From Daily 2-Hour Naps to Triathlete! Becca's Gut Rehab Journey

I'm so grateful to my client Becca for sharing her courageous Gut Rehab journey with all of you! In today's episode, we talk about where she started, how she felt when we first met each other, some of the ups and downs of her gut healing journey, recent victories, and what's next for her. You're going to walk away feeling inspired and ready to focus on your gut healing so you can accomplish your dreams as well!

Follow me on Instagram, and send me a DM to let me know what you resonated with in this episode. Ready to begin your gut rehab journey? Watch my program video and let's map out what that looks like for you.

Talk soon!
K


Find Katie:
Schedule a Free Clarity Call with Katie!
Website - www.nourishthrivewellness.com
Instagram - @the_healthygut_dietitian
Facebook

Transcript

Becca Archer: 0:00

Like there really is hope and there really is like change really can happen. If you are willing to put in the work. So that was, I think that's my biggest takeaway. Don't give up and don't settle and like, go after those big dreams that are in your heart. First, figure out what they are and then go after them.

0:21

Hey, everyone. Welcome to The Nourished and Thriving Show. I'm your host, Katie Lovitt. I'm a registered dietitian on a mission to help you increase your impact and legacy on the world while healing your gut and reducing your IBS symptoms. I'm so grateful to have you here. Each week I'll inspire you to live vibrantly and provide valuable resources and information that empowers you to take bold action towards your health goals. Before we dive in, make sure you follow or subscribe to my show wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. Ready? Let's go!

Katie Lovitt: 1:01

All right, welcome back to the nourished and thriving show. I am so excited for today's episode. You guys, if you're watching this on YouTube, you can see her here. But if you are listening I have a special, special guest here with me on today's show. She's a long time client and friend of mine, Ms. Becca Archer. You guys, Becca is Such a gem and just a really, really inspiring person. And I'm really excited for her to just share her story with you guys today and help you guys feel encouraged and motivated and inspired and just feeling like you're not alone in this because I know that a lot of the times that's. how you can feel. Becca's a mom, a world traveler slash adventurer, because she does not just take like basic vacays, you guys. She's, she's so fun. She's a wife, she's a florist, and a two time children's book author. Like, I told you guys she's inspiring. She is a really cool person. She loves God and is such a ray of sunshine. And I'm so grateful to have the privilege of knowing her and sharing her with you guys today. So welcome Becca. Thank

Becca Archer: 2:17

you. Glad to be here with you, Katie.

Katie Lovitt: 2:20

Absolutely. So, you know, we, we have a couple of, you know, topics that we talked about wanting to cover. So let's go back. a little bit. So when we first met I would love to hear where you were at in your gut health journey at that time that honestly feels like a lifetime ago. But I can still so vividly remember that conversation that we were having. Tell me kind of About that time. What, what your side of that story looked like at

Becca Archer: 2:52

the time. So first I'll kind of start with how I met Katie. And we met through a mutual friend that we both had. And this friend of mine had been following Katie on her Instagram. And so she actually sends me this post and this post that it, the literal post said, don't ignore these six red flags. And as I'm reading this post, I literally on a daily basis struggled with at least four every single day, if not five. And so of course it got my attention right away. And so I began reaching out to Katie and just kind of like, you know, beginning to just pick her brain or ask her questions. But where I was in my journey at that time, I had probably been on this. rollercoaster gut issue stuff for about five years, if not, maybe a little longer. And at the time, if you know, Katie's like six segments of gut health I would kind of like around a short sighted action taker. I had tried a lot of things, but I hadn't seen any like long term improvement. So some of like the things I was dealing with was Like fatigue, constant bloating, constipation a lot of muscle aches and pains, and like, I, I used to work out quite a bit. I taught fitness and I was unable to do that anymore. Other than like barely jog, barely lift, you know, 40 pounds or less. Just so, you know, my body wouldn't like be in a lot of pain. And then I had a lot of food sensitivities, so I had tried a lot of things. Like I tried elimination diets. I had seen two functional medicine doctors already. I had always was kind of going towards the approach of, like, all right, what's at the root? And, you know, I went the full doctor route to, like, you know, there was things that came back on my blood work things. That came back on tests with, oh, this isn't functioning optimal, but no one could tell me why. And finally, I finally had one kind of functional medicine doctor who just decided, just kind of settled on you're just, you just have chronic fatigue. And and she's like, but you're managing so well. And I mean, to me, that was like, I don't know, like, it was just like kind of, I don't know, a stab in the heart. Like, it was just like. I want more out of life than chronic fatigue and and having these issues. So I just kept going until one day I stumbled upon Katie.

