond words and can only express my gratitude for my amazing body by living each day in love, healing and humour and by listening to the messages my body is trying to tell me! Thank you to Jessica and everyone else involved in helping others achieve greater health and wellbeing. Your work brings joy (and delicious muscle ache!) to others.
My Favorite Workout (from the Total Body Transformation program): Ooh that’s a hard decision. I looked forward to every workout every day. I love the barefoot fusion. Maybe I’ll be able to tell you when I do it a second time round. I also enjoyed the prehab routine, because it is equally important, but I don’t think I would have done it if it was an optional extra.
My most exciting results: I feel lighter on my feet and definitely more toned. My belt hole has shifted- in a positive direction! I feel stronger all over and pain in my right knee has vanished. I definitely have more stamina and energy. Cycling uphill is easier. I am getting my bounce back – yippee!
The best healthy living advice I’ve learned is: Smile and hug often. Create good habits, befriend and forgive myself. Live each day as if it is my last. Drink water and eat life affirming foods. Keep good company. Sort the wheat from the chaf and get rid of anything that doesn’t serve me in my life.
