What's going on? Ladies and gents?
Robert Sykes? Keto Savage.com.
And today I've got special guest, Rebecca Farmer on the
line. Rebecca has an amazing amazing.
Amazing story. I remember talking with her way
back in 2017. She looked incredibly emaciated
because she was, she was malnourished.
She was battling with a whirlwind of health issues,
ranging the board from Lyme disease to c-diff to slow
Transit. I mean, literally everything
that you could have an Who is she was having an issue with it?
She was down to an incredibly low weight, like 60, something
pounds and she was able to reverse all of those symptoms
via a carnivore diet and then kind of down.
But in she's incorporating more fermented foods.
Now, some yogurts kind of a ketogenic diet now, but her
journey from where she was then to where she is now is nothing
short of amazing. And I really just wanted to
bring it on the podcast and tell that story to inspire and
Empower others that could be going through.
Something similar, or just simply to anybody is going
through. Anything is hard.
I mean, this this story's gonna give you some perspective, so,
hats off to Rebecca. I mean, she's done.
Like I said, nothing short of amazing here.
Incredible Journey, incredible story and I was happy and proud
and excited to get it out there to the public.
So without further Ado, sit back, relax and enjoy the
podcast with Rebecca farmer. And we are live.
Rebecca. How are you?
I'm awesome. I'm excited to be here.
Thank you. Yeah, I'm excited to have you.
We have talked numerous times, but it's been a long time.
I remember shoot, I guess when we had that phone call, we were
corresponding via email. That was back in 2017.
That sound right? All right, that's right.
And a lot has changed in your life since since then, I mean
just to kind of give the listener some context I You
reaching out asking for help on some nutrition stuff and like,
you didn't even look, like the person that you are today.
I saw a recent picture of you and I swear.
It's like, you are two different people completely completely
from the inside out. Yeah, from the inside out.
So I'd love to kind of just pull the curtain back, dive into your
past, your history, kind of where you've been where you're
at right now, where you're going.
But yeah, just kind of give the listeners some context as to
what life was looking like, for. You when we were talking back in
2017. Yeah, I remember that day too
risky. I was around that time.
I was misdiagnosed with an eating disorder and I was held
against my will and an eating disorder unit for an entire
month. My entire family thought that I
had an eating disorder. I was diagnosed with chronic
lyme disease. And I have recently, worked
started working with functional medicine, doctors and we
uncovered a plethora of autoimmune disease.
Digestive issues, two major mood disorders.
I had recently gotten off of heavy medication, like a door.
All from, has a pan and the end, but at that point, in my life, I
was, I can't remember being more hopeless and I got on the phone
with you and Crystal and I was, I remember, I was on a walk.
It was the boardwalk Trail in my old neighborhood.
And I remember even where I was standing.
It was by a cow pasture on that walk.
And you guys told me that if I wanted to become an entrepreneur
and I wanted to get out on my own then I could do it and I
just remember like stopping in my tracks.
When you guys spoke that into my life because it was like that's
what I needed to hear. No one believed it.
Everyone thought I had an eating disorder and I was prohibited to
work at the time. But you guys, even though you
knew that you knew the contacts, both of you, just you and
Crystal just very, very clearly spoken to my life.
And I will never forget that and I held onto that.
Well, here I am now and you spoke it into existence.
Like, that's what I'm doing whole time.
I'm a full-time health, and life coach and I am healed.
That's awesome. I'm very grateful to hear that
because We haven't really been in communication that much until
just here recently. When I'm like I'll get you back.
I got to get you on the podcast but like there's like it was
obvious way back then that you were going through a lot and for
me like I don't ever I don't ever want to say the wrong
thing. I don't ever want to say
something that that leads someone astray and you don't
always know what the that should or should not look.
So I remember talking with you vividly and I remember wanting
to say all the right things, not say any of the wrong thing.
So I'm glad that the right things were said.
I hope our I wish I could have said more the right things over
that time since we've kind of not talked not communicate that
much but it seems as though you definitely put in the work,
you've absolutely succeeded in gotten past whatever, you know,
past struggles, you've dealt with because you're a Absolutely
killing it right now. It seems.
Yeah, thank you. And you guys said, just enough.
I think that God calls us to speak and to also be silent at
the right times and you guys didn't overstep, but you were
bold enough to stay what you felt convicted of like.
And that's that's so powerful to be able to do that.
And I could sense that I could sense that you guys were also
purposely, not saying too much. Like I almost wanted you to say
more but you Nothing more to say and it prompted me to continue
to be responsible for myself. Like, okay, as much as this
whole situation sucks. And a lot of it is outside of my
control, how I react is my responsibility and you guys
reminded me of that. And that's really powerful.
That is powerful. I'm glad to hear that's how it
was received for sure. For people that did not know
our, do not know what you were looking like then.
Like, if someone was to see you at first glance, I'm assuming
this is what happened when you Were you know put out eating
disorder clinic? I mean, you looked like you had
an eating disorder. I mean you were incredibly like
you were some 100 pounds Ryan. I was 69 pounds.
If I'm lowest recorded way at six foot.
