Just kidding, I’m not.

However, how fun is this? Way back at the beginning of this whole PandemicCovidQuarantineWhatIsHappening in the early spring, Heidi over at Regatta Fitness PR reached out to me about an upcoming article on rowing as medicine. I regularly posted over on the Uncouth Herbalista Instagram about rowing and tagged my favorite rowing app. She put me in touch with Alyssa over at First for Women magazine and we had a lovely chat old-school style: via the phone. Crazy, right? Who even talks on the phone anymore? From that, Alyssa worked her magic into this fabulous story. (yes, I’m biased. I can be.)

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How this all got started…

Ok, so the title is a little generous. My thyroid is not 100% “healed” but it’s getting close and yes rowing has been a large part of that. However, Alyssa was amazingly awesome and her questions really dug into the reason for this whole Uncouth Herbalista brand.

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About 4 years ago I finally figured out what could be the root cause of all my issues:

• Fatigue and sluggishness
• Increased sensitivity to cold
• Constipation
• Pale, dry skin
• A puffy face
• Brittle nails
• Hair loss
• Enlargement of the tongue
• Unexplained weight gain
• Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
• Joint pain and stiffness
• Muscle weakness
• Excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding
• Depression
• Memory lapses
• Panic attacks
• Anxiety

Yes. All.

of.

These.

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Well, you’re just getting old..

I have always been an athlete, a runner specifically. Weight, muscle tone, energy have never been an issue. Even during and post having both kiddos. So when suddenly I could barely survive working a normal day without coming home and immediately crashing, had no energy, had intense muscle and joint pain, excruciating fatigue, panic attacks, daily stomach problems and continued to steadily gain weight – all while continuing to train for half marathons, working out, counting calories and getting worse – I knew something had to be wrong.

Of course, my doctor just said “Well, you’re just getting old.” Seriously. {insert irritated face here and eyeroll}

I was 35.

Then, I woke up one morning with neck pain and discovered a lump directly over my thyroid. After having a dear friend just go through thyroid cancer, I immediately scheduled a visit with my PCP.

She looked at me like I had two heads, skipped over ALL the questions concerning low thyroid, felt the lump and said “Hm. I guess go get an ultrasound and we’ll look at your TSH.”

Cool cool cool. I’ll do that doc. {insert additional irritated face here and eyeroll}

When my ultrasound came back with a large-this-will-turn-ugly-unless-you-do-something nodule surrounded by 7 smaller nodules but my TSH test results came back ‘normal’, I was over it. Time to dig into my roots with natural health, herbal medicine and nutrition. Guess what? TSH tells you basically jack-sh** about what your thyroid is actually doing.

I also fired my PCP and found a Functional Medicine Practitioner that 100% understood what I was talking about. Yes, you can fire your doctor. And then hire a new one that listens. It’s true.

A LOT of research went into my current lifestyle. A. LOT.

And A. LOT. of changes. A. LOT. {got it? Change requires change}

The changes to help your thyroid heal…

Here’s the list:

• Swapped out ALL body products to 100% natural items: hair, makeup, lotions, soaps, and especially flouride based toothpaste. Yes, I joined Young Living and before you {insert irritated face here and eyeroll} read on.…
• Swapped out ALL chemical household products to 100% natural items: cleaners, soaps, home fragrances. Again, see below.
• Started the Autoimmune Protocol plan: a food plan that eliminates anything that could be triggering inflammation and eventually transitioned to Paleo.
• Stopped running: started walking, added in more yoga and then rowing. And even then, ONLY when I had energy to do so.

It’s taken almost 4 years to reverse the issues I was facing and I still have a long way to go. But if you’ve been struggling and getting no answers, can’t figure out why you can’t get back to a healthy weight no matter what you do or have been diagnosed with Hashi’s, underactive thyroid, or other autoimmune diseases, start with the list above. I joined a natural MLM company because I knew it was the easiest way to swap out all the chemically saturated products, have them shipped to me, AND make a bit of money on the side. No, you don’t have to sell anything. Want to learn more about how to get started? Click the box below:

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