#002 Debilitating back injury to dominating life with registered nurse Helen Eimers

This episode really embodies 3Rs for me: real, raw and relatable. Today you'll meet a registered nurse that works with worker's compensation cases for a living and ironically awoke one day with a debilitating back injury--2 herniated discs that left her unable to function. She talks about crawling across the floor to help her children, voraciously seeing doctors and seeking opinions and how she got though the pain before a break in the clouds. While her approach was very "whole" and multi dimensional, Helen shares the biggest things that took her from the surgery schedule to painless in just a couple of weeks--reducing the stressful inflammation in her life through diet and personal development. Please consider sharing this episode with someone you love that could be helped by Helen's story.  You can click on the 3 dots (...) in the lower right corner and select "Share episode". We can't wait to hear your feedback in the Reviews section of iTunes and spend more time in your ears in coming weeks as we work toward a less stressed life. XO, Christa
 
 Questions or suggestions? Bring it. hello@lessstressedlife.com 

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Transcript

spk_0:   0:00
welcome to the less stressed life. All about making this your time to feel frickin awesome about your life, health and happiness.

spk_1:   0:08
This podcast of the Less Dress Life is hosted by Krista Bigler. Christa is an integrative registered dietitian nutritionist who specializes in reducing food related stress, inflammation and symptoms of food sensitivities. She brings over a decade of nutrition expertise and playing with her food to the table from coaching, teaching, writing and working within a major food company. Tow behind the scenes for a health celebrity to learn more. Visit less dress life dot com Alright, today on the less Stress Life. I am so excited to bring this our very first guest to you. And I will tell you why. Because if I have to think of three things that this episode will mean, it's riel raw and it will resonate. I know that if this doesn't resonate with you, you're gonna be able to think of someone that it does resonate with, and I know there's gonna be some piece of it that you're gonna need a share with someone else. So I'm really excited to introduce my sister in law. Her name is Helen I'm, er, she's been a registered nurse for nine years. She has a couple active Children, and she's been on a journey to heal herself and those around her for about a year or two now. So she let me give you a little back in on what we're gonna talk about today. Basically, Helen's story is incredible. She overcame a debilitating back injury, woke up, wasn't able to get off the floor through a lot of things, but she got a lot of significant results through food. And sometimes people don't believe that you can get those kind of results through food. I guess if you're here, you you might believe it. But today you're gonna hear a little bit of Helen's story hopefully be inspired in also here, kind of the premise of the less stress life, which is Things are multi dimensional, right? So food first a lot of times, but if that's the priority, but things were really multi dimensional, so I can't wait for her to share her story. I'll give you a little bit more about Helen. So Helen is the nurse, which means she's a giver, right? So she's always been open to opportunity and career advancement. But she wanted more because a lot of us sometimes want more after we get into the the grind of work. So helping people is her niche, right? She's a nurse. But before she could do so, she really to help herself, which is what today's episodes about. So she really learned that and more. Right? As sometimes hard things teach us. Um, but I'm just so excited to hear from her today and here and share her story with you, which I feel is so powerful. So welcome, Helen. Thanks, Crista. She's so quiet. So eso Helen, I think the interesting thing We're gonna talk a little bit about an injury you had, but you work with people with injuries. Is that right?

spk_0:   2:55
That is correct. I, um I'm a worker's compensation telephonic nurse, and so I help, um, I review older cases, um, and review the medical to determine how we can help those people and determine if their documents support their continued disability. And so for me, this was a really eye opening experience, um, knowing what some of these injured employees air going through on their on their journey and that it not only affects their physical being, but also their mental well being. Um, and it just really pulled on my heart strings, too, you know, See them going through this for years and years and not having the motivation of the inspiration of the drive to want to change, which is a very true thing.

spk_1:   3:40
Yeah, for sure. So all of that is super interesting, right? And just kind of odd how serendipitous life can be. Um, in fact, I one of my bosses, he's an apologist and ended up on dialysis and getting his own kidney transplant. I just think the world is kind of goofy how that works. Sometimes I think we can learn a lot through that. So before we kind of really jump into a little bit of your story today, Helen, I think that one thing that people might resonate a little bit with is how we know each other and how you used to think I was crazy. Right? So I'll let you take the floor. Rippen

spk_0:   4:17
uh, I met Christa about 12 years ago. I'd say 13. Possibly, Um, she is just a year older than me. Uh, and so we were pretty similar in age and had a lot of some some, you know, somewhat similarities just growing up in the same realm of, um, the state. And I used to think Christa was crazy. She was a dietetic student. And she was she was e vegetable. You were You were vegetable lover. She truly was amazing. Not letting the grass grow under her feet. And I just remember, um, cracking jokes about your healthy eating. I would avoid crystals cooking at any cost. I recall one specific time where she called and said, Hey, I'm coming over your house. I'm gonna cook supper. And I was like, Absolutely not. I already ordered pizza. It's fine. We got it covered. Um, we also like to joke about how when a family goes to Crystal's house, which, um, you know, is quite a drive from any grocery store. You know, my husband jokes how he has to pack his Pringles of her fear of starvation. And so we kind of have this, um, little joke with Krista because she's such a foodie. And truthfully, even the last time I went to her house, I was like, Oh, you so much good food was thrown at me, and I and I absolutely loved it. So I have come around. I'm very happy that she has been honest with me, but not pushed me. Thio do anything that I didn't want to do. She was patient with me, and that's why I was able to come around. Um, I remember one point my life I was struggling with infertility, which really is a whole nother separate podcast. But she, uh, kind of mentioned, you know, honestly, that your diet may have something to do with that. And, of course, I was angry at that time, and I thought she was a quack job. And, uh, you know, in the end, I was just mad at myself for not being open to suggestions, suggestions like that. So, um, I used to very much, um, talk badly about your, um, your ways of life. And now my husband says you act just like my sister, and I'm so proud of that. So thanks, Christopher, sticking to it and, um, again, in a non judgmental way of, you know, sharing information.

