So... I guess it all started last August when I was busy performing in EVITA on Broadway. I was not paying attention to my my "fake" sugar intake, chewing more gum than usual, back to drinking 32 ounces of diet coke a day and popping little sugar-free mints backstage. One must not kill ones co-workers. Anyway, one day between shows, after dinner, I popped my favorite sugar-free gum in my mouth, the flavor exploded, which I loved and the delicious minty taste filled my senses with delight... and then my throat closed off.
I couldn't breathe at all...
I could see my stage door across the street and was thinking to myself "what can I jab into my throat? How can I give myself a tracheotomy"..."oh my god I'm going to die here 30 steps from where I work in Times Square where thousands of tourists will wander by and maybe only wonder "what the hell is wrong with that woman?""..."Really this is it?" ..."ok... Kristie... spit the gum out and breathe.... breathe... walk... breathe..."..."just get to the door and at least when you turn blue and expire Sisco (one of our amazing door-men) will know who to contact."
I managed to get across the street and eventually, in what seemed like an eternity, but probably was less than a minute or two or fifteen, I was finally able to breathe... short ragged breaths that dragged over my vocal chords in tiny desperate gulps of air.
It was a big 'ol wake-up call. Funny, in the past when I've wanted to give things up it was never this easy. But then again I've not experienced this simple reality... if you can't breathe you die. I began to remember past experiences with Artificial Sweeteners, two in particular that left me doubled over with intense stomach pain, a headache and prayers to a certain porcelain goddess.
All diet drinks, fake-sugar delights, little mints with fake sweet goodness and gum (which was my favorite after-meal addiction) went bye-bye.
But this left me with a problem. How was I going to get that yummy fresh minty feeling after each meal that I was used to? I went to the health food stores and looked into gum without artificial sweeteners and this was a BIG disappointment!!! There are about two brands of gum that don't have some sort of fake sweetener added to them and they last a New York City block.
I was de-minted. Well I still had Altoids but I didn't want lots of sugar either. One day, I had lunch with a friend and she pulled out these awesome little Peppermint Beadlets. They are soft gelatin beadlets filled with peppermint essential oil that dissolve after you place them on your tongue, no sugar, no fake-sugar, just mint. And WOW!!! I was minty again!
So this is how I was introduced to essential oils from doterra. I take the Beadlets with me everywhere. I LOVE all the oils and I have most of them now. And if you've used Essential Oils in the past you'll be blown away by the quality. When I first experienced them I was trying to understand what made them so awesome? It's because they are NOT mixed with a carrier oil, they are NOT diluted with anything.
doTerra Essential Oil grades represent the safest, purest, and most beneficial essential oils available today."
One of my co-workers bought Lavender Oil from doTerra after purchasing a different brand from a local health food chain. True the other brand was twelve dollars but it didn't have any resemblance to Lavender at all, in fact, it was actually down right nasty smelling. To be fair doTerra is not cheap... but then again you get what you pay for, literally. And in this case it's obvious once you try it, you'll see the quality for yourself.
If you like the Oils and you can't get enough of them, like me, then I suggest becoming an Independent Product Consultant. Here's plenty of information on becoming an Independent Product Consultant for doTerra. It's a low registration fee of $35 and you get a 25% discount on all your products. Or you can join as Preferred Member for a one time fee of $10 which entitles you to a 20% discount on all your products. If you just want to buy the oils you can just go to:
Mydoterra.com/earthpowerstones. I'm not one to blog about things I don't believe in, I really do use the product and I'm always looking for a way to be healthier.
So my minty days are back... Evita has since closed, I miss it and the awesome people.
But I'm still artificial sweetener free!
Occasionally, I miss diet coke, but I haven't swallowed any pennies lately so I guess I don't need it.