Gut Feelings

How it all began ✨

Dec 27, 2023

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Hellloooo beautiful people! So many new friends these past couple weeks and I am so excited to have you join the Gut Feelings Fam <3 Means the world that you’re here.

For those who don’t know me, I wanted to reintroduce myself + how I got into the wellness world.

I have always been interested in holistic health, and been naturally inclined to seek out the most “close to earth” methods possible. That part of me comes from my Mom, who is the exact same way. However, in high school I started dealing with major stomach issues.

The first time I went to the doctor, they told me nothing was wrong. The second time I went to the doctor, they said to cut out gluten and dairy. So that is what I did. I cut out gluten and dairy for 7+ years.

Even though I cut out gluten and dairy, things progressed for the worse. In college, my lifestyle definitely did not help to heal the issues either. Lots of stress, pulling all nighters, drinking and LOTS of antibiotics. All of these things cause a lot of imbalance within the gut microbiome.

My first semester of college, I got sick almost twice a month. Every time I got sick, I would go to the health center, and they’d give me antibiotics. So I took them. About the 4th time this happened, I started to get really skeptical. This was happening AGAIN. The antibiotics weren’t helping…. I wanted to know WHY this was happening. I began to ask questions about the cause and why, instead of seeking band-aid solutions for the problem. This mindset shift was a huge turning point.

It was hard for me to make any big lifestyle shifts while in college though. I tried to make the best healthy choices (or so I thought at the moment!). I ate healthy food, I got in my movement, but I still felt the worst I had ever felt. I had extreme brain fog, bloating, and eventually it got to the point where I couldn’t eat a bite of food without my stomach being in so much pain.

I was so frustrated because I was doing everything “right” to no avail. At this point I was still doing no dairy, no gluten, no processed food, eating organic when I could, and I also was vegan. Even with these limits, my stomach killed. I didn’t understand.

I had been to doctors ~5 times throughout college and they all told me the same thing: to cut out gluten and dairy or that I probably just had a UTI and I should go on antibiotics (howwww was this related???) They wouldn’t ask me any questions about my lifestyle. I was so doctor fatigued from being told nothing was wrong with me that I had hit my breaking point, I almost gave up.

At one point I ended up in the hospital because of my pain. I was there for hours while they did tests on tests on tests on me…but alas, NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOU.

I did not understand how this was possible, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I was sick of feeling like shit. I wanted to feel better. I was sick of being told nothing was wrong with me. I knew in my gut something was. THIS was the real turning point.

I became obsessed with researching. I spent hours and hours researching symptoms, causes, diagnoses, solutions, and I basically treated my body like a lab rat trying every single thing.

Through this, I discovered holistic health, and the power of gut health. I took a course on holistic health, on functional bloodwork, and did a lot of reading. I ended up self diagnosing myself with sibo and a plethora of other gut issues. When I went to a doctor with my diagnosis, they were annoyed, but agreed to test me. I was correct in my diagnoses, but guess what the doctor wanted me to do? Take antibiotics.

I decided that instead of doing that I wanted to take another route and began researching functional medicine and naturopath doctors (this is what I felt was right for me, but everyone is different). I found a naturopath doctor that a friend of mine trusted, and wow. I was SHOCKED at the difference in the first meeting. We spent over an hour discussing my lifestyle. Everything from food, stress, environment, each and every topic was deep dived. She wanted to learn about me, she CARED about me.

From there, we did a bunch of tests and it turned out I had sibo, leaky gut, histamine intolerance, extreme inflammation in my gut, hormone imbalance… the list went on and on. I was so happy. Yes, happy, because I finally had answers. I finally was able to define where my pain was coming from, and learn how to solve it from a root cause approach, find out WHY it was happening so it would stop happening, instead of putting a band-aid on it.

I learned so much from dealing with my issues and working on different protocols alongside my naturopath. I could go on for 10 more pages about everything that has happened from then, the in between & now (ask away any questions you have!)

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It was not a straight line to get better, it definitely ebbed and flowed. But I can happily say a couple years later that I am symptom free and I feel better than I ever have.

So many people around me dealt with the exact same issues as I, and had no answers. Been gaslit into thinking that nothing is wrong with them or not been listened to. Sent down a band-aid path that worsens things long-term.

BTW: I don’t want anyone to think that western medicine is bad. In my opinion, we need both and they can work together beautifully and harmoniously when used in the right situations.

I found holistic health and it WORKED, and I knew I had to share my process with everyone. That is why 3 years ago I began Glow with Ella. To share my story, share my process, to inspire others, and to learn. It truly has been such an incredible learning, healing and growing journey.

3 years later, I am still a student of holistic health. I still have so much to learn, and I am growing and evolving each and every day. Each and every day I feel better and better.

To this day the most important thing I have learned is to listen to my gut. Over time, I lost my intuition, I began to distrust my body and live in fear. Part of that was years of being told nothing was wrong with me. Another part of that was not living true to myself, or being told to fear certain foods. All of this only made my symptoms worse. YOU know yourself the best. Your body is ALWAYS trying to tell you something. Your body is smart. Tune in. Listen to your body. Get rid of all the noise.

My mission is to help you tune back into your body and find ways to feel your best and optimize your health. To inspire you to reconnect with your body and tune into your GUT FEELINGS!

This year I launched this newsletter, Gut Feelings, so I can deeper dive into allll of the incredible topics of holistic health, talk wellness, food, gut health, life + having fun, no topic is off limits.

I am SO happy that you are here. I would love love love to learn more about you, which is why I recently launched the Gut Feelings Group Chat, a chat with all of the subscribers so we can chat about anything and everything (come and introduce yourself!), ask questions, share, whatever you want :) Would love to get to know everyone and connect each and every one of you.

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If you want to get more Gut Feelings benefits, would love to have you join as a paid member!