spk_1:   6:34
Oh, you are so sweet. Um, and I just want to mention, Yes, no one's ever start coming to my house, actually, really do enjoy cooking for people. But on a second note with Infertility, which is a separate podcast and definitely could pull on some heartstrings because it's really becoming, um, very common, right? It's becoming very common thing. And as you know, I do some contract work for Charlene Johnson, who, if no one knows who that is. But basically the contract work I'm doing with her has to do with another type of anti inflammatory diet, which is what our topic is today. And yesterday I was reading some comments on a screen shot, and when it was pretty cool, it was a woman who's been on this journey of kind of reducing the inflammation or die and kind of healing and, um, and doing some nutrition and things, and she went to. She was going to start the next phase of the experiment, and she was late on her period, and she found out she was pregnant. She's never been able to conceive before, so I just think it's really cool and that I'm not saying that nutrition had everything to do with that. Sometimes, like letting go of stress and lots of other things has to do that. But I just think food is amazing. And I just wanted to I wanted Thio pin on the back of your comments there. There's just it's about being open to possibilities and making sure you're because that's like what being sort of holistic with a W. Is is looking at the whole picture. Right? So today I'm excited for you to tell us about your whole picture and really talk a little bit about nutrition. So life is all great, right? Um, we're both doing a little bit of health coaching. Well, let's go through a little bit of time. Line of how we wanna talk about your story. So everything was going great. You, um actually, I want you to tell me how you kind of got into health coaching with me and started really becoming an ambassador for health on your own and And what things were looking like before you got injured.

spk_0:   8:25
Sure, I'd love to. Um, just kind of going way back. All throughout high school, I struggled with up and down weight fluctuations. I was never the skinny girl. I was just I'm built muscular. I'm an athlete, but just never was, you know, And this has to do with some mental things, too, and and the comparison game. But I never really felt like for us hard as I worked for us. Muchas I exercise that I was in a good, you know, I was always overweight on the B m. I scale. And when you step on your we board, it goes, Ah, you're overweight. You're like, What? What is going on here? I work really hard. Um, the problem was, it wasn't a holistic approach. I basically exercise myself, um, to the point of probably way over stress. And ah would justify it by, you know, eating an entire pizza and a six pack of beer. Um, And so when When you when you really look at, um the saying, you know you can't out exercise a bad diet spot on? I never believed it. I didn't want to believe it. I would just make excuses and say, Well, I I can eat this or I can drink this because I ran 10 miles today, but my body wasn't changing, And so I needed to change what I was doing, and I tried several different things um, you know, fat diets, pills, Um, you know, extra workouts, whatever it was to try to kind of get into what I thought was a healthier state and that really, that really didn't work. And then Krista, uh, had been posting quite a bit on her social media and and and it really excited me. And not only because Chris has never I've never known Christa really as someone who's into exercise or fitness. And I was like, Yeah, and I was like, Whoa, Kristin's got a vice up. What's going on here? You know? And so I'm like, Well, if she can change, You know, I used to run like, upwards to 10 miles every day, half marathons, but I was still this. My body never changed. Why? Because I never changed, and you know it. This is again in a whole nother podcast, but, um, looking at cycling your exercise and cycling your meals, um, and your diet and some phasing. Um, I'm sure Crystal will talk to you much more about that in the future, but, um, I never changed what I was doing. And so, of course, my body is never going to change and So I started seeing Christmas post, and not only did they inspire me from Oh, my gosh, she's got Look at her muscles. Look at her abs. Christmas never had abs. You know that there were visual. I I never had abs officials. Like, if she could, if she couldn't do it, I can do it. And, um But what she really delved into and what I really liked was her inspiration that she was getting from the bigger network and from, um, personal development. And I thought, I'm really stuck in a rut, and I really I don't like who I am, and I and I need that. And so I reached out to her. Um, she results me first, and it took me a long time to come around, and that's another story for another day. But I just thought, OK, well, it's gonna be the same as anything I'm gonna invest in in in this investment time in this, and I'm gonna fail. Like I just knew I was gonna fail. And so I kind of went into with that mindset, which was which was awful. I know, But once she introduced me to the personal development portion of it. It was truly a game changer. I was starting Finally. Finally, for the first time, starting to change from the inside out on. And I really liked it. Um, And though my focus from you know all about the powers to how do I feel? How How does this work for me? You know, because we're all different. And so that is definitely, truthfully how I kind of got started, was working on myself as a whole instead of just focusing on the wrong things, which for me was wait and the comparison game, Um, and, you know, making excuses for what I feel for what? How I feel. My body

spk_1:   12:35
sounds like you really dumped into a whole realistic approach with the W the mindset plus working on yourself in multiple ways. So then what happened?

