Mandy:
Hey there! You’re listening to theDream Big & Kick Ass Podcast. I’m Mandy, your host and I’m so glad you’re here!
If you want encouragement, inspiration, support, empowerment … Join me as we talk about real life stories of finding and following your purpose, overcoming adversity, and living out your dreams.
If you believe life’s too short to be caught up in insecurities, fear, and feeling defeated, then let’s hang out (pause) in the Dream Big & Kick Ass (tiny pause) Podcast.
Hey, hey, welcome to episode 60!
I haven’t recorded a solo episode in a while because I simply haven’t felt good. I haven’t had the brain power. If you don’t know, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease (which is an autoimmune disease where your immune system attacks your thyroid) back in May of 2021 & I’ve been on this journey of learning everything I can learn in order to heal my body.
Listen, if you don't feel good in your body physically or mentally, then It's super hard to actually work towards your goals and dreams. It's hard to do that when you just simply do not feel well.. Trust me I know.
Your mental and physical health and well being is essential to pursuing your dreams. You can dream all you want, with big bodacious dreams; but if you’re too fatigued or in too much pain to get out of bed, then you have to address that 1st. Period. You don’t give up on your dreams, you just make sure getting healthy is on your dream board and you research like crazy.
Lately, I’ve been focused on learning all that I can about autoimmune disease and how they relate to and can be triggered by your gut health.
Knowledge is power. I’m also learning about why the AIP diet is essential for me to stick to right now in order to heal and get my immune system under control.
It hasn’t been easy, but the more I learn, the more determined I become to eat things that nourish my body instead of damaging it.
I have been following AIP (autoimmune paleo or protocol) since the day after I received my diagnosis, at least as well as I knew how at the time. I’m learning more every day.
I got to a point where I was feeling lost with all of the information because some of it is conflicting, so one day, I was wandering around Natural Grocers and ran into the nutrition education expert there who gave me a business card for a certified AIP health coach. (I’ll put her info in the show notes.) I didn’t know that a certified AIP coach was an actual thing, but after I checked out her info, I was like, “Sign me up!” Though I’m a researching fiend, I knew I had come to a point where I needed some more targeted guidance. There’s soooo much information that I wasn’t sure what to do next. I mean, I’m feeling better most days, but I still have a way to go. (It’s a marathon, not a sprint, you know?)
So, I signed up with her for her 8-week group coaching, and I’m so glad I did. There are only 3 of us in the group besides the coach, so it’s really good for getting your questions answered, for accountability, and for encouragement.
Also, because of this coach (Dixie is her name) and the information she provides, I was motivated to make a meal plan for the week and batch cook some meat this weekend. That’s going to be a game changer.
Learning to prepare, cook, and eat food differently than I've done before has been challenging, to say the least.
I've never liked cooking and prefer to avoid it if at all possible. If you know me well, you know that's true.
The past 4 months I've been in the kitchen cooking & cleaning WAAAAAYYYY more than I ever desired.
Like, seriously.
I know that I can't go back to putting things in my body that cause my immune system to get stuck on overdrive.
So, learning how to plan and cook more efficiently is crucial to my overall well being.
Like I said before, when you don't feel well, it's extra hard to pursue your dreams and goals. And I have a ton of dreams & goals to achieve.
Just existing with fatigue, brain fog, depression, inflammation & pain in your body is not a fulfilling way to live.
So, when you have the power to do something about it, you do it. Even though it's hard. Even though you don't know what you're doing at first.
People have told me, “I could never do that.” When they ask what I can and can’t eat.
But, knowledge is power, y'all. When you purposefully educate yourself as much as possible with whatever you’re dealing with, it will give you the power to overcome.
Knowing what certain foods do to my gut and to my immune system helps me make educated decisions about what I put into my body.
It's a journey. Sometimes I mess up. Sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose. I pay a price either way.
Then, I keep trying.
I'm determined to feel better. Some days are better than others. On bad days, I allow myself to rest. On good days, I get crap done and get another step closer to my goals! One of today’s goals was to write and record this episode and get it uploaded and scheduled to be published tomorrow morning. Nothing like last minute.
So, the two takeaways I hope you receive from this episode is 1) that your health and well being needs to be a priority or you will have a harder time pursuing your dreams. And 2) Knowledge is power. It can help you make smart decisions for yourself and for your family.
whether that's power over your mental health, your physical health, power over your finances, power over your goals and dreams that you're shooting for, power over your relationships, power over your business sense. Knowledge is power.
If you resonate with anything I've said. Feel free to message me if you wanna chat. My contact info is in the show notes.
If you’re enjoying this podcast and getting inspiration and encouragement from my guests or from these solo episodes, then please subscribe and leave a positive review. Share it with 3 of your friends who need a boost!
Just so you know (knowledge is power, right!?), I pay a monthly fee for the recording software that I use for interviews with my guests, I pay an editor to edit my interviews because it’s super time consuming, and I pay a monthly fee for the podcast platform that houses my podcast, which is Buzzsprout. So, it does cost money to make this podcast happen.
If you’d like to help defer some of what it costs to keep it going, then you can click the buy me a coffee link in the show notes or on my website at mandysawyer.com/podcast.
Also, if you need to delegate some virtual tasks that are bogging you down and keeping you from moving forward in your business, then check out my virtual assistant services on my website mandysawyer.com and schedule a free consultation call with me. I’d love to help you out!
Don’t miss my guest episodes! I’ve been interviewing so many amazing people and I currently have 8 on the books! You are gonna love them!!
Thank you so much for listening & remember to Dream Big & Kick Ass.
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