Sharing some tips on how I’ve improved my eyesight over the past two years. This is just my personal experience and I’m not a doctor. Always check with you eye doctor before changing anything in your routine. Eyes are kind of important you don’t want to mess around, mm k?

Hi friends! I hope that you’re having a lovely morning and thank you for all of your excitement about Healing Code. I have so many strategy calls booked and can’t wait to connect with all of you. You can check out the details and book your free strategy call here.

Today’s post is a popular reader’s request, and one I’ve been thinking about doing for about a year, but was on the fence. I hesitate because I’m not a doctor, definitely not an eye doctor, but I’ve been forced to learn a LOT about eyes over the past two years who no one could really help me with my eye issues. I finally found an incredible dry eye specialist but also had to take matters into my own hands. Other doctors were completely stumped, and wanted me to depend on steriod drops that were raising my eye pressure. I learned a lot and love to share everything I’ve learned with you, but please do not accept this as medical advice of any kind. Always always reach out to your doctor before changing anything in your routine.

Ok, so my eye story. A couple of years ago, I changed a lot with my eye routine and eye care. (I’ll share some of these things below.) Over the past year, I also noticed that my glasses felt too strong for me. They started to bother me, and felt like magnifying glasses, especially while I was driving. I was due for my annual eye doctor appointment, and went to a new office because the last Rx appointment was a disaster (she gave me contacts and I ended up being allergic to the contacts or solution, and when I went back to the office she acted like it was my fault that my eyes were completely swollen.) Ok, so new place, and I decided I wasn’t going to tell him my glasses felt too strong just in case it was a fluke.

He did my eye exam and told me that for the first time in my life, my prescription had decreased. I had been a -5.25 since 6th grade, and now my Rx was down to -5.0. This was a huge win, and I was pumped about it!!

I’ve carried on, and recently decided to order a pair of prescription Vivarays after doing a ton of research on blue light blocking glasses. I wanted to find a company that did it RIGHT, and Vivarays is that company. (They kindly created a discount code, FITNESSISTA, and I’ll definitely post a full review!) My glasses had started to have that magnifying glass feeling again, so I went for a prescription re-check because I didn’t want to order new glasses if it had changed.

I told the eye doctor (the same guy – he’s excellent) that my glasses felt too strong while I was reading. I started to take my glasses off to read, and they also bothered me when I was on my computer for too long. He checked my reading vision, holding a pamphlet about 2 ft in front of me, and my reading prescription was -2.50 – half of my current prescription!! He wrote me a new prescription that I can use while I’m just doing things around the house, reading, and working on the computer.

I shared the good news on Instagram and was flooded with requests to write this post. The reality is that I’ve done a lot of things, and feel like it’s a mix of ALL of these strategies; not just one.

Read more

Sharing some of the random and important things I’ve learned in my eye journey since the great saga, a year and a half ago.

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having an amazing day so far! I have client calls all day long, so I have my beverages next to me (Organifi green, decaf Danger coffee with Malk, and water with citrus LMNT) and I’m ready.to.go. My plan is to get in a little movement vitamins in between calls to shake out my legs a bit.

(Jeans are on sale here // sweater is Farm Rio)

For today’s post, I wanted to chat about eyes! I think many of you can relate, but whenever I’m going through something (or someone in the family is), I learn as much as possible about this topic. I read as many books as I can get my hands on, binge through podcasts, scour threads and articles online. I become hyperfocused and my whole life is consumed by this entire topic, learning as much as I possibly can.

I feel like I could do TEDx talks on a few random topics, from Sensory Processing Disorder (something one of the kids went through years ago and is completely resolved), affiliate marketing, pelvic floor and Diastasis Recti, lifestyle and nutrition for auotimmune symptoms, and after the past year, I feel like MGD, dry eye, and blepharitis are.my.jam.

While I was learning about eye health (so I could get my own dang eyes under control), I came across nuggets and strategies that have made a huge difference for me, so I thought I’d share them today.

Please keep in mind that this is not medical advice. Always talk to your doctor before making any changes; I’m just sharing my own experience.