spk_0:   12:44
Um, so this is the online health coaching and in person health coaching really opened up my world. Some things that I started taking on was, you know, I know teach fitness class twice a week, and I do online health and wellness coaching, and I talked to people. I motivate people. I have a non online Facebook group and I was just truly this whole started in about February and truthfully told Krista, um, you know, I'm going to do this. I'm not sure if I will ever help other people. I didn't plan on never helping other people to live this life of kind of, you know, freedom if if you would call it that. And so I had started February of 2016 and by July I was running my own groups. I had kind of dived into these other things that I'm talking about and more, Um, I was I was loving life. I was I was. I finally felt good. I had the energy. I was off my thyroid medication that I had been on for over 10 years, which was awesome. Yeah, that's another podcast we wanted. Talk about that deal. Um, and for once in my life, I felt normal. The only other time in my life were actually felt normal was when I was pregnant with my Children. And so when you hear a woman say that she feels normal when she's pregnant, you have to wonder what's going on when she's not pregnant. What? What? You know what what hormones are off. What? What's going on? And so when When I say that people think I'm crazy and I don't say that to, you know, uh, you know, make the other women who are puke in all nine months I feel bad about themselves, But I really did feel great. So I knew that's kind of too. And something was was wrong. And so, um, I really was feeling great. I was I was really high on life, and I woke up one morning and I and I had now become a morning person because of my personal development. I just that was a non negotiable and helping others in the morning before the before the world got up and I was doing some stretching for my morning exercise, and I thought, Oh, my goodness, my hip hurts. It must be that time of the month. What the heck did I do to those fitness girls you know, yesterday they must be sore to. Throughout the day I started feeling nauseous. I realized that I had been on the floor a couple times and within about 24 hours my right, excuse me. My left quad was in a full blown spasm like Like there was a small child inside of my leg. And it's thousands like that for a couple of days. And, um, I had excruciating pain in that left leg. Never experienced anything like this before. Really No pain in my back. Um, I remember. You know, one moment I was on the floor crawling to my fridge, crying, screaming at my Children, Um, because they wanted milk, and I couldn't I could not stand up. Um, you know, within that 24 hours, I also realized that my left leg was numb. I was shaving my legs in the bathtub, and I thought, Okay, this this feels really, really weird. Um, lo and behold, a few days later, I was diagnosed with two herniated disc in my back. Now, I was 29 years old, 29 years old at the time, and, um, you know, that was that was quite the blow. Um, you know why? Why now? I had I had started these these do exercises. I had changed my exercise, just something I actually loved instead of I gotta get my miles. And that's the only way I'm gonna lose weight, which never worked. Why did I keep doing that? And so I luckily, had started this new approach I had gotten into yoga. I had gotten into more stretching. I had gotten into more low impact cardio, which really changed my overall health. Nevertheless, when I was in the doctor's office and the doctor told me You can never run again, you know, that's quite quite the moment for someone who used to run 10 miles a day and and who felt that? No, that's that's a pretty freeing time when you're when you're out exercising and running. Um, so nevertheless, I had fallen, you know, my leg was so weak that I had fallen. I really lost all muscle in that. In that left quad, I recall being at the doctor's office sitting on the floor because I couldn't sit in a chair. You know, as all these nine year old patients were sitting in the chairs, looking at me like I was insane, I was on crutches. Um, I was debilitated, and it well, it wasn't a good feeling. Um, I felt helpless. I felt, um, beat down. I was scared. I cried. I screamed, Um, I didn't know what to d'oh! And then, you know, when reality kind of continued to hit, I was like, Okay, I think that I have been being prepared for this over the last nine months of starting on this journey of a better me and I realized that I can, you know, You know, I have two choices I can lay down and do nothing and see where this takes me or I can I can take initiative, take the bull by the horns per se and see what I can do about this. I went to two chiropractors who I probably shouldn't have gone to. I highly recommend if you ever have a back injury or any numbness pain spasming in your leg and you feel that it's stemming from your back, that you are very careful about the providers you choose to see. And the providers they, um, adjust you. Um, I saw a neurologist who told me there was absolutely nothing he could do for me except surgery. I needed to get into surgery right away and that I haven't awful back I even as a nurse was an advocate and said, you know, what could I do? Therapy? What could I? D'oh! And at this point, I was in in the doctor's office. I couldn't sit up. I couldn't walk. I had crutches. And he won't let me leave. I did end up getting a back injection that day. Um, and my husband after that injection, my husband said, Oh, my gosh. For the first time in two weeks, I can tell the you're fit. You're not in pain, because because because my face was just it was awful. If any of you have ever had a back injury or herniated disc, you know? You know what? What? What? I was going through, Um, And so I got a second opinion. I saw another orthopedic provider, and he said, You know, you need surgery. Okay. What are my other options? You could do physical therapy. Okay. The pain was so bad that I was on the surgery schedule. Probably about three times during this whole, um, kind of situation and through Facebook. Um, I mean, I was reaching out to everyone. What do I do? You know, even as a nurse, even as a nurse, you know what are my options? I'm Googling, which I don't always feel is that you don't always feel is the best source. You know, I was a dork in it. Yeah, I used to work in the e r. And I'd have these patients call and say, You know, Dr Phil said that I have this condition and I'm like, Oh, lordy, you know. So, nevertheless, I was Googling and I was facebooking and and I had already been sharing my health and fitness journey on Facebook. And so people were following me and they knew and they could see the pain that I was going through on. Guy was trying to stay positive. I was I was trying Thio, you know, still say, you know, there's light at the end of the tunnel. I don't know what it is yet, but but I'm gonna find it. And so Facebook connections and conversations. And I knew people who had had surgery and people were reaching out to me and I was asking questions. I was literally doing as much much research as I can. Where are the laser laser institutes that I could go too? Because I hear that surgery is better and and and, you know, having conversations with my work, I mean I work from home and I work at a desk and remotely and and, uh I mean, I was on the floor on a yoga madam and I couldn't even I couldn't even do that. It was it was very debilitating. And so I researched and I researched and I talked and I talked and I made connections. And what do I do? And and and where do I go from here? And that led Thio. Ah, chiropractor A few hours from me, she actually reached out to me and she called me and and I was actually the chiropractor's office, A different car, Proctor. She said, Where you at? And I said, I'm at the chiropractor's office and she's like, What are they gonna do to you? And I said, I don't know yet. I haven't gone in and said, Do not let them do this to you And I said, Okay. And she said, I want to see you tomorrow And I thought, OK, I'm scheduled for an Anderson. Yeah, amazing. Amazing. She truly had a had a gift to want to help people, and she she still continues to do so. I highly recommend her, but So I, um I went into the chiropractor who was gonna go in and see and and he wanted to adjust me in the way that she told me not to. And I said, You know, I don't I just told him I don't feel comfortable doing that. So in all of this to you have to be an advocate for yourself as a nurse. It's so frustrating to see anyone. Especially, for example, my grandparent's They go to the doctor. The doctor says, Okay, you have this condition. Take this medication. Okay. Yeah, It's like God, I hear it. And I

