by Christina | Jan 29, 2020 | Wellness
Theresa Piela
Age: 27
Location: Santa Rosa, California
I stumbled across Christina’s work in a desperate attempt to keep my body alive. Like her, doctors and specialists across the nation continued to write me off as one of their most complicated “mystery cases.” What started as minor bloating and fatigue in 2nd grade had progressed into a complex soup of diagnoses: Lyme and co-infections, EBV, parasites (including dog tapeworms), early onset ovarian failure, SIBO, a C. difficile infection, osteoporosis, heavy metal toxicity, toxic mold exposure, methylation mutations, muscle wasting and malabsorption, leaky gut, food sensitivities to literally everything, an anxiety disorder, a sleep disorder, hormone imbalances, hypothyroidism, POTS, mast-cell activation syndrome…The more experts I visited and the more programs I tried, the sicker I became, resulting in spending most of my day in bed, on the floor, or in the bathtub, manually emptying my colon of undigested paleo “superfoods” because it had lost the ability to do so on its own. My weight had dropped to 79 pounds, my gut seemed unable to process and expel foods, and it felt like I had tried every pharmaceutical, elimination diet, supplement, breathing technique, protocol, essential oil, therapy, and bodywork treatment out there, with no lasting improvement.
One day, while laying on the floor in a thick fog of fatigue and fear with my swollen belly distracting my attention, I decided to google “hydrogen sulfide SIBO NTP.” I found an interview on Mind Pump Media interviewing Christina, curious to hear more about someone who had an eerily similar story. Her story hooked me instantly. I started scrolling through her website and in astonishment, could not believe how much we had in common and most importantly, that she had found a way through the darkness. In the time between reaching out and our first appointment, I dove into a strict carnivore diet, as what felt like my last attempt to keep my body functioning. Her post on eating carnivore gave me the inspiration to try it, despite initial disgust of the idea of eating only meat. I can confidently say that carnivore combined with Christina Rice’s support provided the framework that saved my life and gave me the strength to keep going. If I didn’t die from organ failure, the heaviness of my spirit from being so sick for so long was enough to make suicide feel like the final and most appropriate option. Christina turned all of that around.
Beyond carnivore nutrition and some basic supplements, she found a way to infuse hope, confidence, and trust back into my life. For the first time, I started to BELIEVE and visualize a healthy Theresa, smiling, strong, and vital. She reminded me of my own power, encouraging me to develop hobbies and passions outside of just researching the next treatment step, to remind the brain and all of my cells that health is possible. She reminded me of the power of my own thoughts, language, and stories, and how brain rewiring could lay a new foundation for true healing to take place. Her reiki sessions allowed my body to slow down enough to actually rest, a feeling that had become foreign and almost strange to my chronically stressed system.
While working with her, I was able to gain 20% of my bodyweight back, a feat requiring her support, humor, and firm but gentle real-talk. Thanks to Christina, I started living again, laughing again, drawing, dancing, climbing, and even volunteering and reaching out to friends I hadn’t spoken to in years. I started blogging (www.theresapiela.com)! I started relaxing and just watching the crows. I started crafting my life with a sense of abundance and getting more excited as I reflected on how quickly things were improving. I started to remember how excited I was to be alive and how eager I felt to create, connect, and use my experiences as a way to support others. Fueled by meat, (and bones and organs), I was learning to be a human, capable of joy and thinking past my then current limitations.
About 9 months later, I am feeling more vital, determined, and inspired than ever before. I am preparing to open my own colon hydrotherapy business, a feat that was previously impossible given my physical and mental limitations at the time. Christina Rice reminded me that healing was and is possible, that there is always something to try, and that the beauty and joy of life is always there if we slow down enough to pay attention to it. Sometimes, it’s about removing all the gunk and supplements and yes, plants, and letting the body stabilize so that it can start to shift out of its own tangles.
