Is your gut feeling a bit off?

Let me share a bit about how I started this whole health and fitness journey and what was my personal “tipping point” of enough is enough. And in case you’re newer here it’s also a little bit about myself that will hopefully allow you to get to know me a heck of a lot more.

I’m a mom of a toddler who will be 4 in September, and soon to be mom of a newborn (33 days and counting to due date). I’m also a dog mom of a husky mix who is almost 7 and we are still living in Germany for a few more months before we embark on our 4th move in 5 years with the military. My husband has been serving our country for almost 10 years (this May is that BIG anniversary) and has spent that time nearly split with national guard and now active duty. We so far enjoy military life, meeting new people, creating communities were we go. But this life doesn’t come without many very hard challenges that are ever present, ever changing, and never seeming to allow up deep full breaths sometimes. Since we as a couple decided to go from his guard duties to active military; we are one of THE VERY FEW that did “choose” this life. Maybe not all the hard we’ve had to go through in the last 2.5 years specifically, but to an extent we knew the differences. Most do not. Most don’t have that choice, and as a spouse; most spouses don’t “sign up” for that when God brings them their person in life.

I’ve been doing beachbody programs for over 6 years now. (WOW!) I had been diagnosed with IBS with chronic constipation at the start. It took 12 years to diagnose and I was then told I’d have to live with it the rest of my life. Managing symptoms and dealing with pain… I wasn’t okay with that answer to put it simply. So I started getting healthier from the inside…out. I started by inconsistently drinking my nutrient dense shakes and working out daily for 20 minutes.  I saw some results. I fell in love with the community and sisterhood and support. I ended up needing a colonoscopy at 19, an endoscopy and full GI workup done at 23 and then surgery to remove my gallbladder. All while still dealing with painful gut symptoms and no answers because “everything came back normal”. In recovery from my surgery I decided I was going all in on nutrition and fueling my body properly to be consistent in my health so I wouldn’t ever go through that medical issue again. I never use to enjoy veggies or working out but do now. I am a cyclist and worked in the bicycle industry for 12 years during school and after graduating and love biking so much! I’m also a lover of golf and I golfed competitively in high school. It’s still a favorite sport that I wish I could do more often. 

So when I say I’ve dealt with gut issues and being so unhealthy on the inside, I do mean it. It’s been a long road of healing, making sure I am fueling my body well, and continuing to learn as much as I can about the gut and nutrition so I can help others safely and fully to feel better inside. This leads me to not only this passion and a few nutrition certifications along the way, but to our newest launch with beachbody that is designed to help jumpstart our gut health.

If you’re dealing with stomach issues, things like stress, sleep, exercise, and the food you eat can all impact the health of your gut. The Creator of this program, Autumn Calabrese is no stranger to digestive problems. She learned how to uncover her “food sensitivities” and now you can, too! 

She created a SIMPLE PROGRAM with no-impact exercise and a way to identify the foods that could be causing digestive sensitivities. 

A Gut Protocol nutrition program provides a step-by-step elimination schedule to help identify food triggers, food sensitivities, and the foods that optimize your digestion. This will teach you how the food you eat can impact your health and how much your gut health impacts your overall health. You will remove, replace, and rebalance your body. 

INCLUDED: instructional videos, weekly tips, food lists, and gut-friendly recipes. These tools have been designed to help you overcome discomfort. The supplements suggested: Optimize for digestive enzymes that help support nutrient absorption and bioavailability; Revitalize to help support beneficial flor in the gut, and vegan Shakeology. 

I personally love the simplicity and no guessing to this. 

The no-impact workout program that can go along with working through the nutrition aspect will be 4 weeks as well. There are a total of 16 workouts – 4 workouts per week all under 30 minutes. As a bonus, you also will have 4 optional cycling rides that you can integrate with your regular workouts. 

**If you are serious about doing this, the next step will be picking your path. Email me back and I will get you all set up with those details! I’m excited to get started and so is my husband AJ as we will be doing this program together with our exclusive test group starting at the end of March.

Doing: Lots of resting honestly. We haven’t traveled since January for a number of reasons. Real world events that keep us home for AJ’s work and because I’m just straight uncomfortable and we are all tired and just surviving. We instead are using any energy we have to purge the house again before we have the packers come for our move in May. The car has to be shipped this month and we are just slowly checking off all our PCS (Permanent Change of Station) moving to dos. Doing them slowly and earlier than usual is keeping stress way down and making sure we just keep chugging along nicely and aren’t rushed in the end.

Reading: Our women’s Bible studies for this semester are in full swing and I am leading two studies so it’s been a lot to keep up with them. Elijah by Priscilla Shirer and Surrendered by Barb Roose are the two I’m leading and they are fantastic studies! I am also still slowly reading “You are the girl for the job” and just got “Girl on Fire” which I’m excited to dive into this month. Once baby is here and I’m nursing the little guy I’ll have more time to read and I am looking forward to that. I read a lot when Reagan was a newborn.

Eating: We are gearing up for the 4 week gut protocol by the end of the month and I’m so excited for it! Click the link below for an introduction to the program and see a little more what it’s all about.

Gut Protocol Video

Workouts: I’ve done the sample for the workouts that can be paired with the Gut protocol nutrition (it’s optional!) And it’s actually really awesome. They will be less than 30 minutes, just 4 days a week. There will be extra optional cycling workouts to do anytime and everything is ZERO IMPACT! I’ve also been walking, stretching, and doing prenatal Barre with Elise. It’s whatever is best for my body that day and I’m listening to what it needs. Instead of my “normal” 6 workouts a week I’m doing 3-4 and it’s exactly what I need to do for myself and baby right now. I’ll link the 4 weeks for Every Body sample workout incase you want to test it out too.

Sample Workout

Check out all previous months on the article feed and find great recipes, tips, travel fun and more.

April will bring our little family a new baby, some extra family time, our last travels in Europe and our prep for our move. So look forward to some real life family and travel tips I use, as well as moving tips and tricks.

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