Katie Lovitt: 5:34

Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. And like, just remembering back to that time when you say you you had chronic fatigue, like you had to take a nap every single day. Can you share some about that? And like. I know trips and travel and that adventurous part of you, like really struggled for a while. Can you share more about some of that?

Becca Archer: 5:59

Yeah, I could definitely say this was a place where I felt a lot of shame in my life. Because I would literally plan my days around a nap, like every single day. And it wasn't because I was, you know, like, Inwardly, like I felt like, oh, you're just a lazy person or whatever. And I really struggled with that because I knew the heart, I wasn't a lazy person. And so I, you know, my naps ended up getting longer and longer and, and not longer and longer, you know, but just like for a good hour, I would have to rest every single day. So it's like. appointments, you book them around that. If you wanted to travel, it was always a stress because if we were around a big group, you know, it was like, how am I going to fit in that nap? And what would happen is like, yeah, I could go a day or two without a nap, get through a trip, but then I would come home and I would feel like. Literally, I'd be sick for like three weeks and feel like so tired. I couldn't catch up for three weeks, sometimes a month, sometimes two months before I finally felt like, oh, okay, I can get through the day. And, you know, it's a, it's a part of me that. You know, I mean, to be honest, I still take naps. I will take a little power naps now. That could be like 10, 20 minutes, but nothing like I'd have to lay down for an hour, two hours a day just to be able to function. And if I didn't get those naps, like by the end of the day, when it was time to cook dinner, like I would be so brain fogged. It's like, I couldn't even like think straight. So it was something that I had to do just to function.

Katie Lovitt: 7:40

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that that with everyone because I think that a lot of people will really resonate with your story and the feelings around it and that shame of, you know, feeling like you should be a certain way or you shouldn't be a certain way and that frustration just on like Your body's needs not matching up with what you mentally and emotionally wanted to be able to do, you know, and, and just that mismatch and out of control feeling. And then, you know, feeling like life sought out all these answers and like, it hasn't really gotten me anywhere, you know? And so I think a lot of people really, really resonate with that. So I really appreciate you being vulnerable and sharing that with everyone. So. What, what was it about? My approach you know, gut rehab that stood out as being different because you've already, this is not a question I gave you ahead of time. So I'm like asking you to fly here a little bit. But you know, You've already tried two functional medicine practitioners. You've gone the conventional route at this point. So what was it that gave you the courage to try something else? What was it that stood out as being a little bit different or unique about, about how I work?

Becca Archer: 9:02

Well first of all the time that Katie spent just to talk to me and answer questions was huge. I think we don't know. We, we messaged back and forth on Instagram paragraphs. That's a lot. It was a lot like, and I, like, I really just felt like she was taking the time to really hear, hear where I was at, hear part of my journey, hear my questions, and all the things of like. You know, feeling like. You know, like, I don't, I don't know if this is possible anymore. And, and to be honest, I was really skeptical. I was really skeptical of Katie. I was like, yeah, I've done the functional medicine route. It didn't really work for me. And, but honestly, here's what happened. We were, we were on a trip in Canada. And I remember, I don't, I don't remember exactly what, but, you know I built a part of into my life is just like meditation, just asking the Lord to show me what he sees, what he's doing. And, you know, and just meeting with God and just quiet spaces. That's all it is, is just meeting with God in quiet spaces and to hear maybe what's on his heart. And through that, a lot of times he shows me pictures. So I remember just asking God about Katie, honestly, like. Do I work with her? Do I not work with her? What do you think? And I was taking a hot bath and I was sitting in this bathtub, just had relaxing music on. And honestly, in my mind, I was just, as I had prayed, I saw this picture of basically I saw a mountain and it was like, there was all these trails and, but we were going up a mountain and I saw I saw Jesus. And I had Jesus's hand and on the other side of Jesus's hand was Katie and I just felt like he said, let's go on this journey together. And and that was kind of the picture, honestly, that gave me like, okay, I, it was something I prayed about. And felt peace about, and then she had listened to my, my questions. And I, then it was just easy. It was like, well, what do I have to lose? Maybe I'm out some money, maybe I'm out some time, but it was like, I knew I couldn't find the answers on my own, so I was just willing to try anything. And, and, and maybe not anything, but somebody who really like. Seem like they really listen and really got it. That's so