spk_1:   22:16
just want to, like, call attention to this. You heard how she, like, was resilient. You know, she wasn't gonna take one person's answer was like, All right, let's try another opinion. Let's keep looking and searching because you know you're not gonna take no for an answer on, and that's not really the takeaway point. The takeaway point is that health professionals, they know from being inside maybe the system that you have to be your own advocate because and actually have ah, education. I go over with some client, I have some Ah, I work with some people that are, um, really need a lot of medical care and ah, and basically one of the things that we talked to them about is that, you know, how do you deal with how do you work with your health care team? Well, it's like a football team. You know, you've got this head coach and this person, but you're the most important person on your team because you're the only one taking care of you. Everyone else has taken care of a bunch of people, and if you just think about that, it's not that they don't want to help you. It's that sometimes the model of things aren't set up that way. You have to be your own advocate because not everyone else. It has the ability to spend hours researching and trying to make sure that you have the best whole approach for you. And so I think that's amazing that you did that, and that's obviously where you've hit a breakthrough, and that's really awesome. I gotta back up and ask you a couple questions about your situation. I can tell you're in your zone. For those that don't really know what a herniated disc is Can you describe, like, in a nice picture? I think you have a good example. Like using toothpaste, right? So can you describe kind of like a little bit more about what a herniated disc is? And do you know, like stats about that? Is that common

spk_0:   23:42
in young people?

spk_1:   23:43
Because, you know, we would stereotype. Well, that doesn't seem like something a 29 year old would wake up with. So can you speak a little bit more to that?

spk_0:   23:50
Yes, Um, so a herniated disk if you can picture your spine and you've got vertebrae, um, or vertebra. However you want to say it and your spine and you and and their little bony structures in between those is it is a little gel cushion. And so we've got these shocks in our inner spinal, um, in our spine there. And basically a herniated disc is, yes, that that disc was squished. And it's like the the inside of it, the jelly part, which is almost, like toothpaste. You can visualize toothpaste coming out of the coming out of the tube there. So basically what happens is that toothpaste can't just, you know, splattered out everywhere um and which is causing that herniation or that protrusion on to the spinal cord? So some people may not have symptoms Some people may have maybe some low back pain. In my case, my leg spasm uncontrollably for about it was between two and four days and, um, and along with some numbness and tingling, and so there could be lots of different symptoms that go along with that. But in a nutshell, that's what it is. So I have to desk and and most of times on your extra you can see if you take an X ray of your spine, you can see the disks and they're nice, kind of like white ish color. Those to disarm me are just are just black. They're just like, you know, there. They're not very, they're not healthy anymore. And I haven't gotten an X ray and set since the initial one, but I'd love to see what it looks like now. Nevertheless, the jelly type fluid was pushing on my spinal cord, which is causing symptoms as faras stats. Um, I don't have any specific statistics that I want to share with you, but you could definitely find tons of staff's on the Internet. Just please find it. Find a valued source. Um, it's not all that common in people my age, but it can happen to anyone. As you heard from my story, there was no significant injury. I didn't get in the car accident. I wasn't, You know, in a pogo stick contest. I talk fitness class today before I woke up and I started stretching. Now, could it have been from all the years of running, possibly, could it? You really don't ever know what it is. Um, and many people, you know, the symptoms. Come on, quickly. Um, or some some of them. Come on slowly. And so that's really a hard answer for me to question to answer this time, Krista. Um, but I don't have any specific stats per se.

spk_1:   26:18
Okay, so let's kind of look at the timeline here. This started right before Thanksgiving last year, right? A couple days later, you're diagnosed. You spend a week being voracious for information. Basically, um, you got into a car wreck. That was pretty good. Um, they're great, actually, that you really recommend. And that really helped the situation. I think there was some other things you were doing to cope. Besides looking other people I think you were doing like you said the person development, um, was a big piece of that. Is that right?

spk_0:   26:47
Correct. Personal development can come in many, many forms. Whether that's, you know, truthfully, you know, talking to a friend or or or a counselor or something, Um, and just getting it all out there journaling reading Scripture. I personally was reading a book at the time called You Are a Badass. And even though I was reading it and feeling like there's no hope, I was I was still getting I was giving something I was reading, Um, I was I was praying. I was talking to other people. I was in a support group within my coaching network, which which really, um, was truly amazing to push through. My family was supportive and, um, so surrounding yourself with supportive people. And if you don't have those people in in in your life, you know, work to find those people or work to find the motivation that you need, whether that's from a book, Scripture a counselor, there's many forms of personal development. So yes, that was played a huge factor in my mindset because I truthfully, I mean for the first. I'll tell you what you know. I got injured on November 18th is when the symptoms started and probably for about a week. Iyc. I think I ate pizza every day. I couldn't get off the couch to cook, So whatever anyone could bring me was what they brought me. And when you have a husband who's trying to take care of me and of three and five year old, you know, pizza's fine. Whatever you got, it was how to dio. Yeah, God bless your brother. And so that was I mean, it was like I could have in and I didn't want to do anything. I I don't want to eat a salad. I feel I'm in so much pain. I mean, I don't want I didn't want I wasn't motivated, um, per se like I wanted to be, um, because it was a very depressing time.

