Healthy New Year!

I've been thinking a lot about my health goals for 2018. For the last two years I've been thinking more about what I can do to improve my health. I suffer from auto-immune hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and the more I read about it, the more I learn about how just about everything in your body is affected if your thyroid isn't working properly. It especially makes controlling your weight much more challenging. 18 months ago I was diagnosed with severe Vitamin D deficiency which is also linked to thyroid disorders. But the fact that I live somewhere were we get little sun in the winter and I'm careful in the sun in the summer because I've had a malignant melanoma (skin cancer) in the past, probably doesn't help.

I also suffer from chronic pain which affects how much exercise I can do. It also affects my mood and makes me more prone to depression. I've tried lots of medication and treatments in the past. There are very few treatments I haven't tried. I have managed to cut down on painkillers over the last 6 months, thanks to using essential oils for pain management. You can read about that here. I tried cutting down during the first half of last year but I always ended up going back to full dose within a couple of weeks. At the moment I'm taking 5 tablets of one drug a day and 6 of the other. I used to take 8-10 of both each day (8 of each is max so there were days when I was over-dosing if I couldn't sleep and had to take painkillers at night).

I'm very overweight and I struggle with energy levels. Suffering from different conditions which all affect your energy levels makes it hard to pin-point whats wrong. But since I started using essential oils and especially DoTerra's Life Long Vitality supplements 6 months ago, I've got more energy and I sleep better.

I have a new Instagram account where I'll be posting about my 2018 health and fitness journey as well as DoTerra education and how I'm using the products. Please follow me at by Grace Essentials. I will of course also continue to post on my Facebook page.

Two years ago I lost 3 stone/19kg with Weight Watchers over 6 months. Then I stopped losing and started to slowly gain. At the moment I've re-gained 2/3 of what I lost despite continuing to go to Weight Watchers until last August. I wasn't following the programme properly though and I couldn't motivate myself to get back to doing it properly. This seems to be a pattern with me when I join a weight loss programme as I've done exactly the same thing before.

This year I've decided to do things a little bit different. I know from experience that if you want to lose weight you have to eat fewer calories. Just exercising more on its own won't help (unless you do a lot of exercise every day). So my plan is to cut down on things I know is not healthy, increase the healthy stuff, start exercising and use DoTerra's supplements to give me the nutrients I need and to feel better.

We bought a new exercise bike over the weekend and I did my first proper workout this morning. I'm doing an interval programme - 20 seconds of fast cycling followed by 10 seconds of slow cycling. I do this 10 times then have a minute of slow cycling then do it 10 times again. I felt good doing it this morning. 

In an attempt to kick start my weight loss I'm substituting one meal a day with DoTerra's Trim Shake. I don't really believe in food replacement diets but I need something to kick start my motivation. And there is nothing better to motivate you to lose weight than to lose some weight. The Trim Shake is a protein shake but I'm adding some extras as the shake on its' own isn't filling enough for me. I did it for breakfast yesterday and today but will normally do it for lunch. Then I'll eat a healthy breakfast and dinner (we're eating a lot of vegan food right now as Emily is home and is cooking - she's a vegan). My main problem is snacking so I'm trying to find some healthy snacks and to eat more fruit.

If you follow me on Instagram (I posted this on my YarnAddictAnni account), go to my profile and click on 'Trim Shake' in the Stories Highlights section (the circles above my photos) to see what I put in my shake on Saturday and this morning. Yesterday and today I added a banana, peach, frozen mango, rolled oats, peanut butter, skimmed lactose-free milk, water and three scoops of Trim Shake. I drank it before my workout and three hours later I'm still feeling full.

DoTerra has a Cleanse and Restore programme. I'm very sceptical to cleanse programmes but this one is different. You don't have to starve yourself, drink only juice, eat weird food. It's not about looking a certain way but it’s about supporting your body’s systems to do their job optimally!

It’s a 30 day protocol that:

• Provides your cells with the nutrients they need
• Feeds your brain essential fatty acids
• Supports your endocrine system (hormones!) in balancing by stimulating your liver and kidneys to sweep out the old
• Eases digestion through digestive enzymes that help you process healthy food (If broccoli, kale, etc are hard on your tummy, you need this!)

While you're doing this you eat normal healthy food.

You will need: 

• LLV (Life Long Vitality pack)
• TerraZyme 
• Zendocrine Complex
• Lemon oil
• Zendocrine Softgels
• Gx Assist
• PB Assist
• DDR Prime Softgels

You can get this as a kit which you can order as an enrollment kit if you're new to DoTerra or if you're already a member, you can order the kit too (go to your back office, click on Kits then Enrollment Kits). 

There will be a Facebook group to support the event. Dave (who's a certified trainer), his wife Liz and Tara will  be hosting this event and provide daily support and education. You need to be a DoTerra member (with me or someone else in Tara's team) to take part in this event. 

The Facebook group will include:

• Access to Dave’s 30 day Fit Plan
• Daily posts telling you what to do that day
• Videos on each part of the protocol, explaining what they are
• Weekly videos on improving your health with oils!

So if you fancy joining us and are new to DoTerra, e-mail me on annikenallis25@gmail.com - put DoTerra Cleanse in the subject line. DoTerra is doing a very special promotion this month - sign up with an enrollment kit in January (this kit qualifies) and place a qualifying order in February and you will get 100 points to spend on products of your choice. 100 points is quite a lot of oils. In the US it's roughly equivalent of $100. Each product has the same points value around the world regardless of which currency you pay in.

To take advantage of this offer you need a special code and there's a different one each day, so if you want to join, e-mail me on annikenallis25@gmail.com (or if you follow me on social media, message me there) and let me know which day you want to join on and I'll give you the code you need to use.

We start on 21 January (so plenty of time to finish up the left over Christmas food and chocolates first or the healthier option may be to bin them or donate them to a local charity/food bank if they're unopened). I recommend ordering by 15th so your products will arrive in time (although it may be worth ordering earlier just to make sure).

I'll be posting daily on my new Instagram page and Facebook page to let you know how I'm getting on. I'll also be posting on both of those how I'm doing with my new health and fitness goals. 

So who's joining me? What are you health and fitness goals for 2018? I'd love to know.

If you have any questions about any of the oils I've mentioned in this post, or any other DoTerra products, do not hesitate to contact me on annikenallis25@gmail.com. I'm happy to help you.

If you're ready to get started with DoTerra, you can sign up for a wholesale membership here. If you'd like to find out more about what's involved in a wholesale membership, just e-mail me on annikenallis25@gmail.com. Please put 'essential oils' in the subject line.

You can read more about why I chose DoTerra and find other blog posts here and like my new Facebook page for daily tips and education.

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