Just recently, I was looking for a picture for a project and I landed back on a bunch of pictures from 2015. And I felt shocked and sort of overcome with emotion… and with joy.
Emotion because I could see how tired I was. I could read between the lines of my posts and see it in my eyes in the pictures. It all came back to me how utterly bone weary exhausted I was. How much I was living on fumes and adrenaline… and, let’s be honest, coffee… to make it through each day.
Yes, the photos of exhausted 2015 Crystal bring me right back to that place and space of burnout. And they also make me feel so grateful.
Because I BROKE FREE FROM BURNOUT! I discovered that I don’t have to live like that anymore!
In fact, just yesterday, I texted a friend, “I have so many things going on in my life right now and yet I feel so chill and relaxed and calm. It feels so good to no longer be living in emergency mode where I’m running around like a crazy woman and just barely make my deadlines and making it to bed at night every night.”
I don’t shame myself or condemn myself for being in that place of burnout in 2015. It was what I knew. It had become my existence. And I had bought into the hustle of more.
To be clear, I was chasing good things overall and my heart and intentions were good, but my body was suffering from all of the pushing and pursuing and productivity.
When I declared 2016 as my Year of Rest, little did I dream how much that commitment was going to change my life!
The changes began on the inside as I stepped back from the crazy, said no to almost everything and everyone, and pared down my life to the basics. It was in that space of quiet that I started to really re-examine my life and my priorities and realize that I had made productivity more of a priority than my family, my marriage, and my health.
I processed through a lot the first few months as I walked into a space in my life where there was so much breathing room. It felt too quiet. It felt too empty. And it forced me to work through a lot of unresolved hurt and grief and wounds I had stuffed down deep in order to stay focused and driven for so many years.
Once I had cried and cried and cried some more, I began to experience a new season of wholeness. I stopped finding my joy and worth in what I did. I stopped living life according to who I thought I was supposed to be. I started experimenting with new things and letting myself try living a little less on the ultra-frugal, ultra-minimalistic side.
This gave me newfound freedom, joy, and LIFE. It encouraged me to think long and hard about what would spark more joy in my life and I began to add in a few new things — like serving in the Children’s Ministry at church and joining a Discipleship Group at church.
And then came the completely unexpected change: I got connected with a nutritionist and made some radical changes in my diet and overall lifestyle.
I gave up coffee.
I did a cleanse.
I gave up white flour and all sweeteners and pretty much all processed food and a host of other foods.
I started drinking a gallon+ of lemon water a day.
It was torture for the first few weeks. I missed coffee and chocolate and pancakes and cinnamon rolls and, hello, all the NORMAL foods!
I was sick of salads (I had to eat them for breakfast many mornings on the eating plan — yuck!). Sick of fish. Sick of Wasa crackers. Sick of drinking so much water.
But because I’m not one to be a quitter and because I had committed to stay on the plan for 2 months, I stuck with it.
At 5 weeks in, something changed inside of me. My head cleared. My energy sky-rocketed. And I stopped craving junk food and started wanting to eat healthy stuff.
Not only that, but I felt so empowered. I was living without coffee! I was surviving without chocolate and sugar and empty carbs.
Most of all, I HAD GOTTEN OFF ALL OF MY MEDS!
Every. single. one of them.
My eczema meds.
My acne meds.
My allergy meds.
And even the 5htp that I never thought I’d be able to function without (I’d been on it ever since having Silas and any time I’d go off of it for even a day, my anxiety would come back in a serious way.)
I was functioning really, really well and feeling AMAZING — without a single pill! It was incredible — and it gave me enormous motivation to stick with the nutritional program and not give up.
It has now been almost two years since I started my Year of Rest and 14 months since I radically transformed my eating and my overall lifestyle and I look in the mirror and it almost seems as if I’m looking at a different person.
And, as a result, I have a real passion to help women break free from the bondage and exhaustion of burnout. Because I believe there is more to life than just making it through each day.
A few months ago, I launched the Say Goodbye to Survival Mode Course that offered a deep dive into my journey to break free from burnout. In that course, I promised you that more practical courses were coming to give you step-by-step practical help! 🙂
Well, what could be more practical than a course called 15 Days to a Healthier You?
We originally launched a 15 Days to a Healthier You course in January 2017 as a live video series I hosted on Facebook. We only opened up the doors for a few days and we had thousands of women register and we received an overwhelming response from people sharing how much the course positively impacted them.
Since then, we've had many requests to bring the course back again. So for the past few months, I've been working on editing it, re-doing the videos in a more professional manner, and getting it all set up as a full-length course.
And today we're officially re-launching 15 Days to a Healthier You to the public!
There are completely brand-new videos for it, a beautifully re-formatted course workbook you can download, PLUS all the lessons are set up on our snazzy new course platform over at CrystalPaine.com.
By the way, while it's a completely re-done 15 Days to a Healthier You course, we didn't want you to miss out on the benefits of the LIVE course I hosted in January, though, so we're also giving you access to all of the live videos I did + giving you the option to join the original Facebook Group for further encouragement and accountability.
What You Get When You Sign Up
When you sign up for 15 Days to a Healthier You, you’ll get immediate access to access to:
- 15 daily videos lessons — one for each day of the course.
- Daily projects to help you on your own journey to live a healthier life.
- Some of my favorite recommended resources (links, books, podcasts) to go along with each day's lesson.
- A PDF workbook including the entire course lessons that you can download and print.
- BONUS access to the 15 Days to a Healthier You Facebook group!
- BONUS access to the original 15 Days to a Healthier You video series!
- Note: The course videos and materials can be accessed via any desktop computer, laptop computer, smartphone, or mobile device. You can choose to print the workbook or download it to your computer or phone.
No, I’m Not Going to Make You Give Up Coffee!
Please note: This program is not about giving you an exact formula for what you should eat or how you should exercise. Nor am I going to try to convince you that you have to give up coffee (I promise!).
I will be talking about my own personal journey and I’m happy to share more details on what has worked for me, but I want to help you figure out what works best for YOU — and that might be very different than what works for me!
Rest assured, I will not make you give up coffee, drink a gallon of lemon water, or eat salads for breakfast! 😉 I will, however, be walking you through a lot of practical exercises to help you determine simple changes you can make so you can have more energy, feel less drained, and experience a lot more joy in your life!
CRAZY ONE-DAY $5 LAUNCH SALE!
To celebrate the launch, we're offering a CRAZY launch sale offer. And I do mean CRAZY!
Ready for this? Through midnight today only, you can get the entire course for just $5. Yes, you read that right. Just $5!
The price will never be this low again, so you won't want to miss out on this deal! Tomorrow, the price goes up to $10. And then on Friday, the price bumps up to the regular price of $15.
Are you ready to stop feeling so overwhelmed and exhausted? If so, join me for a 15-day journey to a healthier you!
P.S. We offer a 7-day money back guarantee, so if for any reason you find that this course doesn't live up to all of your expectations for it, we are happy to refund you your purchase price — no questions asked!