On top of Christina’s blog posts and podcast episodes, I found her one-on-one support to be the most helpful. I’d leave sessions with her feeling re-inspired and determined, with a sense of lightness and possibility buoying my spirit. She was not afraid to be real with me and call me out when I was thinking or acting ridiculously, which is exactly the kind of healer I now know I work well with. She reminded me and taught me how to take healing back into my own hands, tuning in to understand what my body needed and how it responded, no longer requiring an expert to figure it out for me. She taught me how to experiment and then act accordingly, with confidence. As a previous skeptic of Reiki, I fell in love with the calm she magically conjured up for me. Even my partner could sense a difference in the texture of my mood after an appointment with Christina! As someone that shares an almost identical healing journey, I am honored and inspired to have her support and guidance along the path.
by Christina | Jan 19, 2020 | Wellness
https://youtu.be/Tf8angbii1I
Have you ever been confused about what order to use your skincare products in?! This is one of the most common questions I get asked, because the order of application does matter if you want optimal results! It’s important to make sure your skincare products can fully soak in and activate so you’ll get their full benefits.
In general, you want to clean your skin completely first and then apply your products in order of thickness. I like to gently massage each product into my skin for maximum absorption, and I wait for one product to soak in / dry before moving to the next. I also always allow any acids to sit for 15-30 minutes before applying any moisturizer on top so the acid has a chance to fully activate. Personally, I use an acid every other day.
You can watch my YouTube video for a complete explanation of when to use each product in your skincare regimen as well as some of my favorite nontoxic skincare products, but here I’ll give you a breakdown of my order of application and links to the products I’m currently using. You can just insert your own products in the corresponding order! If you don’t use certain products, just skip the step – not all steps are required. For example, feel free to skip the toner, acid, eye cream, facial oil, spot treatment, etc.
Morning Skincare Routine (A.M.)
- Cleanser – Charcoal Bar
- Toner / Essence – Countertime Mineral Boost Hydrating Essence
- Serum (in order of thickness) – CLEARstem Cell Renew, Countertime Tripeptide Radiance Serum
- Moisturizer (can add drop of facial oil if you want) – Countertime Antioxidant Soft Cream
- SPF – COOLA Mineral Face Matte Moisturizer (SPF 30)
Nighttime Skincare Routine (P.M.)
- Cleanser – Countertime Lipid Defense Cleansing Oil
- Toner / Essence – Countertime Mineral Boost Hydrating Essence
- Acid (let sit for at least 15 minutes before applying next product) – Beautycounter Overnight Resurfacing Peel or CLEARstem CLEARity
- Serum (in order of thickness) – CLEARstem Cell Renew, Countertime Tripeptide Radiance Serum
- Spot Treatment (allow to dry before applying anything on top, or even avoid applying anything on top of the area being treated) – Countercontrol SOS Acne Spot Treatment
- Eye Cream – Countertime Ultra Renewal Eye Cream
- Moisturizer (If your moisturizer is very thick, like the Countertime Tetrapeptide Supreme Cream, then apply the moisturizer after the facial oil. If your moisturizer is thin or regular thickness, apply it here.) – Countermatch Adaptive Moisture Lotion
- Facial Oil – Counter+ No. 1 Brightening Facial Oil
- (Moisturizer, if thick formula) – Countertime Tetrapeptide Supreme Cream
by Christina | Jan 13, 2020 | Wellness
When I first became interested in the carnivore diet over a year ago, the healing stories really amazed me. People were healing from autoimmune diseases, severe gut issues, hormone imbalances, mental health disorders, and, of course, food sensitivities. One of my friends tried the carnivore diet very early on in its popularity, and he told me he wanted to see if it could get rid of his gluten intolerance. This friend had been following a strict ketogenic diet for years and is extremely well-versed in health science (it was actually his job to research ketogenic diets, amongst other things). He couldn’t remember the last time he had tried pasta, pizza, or any kind of bread. So he did the carnivore diet for 30 days, and afterwards he reintroduced gluten with no issues. He ate a bowl of pasta with no symptoms. That definitely peaked my interest. Not because I have any desire to reintroduce gluten (head here for my thoughts on consuming gluten), but because the carnivore diet clearly acted as a very strong gut reset. It went past being the ultimate elimination diet – it was actually healing the gut.