Five foot, six, five foot, six, 69 pounds.
And what age were you then? That was almost 30 now.
So I was like 27. And honestly at one point I was
lighter than 59 pounds. I just never weighed myself.
That was may have 2019. I was 69 pounds.
So, when we were on the phone, I could have been 62 pounds, it
varied between 60 and 70 pounds for a long time.
So when people see somebody that looks that way emaciated, I
mean, honestly, like the best way to describe his kind of akin
to like a holocaust, you know, get them at that's in a
concentration camp. I mean, you looked incredibly
malnourished. You look like you were starving
yourself, people see that, and they automatically assume that
you are dealing with an eating disorder.
That your that. You're binging, purging
anorexic. Like what what was actually
going on and why was your body responding that way?
Yeah. And that moment when we spoke on
the phone and during the times and may of 2018 at my worst
lowest recorded weight, that is due to a chronic C diff
infection. See, this is a bad bacteria that
takes over the good bacteria in your gut and it just Point Li
depleted me, hype. Believe I had this for years
before I was dying because I remember when I started to lose
rapid amount of weight and I was on a ketogenic diet, but I have
been on a ketogenic diet for 15 years.
I literally grew up on keto and there was a specific point where
I started dropping weight and I couldn't keep the matter how
much I ate and most people attributed it to me eating keto
but it had To be due to the chronic C diff infection.
So that's primarily why I was so emaciated and malnourished.
I had diarrhea 9 times a day, most days.
I could not keep up and what I what wasn't coming out of me
wasn't being absorbed. I mean, my gut was destroyed and
before that which isn't talked about as much on these podcast
is when I did go through. Before I went through
withdrawals, I was on Adderall for 13 years.
I was taking eighty five milligrams of Adderall every
day. I was in fight or flight mode
all the time. I would go five days without
sleeping at a time. So there was also a season in my
life where I wasn't eating enough and I was not
restricting. I was just depressed and I was
in a funk and I was running on speed, literally legal speed.
So that was the first time I was emaciated, but I've Barely even
have pictures so far as for the people, that knew me like my
family and my friends, they had seen me go through something
like that before. And so this is why this time
they thought it was an eating disorder and I can understand
why people would think that especially with me eating a
ketogenic diet, but I did that to mitigate the autoimmune
symptoms that I was dealing with the Lyme disease.
I had non-epileptic seizures. And eating that ketogenic diet
is what helped me to get out of bed.
Fatigue. I had the brain fog was insane
and eating carbs was not an option.
If I wanted to get out of bed, each day.
I had to be somewhat ketogenic. Now, when you were going through
these phases, when you're going through, all this like, was
there ever a period in which you were struggling with an eating
disorder, like where you ever been doing in purging?
Was there ever time or people live could point back and be
like? Oh, but that's probably what's
going on now. Yes.
So after the eating disorder unit, when I was held against my
will in the eating disorder unit that actually gave me an eating
disorder inside that treatment. I was told things that that was
totally I was told that gluten sensitivity was all in my head.
I was told that, you know, I needed to eat carbs every day.
I was told that seed oils were not inflammatory and that I had
orthorexia for being concerned about these things and when I
came out of there it was so traumatizing because my family
and my friends, all wanted it to be an eating disorder.
It's like they wanted that to be the solution and it came to the
point where I was so desperate to have a life again and to be
free of all this autoimmune stuff and Lyme disease in the
seat. If that I have literally tried
to convince myself that it was an eating disorder and I would
tell myself it must be on my head.
If I can just gain some weight. I'll get my life back.
My family will accept me again. My friends will want to hang out
with me again and Did develop a binge eating disorder.
I would look in the mirror and be totally triggered by the
sight of my emaciated body. And so that's when I developed
binge eating, but it was not in this manic way that a lot of
people might imagine. It was very strategic and
organized and that's the type of person.
I am. I am at like a triple, A type
personality. I would put towels on my couch.
I would set up water bottles napkins.
And I would fix myself a bunch of healthy Whole Foods based
ketogenic meals, you know, coconut cream stuff, avocado
stuff meat-based, but it was a lot of food and my goal was to
eat as much as possible without getting sick and I would
literally stay up from 7 p.m. To 5 a.m.
Eating because I was prohibited the work, my life was being
functional medicine doctors and Trying to live with this pain.
I had severe autoimmune system. I developed ulcerative colitis,
which was making me involuntarily grow up.
So that was really triggering because I would try to eat and
then I would be growing up and it was really really twisted.
It's like that's like the enemy was really trying to trick me up
and I feel like I actually lost my mind for a time we ever
heard. So all these things just made it
so difficult for me to eat, but the biggest pain in my ass was
nice. Elf putting the pressure on
myself to be normal because it's like, look, it looks like I have
an eating disorder and my life had to revolve around food
because that was the only thing that could save my life was
putting on some weight. So this relationship is do
became really, really dark and twisted but it was not until
after I was treated in an eating disorder unit.
After I was misdiagnosed after my family said look we don't
believe in this autoimmune stuff.
We think the root of it is an eating disorder.
