How Arbonne's 30 Days to Healthy Living Program Helped Me

Here is where I’m going to share with you how Arbonne’s 30 Days to Healthy Living program helped me and why it’s so important to me to share with others what I’ve learned.

If you know me personally, you know that I’ve always looked healthy. I’ve never been overweight. I’ve never had issues with my blood pressure or cholesterol. I’ve never been on a lot of prescriptions (other than my allergies meds). And I didn’t go to the doctor a lot.

But, what you don’t know is that I was really struggling on the inside.

A little background about my health:
All my life, I’ve had digestive issues. I remember when I was little and would complain of a tummy ache, I would be told “oh, you have a sensitive stomach just like Aunt TaTa.” I was never taken to the doctor because it was only “something that I ate” or “something that didn’t agree with my tummy.” So, I learned to live with it.

When I went college, I lived off-campus with my grandparents and watched my grandmother suffer from migraines. She would have to go lay down and wouldn’t come out of her bedroom until the next morning.

So, when I started having migraines, I knew exactly what they were. I believed it was another hereditary trait passed down to me. I did see a doctor about my migraines — they ran tests and told me I didn’t have migraines “frequently enough” for them to prescribe me anything.

Fast forward to my 30s and my “allergies” were so bad that I was seeing my allergy doctor twice a year — once in the spring and once in the fall — because my “colds” were always going into sinus infections.

I remember asking the allergy doctor if I should get tested so we would know what I was allergic to so that I could avoid [whatever] and maybe not get sick so often. He replied with “we can but you’re probably allergic to everything.”

I noticed as I got older, things were getting worse. I was getting sick several times a week because of my “sensitive stomach.” And, I was using more “sick days” because of migraines and allergies.

And then I reached my breaking point. It was the week of Spring Break in March of 2014. My kids were out of school and were spending a few days at their grandparents’ house. My husband was working out of town so I was home alone. I went to bed feeling fine but woke up in the middle of the night in terrible, excruciating pain. Now, it wasn’t uncommon for me to wake up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach, but this time was way different. I remember laying in bed thinking, I gotta get to the bathroom because I’m getting sick. I remember being in the bathroom and crying, wishing I would have grabbed my cell phone so I could have called for help.

That next morning I called my doctor’s office and told them what happened. They had me come in immediately and drew blood which didn’t show anything abnormal. She referred me to a specialist who ran a battery of tests and told me “everything is fine.” Good news right? Not this time, I was done. I told the doctor that something was wrong — I’ve had stomach problems my whole life, I still didn’t feel well from that night and that I was done being sick. I needed help.

They reviewed my tests again and that’s when she mentioned my gallbladder was working at 60% which was “pretty good for my age.” I was like “hold on, why is my gallbladder failing?” They assured me it was very common for people to have their gallbladder removed, it’s a simple surgery, and nothing to worry about. I asked her what I could do to keep my gallbladder from getting worse and she told me there was nothing I could do to change what was happening.

She also mentioned it was “probably just IBS.” Well, she obviously didn’t have IBS because you wouldn’t dismiss it like that because IBS can be very painful.

After that appointment, I felt defeated. I felt like nobody believed me about how bad I was getting sick. I felt like a wimp so I never talked about it.

I did what you are supposed to do and I went to the doctor about these issues. I’ve also seen specialists. I asked questions about how to heal but also how to prevent. I was given treatment but nothing on prevention. Over the years, I’ve spent thousands of dollars on doctor appointments, testing and prescriptions.

I knew food was causing my IBS so I tried figuring out on my own which foods were causing it. I spent months using my own method of “trial and error” — that somewhat worked — but I was still getting sick all the time.

Then I found Arbonne’s 30 day program. I don’t want to say it was an accident or a weird coincidence — I know it was all in God’s perfect timing. If I hadn’t been so sick for all those years, I’m not sure I would have really listened to my friend Tobey when she told me about Arbonne’s 30 day program.

When I heard how the program worked, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for! Now, in all transparency here, I know she mentioned a lot of things that it would help with but honestly, I was looking to expand my short list of foods that didn’t make me sick. I knew processed foods were a problem but I didn’t know how to shop at the grocery store past the produce section. I joined the program for the recipes, snack ideas and grocery lists.