For more about my eye situation, check out the full podcast episode here. (I need to do a follow-up episode because at this point in time, my Lupus markers were positive, but when we re-tested last December after I made HUGE changes in my life, they were negative.)

Read more

Sharing how I got back to wearing makeup after being diagnosed with dry eye, blepharitis and MGD, as well as my favorite brands. This is not medical advice; I’m just sharing my experience!

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having a wonderful morning! We’re finishing up Rodeo break (wah) so the kids are back to school and it’s back to the swing of things around here. I hope you have a great day!

For today’s post, I wanted to do a reader’s request after a comment I received last week. Ever since I posted about my eye issues, I’ve been overwhelmed by amazing messages and comments, but also saddened to hear that so many of you have found yourselves in a similar boat with sudden flares, autoimmune issues, and painful, red eyes. While I was in the depths of all of this last year, I was so frustrated and sad. I couldn’t see myself ever wearing contacts or eye makeup again. (I have no foresight whatsoever, so in my mind, what is happening now means it will be happening forever.)

I couldn’t wear makeup for many months and slowly made my way back to contacts and eye makeup. It’s taken a lot of work and healing – I’ll share more on my healing journey and everything I’ve done to decrease my histamine responses and inflammation in an upcoming post – but *knock on wood* I can finally make it through the day without constantly thinking about my eyes. Just putting that hope out there for my dry eye friends — it can and will get better. This won’t be forever. Hang in there, friends.

Please remember that I’m not a doctor and this isn’t medical advice. At the same time, many traditional eye doctors were mystified by my situation and didn’t know how to help me. I was determined to get to the root cause and improve the issue, and have done a lot of research and experiments on myself along the way. Shout out to my beloved dry eye specialist who gave me some answers and guidance! Also shout out to the beauty of functional testing, because I learned so much about how stress was affecting me, my gut imbalances, toxicities, and deficiencies.

wearing makeup with blepharitis, dry eye, and MGD

Here’s t

Sharing the best products for dry eye, blepharitis, MGD (I’ve tried it all!)

+ the Great Eye Saga

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re enjoying the morning so far. The girls are at a half-day camp and I’m here doing discovery coaching calls, podcast editing, and getting a quick workout before pickup.

For today’s post, I have the post no one asked for, and the post I DEFINITELY didn’t ask for:

my Great Eye Saga, finding out I have severe blepharatis, and mild MGD (meibomian gland dysfunction)… and all of the products, strategies, and treatments I’ve tried, along with my routine.

the best products for dry eye, blepharitis and MGD

OG readers of the blog (Hiiii and thank you so much for being so awesome and for your constant support) know that my eyes are delicate petunias. I’ve written about my woes with previous infections, eyelash extension nightmares, and finding out the hard way that certain eye makeup will ruin my life lol.

The latest eye misadventure has been the longest and most inconvenient experience yet, but in my determination to look at the bright side, now I know more about my eyes, WHY I struggled so much with certain things over the years, have a routine and care plan, and my eyes are the whitest and happiest they’ve been in years. 

So, buckle up, and I’ll tell ya a story.

The Great Eye Saga

In April, I got the worst pink eye that I’ve ever seen or experienced. I’d been out gardening the day before, and woke up with neon red eyes that were covered in mucus (I’m sorry, it’s true) and almost swollen shut. I rushed to urgent care, where they prescribed me antibiotic drops, and was sent home. It didn’t get better within a few days, so I went to a new eye doctor. (My previous eye doctor had retired.) He said the infection was viral and prescribed a steroid drop, which calmed down the inflammation. The following week, he said I could go back to my contacts, so I did. Within a few weeks, the redness and goo was back.

*It’s worth mentioning here that I washed my pillowcase and any towels I used every single day, threw away all of my expensive makeup and skincare (WAH), and washed my hands so often all of my knuckles were cracked and bleeding. I was so frustrated that somehow, I had pink eye again.*

I started the antibiotic drops again (the same ones, since it had only been about a month), they did nothing, and I went back to the eye doctor’s office.

I saw different eye doctor since my previous doctor was booked