If you're like me, you probably follow all of the amazingly fit, celebrity trainers and nutrition gurus and you probably envy how easy they make it look to eat home-cooked, healthy food all the time, and to stay in perfect shape! For a lot of them though, working out, being in shape, and living a healthy lifestyle is basically their job.

As an average joe, working adult, I'm sure I speak for a lot of others when I say that half the battle is just finding the time to incorporate working out and healthy cooking/eating habits into my hectic everyday life! Currently, I work full time as a realtor with REALTEAM Real Estate and my job often involves a lot of long hours, working nights and weekends, and running around all over the Metro Detroit area! It can sometimes be very difficult finding the time, and the motivation to constantly practice healthy habits!

In addition to working healthy habits around a hectic career, it can be extremely challenging to balance a healthy lifestyle with a social life too! Whether it's attending a social event, a family gathering, going on a hot date, or just catching up with old friends, everything always seems to revolve around food!

On top of all that, there is a whole other world of challenges for all the amazing parents out there! The feeling that I'm sure many of you are very familiar with, is spending ALL day chasing your kids around, or ALL day at work, (or BOTH)! Then, when you finally remember to eat, you are expected to find the time and energy to not only plan a  healthy meal for yourself, but you are also expected to figure out what your kids are going to eat! 

In addition to struggling with weight, I have also struggled with autoimmune issues. While I have yet to be diagnosed with anything specific, I have suffered from chronic fatigue, joint pain, skin sensitivities, and infections. Last year, my rheumatologist unofficially diagnosed me with “pre-lupus” (finger’s crossed that the disease never becomes active!).

With or without any official diagnoses, it is often difficult dealing with symptoms and ongoing health problems. November of 2017 through August of 2018 was particularly tough for me. Over the course of about 10 months, I had 9 different infections and was put on antibiotics 6 times. It felt like I was sick with one thing or  another for close to 80% of the entire year.

At that point I decided I needed to do something. Now, I am by no means a doctor, and I have no concrete evidence to support the conclusion I arrived at, but my theory is that the 6 courses of antibiotics I was on, in such a short time, had damaged my gut lining, causing my nutrient absorption to be hindered and leaving me more susceptible to illness.

That is when I decided to try out the Whole30 in attempt to give my gut a break from all of the more harsh foods out there, and some much needed time to heal! For those of you who are not familiar, the Whole30 is a 30 day plan that involves the elimination of sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, soy, and dairy. If you’re curious to see what I was eating during those 30 days, check out my Instagram page (@rachel.eatwellbewell) and look for photos with #whole30 or #whole30recipes!

When I began the Whole30, I also began taking a few supplements to support immune function and gut health, which I feel helped as well. I did some research and found lots of benefits to taking Collagen powder, L-glutamine, and a probiotic to boost immunity and gut function. Another supplement that I found helped with heartburn and indigestion with is Mastic Gum. As I said, I am NOT a doctor, but I really feel these supplements have been beneficial to me. Check out some of my favorite brands for the supplements I use, along with some other great products that I love on my Shop Products page!

**Be sure to consult your doctor before taking ANY medications or supplements!

Since doing the Whole 30 in September of 2018 and then continuing to focus on maintaining healthy habits in all the months following, I have experienced amazing changes to my overall health and well-being! I have much more energy, my joint pain and skin sensitivities have significantly improved, and my immune system has been MUCH more effective at fighting off and preventing illness!

While I continue to embark on my own life-long journey of wellness, my goal is to be able to share my experiences, my knowledge about nutrition and exercise and creating healthy habits, and to hopefully help others like me get started (or continue) on the path toward a long, happy and healthy life! I am still in the early stages of getting this page up and running, but I will be posting recipes, workouts, tips, as well as offering nutritional counseling services including workout plans and custom meal plans, custom nutritional guidelines, etc., all featured on my Nutrition Packages page. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in hearing more about the services I offer! 🙂