That's really, really hard to hear from the people that love
you. The most.
Well, was that was what was there ever?
A time where you were, like, actually tracking your intake to
see how many calories your Macros are?
Like, what was that laughing? Like?
So I one point I was actually eating 6,000 calories and this
is when I started making my dairy-free, ketogenic ice cream.
It was like egg yolks and MCT oil.
It's still on my feet on Instagram.
If you scroll that far enough, this is when I was eating a ton
of coconut cream, avocado. All the fat I was eating meat
with. That drenched on top of it.
And I was eating this ice cream and I was literally hitting
6,000 calories per day and still losing weight.
It didn't matter how much I ate. I would go for a walk and have
diarrhea like, in the middle of my walk.
I would have to call my mom and ask her to pick me up and I
would just like, sit on the road, like not able to walk
without having diarrhea. It was that bad all the time.
I started carrying like wet wipes with me everywhere and And
for a long time doctors wouldn't even like it.
When you want to test me first, eat it for anything.
They just said, well, it's because you're eating a
ketogenic diet because you're eating MCT oil and it did not
have to do with that. I mean, a lot of people, I mean,
you probably weren't even 6,000 calories that entire several
years span. But I mean, you were eaten,
6,000, calories, and still losing weight.
And you were down to 67 69 pounds.
I mean, that's crazy. Like I curled dumbbells or than
that, like, that's even. People to Fan them out.
Like when you're when you're in that light and you, you looked
as emaciated as you as you did because you were so
malnourished, but you're eating all of this food and people are
just accusing you of likely, you know, purging when people aren't
looking like that has to be the most that has to be like one of
the most hardest things you've ever dealt with.
Like everybody's ridicule on a lot.
That's just not true. Yeah, and it made me hate
myself. Because it was like, why can't I
just pull this together? Like when I did start tracking
my calories, and I was eating that much, that was scary, but
it was shortly after that. I was finally diagnosed with
cetus and I was so relieved. I mean, the first thing you see
when you Google C disc the bunch of emaciated people just like
me. And so it was terrifying because
a lot of people can die from me, but it was also a really
comforting like boom. It didn't start as an eating
disorder. At least it didn't start this
fight. And it was a reminder, because I
would like to say that I've always tried to be true to
myself, and I knew that I wanted a real life.
I didn't want an eating disorder.
I didn't want to shrink. You know, I had, I had body
issues, just like any other pubescent girl growing up, but I
wasn't starving myself to lose weight.
I would layer my teens. I would work like, really thick
fleece leggings under my jeans, in the summertime to look
slightly normal. I would buy Juniors pants that
Goodwill because nothing else fit.
Like it was very hard to be out and ready and just the disbelief
of everyone. Even my neighbors.
You know, I went for a lot of walks and my neighbors.
I knew they'd all just thought I was like this exercise freak or
just really sick and that really tiring and it made me think of
myself because it was exhaust. And I just wanted to like like
if it would make these people happy to just say that they were
right. Just say like, okay.
It's an eating disorder. I was willing to do that.
I was literally willing to deny myself.
If it meant that I could have my family and my friends back.
Yeah. What is like if you were to
Define CDF for the listeners, how would you describe it?
Like a beast, like a monster. That consumes you.
It's exhausting. It sucks.
The energy out of you. And it also feels sort of, like
alien. Like because what comes out of
you is not like normal fecal matter.
It's a lot of mucus and it's a lot of stuff that doesn't look
like it should be coming out of you.
Like, what is going on? It can be painful, but mostly, I
would say it's just exhausting. I've really exhaust.
You have any idea what like a kind of when you're kind of
going back in your memory banks. Like, do you have any idea what
the Catalyst could have been for all of this Myriad of of health
issues? Like any idea, what to the
Tipping Point was? The speed of particularly.
I had already been to the hospital numerous times for like
gastroenterologist appointments figuring out on my digestive
issues. So I had invasive procedures and
that is where a lot of people can pick up speed.
If another reason could be that my niece who was a toddler.
She was just a baby at the time. Had moved in to the house that I
was living and I know that toddlers.
Have they carry see this? They get over it pretty quickly
generally, but I can pick it up from them.
So I think that's where that started.
But in general. I think my gut was just depleted
from all the antibiotics that was put on.
So I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in the sixth grade.
So since I was a child, there has been malnourishment and I
don't know where that came from. But my entire life, I was always
getting sick. I had asthma like I was getting
kicked out of recess because I would turn pink red in the face.
Ace. I was always getting like strep
throat or just viruses and on antibiotics on a regular basis,
so I know that did a lot to hurt my gut and then also the
medication. So I took clonazepam and
adderall and Ambience for over 13 years and clonazepam
specifically, I think did a lot of damage.
That's a benzo padeen, and we shouldn't be taking those for
longer than 30 days. And I took it for over 13 years
and without any bread. If you like once you have your
body builds up Reliance upon it. Like getting off of those.
I'm pretty sure that's what Jordan Pederson developed a
dependence to that. It was a nightmare.