spk_1:   28:40
Yeah, absolutely. And I think sometimes we have to let ourselves grieve, right? And you were kind of grieving stage for sure. And so So I'm just accepting that. So that way you can look at least linearly. Look forward, right. You have to allow that time to grieve and know that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Although at the time you really couldn't see the light. Um

spk_0:   28:59
could not see the light, but another huge factor. And Krist, I believe you were a part of this too. I was hosting on Accountability Group, which I do every month. And so even though I wasn't exercising or my nutrition may not have been on point, I was still checking in every day with those people in that group. And they were providing me the motivation that I typically pour into them. And so it's amazing what you get back from people. You know, what you put into people. You really get back tenfold. And so if it wouldn't have been for that group

spk_1:   29:36
out of my mouth,

spk_0:   29:37
I that played a huge factor, too. And so I you know, even now and when I'm not hurting and when I don't feel hopeless, those groups offer me so, so much. And I love to help people within those accountability groups because I really think that's key to success in changing your lifestyle. Okay,

spk_1:   29:57
so let's get into the juicy stuff on when things started impressed. So it's before Thanksgiving. You've got this diagnosis. Everything sucks. And then, um, you know, looking forward that mid January, you have ah, trip for work. You're going to go to go to Mexico for work, I think. And I know you had said that there was multiple times you were on the phone with the travel agent about insurance because you were pretty sure you were gonna make it there. But the reason this is relevant is because you had already planned between, and most people would think this is crazy. But you had planned you had already experimented with this in the past. You knew how the results worked for you. So you had already planned that you were going to dio a particular anti inflammatory diet protocol between Thanksgiving and Christmas to kind of what supercharge your body supercharger energy feel really great and look great before Mexico. I think that was on your docket, and I knew that I knew that from you, so I thought it was a little serendipitous. But go ahead and let us know now. Um, so you decided. You know, you kind of had that. You had a good week or more of grieving, and then you decided to go on with it. So tell us about that.

spk_0:   30:59
Yeah, definitely. Once, I, um I realized that I had started to kind of start being ableto handle some of that pain and own it and do some things. Not quite with my diet, because I wasn't quite to that point mentally but stretching and the help that I received from a certain chiropractor, Um, I going back. I had decided to do an anti inflammatory diet. You're very correct before my trip and in January. Now, I have done this in May of this of the year that I have gotten my injury and, um, truly phenomenal results, not just weight loss, not just inches lost, but I've never felt so good in my life, Not even when I was pregnant. And so I and ah, this is really when I think my thyroid health came full circle into health,

spk_1:   31:55
like, £15 or 11 inches or something like that, right? And

spk_0:   31:58
yeah, it was Yeah. Three weeks 11. I believe it was £11.12 inches which, and let's just be

spk_1:   32:07
clear. It's amazing. So normally we wouldn't expect or want weight loss necessarily that fast. But when we're talking about inflammation that makes us hold on the water. So a lot of times when you're anti inflaming per se, you're dropping water weight and inflammation is going down. You're putting out the fire, and so you naturally drop weight. Clarify for listeners because some people might not know what an anti inflammatory diet can be. Now it can come in many different versions. Um, it could be elimination of animal products. It could be elimination of all processed grains. It might be an increase of, you know, of some good quality fats. It might not be. There's some different nuances, right? There's always different nuances to different anti inflammatory protocols. But there's a lot of commonalities, and I just want to mention like, what is an anti inflammatory diet? So keep going,

spk_0:   32:55
Sure. And um yeah, I'd love to explain or give you some more side effects of that good side effects of that, but yes, So I had okay before My January trip to Mexico I'm going to do is anti inflammatory diet. So I had planned on starting December 1st. Now, of course, my injury was November 18th and and once I realized that, um, I was gonna make it through without having to have surgery, I thought, What am I waiting for? What? Why? Like the light bulb came on and I'm like, I was going to do this anyway, Like, I need to do this. And truthfully, as a nurse, I don't think I've ever been in a room with a doctor that has said, you know, cut out sugar and, you know, eat more fruits and vegetables. I truthfully can't. Can't remember a time when I have been in a room with a doctor who said that And the chiropractor who helped me so very much. She said, Okay, before I left. Like, Okay, cut out sugar. And, um, you know, um, eat lots of fruits and vegetables and I was like, Duh. Oh, my gosh, Like what? You're when you're so in the zone and you just can't see. Like I said, the light at the end of the tunnel, you just you're all that's your focus is is all You can handle that moment And I thought Okay, I'm gonna start. I'm gonna start my anti inflammatory diet like that makes the most sense. So I started it. And, um, within seven days, I had absolutely no pain,

spk_1:   34:27
Which let's just let that sink in, because that is bonkers. Like I mean, if you can go from not being able to get off the floor like your let's just remember that, like, a week or two. Maybe not even two weeks. I don't think it was. I'm not sure. Right before that you were crawling to the fridge crying because you couldn't get your Children milk. And I mean, some people deal with this for a very long time. Like just the fact that you were able to do that much in that short amount of time is in a freak. Incredible. And I just like, I just need people Let that sit in. Okay, go

