Women’s stories

“Enjoying the ‘lighter side’ of me!”

Laurel struggled with fatigue and joint pain for nearly 30 years before finding relief with the Personal Program. With regular supplementation and strict adherence to our Nutritional and Lifestyle Guidelines, she is sleeping better, has more energy, and her sense of humor has returned. She now looks at middle age and beyond as “part of the adventure of living.”

“About nine months prior to starting the Personal Program I had gone to the doctor ‘one more time’ to eliminate the ‘biggies’ — cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses. I'd been feeling so tired and fatigued for nearly 30 years, with no relief. With those diseases eliminated and still feeling exhausted, even with sleep medication, I was desperate and started looking at the ‘non-traditional’ maladies of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. When I did an internet search for fibromyalgia, the Women to Women site came up. I devoured the material — sometimes things just come to me at the ‘right’ time, and this seemed like one of those times, so I went for it.

“Before starting the Personal Program I was extremely fatigued, so much so that I wondered if I would be able to continue to work. My body felt as if every cell was dragging a semi-truck behind it. I was plodding along, dragging along with every step. I had some joint pain, arthritis-like at times, but not always. My eyes looked sunken, I had very dark circles under them, and they were very dry. The skin on my body was aging and had the look of crepe. I was too tired to exercise at all, and when I wasn’t working or trying to accomplish household tasks, I was sleeping. My complexion was awful — my countenance actually looked gray. I felt ‘dumpy.’ I’m 60 years old, so I thought that was all just a normal part of aging. I felt as if my body was dying, as if it was just slipping away.

“I took my first Essential Nutrients and Herbal Equilibrium the day after they arrived, in the evening after getting home from work. The changes were amazing — I felt an inner strengthening in my body. Within about two weeks, I was able to walk my dog in the morning before work. I felt stronger, looked brighter, and didn’t sleep so much. I began to lose weight, which wasn’t my intention at all for going on the Program, and I was totally surprised by that. Joint aches began to diminish, my hair started to be less dishrag-like. I felt as if I was thinking more clearly, was more alert, and my original sense of humor and vibrancy were coming back.

“I do follow the Nutritional and Lifestyle Guidelines of the Personal Program. In fact, before I found the Program, I wasn’t eating meat. After I started the Program, I was so desperate to feel better, I decided to follow the guidelines as closely as possible, so I reintroduced meat into my diet. I found that I had been eating a lot of the right foods, but not enough of them (skipping lots of meals), or not in the best combination.

“It has been relatively easy for me to follow the Nutritional Guidelines, because I had been eating good-quality foods already. It simply required a shift in the way I did that. I do have to admit, at first, having to think more about food — what I was going to eat and when — was a pain in the neck. I did some whining about it, but I also could see what a difference it was making in how I felt, and I didn’t want to lose that. So, I just stuck with it until my whining stopped. I am cooking only for myself because I live alone, though, and that made my transition much easier. It’s been sort of fun to become creative within the eating guidelines... the only limitation is me.

“It seems that because I hadn’t been eating the best way for my body, nor taking any kind of nutritional supplements beforehand (nothing ever really seemed to make any difference in the way I felt — not even some of the more expensive over-the-counter supplements), any exercise I had been doing — yoga, walking, stretching — got harder and harder to do. I stopped exercising before because I was tired to find that so much effort wasn’t making any difference in the way I felt.

“Now I exercise by walking my dog daily, and I have started doing a 20-minute yoga wind-down program at night, too. I’ve actually started to run with my dog around a track — something I never, ever thought I would do!

“My progress continues. I have absolutely no negative symptoms, and although the positive changes aren’t as dramatic as when I first started feeling better, it seems they continue. I have a general strength of body and feeling of well-being. I don’t drag out of bed in the morning and am getting a full, good night’s sleep. My coworkers have noticed that my skin has color again; my complexion has improved, the dark circles are diminishing, and there have been comments on my weight loss and general brightness... all without prompting from me. They, too, are enjoying the ‘lighter side’ of me!

“I would like other women to feel the renewal that I’ve experienced on the Personal Program: to feel younger again, vibrant and full of vitality, with glowing skin and wonderfully textured hair; to look at middle age and beyond as another part of the adventure of living, instead of waiting to deteriorate and die, as I felt I was; to be free of the maladies you think you have to endure because you’re ‘getting old.’ Ladies, look at how you’ve been feeling, and if you’re on the Program, notice how you feel now. Ask yourself, do you want to go back to how you felt before? Whenever I got a bit discouraged, that is the question I’d ask myself... I even carried it written on a piece of paper for a while during my whining phase! I’ll be 61 this winter. I haven’t felt this good in over 25 years, and I don’t plan to go back to feeling as I did before.”

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Original Publication Date:03/09/2007
Last Modified: 02/16/2010