so we have all grown up hearing . . . an apple a day keeps the doctor away. veggies will give you all your vitamins. that’s why ya gotta eat em. chomp down that spinach for your iron supply.

well i am here to tell you. a damn apple a day is just not enough. you can eat an entire produce stand and still not get enough vitamins. and juice all the dang spinach you want. it doesn’t guarantee that your will have adequate iron levels.

you guys. you women! you have got to pay attention to your vitamin levels. it is so vitally important.

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this past year has been a huge wake up call for me. and it all boils down to vitamins & nutrients. but even more so . . . listening to your body. being your own advocate. and thinking outside the box.

let me take you back several months. i was just so. dang. tired. all. the dang. time.

sure i do not have a thyroid. so that can sometimes cause fatigue. i am a single mom of three very energetic little boys. yup. that can be exhausting. but this was different. I would sleep ten hours. and then wake up tired. i just was running on empty. it was not a normal tired. it was a tired that made me want to cry.

and speaking of crying. the cryinggggg. i could not stop crying. like literally. i would get upset & the tears were uncontrollable. it was like i could not get my brain to think strait to process though the emotion of why i was crying.

that sounds dramatic. but i am being totally serious. it was pathetic.

now. I have always stuggled with anxiety. i used to be very embarrassed of this. like would hide it from friends. would cancel plans for fear of having a panic attack. those days are gone. i aint proud of my anxiety disorder. but i for damn sure am not embarrassed of it. it is a small part of who i am. love me. or leave me. if you are not the friend that will just hug me tight in the midst of a panic attack . . . then you are no friend of mine.

all that to be said. i have struggled with anxiety for years. i have had an amazing therapist for years. but i have never struggled with sadness like this. it scared me. what is this?!!

I called my therapist. honestly. she is a god send. worth traveling for if you are not local. so i call her and i am like something is not right . . . .

i say this giggling to myself now. but she was like yes, kristen. something is not right. i have been your therapist for over a decade. and this is not right. when was the last time you have a full blood panel with all your vitamins done?

you better believe i ran and got my blood work done before the sun was up the next morning. i called my therapist and read her the lab results.

she was equal parts:

t i c k e d o f f that my levels were so bad & my doctor wasn’t more aggressive with fixing it.

e m p a t h e t i c because she knew how depleted my body was. running on literal fumes.

and h u m o r e d because she hit the nail on the head. per usual. she always does.

she’s like kristen. your levels are so dangerously low. it is no wonder you are feeling this way. the symptoms you are feeling are the exact symptoms of low vitamin d & b. go get your tooshie to the doctor & get vitamin shots every dang week.

and so i did.

and would you believe that within days of pumping my body with those vitamins. i felt normal again. i felt like myself again. it felt as if a cloud had lifted. it was mind blowing to me.

from one woman to another. i cannot impress how it is so vitally important to make sure you are getting adequate vitamins. it has such a huge impact on your energy levels. your emotional wellbeing. your quality of life.

there is not a day that i do not miss taking my vitamins. and there is not a week that goes by that i don’t get my infusion or shots. it is essential for me.

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ironically. around this same time frame. i was really struggling with my middle rascal. his temper tantrums were out of control. his crying was persistent. i was losing control.

but then it hit me. maybe he felt like he was losing control. maybe this little rascal was struggling due to low vitamin levels & did not know how to articulate what he was feeling. and so it showed its ugly face through tantrums and meltdowns and screams.

i sort of had a lightbulb moments. if i could feel that terrible. basically having a grown up temper tantrum. and the root was depleted vitamins. he could too.

and so I decided to experiment.

i force fed him the motherload of vitamins. literally. probably more than i needed to. but i was on a mission. and hey. if he had too many vitamins he would just tinkle them out right?

would you know it. within days. his agitation eased. his ability to control emotions strengthened. his reactions were shorter. there was a shift. i noticed it. ron noticed it. my mom noticed it.

much like my therapist. i felt equal parts ticked. empathetic. and humored.

ticked that i had failed him as a mom. empathetic that he was struggling and couldn’t verbalize it. and humored that it was an easy fix. but hell to the yes! give us allllllll the vitamins. mama gets vitamins. babies get vitamins. everyone gets vitamins!!!!

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disclaimer* my pierce is still a very strong willed. very spirited. very big personality of a child. vitamins don’t change that. they just give him the ability to use those attributes in a better way! still sometimes a frustrating way. but remarkably better.

i share all of this with you as a huge psa. check your levels. stay on top of it gang. you deserve to feel your best & be thriving. food will not always supply everything you need. eat your best. but bridge the gap & supplement where it is needed.

your bodies will thank you. hugely.

i am going to share all the vitamins i give to my rascals every single day. without fail. feel free to shop them & nourish your kiddos in the same way. i would be willing to bet that you will see behavioral & mood changes . . . for the better.