spk_0:   34:54
ahead. Yeah, totally. Totally incredible. And And the And the other caveat to is when I was researching and I'm still okay. So at this point, I'm still talking to people, you know. Which doctor do you go to? You need to go see this guy. I've got this pain cream. I get these injections. I get these ablation sze. I've dealt with this pain for, you know, three years I was like, Really? You've dealt with that pain for three years, Do you? I don't know about you, but I don't want to live a life like this. I want to live a life on my terms, which means no pain and being able to function and and care for myself and my Children. And so I just took the first step and I started and it was truly eye opening. So along with the anti inflammatory diet, I took the recommendations from the chiropractor. I stretched or and or did yoga, which, I mean even basic yoga. You guys, I I couldn't do This is how I was that week. I couldn't do it. My way left thigh was so, um, it was floppy. And there's, you know, explain where I'm at right now, later in the show. But, um, it took me a long time. I mean, for someone who was teaching high impact cardio two weeks before to this, it was it was pretty eye opening. And so I made it. Made a commitment I need to do yoga or stretching for 30 to 90 minutes a day. Now that seems insane. Those air longer workouts than I've ever done, typically in my life. But I would get up in the morning. I do 30 minutes over lunch. I do 30 minutes and in the evening, and so when you break it down into smaller pieces, it makes things more manageable. And and that's with anything in life. If you feel overwhelmed with meal prepping for an entire week meal prep for a day, if you feel overwhelmed with working out for an hour a day, workout for five minutes, start somewhere. And so that's what I did is I started somewhere. And so, um, you know food really is fuel. The anti inflammatory protocol that I followed specifically was the one that I had done earlier in the year and the first week. Would you like me go to go into kind of what? That what that entails? Krista, Go ahead. So the first week I start cutting out some, uh, animal proteins and replacing that really Maur The final goal of the program, or the or the The program that I followed was fruits and vegetables healthy fats and, um, you know, cutting out all sugar, all processed foods. And let me tell you, Ah, the results for me are amazing. Not only did I have, um, again, another weight loss of £8 I lost 10.4 inches. I was probably weighed less than I had. Um, I weighed the same amount that I did. I think it was sixth grade was the last time I weigh this amount. So? So, if you can fathom that that my whole high school, I don't know, early twenties, career or lifestyle had been that of being overweight or obese on a on a chart. Even though, you know, I thought I was in good shape. I really wasn't, you know, less bloating. I was more focused. I had more energy. My husband said to me at one point, I don't know what drug I don't know what drug you're on would just stay on it like just you know, you like you're in a good mood. You're focused. You're like getting up. You're not angry in the morning. It's truly amazing. I was craving good food when you don't eat when you don't eat the sugar and you cut that out, Which I know. I know. I know it is hard to dio in those first few days, but once you get past that point, you know you start to crib good food. You start to crave healthy carbs. Fruits, veggies. My skin was smooth. It was tight. I didn't have acne. For the first time in my life, my pores are smaller again. I had absolutely no pain in my leg and hip. And when I started the reset, I could not stand for more than two minutes. I would be in the grocery store, leaning over on the cart or on my crutches, and I would have to stop probably about after one ill. And I would have to drop to one knee and sit on the floor. No life. And that's what I had to do, people that I was crazy. I could not stand for more than two minutes at a time.

spk_1:   39:21
Good thing you ever do after in your personal side and you had enough confidence. You're like, you know what? I gotta do? We Oh, yeah. Eso interest. I was just gonna mention really quick you talked about craving good for you Foods, I think, um, and you're talking about, um, early. I think you mentioned Yeah, You have to let yourself grieve, and you just kind of whatever stuff, um, and I just want to mention so this is kind of interesting. After three days of changing your diet, they've done studies in your microbiome changes. Now, why this is relevant is because some different bacteria makes us more predisposed to crave junk food. And some bacteria makes us more predisposed to crave, like healthy food. So once you've changed your diet, um, and you've started generating more healthy, the the right type of the bacteria, it's not crazy to think, Oh, I could never eat that like, Oh, I could never crave a kale salad or whatever you like. Let's not get too stereotypical, because I think the other piece, I know that about the anti inflammatory protocol you followed. I've tried a CZ well, with awesome results. There's different, obviously is different ways to do anti inflammatory dies because every food for different people react to different differently. But my point is, is that it's really nice when you get like a nice, step by step plan right, because it could be a little complicated, but my point is is that I think some people are like, Oh, that's nice for you to say. Um, because I couldn't do that. No, actually, you can. You just have to start, um, and then it gets easier. Everything is hardest when you first start. And like, it's the science, right? I mean, like, literally your bacteria are against you when you're doing kind of standard American diet pretty much, which is heavy and acidic foods and things. Um, but yeah, I just want to mention that like, Yeah, there's science behind that on why you crave healthy food after awhile, right? Let's like a breakthrough. It's like breaking a barrier. And you kind of already touched. Hit that on the head. You're like, Yeah, I know it's really hard to do those first few days, and then magic starts to happen. So tell us a little bit more. I know you. The really cool thing about you doing this protocol and and experimenting with this anti inflammatory diet is that you kept such a detailed diary that I literally like I cried the first time I read the 1st 1 It was just so amazing. The how you said I was funny cause you said no wonder you lose weight on this diet. All's I did was prepare food. The first thing that was hilarious. So I know. I know you have some other things there. I know you talk about like your skin means moves. All of you kind of relish again in the in The beauty of how that went for you.

spk_0:   41:46
Yeah, And I think sometimes I love Krista How and how my other friends and people within my network and who I hope, coach, they remind me how far I've come. Um, kind of a caveat is sometimes we forget you know, where we come. I really can't, you know, fat. It's kind of like, you know, being in labor with your Children. You kind of forget that pain. And so to remember how far you've come and how inspiring that is and how it is possible for anyone. And I did keep a detailed diary, and that's why I'm able to remember that. And so I think tracking your progress is also a huge factor in, you know, really anything that you do and Sometimes I'm not always good at it. Sometimes I'm better. But I was able to look back. And I remember, um, from the diary, the very first meal, the very first day this protocol I followed was 21 days. The very first morning, Um, the meal was oatmeal, I believe oatmeal with blueberries. And I remember standing up stirring the oatmeal, getting down on the floor, reaching my arm up, storing the oatmeal. I was on the floor trying to cook my oatmeal, and I had my kids at home. My three of my five year old and I remember it took me an hour to prepare my breakfast to get them fed and to eat. And I thought, This isn't saying that this is insane, but but I don't see it will do this. Yeah. Yeah. Why would anyone do this? But I thought, you know what? What's my other option? I sit on the floor for the rest of my life. What is my other option? And so if you don't like the situation here and do something to change it and was hard you just heard my story of me on the floor stirring my oatmeal from below. And so, yes, it was hard. And will it be hard for you? More than likely. But the best thing I can tell you is to find the support that you need to get through it and that you truly are capable of anything. And mindset is a huge part of that. And so just kind of a gentle reminder of, you know, this wasn't easy, but But what? The risk that the benefits outweighed definitely out Read the rip, outweigh the risk. If you want to look at it on that on that point, um,