That was the hardest thing I've ever done getting off that class
of him. How, how do you, how do you win
yourself off? And then just slowly, and you
come up with a plan, which is what I did.
I had like one of those big. I don't know if I can.
Tackle box that can sort beads into like one of those big ones
that carry like you case. And I just set that up for like
an entire month at a time and I got down to like a thin
sixteenth of a pill. It was literally like a crumb
and even at that point it was impossible to go lower.
Like my dependence was insane and it was just a matter of
accountability. So at the time, I was trying to
work with my parents and I had moved back in with them because
I was still unstable. And they were, they were
helpful. But at one point, they actually
forced me to bump up the dose that I was taking because I've
been so impossible. So, this one, like I was not a
normal person. I was losing my mind and that
was, like I said, I think that was the hardest thing I've ever
been through after everything. I've been through.
I don't even know how I got through.
It was what I can tell people is you need a support system.
You need to be in a safe place. And you need to have a plan and
the plan probably won't go. Exactly as you planned it, but
it's good to have, you know, it's good to have a plan B.
I'm Jordan Pederson talking about like when he was getting
off of it. He just had like these insane
body aches that that were just insurmountable.
Like did you experience something similar?
Yeah. I did.
I don't know how much of that was the withdrawal because I did
have fibromyalgia and a bunch of Connective tissue diseases, but
I definitely haven't thing, body aches.
Like, I was always in pain, I would get massages all the time
that I couldn't really afford because I was losing my mind.
I spent a lot of time just rolling around on a yoga mat, in
this little office, my parents house.
I would just roll around on the yoga mat all day.
I couldn't sit still it, my body hurt all the time.
I think part of a lot of Must be due to being malnourished and
emaciated. You know, I didn't have any
Christian. Obviously, that's really
painful. But yeah, I think a lot of the
withdrawal has to do with that. And I'm sure you're probably
getting terrible sleep, throughout this entire Journey
because you're not able to really relax at all.
Yeah, I didn't sleep. I have really bad.
Insomnia for a year. And I don't I don't even
remember like the first day that I got real sleep.
And it never went back to having insomnia because now I hit, as
soon as I hit my head to my pillow.
I'm asleep within 3 minutes. It doesn't even take 5 and and I
wake up refreshed and it's a miracle.
But yeah, when I was going through withdrawal, I didn't I
Did look forward to the evening because I felt like my central
nervous system was a little bit more calm and I would just turn
on an oil diffuser and I would lay next to it.
But my face like right in the oil and that was like the best
part of my day because I had privacy and no one was breathing
down my neck and no one was watching me cook in the kitchen
or eat my food, and I just got to forget about the nightmare
that I was living in a couple of hours.
Hours until it started all over again, but I did not read.
Well, I was lucky to get four hours.
I'm assuming I mean you must have felt just like you had your
family. Your parents that I would
imagine. You just felt incredibly alone
and isolated throughout this entire German.
Did you have like a you like involved in relationship at any
point throughout this like was like was that even in your mind?
So when I was diagnosed with chronic lyme disease, that was
right after I broke up with my fiance before, every for shit,
hit the fan, use my language, but my life was like going
pretty good. Like I was holding it together.
I was on the Adderall and everything.
I was working in real estate full-time.
I was engaged planning our wedding and that relationship
fell apart for multiple reasons. But that's right when I got
sick. And so after that I was like
that's it. I'm never going to fall in love
again. So I moved back in with my
parents and I felt like I got a second wind when I decided.
Okay, I'm going to get off of these medications and when I
work with functional medicine doctors, so I did meet someone
on eHarmony and we dated for maybe a month and a half or two
months. He must my relatives.
We had keister at my Of house and I actually broke up with him
in the eating disorder unit. I remember talking with one of
the nurses and she was just like it doesn't really seem like I
was telling her about my life and I was like, I don't have an
eating disorder. I have autoimmune disease and
she's like, it just doesn't seem like maybe you shouldn't be in a
relationship right now because the guy was coming to visit me
and I was just totally burnt out and it struck a chord and I
broke up. I remember having that
conversation. Ation, because like, I was
afraid you would say that but I needed space to work everything
out clearly. So any other relationships I
had, I did have a couple of people from Real Estate that I
worked with. There was one lady.
Her name is Gina. She had Lyme disease and she
really helped me out. She told me to get a sauna and
she taught me a lot of things just about giving myself space
and Grace, and she made me feel a lot less alone.
But I it was really hard for the most part.
I lost most of my friends and my family didn't.
What were your folks sit on everything knowing?
Do they do they now believe that it wasn't a diss eating disorder
originally that you were battling with her.
They kind of more on board with what actually happened.
I do. I do believe the truth now.
And and I can also understand where they were coming from
stew, because if I had a child who has 69 pounds and on willing
to eat carbohydrates, I would probably force them to get some
treatment as well because I was on the Of debt and they were
willing to do anything. After, you know, I mean we went
through it was almost like a year where we even talk and then
I visited with my mom. She was the first one I saw
after I had gotten back up on my feet.