Katie Lovitt: 11:35

beautiful. Like I remember the first time you told me that and like every time it just brings tears to my eyes, like what an honor, like to be able to walk alongside you through this and you know, your journey has been like a mountain and everyone's is, you know, to a certain extent, summer, everyone is different, right? Like no one got health journey is the same. Everyone is different. But it's. Not been all sunshine and rainbows. There have been ups and downs. There have been wins and struggles and we think we've made progress and then something else happens and we find something else out. I always say it's like, you know, it's like climbing a mountain, right? I actually just shared something to my Instagram story that was like, don't let the hard times or the struggles stop you. And it's this like, Really pretty graphic of a girl climbing a mountain with flowers behind her. And then she hits a plateau and it's just grass and bear with no flowers. And then she, after that plateau keeps climbing again and the flowers are growing after her again. So that's a really, really beautiful visual of. got health and got healing or even not as pretty and it may make your eyes water a little bit is like peeling an onion right where it's like you think you've gotten to the center of it and then you take off another layer and you see more to it so it's Definitely complex. So what you were saying about having someone who really listens and is in it with you is so important because it's never just follow this eight week protocol and you'll be all better. Like that's so easy, but that's almost akin to waving a magic wand, right? So I'd love it for you to just share like, What has it been like to work and get rehab? What have those ups and downs, like some of the most memorable, like ups and downs been you know, biggest challenges, biggest

Becca Archer: 13:19

victories for you? Yeah. So definitely getting some results has been the ups, obviously like, you know where I didn't go to the bathroom consistently, like ever in my life. And now I'm like, it's, it's now it's rare. I miss a day. So like things like that, like. This is real stuff, y'all, like, you know and just feeling better. And then definitely the ups is like, okay, now I understand what's going on in my body more. Like I understand the whys of maybe why I was fatigued and needing naps and, and so things like that. Yeah. And just, you know, definitely the ups is having someone to walk with you on this journey. Like, Yeah. Sometimes I just thought I was crazy. Like, like just having, like, you know, you don't walk up to people and be like, Oh, hi, I'm Becca. I have gut issues and I feel bad most of the time, you know, but having someone who just really got it and who would just partner with you to help find answers like that was huge. That was definitely the ups. Some of the downs for me personally for me. We have kind of discovered like we would, we would, for me, my underlying thing is SIBO and understanding. We've been getting to the reasons why the SIBO is there. And I'm sure just keep listening to all the podcasts. Katie will break down what SIBO is if you don't know. But for me, we would get progress and then it would just come back and progress and then it just comes back. And, and so finally we kind of tested and there's a underlying autoimmune component and Katie, you make add to, to this, cause I'm still, to be honest. Fully trying to understand it, but so that's like the downs is like you, you do make progress, but really realizing that this is something I'm dealing with on a constant basis at the same time, right? So that would, that would be, I think the downs for me for sure.

Katie Lovitt: 15:17

And. You know, I think that that's it's frustrating, right? Like, we don't want we want it completely gone, right? But for you, like, that may never be a reality and understanding and realizing and really kind of having peace with that. But also, you know, a couple of the way a ways. ways that you said a couple of those things if I could speak were past tense. The way I had fatigue, I was fatigued, I needed those naps, you know, and like I used to, you know, struggle with constipation my entire life and I'm not now. And so, Even though you are not completely, you know, free from the SIBO, which yes, it's in previous episodes, you guys, so scroll back in your, in your podcast episodes, and you can go hear all about SIBO. You're, what we found out is like, every time that it comes back. It's, you know, up leveled. It's a little bit less intense than it was before. And we're at this place where it's like, okay, it's back. We know the drill. We're going to do this, this and this for, you know, this amount of time and get it back under control and continue to support it. And we just see that you know, the intensity each time is, is less and we know what to do for it. And you know, I'm hoping that eventually we'll be able to get to the point where it and then it starts coming back less and less frequently. Right? That's kind of our next goal is, okay, we, we know what we're dealing with. We know what it, you know, responds well right now with SIBO. It can be a moving target. So you need somebody who knows all the tools available because sometimes it works and responds well to one thing. And then the next month or the next time it flares or whenever, you know, it may not. And it's different person to person too. So you need, yeah. You need somebody who's not just going to make one recommendation say, well, this is what you take for SIBO and it'll help or it won't. It's like, no, there's a lot of different things to employ and to use. And so I think, yeah, it's. It's like bittersweet wins, right? Where it's like, you're seeing these improvements and yeah, we're not all the way there yet, but it's still so much better than it was. And I know, like for myself, you know, having struggled with chronic constipation my whole life too. Whenever you're dealing with that for such a long time, and I would argue that this is more the case of constipation than it is diarrhea, constipation, you just kind of like, make peace with it. And you're like, this is just how I am. And so if someone struggled with that for a really long time, I think it's a lot easier to live your life with that than something like a, you know, a lot of urgency or diarrhea or something like that. People don't really expect it to change. So then to hear somebody say like, I go, like, it's very rare that I miss a day now, that's huge, you know, for people just struggling with constipation and just having that plan of like, but if things do go off track, I know why and I know what to do for it to support my body to get back, you know, to where it was. Yep. So awesome. Yeah. Thank you. So I know gut rehab, people have ideas about gut health, right? And like, they have ideas about what healing your gut looks like and what that process is. And gut rehab, like we've mentioned, it's a little bit different. It's a It's a unique approach. It's really comprehensive. And so people often come into this program and learn things they didn't really expect to learn. So I was wondering if you might share some of that with listeners and, and just some of the things you learned that you didn't really expect to learn. Yeah.

