Hi! My name is Debbie Hawkins!
When I was in my 30’s, I felt like I couldn’t keep up. I couldn’t keep up with my kids, my job, my relationships, my household, my weight, ugh. It was all so overwhelming! I had little energy … I was always SO tired.
Does this sound familiar? It was a way of life for me … until … I was diagnosed with mono. I was in my late 30’s and my doctor told me I would be sick for a year and since it’s a virus, there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I contacted every doctor I could think of and even talked with a specialist with the Center for Disease Control and they all told me the same thing … it’s a virus and you’ll just have to let it “run it’s course”. Well … sure enough, it took a year for me to heal – twelve miserable long months of being a mother to two active children, working full-time, volunteering, managing a home … you know the routine.
I gained weight and my stress level shot through the roof. Basically, I had gradually developed habits that kept me from being the person I wanted to be.
It’s important to mention here that once you have mono … or the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) … it stays in your system forever. Over 90% of Americans have the virus in their system, whether they exhibit the symptoms of mono or not. Most people’s immune system is strong enough to fight it. Mine was different.
Fast forward 5 years … I start getting what I called the “mono fatigue” again. Sure enough … EBV was rearing it’s ugly head again. The medical doctors told me the same thing … expect a year to heal. I decided I really didn’t want to go through that again. Been there, done that. Didn’t want to do it again. I knew if things were going to change, I would be the one responsible for making it happen. I decided I was going to thrive instead of just survive, so I took action … I made changes.
A friend recommended a doctor who specializes in the treatment of this virus and the first thing the doctor did was strongly suggest I make habit changes in how I was treating my body … from what I put in my body to how I moved my body to better managing sleep and stress.
That all seemed overwhelming, but I was desperate so I decided it was worth a try. It wasn’t easy and I didn’t have a Health Coach to give me steps and help me follow through. So I researched, read, studied, experimented, failed, and followed through in a way I never had before. And finally … I succeeded.
The results were amazing!
My mono symptoms disappeared within just a few weeks instead of a year as the doctors had predicted.
But the best part about this story is that my life changed
… within just a few weeks, I dropped 2 sizes. I starting sleeping better and bouncing energetically out of bed every morning. I had more clarity and less brain fog than I’d had in years. Most important, I began to love my body … no more negative body image self talk. No more missing out on fun times with friends because I felt fat and ugly. No more trying on 10 outfits before finding something that would “hide” me. I found that small changes, which seemed unimportant and minor, compounded into remarkable results simply because I stuck with them.
I starting having less chaos and struggle and more energy, confidence, focus, and even more peace and joy.
The main reason I became a Health Coach was to help you so you don’t have to go through what I went through. I’ve gone ahead of you and learned what works and what doesn’t; what’s healthy and what isn’t; and what really changes people’s lives. I’ve had such a dramatic change in my life and I want to share that with you. I believe I can help you change your life by changing your habits and your mindset.