spk_1:   43:58
I'm glad we're documenting this journey so much because, like you said and I think and I have to get really serious with myself sometimes when I'm working with people because sometimes when you incrementally been working on yourself for so long, you do forget what it was like because we all started in a similar place or a same place and is really easy to forget. And I just, um I know you sent me Cem some notes, but so we just talked about, like how it took you an hour to cook oatmeal that first day and then two days ago. What did you do when you start in the morning?

spk_0:   44:32
Um, two days ago. I, um so approximately If I could just, uh, two days ago, I'm gonna tell you what I did. I, um, went paddle boarding for an hour and 1/2. It's a standup board where you have to have, you know, outrageous balance and strength in your court. And, ah, I ended the paddleboard session with yoga and doing a headstand on my on the paddleboard

spk_1:   44:58
and your physical. And now I remember you were doing physical therapy A cz You did this whole person approach and you told your physical terrifies I'm gonna be able to do a headstand or handstand. I'm not sure I think ahead stand. And you Actually, she laughed at you and said, Never gonna happen. But it didn't take you that long to accomplish that goal, did it?

spk_0:   45:15
Correct. I was in physical therapy for I believe, about six weeks, a couple times a week. Um, my physical therapist, she would say, Give me your phone and she would record me. Um, you know, doing doing, like, kind of, you know, squat lifts on my back on the weight machine or just working to strengthen that, and she could not believe the muscle loss in my leg. At one point it was, I think, two and 1/2 inches. My left leg. My left thigh was two and 1/2 inches smaller than my right thigh. And so I truly lost pretty much all muscle in that leg. And so toe balanced squat to do that and she would video me. She would take pictures and she just I can't believe it. And so when she had asked me what my goals were like a good physical therapist does does. I said, By the end of physical therapy, I may do a headstand which, as you know, takes a lot of core strength, which is it's where it's all connected right there. Tear back. So I've seen you do it. Krista. You told me, but it list. But yeah, you totally did it. Sometimes you don't know what you're capable of until you try and Christopher prove to that point. And so, um, she laughed, and, uh and I did it in her office before, right before I went to Mexico. And when I was in Mexico, you better believe that I was doing head stands out on the pier and get some good photo ops there. So it was truly amazing. And the and the crazy part is, is when I went to Mexico, I had just gotten on with physical therapy. My left thigh was still floppy, floppy, flabby. And, um, it was still, I think, about inch and 1/2 or two smaller than the right one. But I rehabbed so much while I was there, Um, by being active and not just saying Oh, I have a leg injury, I'm going to sit on the beach all day. I played sand volleyball. I played tennis, I went for bike rides. I went hiking. It was truly amazing what what I was capable of doing just two months after my injury.

spk_1:   47:20
That is so crazy. Yes, on.

spk_0:   47:23
And when I returned to my orthopedic doctor, um, I remember going back to him for a follow up, and I'm sitting in a chair in the waiting room because I can sit in a chair Now I don't have to sit on the floor. And I went into him and he was he was He was amazed. He said, What did you d'oh and I said, I did physical therapy. I did yoga and stretching and I cut out all sugar and he just looked at me and smiled and he said, You know, I have a son that's diabetic and I commend you. I know what that could do to your bodies and I just encouraged him to speak to his patients in that way. And he said to me, You know, nobody listens to me. Nobody. If you had a doctor, truthfully, you know, truthful, raise the hands to you out there. We can't see what your answer is. But if you had a doctor that said to you cut out all sugar and you will feel better, your pain will be much better. Would you do it and be honest with yourself? When my chiropractor told me that I was in, you know, the big city, guess what I did after she first told me that I went out to the pub and I had some cheese balls and I don't know, I might have even had a beer. I still wasn't in the mindset until I decided I can't live like this anymore and I'm not going to and and not that it would be a lifelong thing, but hearing stories of people Oh, my back hurt for six months or mine still hurts. And 10 years down the road, I'm sorry, but I'm not living like this, and you can choose not to either. And that was that was just, um you know, pretty eye opening that the doctor had said, You know, nobody's gonna listen to anyone. I you know, you're pretty rare that you listen, I think that but I said

spk_1:   49:08
he told you that, um, I used to love following the doctor around sometimes on rounds, because it's funny. You know, I went over the same laboratory values that he was going over. But sometimes when the doctor would say talk to the dietitian about X y Z. Then suddenly the patient sat up in their chair a little bit more and, you know, and you know, honestly, um, the whole reason that doctors and maybe your healthcare practitioners don't take the time to tell you these things is because, um, it hasn't been well received sometimes, and they just start to get frustrated and jaded, and I know that's where I waas before I started changing myself and then became inspired and kind of surrounded myself with the right people, right, cause you're the some of the people who spend your time with um Until I started helping others and really reignited my fair cause. I was like a go getter in the health wellness fear, and I was just becoming exhausted because my like, my clients could make leaps and bounds like they have stuff that's easy to make leaps and bounds with. But at the time, they weren't doing that, and it was really tough. And that's why I went into private practice, because then I was finally able to work with people that were looking for the type of things I could help them with. So So I think that's admirable for your doctor to say. And it's a good reminder for our listeners. Um, just remember, it's not that they don't want to help you. It just, you know, sometimes it's just just how things have been.