Becca Archer: 18:56

Well, I told you guys from the beginning, I was pretty skeptical and I think my biggest thing from the get go is like the whole approach to the food restriction. And like I was kind of expecting Katie just to tell me not to eat this, not to eat that, not to eat this yada, yada, yada. And I had been doing that for years. Like I had. Taking stuff out of my diet. Then I had to keep taking stuff out of my diet. And that's exactly what I learned from Katie. That really surprised me was the more you start taking foods and eliminating foods, the more you have to keep eliminating foods. And that was really my experience. Like I remember like in the beginning, she, she made a comment and I had never heard this kind of before. And she was like, what foods feel safe for you to eat? Like without having symptoms. And I remember thinking, like, I don't know. I don't think any food feels safe for me to not make me feel like I was absolutely bloated by the end of the day. Like, I, I don't think there was like, maybe if I just ate applesauce, but I wasn't, I guess I wasn't that desperate yet just to eat applesauce or something. But And really no foods felt very safe and and learning Katie's approach and just like, you know how to have a built better balanced plate. And, and I think that was one of my frustrations because actually y'all, I ate pretty healthy. Like I had already changed so many things in my diet with, you know, I didn't eat out. I didn't drink sodas. Like I drank water. I, Got plenty of exercise, like I slept well, like all these things, you know, and so just kind of her approach to not having to keep taking more and more foods out and elimination diets was really, really great. Did that answer?

Katie Lovitt: 20:49

Yeah, thank you so much. I think that a lot of people, really resonate that with that, because like on Instagram, whenever I'm talking with people and I'm like, well, have you considered trying this? And they're like, oh yeah, I've already tried elimination diets. It didn't work for me. I'm like, okay, well that's great because that's not what I do. So I think people just hear it. I don't, I guess it's just like the most commonly thing, you know, commonly discussed thing for, you know, gut health is an elimination diet of some sort or the other, and they can be helpful and there can be a time and place for them, but So much of the time, just like you said, it really leads to, you know, increased restriction of food over time because food in most cases is not the problem. It's something else underlying kind of like what you're, you know, mentioned there.

Becca Archer: 21:40

Okay, so something else that like I wasn't expecting when working with Katie was actually someone working with someone who also believed it was possible. Like it was, you know, like I said, I kind of felt like I was crazy, like, is this all in my head? Like, am I making all this up? You know, most people really didn't understand, so you don't talk about it. And, and then to like have someone. Come alongside you who also believed it was possible to get results was not something I really expected as well. And so, I mean, it was pretty, pretty great. Just to have like, Oh, well, she believes it's possible. Maybe I'll borrow some of her, you know, faith or her encouragement, her knowledge, and, and we'll just keep going. And maybe it is possible, even if I didn't believe it was possible, somebody else was believing it was possible. So That was... Something I definitely wanted to share and add. That's really cool. Thank you

Katie Lovitt: 22:39

for sharing that. And that's, you know, going back to the six stages of gut health that you mentioned earlier, where you were kind of the short sighted action taker. You were also that emerging soul. And that's what that is, is where you like borrow someone else's confidence. I always say it's kind of like the training wheels on your bike whenever you're learning to ride your bike and, you know, you're balancing, maybe they're wobbly. If you've ever, you know, helped kids learn how to ride their bikes where you can make the training wheels more wobbly. So they're practicing. But they're still there, you know, to help if, if... It's about to tip over. And that's, it's part of everyone's got healing process or healing process, you know, and that's my habit in the six stages of gut rehab is everyone has to borrow some confidence. So if you're working with someone who doesn't really believe that it's possible for you. That's a problem. It's a big problem, right? And, you know, I think another thing that I don't know if you saw, you know, on your end or not, I'm sure I didn't hide it from you or, you know, anything, but I'm sure I've mentioned it. is whenever people work with me, they're not just getting me and my knowledge either. I am a part of a gut rehab or not gut rehab, but gut health mastermind with other functional dieticians. So there's, you know, other functional dieticians doing this work and we all do continuing ed together. We all get on monthly calls together, discuss cases, all of that. And so I'm constantly learning from them and seeing what's working with their clients who are having maybe similar things. And it's a really, really powerful tool. And that's what helps me with people who have been to other practitioners. And I always tell people. Who, you know, come to me like you, I may have even said this to you when we first started talking and they're like, well, I've tried this. I've tried this. I've tried that. And I don't really think I can try anything else. Like, I don't know what else to try. And I'm like, I actually love it when people have already tried a lot of things because it helps me see, okay, well, this is what's going on. These are the things they tried. This is what worked and what didn't work and what, to what extent it worked. And it really is actually more clues. So it's actually helpful for me as a provider to be able to see, okay, well, these are the things they've tried. This is what happened. So what are we going to try next? It helps me, it helps to inform me of kind of my recommendations for our next steps too.

