Who am I? Why Keto? and How God changed everything!
Psalm 139: 14
I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know this full well.
First off, I would like to say, "Hi, I'm Nikki!"
I am a lover of Jesus and a born-again Christian. I'm a wife of 20 years, a mother of three teenage boys and a health, nature, animal & sustainable living enthusiast!
There are way too many pieces to my story to try to sift through them all in one post, so I will just give you the basics today, and I will hopefully be able to share more of the pieces to my crazy puzzle of life later on.
I have a background in Nursing. I worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse for over 14 years. I mainly worked in Geriatrics but did work 3 years in Pediatrics. I then, oddly enough switched careers entirely and started working as a receptionist/purchaser at my families Machine Shop. Over the course of the 5-1/2 years that I was there, I worked my way up, from Receptionist to Production Manager and loved it. In 2020, I started to feel a nudge from God to do something else. I prayed and talked myself out of the change for over a year. Finally in early 2021 I took online classes to become a certified Keto and Carnivore Coach and put my notice in at work. I realized that I wanted to help people through having a relationship with God and tweaking their nutrition. Odd combination you say? Well, I'll let you know how it goes! haha
To explain how I got to this place, I have to go back and give you a few more pieces to my puzzle.
When my middle son was 2-1/2 years old (He's 16 now) He was diagnosed with autism. Being concerned parents who would do anything for their child, we started seeking out treatments, any treatments, alternative medical treatments. Which brought us to a Holistic Doctor who specialized in Autism. Through dietary changes and supplementing we saw crazy improvement in our sons' behaviors and in his response to therapy. There is so much more to this piece, and I could go on for days about Hippotherapy, Intense in-home therapy, and so on, but I just wanted to touch on this briefly as this was my first experience with changes in nutrition improving your life, DRASTICALLY!
Fast forward to January of 2013. I was working in Pediatrics as a Nurse and feeling at an all-time low. I was the heaviest I'd ever been. (Except when I was pregnant) I had no energy, and I was depressed and anxious over anything and everything. I was getting headaches regularly, UTI's constantly and I had horrible skin. I remember a conversation with my husband where I said, "This isn't working, this isn't sustainable. We have to change. We have to get healthier."
On January 17th, 2013, after having that conversation, my husband ordered me the book, "Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism" by Maria Emmerich. That book has changed my life. I read that book cover to cover. Everything in it just made sense, and it changed my way of thinking about health, nutrition and diet. I began following her blog and buying her cookbooks. I slowly made baby step changes, like replacing sugars and flours with healthier options, adjusting the way I was cooking and getting creative in the kitchen. (Fun Note: I never considered myself a baker or a cook, but I have discovered that I love creating art in the kitchen, it is so therapeutic for me.) Now I have been following this way of living for about 9 years. I will tell you that I was not perfect this whole time, and I fell off the wagon some in the beginning, especially, but as I stuck with it, it has gotten easier, and my body just doesn't feel good if I eat any other way, now. The improvements I have seen in my health have been life changing: No more depression meds, little to no anxiety issues, no headaches or UTI's anymore, and my skin has cleared up so much. I have so much more energy. I felt like I could actually keep up with my kids, where as before, I felt like their sports schedules and school functions were slowly killing me. I finally wasn't drowning in my life; I was living it.
Are you still with me? There is one final piece I'm going to share with you that has made all the difference. It has been the absolute deal breaker for me, and I haven't been the same, since. By 2019 I was feeling so much healthier, but still struggling with life in general, insecurities, head games, stress. I was a people pleaser through and through, and it was stressing me out trying to keep so many different personalities and temperament types happy all the time. My marriage was rocky, work was crazy, and I was struggling as a mother to try to do it all! I was worried about what everyone thought of me, and it just about drove me crazy, until again, I got to the point where enough was enough. I realized that even though I accepted Jesus into my heart at a young age and grew up in a Christian home, and attended church regularly, I hadn't actually owned it for myself. (As in made the switch from my parent's faith to MY faith.) I had been living with some pretty messed up views of God. I thought that God wanted me to be someone that I wasn't, and I thought pleasing Him was unattainable for me because of this. I will never forget the day when I heard the song "Through Your Eyes" by Britt Nicole. It was like I was hearing Truth for the first time. That song spoke of everything I was struggling with and spoke the truth that I have worth, I have something amazing to offer. That is why I was created. It was then that it hit me. God made me, to be ME. I didn't have to try to be anybody else to please Him, I just had to be the person that He wired and created me to be. Enter the New Nikki. People who have known me for years, know that I have changed. They speak of a noticeable confidence and strength. I am still human, I am sad to say, but I seek guidance and strength from a source that knows no limits, and I know I have worth and a purpose through Him, and that my friends, is life changing.
So, I'm here, to help all you who are weary and heavy laden, to find the comfort, peace, health and worth that I have found through all my wanderings. As God continues to help me piece my life together like a puzzle, I pray that maybe some of my pieces can help you sort through yours.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
Love in Christ,
Nikki