My First Time Doing the 30 Day Program:
Now, I thought I ate relatively healthy before I did this program because I couldn’t eat a lot of the “bad” foods anyway. What I didn’t realize was that many of the foods that I was eating were actually the root cause of so many problems that I was experiencing (IBS, migraines, headaches, allergies, skin rashes).

I quickly realized the protein shakes were VERY important in giving me energy in the mornings.

For the first time in my life, I was taking a prebiotic/probiotic/digestive enzymes to heal and improve my gut health. (I still have no idea why none of the doctors recommended this to me.)

The meals that I cooked for dinner were well received by my family! I remember the first meal I fixed — my son quickly went from “why do I have to do this” to “can I have some of that?!” #winning

I found snacks that would help me feel full until the next meal. (Let’s be honest, a bag of chips or a candy bar will only tide you over for about an hour.)

While the program is super easy to follow and the private Facebook group is VERY helpful, the key to my success was having a 1-on-1 coach to check in on me, give me support, and answer my questions. I learned so much more — more recipes, more snack ideas, and how to swap out ingredients for recipes that my family already loved.

While everyone has different experiences with this program, I did have a dull headache the first 3 days. I’m sure it was because my body was having major caffeine withdrawals from the amount of coffee and [caffeinated] hot tea that I would drink every day. (Before, I would drink coffee/hot tea ALL DAY LONG!)

My Results:
My biggest win was learning which foods triggered my IBS!! It has truly been life changing for not only me but also my family. My next biggest win was learning how to shop at the grocery store! (Can I get an AMEN!) I know what brands to look for and I know how to read labels.

By the end of the first week of the 30 Days to Healthy Living, I noticed my clothes fit better and my belly bloat was gone. (Sometimes my belly would be so bloated that I looked pregnant which was really embarrassing.)

I also learned which foods were triggering my headaches and migraines. Now, I still get occasional headaches but 99% of the time those can be cured by drinking an Arbonne fizz. And, I’ve not had a debilitating migraine where I would miss work (or worse, miss my kids’ activities), feel nauseous, go to bed with the covers over my head and try to sleep it off — since I’ve done the 30 day program and switched my eating habits. I may get a migraine where I feel dizzy or have “foggy” brain but they are not to the magnitude that would make me sick. And, OTC migraine medicine works now!

Another big win for me was that I learned I had food allergies and seasonal allergies — and having both was too much for my body which was causing me to get sick so often. I learned which foods were causing allergic reactions and inflammation. I have not taken my prescription-strength allergy medicines nor have I seen my allergy doctor since I did this program!! (Remember, I was buying 3 different prescriptions and spending hundreds of dollars on this medicine!) Now, I still have seasonal allergies but those can be controlled with OTC medicine. (OTC medicine is cheaper and more convenient to buy — no taking off work to go to the dr, paying a co-pay, and then rushing to a pharmacy before it closed.)

Now, these were my results. Everyone is different. I did lose a few pounds but I didn’t really have the extra weight to lose. The program really focuses on getting healthy, not losing weight. I know it’s common to think that if you lose the weight you’ll get healthy but it’s really if you get healthy, the weight will take care of itself.

I do the “30 Days to Healthy Living” program a few times a year. The rest of the time I follow the 80/20 rule that Arbonne suggests — 80% of the time, I follow the 30 day program and then 20% of the time, I “cheat” and have the piece of cake or drink the glass of wine.

I cannot say enough about this program. Every day I talk to someone who is experiencing an issue with their health — from frequent headaches to not having energy to struggling with an autoimmune disease. I’m always telling people, “I know this sounds crazy, but it’s probably something that you are eating that is triggering [whatever]”.

I’m super passionate about helping others and I would love to chat with you about your health goals. I am not a doctor nor do I have any experience working in the medical field. I’m just a mom who struggled with my own health but I found a program that helped me so I want to teach and help others.

You will be amazed at how good it can feel to cleanse your body at the cellular level. That’s just what Arbonne’s 30-day will do for you. It’s not a diet, it’s new habits. It’s eye-opening. It’s life changing and empowering.

If you have any questions or want more information on the program that I teach, please comment below or send me a message.