Where have I been? A real and raw little life update...

Hi all!

I'm so sorry I've been super MIA over the last few months. Life has been quite busy, and part of me feels guilty for not keeping you all up to date! But let's be honest, we can't change the past.

So what have I been up to?

Juggling uni, work, and life. If I'm completely honest, this trimester at uni has been a bit harder for me. I don't know if it's because the uni workload seemed a bit heavier, life just got busier, this winter was a bit of a downer, or my fatigue got the better of me.

I recently opened up on Instagram about my experience with chronic fatigue. I've been dealing with it on and off for a few years now, and I honestly think it all started around the time I was dealing with my eating disorder (although I can't pin-point exactly when). I'm feeling super grateful for the fact that I'm still high functioning, but I do need to take it easy in order to make sure that I don't push myself too hard.

It has been a huge learning experience for me. I've learnt so much about myself and my body, as well as how to be more intuitive. I've had to come to accept the fact that at the moment I can't have late nights (although this is getting better), I need more sleep than the average person, and I can't drink alcohol. For those who know me well, you will likely be aware that I used to enjoy quite a large amount of alcohol for a few years after turning 18. But as I got a bit older, I began to enjoy drinking occasionally, especially enjoying a glass of wine every now and again. But for me at current I can't even enjoy that glass of wine, specifically because every time I have done so over the last 1.5 years I have been left with a relapse of anxiety and depression the days following. Not fun! As a healthcare professional, I'm aware of the impact alcohol has on the body, but part of me misses the days of just enjoying an occasional drink with friends.

This year I have been working with my amazing Naturopath and a fantastic Integrative GP! This GP is absolutely phenomenal, and I'm super grateful to have the opportunity to work with him. He's been helping me to get to the root cause of my fatigue, and a few other issues I've been experiencing with my thyroid and detoxification capabilities. He recently tested my DNA, checking for gene variations in my liver detoxification pathways. This has been a real eye opener for me and has helped me to better understand why my liver's ability to detoxify isn't as optimal as it it should be. Working with him and my Naturopath, I'm currently taking a mixture of herbs to support my liver to function adequately. Plant medicine is absolutely phenomenal! In addition to this, I'm also currently waiting on some other results that may assist in understanding why my thyroid has been functioning not so optimally, which I believe is one of the major reasons I feel so fatigued so often, even though I'm on thyroid hormone medication at current. I'll keep you guys in the loop once I know more about what's going on in the next few weeks! As per usual for me, there have been a few other things going on, but I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time in order to not worry too much. The time to focus on these will come soon enough.

Anyway, now that it's finally Spring in Melbourne, I've found a renewed passion to be creative and will be pumping out some new recipes and blog posts for you all to read! I promise it won't be as long this time...

Much love,

Ashleigh xxx