For those of you who are new here, allow me to introduce myself...for those of you who have followed with me you can skip on down. My name is Jessica, but I go by Jess or Crash or The Martinator. So unless you're my 90 year-old grandma or you're about to ground me for joy riding in your Lexus, don't call me Jessica. I am a science geek with a masters and more letters after my name than actually make up my own name. I love to learn, like to a point where my parents have lost hope that I'll ever leave school, but hey student loans are erased upon death so I have that going for me...
I never announced this, but in August 2018 I accepted the position teaching anatomy & physiology at Kansas State University. I decided to leave a job and people that I love at Missouri State University for an opportunity and a new challenge. It's been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. There have been more skype calls and used phone minutes than ever before, many hours spent on the road driving back and forth and more tears shed than I care to admit, but you'll never grow in your comfort zone. I have big dreams I plan to conquer and unfortunately taking this step was one way to get me closer to those dreams.
I am a bionic human held together with dental floss, some fishing wire, a role of duct tape, and a couple of screws my surgeon found at the bottom of his briefcase; no lie here. A dozen surgeries in and I am still going (I really wanted to put strong after that, but at this point I'm just glad I'm still going, ha). I'm a former collegiate soccer player, nationally ranked off-road triathlete and mountain biker, an ultramarathoner and I've recently taken up snowboarding. So as you can tell from the all encompassing list above I do not enjoy adrenaline pumping through my veins what. so. ever.
This past August I had my fourth knee surgery. Yes, you read that correctly. Number four. After spending a week in the hospital and going into anaphylaxis three or four times while I was there, it was determined that my body was rejecting my previously implanted hardware in my reconstructed knee (from blowing it out two years ago). It was also determined that I had contracted Alpha Gal earlier in the summer...it's this awesome new food allergy that you get from a tick bite that causes you to become allergic to red meat *insert eye roll here*. Let's add that to celiac (allergy to gluten) and allergies to mangoes and pineapples. Ha the list of foods I'm able to eat is getting a little short these days...
The reason why I have decided to reintroduce myself and bring light to my food allergies is that I have decided yet again to push myself outside of my comfort zone and become a consultant with Arbonne. I was skeptical when introduced to them, I thought "oh great, another fad diet." But I wanted something that could help kickstart my nutrition and get me back into the gym after another surgery. My joints felt like crap and once I got to reading about them I was blown away at all of the science and clinical research that goes into their products...and as a cell & molecular biologist this carries a lot of weight with me. I gave them a try. I did the 30 days to healthy living with my own spin on it and their protein was the first one that didn't make my stomach hurt after ingesting. Anyway, I'm excited to try something new and embark upon this new journey. I'll be sharing my thoughts throughout and my progress along with more of my story of how I got to be where I am at today, should you want to hear it. Also, if you have questions feel free to give me a shout!
But for now I am off to watch some playoff football.
Until next time friends.
- j