Becca Archer: 25:03

And I'll say in that with the, the functional medicine doctors that I'd worked with in the past. They're neither of their focus was in gut health specifically. One, one focus more, a little bit in weight loss and, and it's like when you're, when you're starting out and you're trying to get help, you don't always know what you're looking for. So I will say, you know, they, I'm sure I know these doctors and helped other people in many ways, but they didn't know specifically gut things. And so when, as you're looking, as you're finding somebody, make sure they really, they have access to what Katie was just talking about, a bigger network that specifically functions in gut areas or whatever area it is that you're getting help in. Cause I think for me, that was the big, a big difference, right? Like,

Katie Lovitt: 25:52

so. For sure. I think that's a really great piece of advice. And so kind of in that vein, like. Any other things that you would tell someone listening who is, you know, currently feeling similar to how you felt when we were first starting, you know, talking together and working together, you know, top pieces of advice that you would give them at this point. I think that was a great one.

Becca Archer: 26:14

Yeah. Working truly with a gut expert and, but you know, I think my biggest thing I always go back to was, you know, believing like I kind of stopped believing it was possible. But if you just believe it really is possible, like, and don't give up, like it takes time. And I think I told you Katie in the beginning, I'm like, if it takes two, three years of me working with you to get. You know, over some of this, then I was willing to put in the time and effort because like, okay, you look at two years of your life. Well, you still have 20 plus years to live of a lot of living. What's two years of diving in and working with a professional, you know? So like, don't be scared to invest in yourself. Like, you know, like. One thing going back to something I didn't expect with working with Katie was I didn't expect to have to work on my mindset so much. And you know, I don't know, I would, I would consider myself a pretty positive person, to be honest, like I, you know, I'm like, I think I'm in a pretty healthy space, but When you really start diving into deep mindsets and things as well, like you don't realize how much work there still can be like to do, even in a positive person, even in someone who's like, yeah, I'm not going to quit. I'm going to keep going. But that was something like, you know, you've got to give yourself time. You've got to put in the work and, and you have to just like, not give up. I think

Katie Lovitt: 27:55

that's really great. And. Kind of in line with those mindset things, whenever I was first doing my own mindset, you know, work and really getting introduced to that I became aware of how entrenched a lot of those beliefs were in my identity because I had had them before. And it was my truth, but it wasn't necessarily objectively true. And so really being able to recognize those beliefs and challenge, like, is this actually true or is this just what I believe to be true and how is this affecting my life? Like that's. Like world earth shattering, like breakthroughs right there, just a mindset. And so I think for you, a lot of it was around that, like shame and value and worth. And I think as women, a lot of the times we really put our value and our worth in our works and then what we're able to accomplish or do And so really being able to see our value just in our existence and then who we are made to be, I think, is something huge that most of us really benefit from, from working on. So, cool. So, tell us, you know, I want to know about all this. Tell us where, where you're at now. Like, what did, what have you been up to? What does life look like for you? So we went from like. We napped every day. We'd be taken out for like a month if we went on a trip and had to go without naps for a few days. All of that. And like you just did something, a couple of things really, really big. So tell us, tell us the updates on everything.