I tried carnivore for the first time over a year ago and only stuck with it for 2 weeks. I tried it again this year and stayed strict carnivore for about a month and a half, during which time I could definitely tell my body was healing. During the holidays, I started eating more carnivore-ish to prevent any extra stress, and I let myself eat whatever I wanted when we went to Maui at the end of December, which ended up being acai bowls, ribs, and fish. By the end of that trip, I was very ready to get back to eating carnivore. My body honestly felt awful.
Since then, I’m back to eating carnivore-ish, which currently is about 97% carnivore. I feel best this way right now. Anyways, something interesting that happened after my first full 30 days of carnivore was that some of my food intolerances seemed to go away. In some ways, eating carnivore made my reactions to plant foods even worse than before because my body wasn’t used to digesting them, but I was shocked at what happened with dairy, coffee, and gluten.
The first thing I’ve noticed is that I no longer have immediate reactions to dairy. (I can’t comment on what’s happening internally, though.) In the past, consuming dairy always gave me a lot of digestive issues and triggered cystic acne. Whenever I’d have it, that night I’d be in severe pain, get extremely bloated, and either have awful diarrhea or get super constipated. #SorryNotSorry if TMI – that’s what I’m all about. The next morning or the following day, I would ALWAYS wake up with 4-5 cysts forming under my skin.
Since my strict month and a half on carnivore, though, nothing noticeable seems to happen anymore when I eat dairy. I first tried raw, grass-fed dairy, and I had zero problems. I felt pretty comfortable having that regularly, and consider it a healthy addition to someone’s diet if they tolerate it. Then I tried pastured butter, and everything was fine. Then I tried regular butter, regular yogurt, heavy whipping cream, normal eggnog, and regular ole’ milk chocolate, and I was fine. Aaaaand to be honest, I was having a lot more than you might expect. I did notice that after about 2 weeks of consuming it every day, my stomach did not feel great, but that could have just as easily been because the foods I was eating that contained dairy also had plenty of sugar and carbs, which I suspect was really the issue. Very unlike me, but I was curious to test my limits, if I’m being honest. This excites me not because dairy will be a regular part of my diet, but because the carnivore diet is definitely helping me heal. I still prefer not to consume dairy because I don’t want it to activate my immune system internally, affect my hormones negatively, or trigger cravings, but it’s good to know that I’ll survive if it happens to be in something I eat.
The next thing I noticed is that I’ve been tolerating coffee quite well. Christina, drinking coffee?! Who am I?! I feel like a different person because I’ve been drinking more caffeine, but it’s making me feel good, and my adrenals have improved immensely in the last few months. Coffee, though, used to always give me stomachaches, and now I can have it regularly without any stomach pain.
Lastly, the gluten! This is not something I wanted to test out on purpose because of my autoimmune disease, but I accidentally ate some gluten in Hawaii, and I survived. Right after I ate the dessert I felt a little stomach pain, but I took some charcoal and it went away. When I’ve accidentally consumed gluten in the past, typically I’m in excruciating pain for quite some time, throw up, get a huge rash on my body, get blurry vision, and / or have full body aches to the point where I cannot get up for days. There have been about 2 times when I accidentally got glutened and nothing happened, but that’s not the norm. So I’m not totally sure if this was a fluke or really showing that my gut has healed quite a bit, but it was an interesting experiment. I won’t be pushing the limits on that or testing it out, but thought you might be interested in that experence!
