I was really scared to go over my blood work with my doctor last week.

These types of convos typically include:

- scary news

- things I have to keep working on

- a bunch of supplements I need to start taking

... fun times

I keep doing it though.

Going back to this one doctor to get my blood work done and talk about the results.

I keep going back because I need to know.

I look at all of this as an experiment -

I want to see the work I am doing pay off.

Plus this doctor is quite fabulous!

He is way more than just a doctor!

He checks in about:

- my mental health

- my career

- my relationships

- what else is new with me

AND he really explains to me what is going on with my physical health.

Wait, hold on ... before we continue ...

if you are new to my blog - WELCOME - it is nice to see you here! 

Let me introduce myself ...

I am Khrystle Rea

(a health coach, fitness coach and reiki healer)

and I have been on a crazy long journey of healing my health.

Here is a very short [recent] version of my health story.

January 2018 I had blood work done with Dr. Mike Gruttadauria.

I decided to see him after seeing countless other holistic doctors 

with hopes that he could help fix my gut

so salads wouldn't make me feel awful,

and help with my mental health.

My first round of blood work showed my amino acids were in the basement.

Let me post a picture so you can see ...

They were extremely low.

My body wasn't absorbing nutrients.

Why would it matter though if my aminos were low?

Well ... your amino acid levels can impact:

- your brain functionality

- your mental health

- your energy levels

 

Amino acids are crucial for good health!

They are the building blocks of life!

[If you want to get really scientific with it, then I would

suggest that you google amino acids and see exactly how they work in the body.]

So Dr. Mike put me on a protocol and we started making some progress.

I got tested again about 8 months after and things were improving.

My amino acids were still pretty horrific though.

Meaning my body wasn't fully absorbing nutrients.

My gut still needed help.

I continued taking supplements and being 100% gluten free and dairy free.

As a health coach, I really like to experiment.

I like to see how I can heal my own body.

Dr. Mike has always been supportive of this, 

which has made him the perfect doctor for me.

So in July 2018 I decided to start drinking celery juice every day after reading

Medical Medium by Anthony Williams.
In that book, I felt like was describing my entire health history.
It really hit home for me.

(you can read a post I did when I first started celery juice here)

A few months after that I decided to start eating more intuitively,

which meant more plants and basically no meats.
[intuitive eating is when you eat foods based on your intuition and how you feel about them.
I had gotten to this place where the idea of chicken made me nauseous, so I stopped eating it.
In general, I didn't care to eat animal eat.]

For over a year now, I have been:

- plant-based

- gluten free

- dairy free

- egg free (for the most part)

- not a ton of soy

- not a ton of corn

When I reached out to Dr. Mike for another round of blood work [in December 2019],

I had no idea what would show.

A piece of me was scared that everything would be worse.

I mean, I haven't really been eating animal meat at all.

I knew I was feeling better though,

so I was slightly hopeful.

 ... drum-roll please ...

Check out these amino acid levels!!

Alright, so I know they aren't AMAZING,

but they are better!!

In other words ....

something I am doing is working!
WOOOHOOO!!

In my mind, all I have to do is increase how much I eat.

I often find myself guilty of eating less than 1000 calories a day

and with the way I eat that is unacceptable.

I should be eating more food now than ever.

So the current goal is to increase my food on a daily basis,
take a multi-vitamin, and take some amino-acids.

My body is healing and it is getting better!!

The blood work this time showed my body is doing well on a plant based diet.

I AM SO RELIEVED!!

I am okay.

I am OKAY!!
I want to like shout it out to the whole world!

If you've ever experienced poor health then maybe 

you can relate to this emotion of recognizing that 'I am really okay.'
It is so freeing!
It feels way better than worrying every minute about your health.


If you haven't experienced this yet, then I cannot wait until you do!
It is such a blessing to get back to living and not worrying about health issues.

What I am realizing, as I right this post, is that it has taken me:

- dedication

- time

- commitment

- experimentation
- trusting my intuition

 for my body to heal itself.

This has been a really long journey - like +10 years for me.
I finally feel like I am in the best health I have ever experienced.

I want you to know that you can heal and feel this way too!
It is MORE THAN POSSIBLE!!
You got this. Keep on putting in the work!

If you are in the market for a functional medicine doctor, here is Dr. Mike's info:

website: www.theoptimumu.com

All of our sessions have been over the phone, so no worries if you don't live near him.

If you want to chat more about my experiences with Dr. Mike then please feel free to reach out to me.

The thing I want most in this world is for everyone to heal and feel their best!

Let's make it happen!! It is possible!!

By the way, if you are looking for a coach to hold you accountable on your health journey,
then feel free to shoot me an email at info@khrystlerea.com.
I work with women 1-1 helping them figure out how to eat for their body.