I was around like 104 pounds and we went to the beach together
and we just went there for a couple days and we just cried a
lot and talked a lot. She she's like, I'm just so
sorry for everything that you went through and I said I was
sorry. To because I've put them through
a lot, you know, when I think back it's not like who was right
and who was wrong. It's like, I'm so sorry.
This happened to all of us. It was traumatizing for
everyone. But yes, they do.
See now that it had to do with my gut and autoimmune disease
and my family. They they have tried carnivore.
They actually eat a lot of what I eat from Billy.
Do me and my dad is doing its end of fasting like it's pretty
crazy how things have changed. And my mom is my best friend.
I talk to her every day and but even still she can't read my
book. I am editing my book and she
can't read it. She says it's too painful.
So I think that there are going to be things that we never even
discussed and I'm okay with that.
I just want to have a relationship with my parents and
we don't we don't hold onto grudges and that's good enough
for me. I'm more than happy with that.
Yeah, and it's huge. When is the book coming?
My goal was actually by this spring but my new goal is by the
end of this year, with all of the editing and revisions that
need to be done. It's just gonna take more time
but I've written I've written it.
So technically, I met my own goal.
So I'm hoping by the end of this year.
It will be published and then I will be working on my cookbook.
Nice. Well, I'm going to copy.
Let me know when it's out and I'm gonna back up absolutely
everything in it. Well, let's talk about some hope
here. Like what?
What was the, what did you start doing that actually started
working. Like, it seems as though the
fork in the road occurred when you were truly diagnosed with
c-diff and you could kind of point to that draw a line in the
sand. Say, okay.
This is what I've got. Now.
It's fixed. So, what did you start doing
that actually started working? Yeah.
Well, let's see. Before I even moved to Illinois.
I had a conversation with Danny Vega.
I know he's got like your best friend.
Danny was the one you like planted.
To see it about the carnivore diet and he was like look people
with autoimmune disease do really well with carnivore
because there are anti-nutrients and even some healthy foods like
avocado. And when he told me that I was
so upset. I was like, I cannot give up my
baby spinach, my avocado and I tried that.
I've tried carnivore eight times and I felt worse each time and I
kept doing just straight beef salt and water, because that's
what everyone told me to do. I actually had strangers on
Facebook messaging, me saying, you just need to do beef, salt
and water. You keep messing it up.
Just give it a chance and I guess I tried it, and I felt
worse. So, finally, in May of 2019.
I was in my second or I was in my third emergency room
back-to-back. I was constantly in there
because my electrolytes were always depleted from the seed of
having diarrhea. So, I was in my third emergency
room. At this time, I was in a abusive
relationship with someone not in contact with my family, and I
was literally asking them to treat me in an eating disorder
unit. Because at this point, I would
do anything to get away from this narcissist that I was
living with and I had nowhere to live, I was prohibited to work.
I was literally just stick out of my mind.
I couldn't. I had no choices.
And it was very hard for me to eat without having this
involuntary throwing up from the ulcerative colitis.
I was definitely struggling with binge eating on the keto trees
and everything. So I've literally told them just
please treat me with an eating disorder.
I've done it before, you know, what are my options, but they
wouldn't allow it because I had to see this and so they held me
in isolation in the eating in the emergency room because
c-diff can be Very contagious. So doctors would come in with
like they would have to put on suits and booties and masks and
gloves. It was hilarious and they would
just bring in trays of food for me and just try to stabilize my
electrolytes and I was there for a while.
And so finally, I spoke with the guy efficient and that emergency
room and I told her everything, everything I said, I really want
to do this carnivore diet. I think there's something to it,
but I need accountability. Will you please just let me eat
only meat? And so she put me in touch with
the chef in the kitchen at that hospital and I was able to order
my own personal meals from the chef who would send up trays of
all the meat and all the hard boiled eggs.
Call the butter that this hospital had and so I was
throwing away the other food, which is 75% carves.
It would just be toils Weight, Gainer shakes.
I would throw that out and then eat the stuff at the chef was
and I gained four pounds in one week, the involuntary throwing
up stop and my blood sugar stabilizer and I was having
really bad blood sugar. Like, I would be in the 30s and
then the 140s it was bad. So, everything stabilized and it
came to the point where I was so stable that they couldn't hold
me there anymore. They were like, we literally
can't tell the insurance. Anything.
You're stable. Your electrolytes are good.
And so, that's when The dietitian told the doctor, what
happened. And the doctor told me go home
and do your weird all meat diet. And that's what I did.
I went back home to this narcissist and ever since I came
back, there is like, my brain started working again.
I had a backbone. I was not afraid of him.
I wouldn't take his crap and I didn't know how, but I knew that
I was going to get up. I knew that guy was going to
heal me. I started taking cold showers.
I started I just kept my head down and figured it out.
And God provided God provided me a place to stay from a total
stranger. Who is now my boyfriend and I
started working. I got my certification and I've
been doing health and life, coaching full-time.
And I have since then reversed every single diagnosis with Labs
confirm, I gained Five total pounds.
I gained a little bit extra and then my weight leveled out.
So I'm super stable. Now.
I'm doing CrossFit six days a week.
