I am a stroke (major neurological event) survivor, they still do not know exactly what happened or why. This “event” put me in bed for 7 years (5 full time), I was told that I would never walk or talk properly, and I would never work again.

I no longer recognized the woman looking back at me in the mirror, not body, mind, heart, or soul. I was already struggling before this happened, I suffer from constant chronic pain from bone and joint issues and fibromyalgia, chronic headaches, and bipolar, all of which were magnified during this. The weight gain from being in bed all those years did not help things either, I was over 300 lbs.

I will wholeheartedly admit that for a while I resigned myself to the idea that I would never really do anything ever again. My brain and my body were now my enemies. My goals, my dreams… were never going to happen.

Due to my past, I already considered myself a survivor, a warrior; my mantra was that nothing could keep me down for long. I refused to let this be any different…

I started studying nutrition for healing from my bed, I became obsessed with what I needed to eat to heal my brain and my body. And so, after about 5 years in bed full time, my journey (my fight) back to me began…

I changed the way I thought about food completely and I changed my diet to heal, including vitamin-packed smoothies every morning.

One day, while researching, I came across an ad (thank you Google!!) for a “superfoods” shake, it had so much of what I was trying to get into my body to heal and so much more at a fraction of the cost of what I was spending on my morning smoothie routine. The “superfoods” shakes were part of a complete health & fitness program that also came with an option of having a health & fitness coaching business; it was exactly what I needed at the time.

I will never say that the shakes were a miracle cure, I am not cured however, I do think that they saved me. The vitamins, the minerals, the nutrients, the superfoods… they fed my brain and body what was necessary to start the healing process, gave me energy, and cut down how much food my body needed. The program also included a ton of information on nutrition and eating right.

I could not do the fitness part of the program in the beginning, but I did have them playing on my TV 24/7, to inspire me. In my first months in this program, I would get up to go to the bathroom and do 30 seconds of the workout video, on my way back to bed I did another 30 seconds... and then I dropped into my bed exhausted and in pain. In year two I was averaging 2-5 minutes at a time a few more times a day.

As part of my healthy new life goals, I decided that I wanted a garden and as I transitioned from year two to year three of my journey, I made it happen. Everyone told me to start small, a few beds; I never do anything small and my garden that year was 14 raised beds. I brought everything I needed in by the bag and mixed the soil by hand, planted, weeded, and harvested mostly by myself; it was painstaking, and I paid for it, but it was so worth it. The next year I added another 13 beds to my garden for a total of 27.

It was during this time that my financial situation changed, I could no longer afford my shakes. I did not have the self-esteem, confidence, or results I needed to be a successful health and fitness coach and I left the company. I did still have my workout programs and my nutrition plan but I was still in bed the majority of this time.



The next year my youngest daughter got a job in a factory that made car parts, she called me on her break the first day and said “Mom, they have free coffee!”. My response “I am in!”. I was frustrated with everything in my life; I was barely surviving financially, I decided that even though I was still having issues walking (when this all started I could only do about 20 steps) and still having cognitive issues, that I could not live like this anymore. I was going back to work.

And so, I went to work at a factory making car parts, on my feet 8 hours a day in heavy work boots on concrete floors; averaging 15,000 steps a day, 6 or 7 days a week. By the time I got home most days, I fell into my bed sobbing in agony; I was pushing myself way past my limits every single day.

Now in year 7 of my journey (my fight) back to me, I would love to say that I am healed, no longer suffering from pain or any lasting effects of the stroke, but I cannot. I am still in constant pain and I still have cognitive issues including memory and learning issues. I also started having idiopathic seizures in the last year.

However…

I am now back with the company that kick-started this journey into high gear for me, back on my “superfoods” shakes, working out daily, using my determination, passion, and the tools and programs I used, to coach other women and help them achieve their health and fitness goals. The obvious signs of what I have been through are not apparent, most of the time you cannot even tell I am in pain.

The most amazing part of all of this is that in my strength and determination I have found my true calling in life and I am working towards transitioning into “whole” life coaching. I love helping women go after and reach their health and fitness goals but so much of the time, as I found out with myself, there are often much deeper limitations to not being able to reach goals. For me, it was 75% mindset, 20% nutrition, and 5% fitness. I want to change mindsets and impact the lives of women on whole other levels. Through my adversity, I have found my strengths, my passion, my purpose.