I felt like shit for 2.5 years postpartum–how bloodwork + a habit tracker helped me feel like myself again
My personal health story + a free printable habit tracker for you! ♥️
Psstt you’ll want to read this post in the Substack app or your browser for the best experience!
Happy MARCH!
Huzzah! Spring is on the horizon! We’re almost there! 😂
I’ve always said that January is NOT my new year. SPRING is my new year. And as soon as a heat wave hit Chicago this week (I mean, relatively speaking–although it’s back to 25 degrees today) I thought to myself, “alright. It’s time to get my healthy habits back in gear.”
You too? Or have you been back on the horse since January? 😂 (According to my Instagram stories yesterday, most of you are in the same boat as me–which made me feel more normal! 🤪 Thanks for that!)
I first started out writing this post (months ago, if we’re being honest!) to tell you about how a printable habit tracker changed my life last year, but then I realized this is actually a much bigger conversation.
One I haven’t shared publicly before, because, well, sharing about the topic of “health-related things” online has become really contentious and I definitely don’t want to come across as giving medical advice or pretending like I am an expert of any kind.
(This is the main reason for the paywall here–I know nobody in this inner circle is going to misconstrue my intentions!)
BUT–I spent way too long feeling like an 80 year old in a mid-thirties body. I was just SO. TIRED. ALL. THE. TIME. And I know there are others out there who are currently feeling this way.
So if this is you, and you’re feeling really defeated because another year has rolled over and you’re STILL running on empty 24/7, or something in your body doesn’t feel quite right–and you KNOW there has to be a reason why–you’re in the right place.
I hope by just sharing my experience, I can help a few of you, too. ♥️
For years I struggled with feeling straight-up exhausted. Like, as if I had run a full marathon even though I was consistently getting 8+ hours of sleep every night.
This actually started before I got pregnant, but it was very much exacerbated postpartum. (And by postpartum I mean, like, until June was 2.5 years old. “Postpartum” is actually WAY LONGER than the standard old three months of “maternity leave” – *gasp.*)
I remember going to my annual gyno checkup and telling my doctor, “I have a first-trimester level of exhaustion every day, minus the actual being pregnant part. I’m worried something is really wrong with me.”
She shrugged, ran some blood tests, (maybe it was Thyroid?) but everything came back “normal.”
I knew this WAS NOT, indeed, NORMAL, despite what my doctor told me. 😡
I don’t want anyone else suffering through this if I can help it! Thus, why you’re reading this post right now.
I’ll admit, this post is a long one. (Would I even be ME without my long-winded posts? 😂 I just feel like you need all the details!) So let me give you a little recap of what you’ll find below:
Here’s what you can expect to get out of this post:
My personal story of how I went from feeling exhausted 24/7 to actually feeling *my age* instead of…80 years old. (Good news: It was way more doable than I expected. Yes, of course, this will ABSOLUTELY be individual for everyone, but I hope by sharing what worked for me, you can come away with some steps that may work for you! This will also be the second of 100 times I say I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL + THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE MEDICAL ADVICE.)
More about the local Chicago MD (Dr. Johnson) I saw for bloodwork, an overview of the results, and the changes I implemented based on those findings. Note, I have zero affiliation with my doctor in any capacity other than being a patient! I’m simply sharing in hopes it can help someone else because the impact getting in-depth bloodwork had on my life has been enormous. Also, some other companies on my radar that also offer in-depth panels and personalized services.
Exactly what I did + my two cents on how to start SMALL with building your healthy habits, when you feel like you have zero time, energy, and you feel defeated and like there’s no way you can actually STICK to anything long term. (I promise that you can! If I can do it, I know you can too!)
As a bonus to the aunties with a paid subscription, I’m including my free downloadable printable habit tracker at the end of this post (both a weekly and a monthly view–so you can track week by week or at a month’s glance–whichever is most motivating to you!)
If this is you and you know this post would be really helpful to read but a paid subscription is not in your budget at this time (*I’ve been there! NO SHAME!*) please email me at HELLO [at] JESSKEYS.COM and I am happy to comp you a month subscription so you can access the full article. ♥️
I’d also love to invite you to come over to our habit tracking chat thread (open to all subscribers–free and paid!) so we can share what we’re all tracking, host some check-in chats, and be accountability partners!