I sleep like a baby. I'm not addicted to anything.
I'm not dependent on anything and I have joy.
And I'm confident, and I'm stable, and my relationships are
restored. So I definitely have a message
of hope that needs to be sure. A lot of people know, I think
your journey is incredibly inspiring.
Credibly empowering. I mean, I'm going to have to put
a before and after picture show notes because like I've said, it
multiple times in this conversation already, but like,
if people could just see how you looked before versus how you
look now. I mean, seriously, like a
holocaust victim is the only way to put it before.
And now, I mean, you're beautiful, you're thriving, it's
like you've got this Vitality in your life and in your eye,
that's like totally different. Yeah.
I'm alive. Yeah, so when it comes to I
mean, this was back. When how long ago was it that
you started doing the carnivore that in the context of the
hospital setting? Where they were you stabilize?
How long ago was that? That was made 2019.
So three years now and since then you've been continuing,
that carnivore diet. Yep.
It hasn't gone back at all. Has there been any part of you
that's been curious to try if your body would tolerate a
broader spectrum of food? It's or is it not even?
Yes. Yeah, so I should clarify I mean
so when it started working for me part of that, he was to not
be so strict with the Vista and water.
I actually gave myself more flexibility and that's why I was
like, okay, I'm gonna do beef. I'm gonna do lamb goat deal.
That's when I discovered Billy do meet and then I realized like
histamines were really holding me back with the beef and I
allowed myself to use Stevia and My carnivore diet.
Does it look like the Lions? I honestly, I have a lot of good
variety. And now I eat.
Fermented foods. I sauerkraut a kimchi.
I make my own pickles. I ate yogurt every day.
I'm a carnivore brownies and ice cream with beef protein isolate.
I make hydration slushies with electrolyte.
So I have a lot of variety, like a lot.
I have at least five different. Current food items like every
meal and it doesn't take more than 10 minutes to make it.
So I'm definitely what's that animal?
Like a just a traditional ketogenic diet.
Yeah, exactly. But I mean, that's how it this
is. How it should have been
honestly. I don't eat.
I don't eat like vegetables, very much at all.
I do eat like the pickles. So I have cucumber and cabbage
sauerkraut but like finish I haven't had spinach for years.
I don't really do avocado. And I might try that again, but
I just don't crave those things. And I'm glad because it feels
like noise to me my body. Really, really, crave meat, the
body, craves me and collagen, I eat bones.
So it's nice that I can trust my Cravings now because when I was,
you know, I was really close down the fat bomb.
I was really Hooked on, like, just the protein deficient
straight fat things, and that can be good for a lot of people,
but for someone who's 69 pounds, I needed some protein.
Yeah, totally. And so, I was using that 421
fats, protein ratio, which was great for seizures and gray or
fibromyalgia. But like I had, I had more
issues that needed to be prioritized.
And so, the carnivore diet was great because it removes a lot
of anti-nutrients. Baby, spinach and avocado.
And I was also eating like turmeric and sweet potatoes like
those are so-called superfoods, but they weren't helpful for me
at the time. And so that allowed me to really
feel my gut. So now I do tolerate a variety
of food. I am not afraid of food, like I
might even try carbs at one point just to see how I feel,
but I don't crave them. And that's the best part is that
I have true Freedom food. Freedom, I don't I don't think
about eating all day. I don't think about my next
meal. I'm very satiated and my energy
is good. My digestion is good.
So yeah, I have lots of variety. Do you ever track your Macros?
Your counter is not a kind of see what you're averaging like
on typical day. Yeah, so I maintain around 2,000
calories, but there are many days where I'm only around 1500
and I will often force myself to eat.
Or because I don't want to be in a deficit once especially like,
how many times I've lost my period or not had a period.
I never want to allow myself to get that place again.
I'm so thankful to have my hormones back to be healthy.
My hair is not falling out. I've already been down that
road. So I am very careful to not get
into a deficit, even though I could easily stop eating 800
calories, especially when I'm eating, like, shrimp and veal.
It's very protein heavy satiating.
But so I do track my calories occasionally to be accountable
and that way. And there are days where I crave
a ton of fat, especially around my cycle and I don't track
because I'm sure that I'm eating enough.
But yeah, I do check in with myself and I think I think
that's actually good for anyone to do because what you can
measure. You can manage.
Yeah, and for what I've been through I need to be accountable
and one way or another. So I know I know what the
minimum amount of food is that I have to eat.
I don't I don't allow myself to go below 115 grams of protein.
I just don't, I don't There, unless I'm doing like an
extended back, which I don't do much of anyway, and what is your
weight kind of leveling off at? Now?
I'm around 120 125 and I've been there for, I was like, 145 in
October when I had my first Retreat last October I was
around 1:45. And then I remember after we got
back from that was like, wow, I'm like 135 and I wasn't doing
anything. Anything on purpose.
And that's when I started like measuring checking with my
calories. Make sure I was eating enough.
I think it's because I started CrossFit and I must just be
burning a lot more, but I feel great.
