Happy Wellness Wednesday!! This week I wanted to open it up to you guys to ask some questions that you have for me! I love hearing from you all and want to be as helpful to you as I can. So, anytime you have any questions for me, I’m more than happy to answer!
To be totally honest, I had a major pain episode last night that kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. So, I didn’t have as much time last night or this morning to finish these questions. But, I got to some of them, and I will gladly finish the rest at a later date! So, here’s what I have for you so far! 🙂
What diet are you currently on? So, you may have seen my diet change on my Instagram profile several times since I started this blog, LOL. I am always a work in progress and going with what I believe is the best, most healthy diet I can feed myself. But, sometimes my desires don’t always align with what my body currently needs. So, I was doing a plant-based and vegan diet. I really loved it. I would prefer to not to eat meat. However, I had some testing done, and I have a lot of inflammation in my gut still. So much so that they think I might have Chron’s (working on figuring this out). So, my doctors said that I need to return to more of the AIP style of diet. The AIP diet takes out all gluten, grains, dairy, sugar, nuts, seeds, eggs, nightshades, soy and any processed foods or oils. I never eat gluten, dairy or sugar. But, while I was on the plant-based, vegan diet, I was eating a lot of nuts and seeds, some grains, and soy. I can’t really survive on a plant-based diet without these things, so I had to add animal protein back in. I feel badly about it, but, I think I have to try and heal before I can go back to a vegan diet. I do eat some organic soy, though, to try to cut down on my meat consumption (when I say meat, I mean all animal protein) and still get protein.
I’m also currently on a protocol to fight mold toxicity. I was exposed at some point earlier in my life (and mold is everywhere! On food that goes bad and just in the air – we breathe the spores in or the toxins from mold in and BOOM – you have mold toxicity if you are susceptible to it. Some people have stronger immune capabilities against mold. I am not one of them! :/ ). So, I am trying to get rid of the mold that’s in my body. It can make you VERY sick – like it has me. So, I’m not supposed to have things like starchy vegetables and fruits, vinegar, anything fermented, mushrooms, etc. So my restrictions list is long. But, I find ways to enjoy foods anyway. I like to put guacamole on pretty much everything! LOL.
Where do you find your recipes?
I find most of my recipes on Pinterest! I have created quite the list of Pinterest Boards for all of my various diets over the years! If you haven’t, come follow me! My name on there is Kelly Bonner-Bibza. I also have one for the blog that is just Kelly Bibza. But, the first has more recipe boards if you are looking for some good recipes. However, I’ve found that Pinterest is starting to get over-saturated lately. It’s harder to find exactly what you’re looking for. So, I do get some cookbooks on Amazon. Some of my favorites are “Paleo Cooking with Your Instant Pot” and all of the Against All Grain series by Danielle Walker! I also google and find some ones on different blogs sometimes. I have specific restrictions I talked about above, so it’s hard to find exactly what I’m looking for. I have to make substitutions for things a lot, so I end up kind of creating my own recipes. That’s okay, though! It’s fun to experiment, and it’s helped me to learn more about how to cook with different things.
How do you “fight the fatigue”? Any tips for someone who constantly has to get stuff done but can’t seem to find the energy?
Ugh. This is a tough one. I don’t have it figured out. But, I do a few things that help. First, I always take an adrenal support supplement. I’m currently taking Drenatrophin by Standard Process. I have been on this for a long time. Probably too long to be honest, but I’m not functioning well without it. But, an adrenal supplement can really help with fatigue! When we are over-worked and over-stressed, our adrenals go into over-drive and get run down. You probably feel it by the middle or end of your day. You kind of feel like you want to pull your hair out and you can’t handle doing one more thing or you’re going to flip out on someone? That’s most likely your adrenals screaming at you. So, I take the supplements to help with this. I also like Adrenamax by Nutritional Frontiers. It’s an herbal option.
I try to make sure I get at least 9 hours of sleep. If I can, I get more! But, when I feel like I’m getting run down, I have to stop and rest. You have to listen to your body. The rest can wait, you can’t overdo it. You’ll end up crashing, and then you seriously can’t get anything at all done for weeks!
I try to schedule out my appointments and social events so that I always have time in between to rest. I also have learned to set boundaries. I can’t tell everyone yes. My health comes first. So, if it means having to say no to a party or a work event, I do it. I always am thankful for it in the long run. There’s nothing like the feeling of knowing you can just rest! I get so excited when I realize I am done for the day! Haha! I mean, I’m never done. But, at least I don’t have to go anywhere.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Every day is different! But, I always wake up in the morning and take my thyroid supplements and other things that need to be taken on an empty stomach. To be totally honest, when I wake up in the morning, I feel pretty terribly no matter how much sleep I get. I just feel so heavy and exhausted. It feels like having mono all of the time. It’s so hard to get out of bed and push through the fatigue and fogginess in my brain. But, I manage to do it. Showering and just getting moving helps. Then I get my pup up and we eat breakfast together. I take some more supplements and I do some blog work for the day for a couple or few hours, and then I get ready to go and do whatever I have planned outside of the house for the day. Most of my week days are filled with appointments. I do sing in a women’s group that rehearses on Mondays, which is fun! But, throughout the week I’m usually headed to physical therapy, massage therapy, chiropractor appointments, doctor appointments, or blog related things like different collaborations I have with local businesses. I keep up with my hair and skin, too! Gotta take care of yourself 🙂
I also have a full time job of managing my protocols, diet, making sure I’m eating healthy and exercising – Barkley needs exercise, too! Blogging comes second to all of this – most of the time. I do photoshoots about once every ten days. So, I’m usually busy putting looks together, finding new items to include in the photoshoots, curating topics to write about, writing and putting together the blog posts, finding and linking all the items, managing my website, responding to emails that come through from brands, managing social media, going through and choosing photos from each shoot, etc, etc. It’s a lot more work than it probably looks like!
I usually come home from appointments and either get dinner ready, take Barkley for a walk if he hasn’t already been, and do some more blog work for a few more hours. Then, Ryan and I try to always spend time together at the end of the day. We almost always eat dinner together and watch an hour or so of TV. Then, I do my evening skincare routine, get things laid out for the next day, and always read before I fall asleep! My current favorite book is “The Universe Has Your Back”! I’m also looking forward to finishing “A New Earth” and Oprah’s new book, “The Path Made Clear”. I find these books so thought provoking and helpful. They make me feel calm and hopeful and that’s just what I need before falling asleep 🙂
How did you start your blog?
I didn’t know much about blogging at all when I started! I literally just took a huge leap and jumped right in! I had some of my favorite outfits at the time, I put out a post on Facebook for a local photographer (who is now a dear friend!), and I scheduled a photoshoot with her. Then, I whipped up my website in about 48 hours! That was HARD. I was up for about 2 days straight, just so determined to get it off the ground. I learned how to build a website in a couple of days! I used MailChimp to start a Newsletter. I bought my domain on GoDaddy previously, and I hosted my website through Bluehost. If I had to do that over again, I would just have bought the domain through Bluehost so it was all in one place. But, I learned how to point my domain to Bluehost and it’s been honestly pretty easy since. It showed me that I was capable of accomplishing whatever I put my mind to 🙂 I used WordPress tutorials on Youtube to learn the ropes of how to build the site and write and publish posts, and WALLAH! Here I am!
Thank you all for you questions, I hope this has helped answer them!
I’ve linked the books I’ve mentioned above here for you in case you are interested, as well as the Adrenal supplement I take 🙂 Have a great day everyone!
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