Becca Archer: 29:37

Okay. Well, probably the biggest thing that you're referring to was actually just this last Sunday. I got to compete and complete a triathlon and so a little bit of backstory is technically was my second triathlon. 10 years ago, before all this gut health, like really started, I, I did one on a whim, like I didn't train for it. Like I told you, I'd been really active. I taught fitness and I literally signed up two days before a race and went and did a triathlon. And that was 10 years ago. And it was probably after that, like everything kind of just kept progressively getting worse and worse and just my health overall. So. For the last two years, I've been watching my husband go out and do triathlon because we have one twice a year like right in our own neighborhood. It's like the trails we run every morning that are in walk and the bike is where we drive our cars all the time and the pools, I mean the pool is right there as well. And so I have been longing to just be able to Physically train enough to like where I could go do it again. Like in, like, it was a really big deal for me to be able to simply train. Like, because I, before kind of working with Katie, I was physically, was at a place where I could walk, jog. A couple miles. But every time I kind of hit that getting into that two and a half to three miles, like I would have muscle issues that would keep me from like, my hips would hurt so bad I'd have anyway, you don't need to know, go, go into all that. But like, I couldn't lift over the 40 pounds. So it was like, there was things that I couldn't do physically. to get me to a point where I could train. And so I did it. I finished the race. And I'm so proud of myself. Like, and it was really like, I had fun.

Katie Lovitt: 31:42

And you, I said, I'm so proud of you and you. Did not tell your husband that you were training. Tell me about how all of that went over. Like, when did you tell him and everything? And like, how did that go down?

Becca Archer: 31:55

So I know this, it was more about me than it was about him. Like I wanted it to be a surprise because like we had always been physically active together. And then it was like, I fell off the map and I felt like I couldn't, like, we used to kind of go to CrossFit together and then it became too hard on my body. So I had to stop that. And And then it's like I couldn't, felt like I couldn't train to do the triathlons. And so I decided just to keep it to myself. Like I went and found the, found the bike all by myself. Like, in fact, I just bought a secondhand bike. I found it on Facebook marketplace, took it to the bike shop, had it all fixed up. And I, I kept it at my neighbor's house. And my neighbor would set it outside for me twice a week so I could go ride. And I didn't, you know, I did it because honestly I didn't, I didn't have a confidence in my body to be able to really do it. And I didn't want to, for him, races are no big deal. He doesn't really train for them. He just goes out and does them. And then he wins his division. Like seriously, y'all, he wins his division every time. And I like, I could put in all this effort and training and then get to halfway into it and be like, My body could tighten up so bad and I could be in so much pain, like I can't turn my neck and all these different things. And and then I'd hit a wall. And so I didn't want to, I think I didn't want to disappoint him or myself. And it was probably more about myself than it was about him. I didn't want to, to be like, Oh, I'm going to do this. And then I can't do it. Halfway in after trying. So I just decided to keep it way on the down low. And just see how my body did and to give my body enough time. Like if it took me to the next race in March to train, then I was going to give myself that much time, you know, and and I did, I hit some walls along the way, I kind of had some issues, but I was able to work through them. So.

Katie Lovitt: 33:58

Yeah, for you, like all of those treatments with the chiropractor, like the infrared light and, you know, light therapy and sauna and just supporting your recovery was really, really key for you. And so, yeah, I'm so glad that you were able to push through those. And I know we were both like, You know, just sharing your body along, honestly, and hoping that it could, you know, that it would do it. And you did. And then how has the recovery been after the race? Have you been okay afterwards? Yeah, actually.

Becca Archer: 34:26

Okay. Like like I've been a little bit sore and a little tight this week, but nothing like, I mean, used to things like this would knock me out for like another month before I could like actually start exercising fully again. And I am not there. Like I just did a two mile run this morning and felt great.

Katie Lovitt: 34:47

Yeah. And I think just for everyone listening, like to me as, you know, your partner in all of this. To me, the exercise and the physical limitations on your body was really almost the biggest frustration for you, like even worse than the bloating. I feel like if you were bloated, but you could go do your workouts and like hikes and like all of your adventures on your trips and keep up with everyone, I think you would have been more okay with it. But it was just really the like muscle aches and the fatigue were your most like frustrating. you know, symptoms that were, you know, impacting your life the most. So I loved that you got to compete in the triathlon. And then tell me kind of where you're headed for the next of the, for the rest of the year, not the next of the year, the rest of the year into next. Last year, I guess, is what I was trying to say you just launched a precious second book. We were just talking before I hit record about how much my kids have enjoyed it. So tell us about that. Tell us all the flower themes. Like you're so talented. I wish I could have like a pinky fingers worth of your creative talent. Oh