My energy is great. So I've been steady around 120
125 and I'm seeing more definition than I've ever seen
also, which is really exciting. So literally doubled your weight
and then just like So much healthy.
I mean you have zero symptoms of anything.
I mean even even Lyme disease is totally gone.
Yeah, it's gone. 100% gone. Laughs confirmed.
Hypothyroid Hashimoto's. Ulcerative colitis.
Kressler, own Derma. All of these things are gone.
It's a done deal and my cholesterol is even fantastic.
My testosterone is great. Even my rheumatologist ask me
for my cards. Put in his office and he's I
mean, he just draws whatever Labs I want is like you trust.
He doesn't even understand what I did but he's just like, you
just need to keep doing it. So yeah, carnivore works.
And God is good. So for the people that, I mean,
obviously, you had some kind of, you know, your story is not the
same as the general population story out there that isn't
battling with all these but the narrative is so oftentimes.
The case of, you know, it's just Calories calories in, calories
out right now. The type of food.
You doesn't Nui. Doesn't really matter, you know
carnivores too restrictive. Kiito's to restrict.
If you got to have a balance lamps.
I'm assuming all of this. All of that talk is just noise
in your mind, sighs. It's just excuses.
Honestly, I think that people are I don't know.
I feel like a lot of people are too lazy to actually like do the
Deep digging within themselves to see what your what is holding
you back from your goals because you know, people say they've
tried everything but they're still sneaking, you know, treats
here and there or they're not being accountable and that's
what I was doing. I was not being accountable.
I was addicted to Quito and I was unwilling to surrender that
for a long time or I was to being too rigid, you know with
perfectionism. Carnivore diet like, why didn't
I just give myself face to be have more variety.
So I think that people want control and they want it to be
simple and to draw inside the lines, but like we were created
for so much more. There is so much more complexity
and detail. We all have bio individual
needs. We're all in a different.
We're going through something different and it's likely to
change. So learning the lesson of like,
using critical thinking skills and Being objective, and being
honest. Those are the best skills that
you can learn. And then you don't have to
follow like a meal break. Okay, that's bad to do.
I think that's good to have accountability and had to have
guidance. But like, my goal is my clients
is to teach them to understand themselves and to gain intuition
in a way that they never have to pay anyone ever again.
And so I think that's where people get back.
Is you know, I'm just going to count calories or I'm just going
to do this, you know, these macro nutrients for the rest of
my life. And I don't think that's a good
plan. I don't think that's
sustainable. I totally totally agree.
Well, what does the future hold for you?
I mean just in the the you know several years that it's taken
you to go from who you were to who you are now, like if the
next several years are anywhere near as you know, dramatically
different, I mean, there's no telling what your future will
hold. Hopefully all for the better.
But what what does the I do? You got your book coming?
That's going to be a huge thing, for sure.
But what else is in the pipeline for you?
What are you excited about? I'm excited about these Retreats
that I'm doing. This is like a lifelong dream.
And so I had my first one in the fall and it was awesome.
Like it's just being with like-minded people eating a
bunch of meat Fellowship learning and I'm having another
one in May and Florida and I'm planning to do one retreat in
the spring and one in the fall every year.
So this is just if God provides for it, I will keep doing
Because my heart is, my heart is in it to serve help others.
And there are a lot of lost people.
There are people that need. Hope to people that need
Hands-On learning like how to do the cooking, how to prepare a
big piece of meat, you know, how to think around food, and a
different way, that's not rigid, and I want to do this in person.
So, I'm really excited about that.
And then also just traveling my boyfriend and I have plans for
travel, but if we can, if God blesses us, to do so, so I would
love to do some of that and just more helping people, my heart is
Really being called to serve and love others, whatever that looks
like. So and these Retreats are these
are things that you're hosting, local to, you just invite people
that are in your inner sphere. How is that kind of structured
all over? So I'm hosting it.
There's just called the tailored Seto Retreat and it's just all
over the place. So my last one was in
Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the mountains, and this one is going
to be in Malabar Beach, Florida. It's like a tattoo home property
on the beach. Super bujji, Ken Berry and his
wife will be there. And the next one, you know, in
the fall. I like to Mountain, so it'll
probably be somewhere else with mountains, but I plan to go all
over the place eventually. I'd like to do International.
Maybe Greece. Maybe Argentina.
I have people there that. I know that would love to host
me and help out. So I'm I want to travel with it
and anyone is invited anyone who's interested.
And so, and it's also a good opportunity to like bring.
You know, I would love to have you and Crystal, I would love to
host you guys and promote you guys.
So yeah. Well, if you ever want to host a
retreat in Arkansas, that's where we're at.
So let's make it happen. All right, I would love to see
what you are. You guys like the Ozarks.
Yeah. We're in the mountains.
So it's perfect. Oh, that'd be awesome.
That'd be so cool. Well, what what is your type of
coaching? So your And Functional Health,
you're doing what, what are you doing?
Is happy with your coaching, like who is your at your typical
clientele? So to speak.
Hmm. I would definitely say that
autoimmune and Lyme disease are is my Niche.