Either way, I’d say it’s a win that my immediate symptoms to dairy have seemed to go away. This isn’t the most profound effect of the carnivore diet on my body, but I’d say it’s a very interesting one and useful to know if you are someone who really does just want to add dairy back into their diet. I’m excited to see how things continue to change as I keep eating mostly carnivore.
Any questions? Drop them below!
by Christina | Jan 12, 2020 | Spirituality
Now that we’re over a week into 2020, I can confirm that the huge energetic shifts I felt coming at the end of 2019 as we approached the new year definitely came. I don’t usually notice the difference from one year to the next (it’s like a birthday – do you ever really feel different?), but this time I felt it. I had a lot of goals in mind for the new year before it even started, and now that it’s here, I feel very strong energy motivating me to make it all happen.
Last year was my year to rebuild, grow behind the scenes, float, and turn inward. 2020, though, is the year of productivity, efficiency, expansion, and hustling. I have a lot of little changes I want to make in my life this year that I think will add together to create a big impact, and I’m making these adjustments all with the intention of maximizing my productivity.
I want to share my 2020 intentions with you, and they’re a mixture of specific and general, physical and emotional, work-related and personal, manifestations and immediate actions. Some small shifts, and others bigger. For me, though, they all make sense together, and I’m excited to see how things change! In 2020 I plan to…
- Wake up early. This is really the most crucial, and most difficult, change for me. We always want to get to the “root cause” of health issues, and not getting up early enough is the “root cause” of any productivity “issues” I might have. Without this, I won’t be able to get all the things I want to get done actually done. Even if I’m awake for the same number of hours in a day as before, the timing of those hours really matters. My definition of early might be late for you…who knows. For me, I’d like to get up sometime between 5-6:30, depending on the day, and be asleep between 9-10. This will be quite the challenge for me, because I have always been such a night owl. I haven’t gone to sleep before 10 P.M. regularly since I was in the 4th grade. But if I want to get everything done that I hope to this year, I’m going to need plenty of uninterrupted time in my morning.
- Write for 2-3 uninterrupted hours as many days as possible. This is related to waking up early. If I want uninterrupted writing time, it has to be in the morning or at night, so I’m trying to get up early to have a few uninterrupted hours to get deep work done before interacting with the rest of the world.
- Overhaul my schedule. This is also related to the first two. I’ve always had a clear daily schedule, but it needs to be adjusted for maximum efficiency. My schedule last year was pretty much molded to work with my detox protocol and doctor appointments, but this year is about being productive. The interesting thing about productivity is that you can have the same to-do list in a day, but you’ll get work done faster if you arrange your schedule wisely.
- Sleep at least 8 hours each night. I am usually pretty good about this when left to my own devices, but things go awry when I travel. I also was not good about this at the end of 2019 because *someone* was keeping me up late on the phone, which I wouldn’t change. But I was a bit sleep deprived. This is the year of sleep.
- Read every day. Even if it’s just a page! I didn’t get much reading done last year other than when I was doing research, and this year I’d like to consistently read books and actually finish them. I tend to “search” books for the information I need in the moment and never really finish the whole thing, so this year I’d like to change that.
- Stretch daily. I’m the worst about this. I am sad to say I never stretch, which is not ideal. I can feel the tension in my body all the time. I need to set aside the time to stretch at least a little bit each day!
- Finish my mold detox protocol. I took a break at the end of 2019 and it was so nice, but I’m getting back into it now. Detoxing is very time consuming and pretty expensive to maintain, so I’m manifesting that I’ll fully detox from mold this year and leave this chapter behind me.
- Have at least one long technology detox. My technology fast last year was probably one of my favorite weeks of my life thus far. I went to an Airbnb on the beach by myself for a week without any technology, and I have never felt more relaxed or in tune. I definitely want to do a full tech detox again this year, in addition to my regular social media detoxes!
- Outsource as much as I can. I try to do this, but I think I’ve just been in the habit of doing it all myself for so long that I often forget to hand things off to someone else if at all possible. I’m definitely learning, though.
