I love when the members of my Circadian Retraining Program take the information and let it run in the family.  There’s no better way to improve everyone’s health and bond as a family unit than having everyone on the same page.  And I’m not gonna lie, it makes me feel all the feels inside when kids benefit from my program.

Today’s discussion is with a Chelsea who jumped in on the Circadian Retraining Program when I ran the first Stop Leaky Gut Challenge.  I’m so glad she’s seeing improvements and that she’s been able to alter her living arrangements in a way that will improve the health of her whole family.

1)Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a 29 year old part-time working, part-time at home mother of two little kids, ages 3.5 and 16 months. I work with college students on a college campus directing them through spiritual formation and I also own my own small business as a wedding photographer.

2)What brought you into my programs and what were your motivations?

I was dealing with some health issues after the birth of my second son. Once I hit 6 months postpartum, I had a lot of weird skin issues, random hives, severe anxiety & mood issues, poor fat digestion, excessive hunger, blood sugar swings and terrible sleep. I didn’t get many answers from my PCP, he insisted that I was actually fine so I found myself doing a lot of research, in a lot of health-related facebook groups, and I found your blog through someone posting about it in a group I was in. I was curious about your writing about circadian rhythms when you had a gut health related blog. The thing that sold me on buying the circadian rhythm package was that you were doing a “Stop Leaky Gut” challenge as well as you were forthcoming about not believing in a lot of medication or supplements. All I was finding anywhere else on the internet was about supplements and medications. I really loved that you seemed to be truly advocating for the person who is sick rather than trying to make a ton of money off of people. It was strange enough to me and your pricing was fair enough that I decided I didn’t have a lot to lose. I joined around the end of 2018, beginning of 2019 when you started the Stop Leaky Gut Challenge, but I went with the whole Circadian Rhythm package at that point. I wasn’t a full believer that what you were talking about would make a difference, but the evidence and the information in the videos (in the CRP information) was enough to convince me to try some of the small changes. I didn’t actually jump in to all of the suggestions at that point in time because it was difficult, but I started with the basics.

3)I remember you inquiring about what a Mom with a new baby needed to do differently. Having a 2 year old who had never slept at the time allowed me to relate with you, and it was just important to do what you can do. How did being a new Mom(again) present obstacles for you?

I had a lot of obstacles actually. My oldest son was having some night terrors (which have actually significantly improved in the past 6 months since getting him outside more), and my youngest son still slept in my bedroom because I only had a 2 bedroom apartment at the time in which I began the program. It was also the winter, and I live in the mountains so it was difficult to get outside. I also lived on the top of a 3 story building and getting my stroller out was difficult. However, we made it work and we got outside as much as possible. Even without being outside as much as I hoped in the earlier days, I was still able to do a lot more than my lifestyle was allowing before. The challenge also helped me realize that my living situation at the time was posing a really difficult situation for my family for our sleep, our outdoor recreation, etc. We had contemplated looking for a new place, but the challenge definitely encouraged me to do that. Since that time, we’ve moved and have a much better situation for getting outdoors, and we’re all happier and all sleep better.

4)Have you implemented any of the principles in the program with your family?

Yes, lots. My husband has mostly adopted my eating schedule, though he definitely snacks a lot more than I do and he has noticed general health improvements. Incorporating more walks, exercise and outside time has been a new practice for me and my two boys. My oldest son rarely has night terrors anymore, my youngest son doesn’t get eczema as often as he used to. Being outside as much as we do has literally led to a more full and happy life in general: we’ve taken up gardening, we regularly explore the area, hike, have met lots of our neighbors being outside all of the time, my kids are more creative and care less about new toys and television.

5)If I remember correctly, when you started you were unable to go very long without eating. In fact, I seem to remember you bringing that up in the group within the first week or so. Talk about that a little bit.

When I first started, part of my problems had to do with blood sugar regulation for sure, which based on some functional medicine tests I did, I believe had to do with candida. My experience of doing any kind of exercise or prolonging eating made me feel just in general terrible. It was definitely low blood sugar, but after using the group to chat about that a little with Dave and other members, I pushed through the initial days and afterward had dramatic improvements in my blood sugar swings once I switched my meals. My improvements were probably apparent after maybe about a week with eating schedule. I first started slowly and worked my way up to the recommended meal spacing. Now I make it a regular practice and don’t usually have trouble with low blood sugar anymore.

6)What benefits did you see from the program and what was the timetable on your improvements?

I started in January of 2019. I started noticing immediate improvements in my blood sugar within the first week or so of working on program principles which was mostly just the eating windows and the nutritional component. I still struggled with ongoing issues with skin and mood for a little longer. When we moved to the new house (late February), I noticed even more dramatic improvements once my time spent outside changed and I was able to incorporate the physical activity side. My mood and anxiety improved heavily after a couple months since the move.

It’s now June and I feel like I’m still improving, still learning and working on maintaining my health gains and working toward better energy, proper digestion and nutrition. I definitely still have bouts of anxiety, but my anxiety lessening is my most dramatic and noticeable experience for me as well as just watching my kids enjoy life with me again. I’m definitely able to be a better mom to them. It’s definitely not 100% a linear journey, I’ve had blood sugar setbacks and confusion along the way, but overall since implementing the principles of the program I’ve noticed an overall improvement in my life and health. I even had a bout of food poisoning a couple of weeks ago and I watched my body bounce back from that digestion-wise within a week.

7)Do you hope to accomplish any other things with the program?

Definitely – I’m still working on maintaining my skin issues. I continue to notice improvements, including a lot less acne than I had about 6 months ago. I’m hoping that continues to go away as well as being able to weather this coming winter a lot better than I did last year with all that I know about the sun, and exercise. I’m continuing to work on lowering my A1C as well as working on continuing to develop a healthy pattern of sleep continuously. I hope that I can get into a good place where I feel like my body could better handle another pregnancy if we decide that our family could grow again, but who knows… I’ll let you know when we get there 🙂 I’m curious about how my body can continue to heal in ways that I didn’t know that it could. Dave is of course my inspiration, sharing with us that he could do things now that he couldn’t in his earlier years. I’m hoping for the same, as next year, I’ll be 30! Here’s to hoping my 30s are spent feeling better than my 20s!

Beginning August 1st, there will no longer be a lifetime membership to the Circadian Retraining Program.  All members who enroll on or before July 31st will be grandfathered in to the program for life.  The current cost of the lifetime membership is $227 and can be purchased here:

For more information on the Circadian Retraining Program, check it out in all its glory here:

https://hackyourgut.com/circadian-retraining-program/

And, of course, the Stop Leaky Gut Challenge:

https://hackyourgut.com/stop-leaky-gut-challenge-round-2/