Becca Archer: 35:59

man, it's just been a journey. Like this whole last few years has been like, Learning to believe in myself and that my voice matters and like, you know, the things that God has put talent in me really does matter. And so I did, I just launched my second book and I have it here with me. Actually I have both of them, but I'm going to talk about this one. This is the newest one and my character is Luna Muna and this one's. Entitled Mountains Come From Seeds. And it's all about a little play on basically sowing and reaping. And I mean, y'all, this book is my story. I mean, it was like believing in a little tiny seed that my body could heal and I could do this triathlon or I could write this book or I could do this flower event. And it's like, Then I just nurtured it. Right. And then I'm getting to see these mountains grow in my life. And so this, this book's just really fun. It's just a play on really teaching your kids. Like just, yeah, the basic concept of sewing and reaping, but in a really, really fun way, but. But more it's just like, this is my life. Like I took a belief that I can do this. And I nurtured the belief with mindset and action. And then I got to see the result, the mountain. And sometimes we're climbing our mountains and sometimes we build our mountains and I don't, I'm not sure there's really a difference. But, and then the first book is, is this one Luna Mouton Guardian of Night, but Luna Mouna, she is a fictional guardian angel. She comes to kids when they're lonely or just scared or just bored at night, and she takes them on fun magical adventures based on their curiosity. So this this series was also born just actually out of a place of some emotional trauma, like childhood trauma, healing in my own life. And it's kind of another picture. This might be for another podcast, but a picture that God showed me and it was just healing to me. And really that's how these books were born. And so we just have, so what I'm doing right now is I have a little author's events here and there. You can find me on social medias and find out what those, and I'm sure we'll talk about those at the end. But yeah, in the flower world, this was really exciting. We had a big fall market and we have a Christmas market coming up as well. And y'all, just to go back, just to iterate the story used to when I would do these, these all day markets, like I would be wiped out for like three weeks afterwards, just to get through one day. Yo, we did the fall one. It was amazing. I wasn't, I was fine the next day. Like I, yeah, a little Sunday nap and, and we were good to go. And I mean, that's just really huge because I just got to, you know, freelance with a wedding venue and we were back to back three days. You know, and this was leading into the triathlon, right? Like, I was a little nervous. Like, oh my gosh, can I work this much and still be able to pull off the triathlon? And yes, I did. So so yeah, so just kind of doing some wedding events. We've got a, I've got a big wedding event other than fall market in December that I'm excited to put together. And and then we, we, we are traveling a little bit. We're headed to Canada. For Christmas and we'll do some skiing and my husband's like dreams of all dreams places to ski in Canada. And and then we're going to take a little anniversary trip to Santa Barbara, California in November. So, that's kind of the rest of the year.

Katie Lovitt: 39:43

It's been a few months. And actually, you know, it's funny. I had forgotten, but I remembered whenever you were saying that about the flower market, feeling so nervous for you. Whenever we first started working together and you were telling me that you had a market, I was like, Ooh, I hope that she makes it. I hope that she can pull it off. I hope that she's not completely wiped out from it. Like, just let her get through the day, please, God. And like, not be too worn out. And so just to hear you come back and be like, I freelanced, I did this market. I did this triathlon. I've got all these trips coming up. I did a book launch. Like, that's really cool. That's all of this. So, yeah. So tell us, okay. So for flowers, because we just talked about that, where are you located? Where can people work with you? So if we have like more local people, you know, listening in all of that.

Becca Archer: 40:34

So I'm, I'm located in Keller, Texas, which is kind of a suburb of North Fort Worth. I do serve the surrounding areas and, you know, just with any, any events, if you've got corporate events, weddings I can help out with any floral, floral design. So you can find me if you want, if you just love flowers. I constantly give flower tips and, and you get to see a lot of pretty things. My Instagram is archer bloom underscore flower market. So that's a, a great way if you just love flowers and want to see pretty things. I post quite a bit there. So that's, that's kind of the flower world. I, I do have a website. It's a working website, but you can go to archerbloom. com. But I can't say this is the, this is the website I built by myself and it's a working progress, but you know. Small beginnings in

Katie Lovitt: 41:25

all things. I love it. Yeah. And I'll link those down in the show notes. So if you're listening in and you want to get in touch with Becca you know, you can definitely click in those and you guys, her flowers are so pretty. They're like super modern and really beautiful. So go follow her and, you know, use her if you're local and follow along. And then let's talk about Luna Muna launch and events and all of that. What do you have going on with

