Why Supplement? My Story.

Considering supplementation has become a great passion of mine, particularly over the last year, I thought it was time to share my story.

I have been intrigued by health, fitness and our body's ability to change based on macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat) for years already, had been working for many years on my own personal diet to improve from my childhood of white breads, pasta, butter, mayo, sugary cereals and fattening snacks. I was bingeing by age 10. By 14 I had a full blown eating disorder and my health problems began.

As I grew up I began to learn and understand a great deal about macronutrients and lost quite a bit of body fat over time. I wasn't obese but had always struggled with being generally "pudgy" and lacking the firmness and definition I wanted. A key factor was missing, though. MICROnutrients. You know, those over 80 vitamins, minerals and trace elements found in nature that our body requires to functionally optimally? Yeah, I didn't either. My best assumption was that I ate pretty good. World's better than the "average" diet. I really had no idea for sure but I remember hearing from my doctor and some famous doctor on TV that supplementing is simply ensuring we're getting what we need in case it's lacking in our diet. I believed all of them, I mean they're DOCTORS, right?

Here's a few of the things I struggled with over the years starting at 14.
- Mononucleosis (that came and went for several years)
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (diagnosed after 5 years seeing specialists and normal tests consistently)
- Irritable bowel syndrome (diagnosed after many years of tests, specialists and talk of Chrohn's, Colitis and irritable bowel disease)
- Irregular and absent periods
- Extremely heavy periods with significant discomfort
- Dramatic PMS including headaches, strong cravings, mood swings and physical symptoms
- Significant lower back pain
- Knee pains when going down stairs
- Joint aches and pains
- Extreme soreness and excessive fatigue after workouts
- Depression
-Anxiety
- Blood sugar regulation issues
- Symptoms of Thyroid imbalance (normal tests)
- Light sensitivity
- Brittle nails and hair
- Pale skin tone
- Ovarian cysts
- Miscarriage
- Headaches and migraines

I was introduced to the concept that QUALITY determines results when it comes to supplementation by my best friend. She loved me enough to insist I go to a seminar with her and it changed my life. I has almost always supplemented, even inconsistently, with cheap, low quality supplements. I NEVER felt a noticeable difference, big or small, over time. Literally, all I had to do was change brands to the top name in Natural Nutrition to feel and see the difference.

To name a few of the predominant ones.

The ONLY questions my doctors ever asked me regarding my lifestyle was "do you exercise" and "do you eat healthy". When asked, nine out of 10 people said they felt they ate healthy (Consumer Health Reports, January 2011).


t wasn't instant but within 3 months (average cell turnover rate is 90-120 days so now this makes sense) I noticed I didn't NEED that afternoon coffee, that I didn't crash and lose my energy so dramatically. I noticed my nails getting stronger, my hair was THICKER and more shiny!! This was a revolution. I had ALWAYS struggled with brittle nails and thin, fine hair that fell flat. My skin tone looked healthier, without a fake tan and foundation. My knee's STOPPED hurting (this took about 8 months to notice), my period cramps decreased by at LEAST 95% and those crazy chocolate cravings and nonstop appetite decreased (I still am dealing with some hormone imbalance form years of birth control). I wasn't freezing cold in the middle of summer anymore, I was able to have energy during the day even though my youngest was up 4-6x a night for months. My overall health really changed quite drastically over the period of a year with just a basic start and adding in a few things as we went along. I became a better mom, a better wife. I didn't get sick all the time, catching every virus that came around (not good when you're a pediatric nurse).

All these little things I was living with just because... because we think they're normal (because they're SO common), because I didn't believe that micronutrients had that kind of power (I believed only medicine did)... because I was confused and didn't even know where to start, I had no idea how supplements were even different from one another and I believed my doctor (who has zero hours nutritional training). I didn't go find out for myself and I was confused by the media, magazine articles and false claims. Finding someone and a company I could trust, top to bottom, that had MY needs first, and helped me LEARN the differences and develop a personalized plan, to work through the difficulties that arose along the way... it changed my life.

This invitation to learn more about what I was MISSING, what I didn't realize, what I didn't even KNOW about and the ability to open my mind and ACCEPT that I didn't know it all, to give it a good solid try, changed my life. And in turn, I'm able to change others' lives. <3

Chelsea


**Ask me about one of my online natural health seminars**