My name is Rachael, also known as “Ribeye Rach”, and I am sharing my journey to healing after years of living with severe chronic illness. Through sharing my experience online, I’ve been blessed to connect with thousands of other chronic illness sufferers around the world. My biggest hope is to encourage others to believe healing is possible for them.
When I was 20 years old, I became very sick and was diagnosed with ehlers-danlos syndrome, dysautonomia, chronic lyme disease, and more. For years, I went the western medicine route, trying all sorts of medications and even major neurosurgeries. Despite seeing all the “best doctors” and trying all the treatments available, I continued to get sicker and sicker. At my worst, I was bed-bound, severely underweight, and essentially dying. My doctors were recommending more major surgeries, but I had a gut feeling that if I wanted to get better, I needed to take a different approach to healing.
Eventually, I found the carnivore diet. I was very hesitant to give it a try, but after reading so many positive stories, I knew I had to give it a shot. After starting carnivore, I gradually saw progress with my health. My fatigue and pain were decreasing, and my energy and strength were slowly increasing. Within a year, I went from needing to use a wheelchair to being able to walk a mile for the first time in 6 years. It’s difficult to describe how grateful I was to finally be able to start living life again.
Learning how important what we eat is for our health made me start to realize how many things about our modern world are harming our health. It’s become normal to eat ultra-processed foods, spend most of our time indoors, get little sunlight, and scroll for hours on social media. It’s normal to be extremely busy and stressed, taking little time to rest and slow down. It’s normal to slather toxic chemicals all over our skin on a daily basis. When you really think about it, it makes sense that we as a society are becoming sicker and sicker.
Our bodies have an ability to clear toxins, but our modern environment is often just too much for our bodies to handle. This can be a driver to send our nervous system in a crisis state where disease and serious symptoms can develop. There is so much hope for healing, though.
During my chronic illness journey, I’ve become very passionate about minimizing toxic load. This can be so impactful for healing, but it's important to approach it with a desire to support your body (rather than doing it out of fear). Fear can be more damaging to our health than the toxins themselves. Make changes at your own pace and be proud of yourself for every effort you make.
One simple way to get started with “low-tox” living is to change what you’re using for skincare. Most modern skincare has an ingredient list a mile long, including brands that claim to be “all natural”. My general rule of thumb with skincare is to only put it on my skin if I recognize all the ingredients and feel good about them.
I’ve been using beef tallow lotion on my skin for over two years now and love it. It’s simple, non-toxic, and so nourishing for the skin. Keep in mind, using tallow for skincare isn’t a new trend. It’s an ancestral practice that our modern society has lost touch with. Learn more about the benefits of using tallow for skincare here.
P.S. My favorite brand for tallow skincare is Clara & Fritz. I use their whipped tallow lotion, chapstick, oil cleanser, and sunscreen. All of their products have just a few simple, recognizable ingredients and the quality is unmatched. Once you switch to tallow, there’s no going back!
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