What Real Health Means to Me – Sabrina

Author: Sabrina Sauls

For me, real health is mind, body, and soul health. I believe that my mental health is the most important to me.

Struggling with anxiety and depression had taken over my body’s health in so many ways. The older I got the more and more I was anxious about everything. Riding in the car, driving, or just leaving the house in general. Being scared of the outside world really took a toll on my health. I felt sick all the time, could barely get out of bed, gained weight, and it was starting to affect my relationships. I was alive, but I wasn’t living.

I started working at the Riordan Clinic in February of 2018, and functional medicine was completely new to me. I had my nutritional labs done, and they were horrible for a 24-year old. I could not believe how out of control my weight and overall health had gotten.

I immediately saw Dr. Anne and went over my labs, and she got me on a supplement plan. It was really hard for me to start a new way of living, after getting stuck in a routine of eating out and sitting on the couch, not to mention being a ball of anxiety, and being depressed about the way I looked. I began eating colorful vegetables, taking vitamins that were recommended for me, and getting an exercise routine down. By doing all these things I started to feel “normal” again, or rather, healthy. I am not nearly as anxious anymore about anything, I have lost a significant amount of weight, and I like to work out. I used to have to take a nap on my lunch break, and then again after work at six o’clock. Then I would go to bed at nine or ten. My meals would consist of taking out or whatever meal was easiest out of the box at home. I needed the most simplicity in my life because I was so tired, due to missing or really low levels of many nutrients.

As many people at the Riordan Clinic know, taking massive quantities of vitamins is extremely hard to get used, to after not taking any your whole life (as in my case). After taking them for over a year now, I see a dramatic difference in how I feel, and it’s been a big part of my losing weight, too.

Real health to me means taking care of the body and mind that you have because you only get one. So you need to take care of it while you can, so you can live a long and healthy life.

Each month we have guest authors write a column for our Health Hunters newsletter with the prompt “What Real Health Means to Me”. We’ve been blown away by the content, and the variety of answers, that they have provided. We know that Real Health is very personal and health goals vary. We hope that you find their stories inspiring and will share with your friends and family as well!

All “What Real Health Means to Me” articles

If you’d like to write an article of your own, please email us at newseditor@riordanclinic.org.