Becca Archer: 41:49

that? So coming up, well, if you're in the area next week, I'm going to be at a little a little boutique. It's a clothing boutique for women. So that's going to be fun. There's a few other authors that are going to be there. And I will be posting this on my Instagram on Archer bloom. That's just kind of my personal author side. You'll see a little bit of family, a little bit of book, a little bit of all the things, travel, all the things I do there. And then November 4th, I will be at a little bookshop, which is also here in our, in Keller, and it's called a house with books. So we'll be having a story read time, and it'll be kind of like a whole little fall event centered around the store. So we'll read the book and I have some fun giveaways and things to give to kids and, So if you wanna come out to that, that's November 4th. And then well and if you're around for Halloween. So Halloween's really fun at my house because I bring out not only candy, but I bring out roses for all the moms or dads. And so the kids actually get to hand their parents a, a rose. And then we also have color sheets from Luna Muna and some bookmarks and things like that. So. Halloween for my I'm like, all the kids come to me. It's marketing day. Like the parents are here. The kids are here. So here we go. Free marketing. It's free for all. So so that goes on Halloween. And then December 2nd, I believe is going to be the Christmas market. And that's downtown Keller as well. We're very supportive of our, our little town here in Keller. And so we'll be out there with all the Christmas florals, wreaths, Things like that. It's, it's, it's a fun day. And those, there's like 70 plus vendors out there. So it's a fun time to come out and bring the kids, take pictures, see prize Santa. Is that going to be out there somewhere? Something like that. So,

Katie Lovitt: 43:48

Oh, fun. And then Luna is on Amazon too. So if somebody is not local and they want to purchase Luna or check it out, Amazon is not the best. And Amazon

Becca Archer: 43:58

definitely is the best place. You can go into bookshops. Bookshops can order my book as well. Actually just book one. I'm in the process of getting book two ready for bookstores as well. But I also have a fun website for Luna Muna. If you can go to mylunamuna. com. And there's some really fun free downloads color, color sheets and a word search, and even like a little drawing page, like they could draw their own adventure with Luna Muna. And so that's that's another place you can go. It'll directly link you to Amazon to buy the book from there, but Amazon's my primary place. Yeah, where, where to buy the book.

Katie Lovitt: 44:38

Awesome. I'll link that below for you guys, too. So thank you for sharing all of that. So exciting. So, all right. I think just to wrap up, like, biggest, you know, word of encouragement. Anything else, like closing remarks that you want to share with people who are listening? A word of the year? Anything like that that you want to share?

Becca Archer: 45:00

You know, I, as a, Well, when I was seeing my chiropractor the other day, we had reached like so many points and we were doing a re, you know, analysis and he's like, how much better are you feeling? You know, and he knows I've been working with Katie. We've been all kind of working together. And and I'm like, well, man, I feel like. Yeah, like 80 percent better, if not better. And he's like, well, you know, I think you could have more work to do. And like, and not saying that in a bit, he's like, do as much as you want. But I was like, well, it made me realize, and this is what I'm trying to get to. It made me realize I don't, for a long time, I had not known what normal feels like, and I, and I. When you don't know what normal feels like and you kind of just feel bad all the time, that becomes your new normal. And I would just want to say don't settle for that new normal. Like there really is hope and there really is like change really can happen. If you are willing to put in the work. So that was, I think that's my biggest takeaway. Don't give up and don't settle and like, go after those big dreams that are in your heart. First, figure out what they are and then go after them.

Katie Lovitt: 46:17

Oh, I love it. Speaking right to my heart with that. So define what it is that you want. Take some action towards it. It might change as you take action and you might pivot and that's fine. And yeah, keep going. And as you were speaking, something came to mind that my original mindset coach actually said in a group call once was, you know, say you're feeling 10 out of 10 on something and you're like, man, I feel 10 out of 10. This is awesome. What if it's actually only a two? And you just don't know how awesome it really can be. And if you settle and stay where you're at and you think, Oh, this is normal. Like this is I'm fine. I'm managing it. Well, you know, all of those things. You know, what if, what if you think it's a 10 and it's really only a two and you won't really even get to see that if you don't take those next steps forward. So I think that was a really beautiful, beautiful thing to share. So awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the show. I know it is going to inspire and help. So many people. And I really, really appreciate your time and you sharing and being vulnerable and just sharing your story. So so grateful for you and yeah, I'll, you know, don't forget to go follow back on Instagram. I'll send her Luna Muna website and the show notes too. And I think that's it for now. So

Becca Archer: 47:45

thanks so much, Becca. Yeah. Thank you, Katie.

Katie Lovitt: 47:47

Yeah, absolutely. Bye.

47:51

Thank you so much for listening to the entire episode. I hope you are feeling inspired and empowered to take bold action towards your health goals. If you enjoy what you heard, don't forget to follow my show so you never miss a new episode. And it would mean the world to me, if you left me a review, so others know what to expect from my show. Last, get in touch. Let me know what bold action you're taking. Let me know how you're inspired. Follow me on Instagram@the_healthygut_dietitian. I've put a link in my show notes for you, so you can simply click and follow. Come say hi, I respond to all my messages and I can't wait to get in touch.