By Barbie Decker

03/26/2015 If someone had told me that in just a few weeks I would be sleeping better, pooping regularly, and feeling fully energized–especially after struggling for two years–I would not have believed them. Well, I’m ecstatic to report that all of the above are true. I am consistently waking up feeling refreshed. The brain fog, which, to be honest, I hadn’t even realized I had, is gone. My thinking is so clear now. I am focused, sharp, feeling so creative and ready to take on new challenges and projects. In short, I feel like myself again. Welcome Back, Barbie, for real!
As I’ve stated in my previous few posts, I’m a take-action/results-oriented person. Despite struggling badly with poor sleep, weight gain and fatigue, I still got my work done and did what I needed to do. But I can now tell you, there’s a huge, and I mean huge difference between dragging yourself through life and being fully alive and vibrant in it. There were certain days that even just walking the dogs felt like a gargantuan physical feat. But I’m not a complainer, so I just dealt with it while continuing to search for answers about my health.
When I first consulted with Sagi Kalev, creator of BodyBeast, Certified Nutrition Specialist and Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist, he asked me: “If you could fix just one health problem, beside weight gain, what would it be?” Of course I named two: my sleep and fatigue. At the top of my list was weight loss. I’ve had an incredibly hard time losing the ten pounds that I’ve gained over the past two years despite exercising and super duper clean eating. But, as Sagi explained to me, the reason I have not been able to lose weight is because of health issues that needed to be uncovered and dealt with first. The same issues that were not allowing me to lose weight were connected to my crazy sleep pattern and fatigue. Helping me lose weight before addressing the root causes would be like putting the carriage before the horse. Okay, that made sense.
So after undergoing a series of tedious tests (saliva, poop, blood, and hair tests, in addition to extensive questionnaires), Sagi helped me figure out what was wrong. More importantly, he helped me figure out the many foods my body is sensitive to which cause me to gain weight and feel fatigued. He also put me on a long list of supplements. I’ve never even been a vitamin taker, but to be honest, I didn’t question his protocol. Morning, noon, and night I’ve been taking my supplements. After an initial week or two of hell, while my body went through the detoxification process, I started feeling increasingly better. It hasn’t even been a month and I am truly back. I really just don’t even have the words to describe how energetic I feel and just how much that impacts every tiny little aspect of my life. To wake up not feeling exhausted, now there’s a feeling I had long forgotten.
So now that I am feeling spectacular, and I really mean spectacular, I’m ready to get this excess weight off. Because I feel as if I’ve tried everything, I admit, it’s hard for me to believe that the last ten pounds really will come off. When I expressed my fears to Sagi, he asked, “Are you sleeping better?” -Yes. “Are you pooping better?” -Yes. “Are you feeling better?” -Yes. Like a million bucks. “Are you fatigued?” -No. “How do you feel?” -Amazing. “How long did you look for answers?” -Two years? “How long did it take you to feel better?” -Less than 3 weeks. “So then?” I had no words. The proof was in the pudding. What felt impossible–finding answers and feeling a million times better–happened quickly and here I was exhibiting a lack of faith in the process and impatience.
Sagi’s questions forced me to reflect on how far I’ve come and how important it is to have patience in the process. After an initial moment of question I realized that my faith is there. I had faith that Sagi knew what he was talking about and that he would be able to help me minutes after we started talking back in December. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” I have full faith in Sagi and the work that we are doing together. I don’t know the exact details of the next few steps, meaning, I’m not sure how exactly I’ll finally get the weight off. But I didn’t know how I was going to start feeling vibrant again either, but here I am, feeling like a brand new woman. I know like I know my name that the weight will come off in a few months’ time. I just needed to be reminded of what it means to have faith and patience.

Barbie Decker

Hi! My name is Barbie Decker. I’m a 40-year old ex-professor turned Independent Team Beachbody Coach living in Dallas, Texas. My purpose in life is to help people see that anything is possible, as long as they believe and are willing to take action steps towards the fulfillment of thei…

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