spk_0:   50:33
Yes, and I think that our, um, easy fix kind of mindset and culture, um, has created you know, how practitioners treat people when we go to the doctor. Typically, we want an easy fix. You I have a cold. Give me an antibiotic. Okay. I'll feel better in 24 hours. Well, what if What if you let your body try to heal itself? What if you cut out that sugar that that bacteria is feeding on? What if But people want the quick answer. People want the surgery. People want this. And this is the culture that we've created, um, kind of in our in our world today, Um, and and as a nurse, I definitely think there's a time and a place for, um, hospitals and doctors and prescription medications. Yes, I very much agree with that. But can you imagine if if there's something you can do like I did that you can heal yourself to avoid that surgery which may or may not cause lasting effects for your entire life. Would you do it? You know, it's It's ah, it's providing education and trying to help um, open people's minds to what is actually possible.

spk_1:   51:46
Yeah, it's incredible. It's an anti inflammatory lifestyle. Really? Um, okay. You kind of forgot that also two days ago, after you want paddleboarding, you also went skydiving but moving on

spk_0:   51:58
it was actually on the same day I went skydiving, and and I've been thinking that I've been on this adrenaline high since that time, and and I just se 77 months ago, I couldn't walk, and that day I flew. And when you think about the things that you would have missed out on because you didn't take the initiative to do something about your health and this one life that we have to live, uh, it really it really puts things into perspective.

spk_1:   52:33
Yeah, it's just I all I can say is it's gonna be hard to follow this podcast. So, uh, okay, So let's say someone who's listening is getting one of those things right there relating. This really resonates with them. They love this real and rawness. Let's say they're going through a similar situation or they know someone really needs to hear this. Like, what's your takeaway? What's your gut reaction on what they could do today to start down that healing path like you've been on?

spk_0:   53:02
Um, the first thing I would say is it is definitely educate yourself and not just on Google, you know, find trusted resource is talk to people find resource is don't take, um nowhere. Yes, for an answer. Don't get a second opinion. Uh, he's an hole in. What's that? Cynical and discriminating. That's that's correct. This is This is your health. This is your life. This is your back. This is your leg. This is your heart, Whatever ailments you're suffering with, whether even if that's a mental, um, you know, cycle social aspect, this this is you and you need the help. That's best for you, which may not be what's best for me, your best for Krista. Um, ask questions. Be inquisitive and being advocate for yourself.

spk_1:   53:50
That's amazing. You know, you, this episode really embodies with the less stress life is because, as you know, that wasn't my first choice for a topic name. But you can't just This isn't just a health show. It's like all the things right. We have to talk about you mentioned at one point. You know, this is mind, body and soul healing might sound cheesy, but it's legit because if your mind's not in the right place, that's where things start, right? So, um, I think you very so very, very much Helen for everything you shared with us today. This episode is gold. I know you'll be able to refer back to it often. And I know it's gonna be a great reminder of how far you've come just this year. Maybe we'll d'oh ah, Maybe we'll do a reunion show next year about the same topic or will touch on some of these other things. But I appreciate you so much as a family member, and I just love how open and raw and really where I could tell us soon as you moved into your story that you were in your zone. And I appreciate you sharing it with our listeners. So if people want to connect to you, how can they find you?

spk_0:   54:48
You can definitely find me on Facebook. Helen Timers. Last name is E I M E R s. I also have a free Facebook page group. Uh, that's open to anyone at all, and it offers inspiration. Motivation is a safe place for people to share things, and that's called be better than you were yesterday. Um, because I really think that's important in life. I've made many mistakes in my life, but I can't go back on that. And so, uh, I work to be better than I was yesterday, and I help people to do the same. Um, you can also find me at at bit be ay, tita. L y slash Helen timers. H e l e a n e i m e r s. Um, and I would love to talk. Thio, if you feel like this episode inspired you, check me out. Um, on any of those three, um, three sources there. And, uh, I'd love to answer any questions that you have or get in touch about how you two can heal your body from the inside out.

spk_1:   55:48
And if you're driving, it's like Elmer's. But the eye in studio don't call us, although we don't cool. Okay, Ellen, I really I can't wait to hear the comments from people that are going to come. I really hope that if this episode touched you, you will leave a review in iTunes. Um, we definitely read all of those, and they're very touching. So, um, please leave your comments below there or reach out to Helen. If you have specific questions for her, um, in until next time you're doing awesome, thanks so much. Thanks, Krista, by I hope that you felt as inspired decided at the end of that interview. Helen just wanted to share a couple more details, which was that she still has muscle loss of about an inch on her left eye, and her left knee to her ankle still remains numb. But despite all that, she's still able to do all the things that she wants and that she talked about, Um, so she says that she's still

spk_0:   56:43
a little

spk_1:   56:43
broken, but she's able to persevere. So I think that's just a great message for us, no matter what way you interpret it. Thanks for joining us on this episode of the less dress life today. A little bit of a longer episode. I hope that you'll dreams for future episodes by going up above and clicking. Subscribe and I would love, love, love, love. If you could write US review, Let us now we're doing so far and I look forward to seeing you at the next episode, which is all about how my friend Mac overcame a chronic condition by really, really seen all the stress in his life. So I'll see you guys back here in a couple weeks. If you have any questions, you want me to answer on the future episodes of a less stress life, feel free to email those to me. Hello at less stress life dot com for his enemy and less stress life.