Change The Meaning of "Healthy" from No Doctor Visits to Balance of Mind, Body, and Spirit!

by Joy Wang | November 01, 2018

We are honored to interview Katie Faison, a true inspiration who beat her autoimmune disease and is living a healthy life to the fullest as a mom, designer, and healthy liefstyle blogger of Whole Lovely Life. 

Tell us a bit about who you are, what you do?

I’m a Mom to a 4-year-old boy, a wife to a wonderful husband, a full-time employee at Target in Product Design and Development, a blogger, recipe developer and Institute of Transformational Nutrition student. I love all things fashion, home décor and health and wellness!

I have an Ankylosing Spondylitis and Chronic Iritis diagnosis and battled these diseases for close to 10 years, but through Paleo and the Autoimmune Protocol, I found major improvements to my AS. After working with a mind-body healing coach last fall, I now consider myself not only in remission from AS but chronic Iritis as well.

From the very beginning of my healing journey, I questioned everything and did not take the words “there is no cure” to heart. I have listened to my intuition the entire time and have questioned everything while searching for knowledge about holistic and natural healing.

While on this long road to healing, my passion for health and wellness grew as well as my calling to connect with others dealing with autoimmunity or just wanting to get healthier. My healing success and calling to help others was the motivation for starting my Instagram and blog.

I believe balance of mind, body and spirit as well as nutrition and connection with others is critical to total wellness. From a nutrition standpoint, God gave us all we need right here on earth and I feel so often we disregard what is right in front of us. This goes for healing as well. The body has an amazing innate ability to heal itself if we just tap into it.

What does “healthy” mean to you?

To me “healthy” used to mean having no health issues or doctor visits. However, through my years of healing and gaining of knowledge health now means something totally different. My focus on just food and exercise has shifted to a focus on my mind, stress levels, thoughts, beliefs, spirituality and relationships. All of these things must be just as clean as your diet for total health, balance and wellbeing.

How do you “be healthy” in your busy day? 

I go to bed around 8:30 or 9pm when my 4-year-old son does and then get up bright and early (4am) to have my “me” time which consists of a workout and time to make a healthy breakfast. Some days I do an infrared sauna session, work on a blog posts or study. Starting my day on a healthy note sets the tone for the remainder of the day.

My typical diet is Paleo but I will eat grains and other things from time to time. There needs to be balance and “treating” yourself from time to time is important for sticking to an overall balanced life and diet. However, the paleo lifestyle is what I stick to 90% of the time along with a whole food, minimally processed diet.

When I consume animal products I believe pasture raised is critical to ensure not only you are supporting humane farming practices but to ensure it is the most nutrient dense. I also like to do intermittent fasting with bone broth either for a half or full day at least one day per week.

I start each day with a 32oz mason jar of warm water with juice from one lemon and two scoops of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides. In addition to sho Balance, the vegan, gluten free probiotics, I take Vitamin D, Astaxanthin and Natural Calm magnesium.

I am constantly changing up my workouts to keep things interesting but I tend to do mostly HIIT training sessions because they allow you to complete a total body workout in much less time. 

Running is my go-to for cardio and I try to get one outdoor run in a week. Not so much for the cardio but for the overall healing I feel from being outside in the fresh air. I used to be very structured in the way I worked out but now I just try to ensure I move in some form or fashion every day. I am also a huge fan of workout videos since they allow you to get a good workout in with guidance in your home. When I don’t feel like thinking I just pop one in and go.

I am also a huge fan of workout videos since they allow you to get a good workout in with guidance in your home. When I don’t feel like thinking I just pop one in and go. Pre-mommy-hood, I belonged to a gym but now it just does not fit into my life so working out at home is my go to.

I am also a huge advocate of clean, non-toxic personal care and beauty products as well as home cleaning products. Your skin is your largest organ and what we put on our skin can really affect your overall health. If it has toxins in it I don’t bring it into my home.

I also think incorporating some form of gentle detoxification into your daily life is important. Some practices I am a huge fan of is rebounding, dry body brushing, oil pulling, and infrared sauna sessions.

I also focus on cooking at home and putting love and positive intentions into the meals I cook. I welcome my son to cook with me and as a family, we talk about fruits, vegetables and why they are good for you. Many times, my son will come to our workout room with me and dance or jump on our rebounder or just play. Just having him present is instilling healthy habits in him for life. I feel the more you can incorporate healthy practices into your home and make

Many times, my son will come to our workout room with me and dance or jump on our rebounder or just play. Just having him present is instilling healthy habits in him for life. I feel the more you can incorporate healthy practices into your home and make

I feel the more you can incorporate healthy practices into your home and make every day a day for learning, the more prepared they will be when it comes time for them to make their own decisions about food and healthy choices.

What challenges do you face to maintain daily healthy routines? Any tips can you share? 

My greatest challenge is fitting it all in.

One of my greatest tips is around planning and prepping. Given my challenge of fitting it all in, I have found that if I keep a planner and organize my week ahead, I do better than when I just wing it. Even if I don’t write it down just thinking through the week ahead and what I want to accomplish leads to greater success. Some of the things I do are putting my workout clothes in the bathroom at night so that everything is ready to go when I get up in the morning, setting my water out the night before so that it can come to room temp and is ready to go after my workout and food prepping of some sort. Whether

Even if I don’t write it down just thinking through the week ahead and what I want to accomplish leads to greater success. Some of the things I do are putting my workout clothes in the bathroom at night so that everything is ready to go when I get up in the morning, setting my water out the night before so that it can come to room temp and is ready to go after my workout and food prepping of some sort. Whether its planning out weeknight dinners, chopping veggies and fruit and having it ready to go or making and packaging meals I have found every little bit helps. Especially if you work full time. It will make sticking to your healthy lifestyle so much easier.

What do you think about sho supplements?

What I love most about sho is how simple it is to take. Not only is it simple (I hate too many choices) but the fact that it has a built-in tracker is genius. There is no way you can forget to take your supplements. Pill size has never been bothersome for me but I know it’s a concern for many so I love that the size is small and easy to swallow. There is also no stinky smell or taste which sometimes comes along with supplements.

Pill size has never been bothersome for me but I know it’s a concern for many so I love that the size is small and easy to swallow. There is also no stinky smell or taste which sometimes comes along with supplements.

I believe in getting minerals and nutrients from food sources first but in a world where our food is not always as it was intended, supplements can play an important role in ensuring you are getting what you need to keep the body healthy. 

I like that sho is simple and made of high-quality ingredients. I feel a probiotics supplement should round out all healthy so I personally take sho Balance every day.

On days when I need a second coffee, I take sho Energy instead. Not every day just when I know I have a crazy day ahead or need a little extra energy.

Could you share a piece of #shoWisdom to help people live a simple, healthy, organized - sho life?

Healthy living is not just about what you eat or how you move your body. Total wellness includes a healthy mind. How you view life and the world around you can have a profound impact on your overall health. The more positive your outlook, the more positive your health will be affected and vice versa.

Practicing gratitude each day is a simple way to change your perspective not only about your life but the world around you. When you start your day with gratitude and continue this practice throughout your day you will begin to see the good in even the smallest of things.

Anything else you would like to share?

I have connected with many people suffering from autoimmunity that are looking to make changes to their diet and lifestyle, and would love to offer that to any of your readers. I wish ten years ago I could have found just one person to talk to about what I was going through. I am happy for people to reach out to me if they are looking for support or guidance.

Here is Katie's blog: Whole Lovely Life

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