To Burnout and Back: Julia’s Story

RADiant Life Rocks is in it’s second week of a series looking at adrenal dysfunction. If you missed it, take a peek right here:

To Burnout and Back: A Series on Adrenal Fatigue
Megan’s Story
Mandi’s Story
Tiny Sized Glands with a Supersized Job

And today, we have Julia’s story. Julia is a Holistic Health Coach like myself, and a friend of mine. She was MY health coach and warned me about adrenal fatigue two years ago. I should’ve listened! *wink*

Here is Julia Sarver from Glow Health Coaching.

First and foremost, you need to know I’m a foodie at heart.  I just love food, I love eating, and I love all the social connections that can be made over the dinner table.  I’m also lucky enough to live in Portland, Oregon – the new food Eden according to national experts.  I’ve always loved cooking, and over the past few years I’ve developed a treasure trove of recipes made with health-promoting ingredients that taste amazing and make me feel great, too.

A few years ago, it became abundantly clear that what and how I eat play a huge role in how I feel, how I’m able to handle all the things life throws at me, and how my body functions.

So how did I get here?  When I was in my late 20s, I thought I was finally in control of my life.  I had a job I loved, I was training for a marathon, and would soon meet the man who became my husband a few years later.  Sounds like a pretty great life, right?  Because I was running so much, I paid a lot of attention to what I was eating.  I made sure I ate only whole grains, learned how to properly carb load, and kept an eye on my caloric intake.  In October 2006, I finished the Portland marathon, feeling a mixture of emotions, excitement and exhaustion that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe in words.

A week later, my very persistent running partner suggested we hit the road again, and I agreed.  My spirit was willing, but my body was not.  A mile into our first post-marathon run, I realized I was simply drained.  I didn’t have any energy, and I was having a hard time putting one foot in front of the other, and this was after I had just run 26 miles in a row!

For the next week, I kept trying to run, but I just didn’t have enough energy to run 2 or 3 miles.

I was exhausted all the time, and fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 every night, only to still be so tired in the morning that I was late for work every day because I simply couldn’t wake up.

After several months of being simply miserable, I found a practitioner who suspected that I had some food allergies that had gone undiagnosed, plus a compromised endocrine system. Lo and behold, my body can’t tolerate wheat or dairy – 2 foods I had pumped into my body in abundance during my marathon training.  Further, my adrenal glands were totally exhausted, which explained why I was so dang tired all the time.

This is why I like 5K and 10K races…marathons are for the truly crazy! *wink*

Thank you Julia for your story. We will hear how she has changed her diet and has found her way back to adrenal health in a few days!

To find out more about Julia and Glow Health Coaching, visit her website:  www.FindYourGlow.com

**Julia is also the creator of the 5 Day Detox for Beginners and the 6 Week Seasonal Meal Plan that I recommend to all my clients!

Please share this story with someone you know who may be wondering why that run is.just.so.hard….

 Disclaimer: there are affiliate links in this post…so thank you for taking a look!