- Share more personal content on the blog. In the last year I turned so inward that I honestly forgot to share as much as I would have liked to, and I was navigating through so many different things that I couldn’t keep it all straight myself. But I built this blog on sharing my story because I know it helps others, so I think it’s time to bring more of it back. This year I have a lot I want to talk about.
- More solo podcast episodes. I had so many incredible interviews last year that I loved, but this year I want to do more solo episodes about different topics you specifically request rather than tailoring the topic to the guest. I also feel more connected to you on a personal level when I have more regular solo episodes, so I’m excited to do them more often!
- Do one thing at a time. I am always trying to multi-task, but that ends up making me inefficient at everything I do. I get impatient and my mind goes a million different places at once sometimes, so I end up trying to do a few things at once rather than giving each my full attention. This year I’m trying not to multitask.
- Finish one thing before I start something else. This is similar to the previous point, but slightly different. This applies with multitasking during the day and trying to do 2 things at a time, but I really mean in terms of projects with work. It feels like I always have 4-5 “big” projects I’m working on at a time, and I need to start finishing one big idea before moving to the next, so I don’t get overwhelmed with so many tasks at once.
- Release at least 3 courses. I have plenty of courses mapped out – but it’s just about finishing my new website updates, carving out the time for course creation, and making it happen.
- Totally finish writing 2 books and be in the middle of the third. I have two books I’m sitting on that I want to finally be totally done with this year. One has been 95% done for 1.5 years, and the other has been about halfway done for a year. The third has had bits and pieces done for some time. I need to focus on finishing those first two so that I can give the third my full attention!
- Grow my Beautycounter team. This is nonspecific for a reason. I’m a nonspecific manifestor, and I simply want to grow my team because I love mentoring so much. It was something I didn’t realize I liked so much until this year, and now I can’t wait to continue to help more women grow their businesses. A growing team obviously brings me more income, and more income is always a goal, but I really say this because of how rewarding mentoring is. I love helping people with business, helping them build their confidence, watching women earn financial freedom, and supporting our fight for important rights.
- Live according to my human design. I became verrrry interested in Astrology and Human Design in 2019, and I started working with a Human Design mentor who teaches you the intricacies of your HD chart and how to live according to your design. (She is coming on the podcast soon!) I’ve learned so much already and the small changes I’ve made have really helped, so I’m excited to keep learning more and making lifestyle changes to fully step into the way my soul was supposed to live!
I have already made a few of these changes, and some of them are in progress, but I already feel this year is so much better than the last. This year is going to be all about productivity, and I know I can make it happen!
What are some of your intentions for 2020?
by Christina | Jan 9, 2020 | Wellness
One of the most common mistakes people make again and again, and one that I have made myself, is taking “health advice” meant for an entirely different type of person and applying it to themselves.
When it comes to health recommendations, the best advice you’ll ever get will be individualized for your particular body, taking into account your health history, your current health status, your lifestyle, your goals, your metabolism, your genetics, and so on. That being said, I understand that not everyone wants to dive right into working with someone 1:1, which is why they turn to the internet for information. The internet is an amazing place to learn so much valuable information, but it’s like the Wild West when it comes to health advice. It can be very dangerous when people try to apply health information to themselves that isn’t really meant for a person in their scenario. This almost always happens unknowingly, which is why people get stuck in cycles with no results.
If you’re malnourished, you probably don’t want to follow advice meant for someone trying to lose weight.
If you have a chronic illness, you probably don’t want to follow advice meant for someone with no health issues.
If you’re a 25 year-old woman, you probably don’t want to follow advice meant for a 50 year-old man.
If you’re an athlete, you probably don’t want to follow advice meant for a sedentary person with no performance goals.