But I work with people with eating disorders, some people
reach out just because they want spiritual and emotional piece.
They say, you know, I see that you're alive.
I see that you have joy, and I want that.
So I very intentional. My God.
My health and life, coach certification because I believe
that you are so intimately connected.
I was certified with the health coaches to do and they're very
rooted in Behavioral Health. So that is teaching you to be
accountable for your actions, your environment, your
lifestyle, because all of that is equally as important as
nutrition. That's what I incorporate into
my coaching. We talked about, you know,
thinking patterns, we talk about the way that you speak your mind
times height. Your Time hygiene, you know,
sleep hygiene and nutrition. So I'm very detailed and
obviously, my experiences have taught me a lot, so I can be a
Super Geek and look at your labs and figure out blood work and
microbiome testing, but I can also be provide perspective for
people that need to get out of their own heads or people that
are hitting a plateau. So, Honestly, I work with older
women. I work with younger guys who are
trying to change body composition, but I was think the
most common client would be autoimmune Spectrum whether that
be skin disorder or Crohn's disease or Hashimoto's,
autoimmune is all over the but that is a lot of what I work
with. You've mentioned spirituality
few times on the spot. S.
Was that something that held a big place in your life as you
were going through all this stuff or did that come more?
So after you've started to recover, That was that was
Catalyst in that emergency room. I changed my mind because God
convicted because I was addicted to get 0.
Like I said, I was like, I mentioned I was struggling with
binge eating and I would never go out and like binge on junk
food. I have never done that.
I've been judged on keto junk. So I was going to the Vitamin
Shoppe in, getting like Quest, nacho chips.
I was addicted sceeto. So in that emergency room God
convicted and you pretty much just twisted my arm and said,
you have to surrender this crap and I knew that I was doing it
out of a place of fear. Instead of faith.
I was very afraid and that was my only sense of control.
I knew he do back and forth. I had almost a dependency on
seeing that Ketone number super-high.
I was always like 6.0 my blood sugar's were always like 65
Super, you know, just super ketogenic and it was almost like
a fault like it was my comfort zone, and I needed to surrender
that to God and God, really broke through.
And then emergency room. He was like, look what, like
this is what this is, what has gotten you, what are you doing?
And so I had to give that up and just say, I'm addicted to this.
Do I need to stop it? And this carnivore thing makes
sense. So I need to give it back my
best shot, but I'm gonna Out this perfectionism and I'm going
to receive your grace gun and you're going to give me the
strength to do this and he did. And that's when I started using
my critical thinking skills. So spirituality is everything.
My spiritual life. My relationship with God is what
compelled me to make any of these changes.
A lot of people are like, oh Rebecca, you're a Healer or, you
know, you feel yourself, but that's not true.
God healed, me. God gave me the wisdom.
God gave me. The strength.
I was I chose to be obedient and I did play a role, but God is,
God is good. And he is the Healer.
Me, me is the medicine and got a singular.
So yeah. Faith is everything because that
determines my identity and who I am, like I said I came home and
I had a backbone of think for myself because I gave up my
addiction. Your story.
I've said this many times, but your story, truly, is inspiring
me. There's so many people that I
know that they don't know where to turn.
They don't know, you know, they have no perspective and I feel
like, you know, in the moment like when you're going through
all this stuff, like when you're 69 pounds, you would rather be
anywhere than where you are. But the fact that you've been
there, the fact that you spent so much time there, the fact
that you've gone through the hell that you've gone through
that. Makes your story, your journey,
your perspective, and your ability to impart that wisdom
onto others. Just so, so much grander, so
I've got no doubt that all of this will be for a better
purpose for a bigger purpose that you're going to be able to
touch so many more people's lives than you ever would have
thought possible. Thank you.
I appreciate that and I appreciate you guys doing
Crystal. This is forever.
You guys were there when no one else was there and I know you're
still doing that for people. So I'm really glad, I'm really
glad that it worked out in that we can have this conversation
today. It's almost surreal.
It's gone by. It feels like yesterday.
I'll never forget that. Well, I feel, I feel bad.
I mean, it's been a long time since 2017.
I feel like there's probably a lot more I could have done in
that window. So I apologize for not doing
more. Not at all.
Well, Rebecca, where do people go to find out?
More about you follow along on this journey, scroll back on
your timeline and see some of these before pictures.
Like, where do people go to dig deeper into your life and what
you get coming, so my website is tailored to do DOT health, and
I'm an Instagram at Taylor, keto health, and so you can email me
from my Instagram. That's where I'm most most
active. If you're interested in my
retreat, please shoot me a message.
On Instagram and like I said, I have my book coming up and then
my cookbooks sometime next year and then I'll have to retreat
every year. So if you're interested in any
of those just freaked out and then I do one-on-one coaching to
all the time. So I'm always here for that.
Awesome. Awesome.
I will definitely be Lincoln on to all those signs will be
shouting from the rooftops. Make it easy for people to find
you because your story is one that needs to be heard Rebecca.
There's everything I can do for you.
Just just let me know. Thanks so much.
Bye bye. Yeah, take care and talk soon.
All right.