Hello – I’m Gemma - a full time Marketing Director, wife of 12years (together 20!) and mum to a gorgeous but cheeky 5 year old girl.
Back in late Summer 2023 things finally caught up with me. I’d been juggling life in general alongside finding a new routine with my little one starting school and being present in a busy full time job that i love – this all sounds pretty standard right? We all have life to juggle Gemma! Well yes, I know i'm not alone but this was on top of some very difficult personal and emotional challenges I’d been navigating for a couple of years, compounding after losing my beautiful mum in March 2022. During this time – as an only child and 4 hours from the family home, I was trying to support my dad and also myself and my own family through this period, and guess what happened? I found myself well and truly at the bottom of the care pile.
And I felt it… I was tired, moody, no energy. I felt looked bloated, puffy and uncomfortable.
My sleep was off - and I was too tired to function properly. I was on auto-pilot and just wading through each day. My skin was grey and awful with breakouts and my hair was dull and thinning.
I wasn’t happy in myself and honestly I don’t think I was actually all that nice to be around either.
It was then, that I decided.
I decided enough was enough and I needed to find my old self again. I missed her and I wanted my own little girl to meet her to get the best of me and see who her mum truly is. Those little people are always watching, always learning!
I wanted her to see the person that she soooo closely takes after in attitude, temperament, stubbornness and mischievousness (we’re both Scorpios… my poor husband!)
So, that was the point I committed to do the Arbonne Thrive in 30, healthy living programme throughout the month of September 2023. And I LOVED it from the start! I can hand on heart say it bought me back to life and I’m forever thankful.
This plan is not about deprivation and being unhappy for 30days.
It’s about fuelling your inner health and resetting your body to get back your balance! I didn’t approach it for weight loss (although I needed it!) but I went in to it, with the knowledge that by healing my gut and looking after myself from the inside, eating the right foods and supplements I could in fact improve my overall health and wellbeing - how refreshing to have a programme that’s not just focused on weight loss and the sad step scales!!
I expect so many of us have undertaken various body resets and diets over the years. This is not a diet. That’s the wrong term completely – but it is a gamechanger. Focusing on my gut health, understanding what foods fuel and serve my body and what foods don’t has been really interesting.
I lost weight as a by product and that’s great, but the other results have been far more incredible in my opinion...
- Mood… amazing! I’m just such a happier person, more positive with more patience.
- Energy… through the roof! I feel lighter and energised not sluggish or fatigued
- Disposition… renewed confidence, happier, less stressed
- Sleep… best it’s ever been! Deep, solid nights sleep. I’m out as soon as my head hits the pillow and no waking ( with exception of the early wakes ups from the small one)
- Cravings… gone! Not even a thing for me anymore! No more chasing sugar highs or coffee fixes!
- Bloating … nope, I’m the most comfortable I’ve ever been.
- Skin and Hair… glowing and growing! Never been better.
- Hormonal imbalance – resolved! No more breakouts, massively improved PMS
- Body shape changes, I’ve lost cm’s from my waist, hips, chest and thighs
- Fat loss - I can see I’ve lost weight fat but for me it’s more about my composition and how I feel in myself instead of what the scales say.
What you might be asking...
Did I starve myself? Absolutely not, I’ve eaten whole foods, a balanced diet of healthy fats, proteins, carbs and fibre. Feeding my body and gut the good stuff, supported with good quality supplements.
Did I deprive myself socially? No, not at all but I adapted and made educated choices and still had a fun packed full on month - and as I starting to feel better in myself, found I was more 'present' in the moment too!
Did I spend loads of time at the gym? No more than I usually would, but as I settled into the programme I WANTED to move my body more. I mixed my month up based on my schedule and commitments .. I walked more with an aim to get 10k steps daily (my own goal) , I weight trained and did cardio but none excessively… just consistently, when I could.
Did I do it alone? Well yes in that I chose to undertake this on my own. But the programme is designed to ensure you have ALL the support you need, full accountability, community, recipes, meal planners, training and education, on demand workouts, mindset coaching.... everything has been thought of and is INCLUDED at no extra cost to help you reach optimal results - whatever your personal goal.
One of the best things about this is that it’s simple, effective and sustainable. After my 30days I felt so good I kept to an 80/20 lifestyle of the healthy habits i'd adopted - I didn’t slip back into my bad habits, I didn’t need to - actually I didn’t want to.
The programme really has been the best thing I’ve done for myself. It’s bought me back to life and given me my mojo back!