You get my point. I have a lot of personal experience with this. When I was first diving deep into health and wellness, I was also battling extreme gut dysbiosis, adrenal burnout, and severe malnourishment. All I knew was that I needed to get healthier, so I looked for the best advice on “how to get healthy.” In the media, though, being healthy is synonymous with weight loss, and weight loss is usually targeted towards middle-aged men and women who are largely sedentary. I was a 20-year-old, underweight, exercise-addicted woman who had lost her period. I definitely shouldn’t have been following any “general health advice” from the media and other bloggers with no health issues.
Because of that mismatch, I continued to get even worse despite doing everything I was told was “healthy”….. yet I had no idea why my health kept declining. Even when I started working with different nutritionists, a few of them simply gave me the same generic nutrition sheet / meal plan they gave to everyone. Of course that didn’t help!
When I finally found a nutritionist who individualized a plan for me, I had a tough time sticking with it because I second-guessed everything she said. Even when I started finding much better, quality advice in my research targeted towards people with severe gut dysbiosis, autoimmune diseases, and chronic illness, it took me quite some time to really listen. I still had all the noise in my head of what I “should” be doing to be healthy – Drink a green smoothie every morning! Run for an hour a day! Eat lean protein and steamed veggies with your meals! Flax and chia will save your digestion! – so at first it was hard for me to let that advice go.
It wasn’t until I finally realized that health advice for me was not to be confused with advice meant for someone who was overweight, sedentary, an athlete, a middle-aged woman, or someone with perfect digestion, great hormonal balance, and stable mental health. I needed to eat more food in general, to eat more fat, to rest more, to avoid certain fibers, to stop cardio, and to avoid liquid meals – all things that Cosmo magazine and Sally Sue on her health and fitness blog definitely weren’t promoting as “healthy.”
You’ll never get anywhere with your health goals until you start following advice meant for you. I can’t tell you how many clients have come to me after spending months or years desperately trying to improve their health, but only digging themselves into a deeper hole because they were trying to follow their favorite blogger’s health advice or something they read out of a book. “Well, isn’t this healthy?,” they ask. The real question is, though, What’s healthy for YOU?! It’s ironic how often people actually need to do the opposite of what’s been marketed to them as the healthiest habits.
Remember that everyone has different needs, and you’ll reach your results much more quickly if you look for information created for someone in your situation. Start thinking about where you’ve gotten information and where you’re learning things from. Have you been accidentally trying to follow recommendations for someone in a completely different demographic?!
If you’re looking to lose weight, look for advice for someone who specializes in your age range and gender. If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, don’t follow advice for people who are overweight. If you’re an athlete, look for advice for someone who focuses on performance, not advice for people just getting into fitness or who are generally sedentary. If you’re post-menopausal, your body will work differently than a pre-menopausal woman’s body. If you want to bulk, don’t follow advice for someone who wants to cut. If you struggle with bloating, constipation, or diarrhea, look for someone who focuses on that type of gut health issue. If you have adrenal burnout, don’t follow advice meant for the average lazy person on the web.
For any women out there, this is especially relevant to you. Not only because women are targeted more often for “health advice,” but also because our bodies are more sensitive to stressors than men’s are. It doesn’t take as much for us to throw our hormones out of whack, stress out our guts, and burn ourselves out overall. Pay extra attention to what you’re consuming and implementing. Not being able to let go my libertine relations with my partner + other partners (regular or unknown), I wasn’t going to back off when my erections grew faulty. I took a Cialis 10mg one hour before intercourse. Even under the effect of the tablet, I would end up getting out of it, obviously not living the moment well. Probably, some psychological issues are due. Also, when I’m on Cialis, I have to take Maalox for my acid reflux due to my faulty stomach.
Sometimes the problem isn’t that people don’t want to change, it’s that they don’t know how to. Sometimes the problem isn’t that people don’t want to get information or that they don’t have information, it’s that they have the wrong information for someone in their situation. You’ll save yourself a LOT of time if you ditch the “general health advice” that’s not really talking to anyone in particular, and focus on finding gems that are relevant to YOU.
Have you ever fallen into this trap?
