How to Keep Moving Forward Through Hard Times w/ Ashleigh & Kara

0:00Welcome to the Just Ingredients podcast. I'm Kara Lynn, and here we dive deep into the journey of healing and wellness. If you're ready to learn, feel empowered, and take charge of your health, you're in the right place. Welcome back to the show today. Today we have a super fun episode because it's going to be a little bit different than others. Today we are going to do healing stories. We've had a few guests on that have done healing stories, and so I have my two friends here today. Ashley and Kara who are going to share their healing stories with you and if you follow me on Instagram you've probably seen Ashley and Kara on my videos because years ago I just needed help from anyone at different times with the company like at different events or different videos and I'd be like Ashley and Kara come help me and they would always come help me but now they actually work at Just Ingredients and so welcome to the show you guys.

0:54Thanks for having us. Kara has been wanting to say that, you guys. This is her first podcast. She has been wanting to say thank you for having us. Anyways. Okay. So we could delve right into the health journeys, or maybe we tell the listeners your perspective of working at Just Ingredients. How is it working at Just Ingredients? Do you want to go first? There's so much to say. That could be an hour and a half. It's the hardest and the best. It's the most growing I've done in a long time, personally. And why is it so hard? Well, we are just making new things. We're on a ship that's sailing so fast It's not even a ship.

1:27It's a speedboat. It's like a speedboat and she's got the possibilities are endless. Sky's the limit and we're just doing it. We just keep making and making products. But that's what makes it so fun because you have to do stuff you don't even know how to do. But then you just figure it out and laugh along the way. I mean, nobody can say that working there is not a great time. It's fun. It is fun. But you either have to laugh or cry sometimes when things are hard. We just figure things out. sometimes we don't know what in the world we're doing, but we figure it out. The upside is every time someone's cried about something, like probably a month later, we're laughing about it.

2:01That's true, because then we figured out the problem and it becomes fun. It's great. It's also crazy to think the things that we used to think are problems are now like, meh. Like, no big deal. Like, we'll figure that out. And that's probably what I've learned the most is the phrase, we'll figure it out. It's like so true for anything. We've never been spoken. We'll figure it out. anything can be figured out with enough time and brains thinking about it you figure it out solve any problem that is true today actually i was talking to a supplier who was really struggling with stuff and i said look the best businesses out there are those that have employees that can be problem solvers if everybody can solve problems you can keep moving and keep growing and that's something we've learned but we've also had some of the most fun times i can remember in a long time Like lots of laughing.

2:47So much. So much laughing. That is true because we get stuck solving problems, whether it's a problem on TikTok or a manufacturing problem or a shipping problem or a customer service problem. We just have these funny problems and we do laugh about them. Yeah. I mean, we love it. Well, I mean, you have two options. You just like quit or you figure it out. And figuring out is the best of the two. Okay. What's our hardest problem you just recently had to solve? Well, I'll go first. We're trying to figure out how to grow on TikTok. and sometimes it feels like we're flinging poo at the wall and seeing what sticks but then there's like little glimmers of light like a little poo sticks and then we can keep doing that till you know we like figure it out but that's what makes it so fun you did have a video do well the other day i know i've been like beaming from the internals ever since it's still going kind of crazy what's the video on um it's just about seeing someone start taking creatine and then maybe not knowing what's going to happen.

3:45And the comment section is going wild. And it's all the benefits of all the benefits of creatine. When people are having problems with creatine, people are literally problem solving active time in the comment section of that video. It's fun to watch. Yeah, I love it. Well, on TikTok, we make some videos and some do terrible and then some do great. And this is one that no one will ever know what will go good before you find out. Oh, they didn't really love that. But that's OK. We'll go a different direction tomorrow. It's fun. Well, recently I've switched more to working with events. end. There's always a problem.

4:16And then you just like laugh about it. I've never laughed. That's why events are fun. But I'm trying to think of a specific because every event you're just like, well. There's always something that you didn't anticipate. Well, either we like sell out of a product and we have someone driving up the product to us or our booth doesn't fit properly. The booth doesn't work. The pallet doesn't shift up. Oh yeah, we catch the vendor event. We almost let the conference center on fire due to melting plastic and our hot water maker. There's just always something. That was Carlin called and said, follow the burning, follow the warble.

4:51Do a toucan sim, follow your loves, you'll find us. Well, so we do have fun times at Just Ingredients. These two girls have made it so that I can survive at Just Ingredients. They are really good friends that have helped me and supported me through hard times and funny times. But you guys also have had healing journeys along the way. And so that's what I want to share today. So who wants to start? Ashley, you want to start? Okay. You're going to have to go back a few years and tell all about your car accident and everything. 15 years. It's been almost 15 years, but I talk about it still because it changed my life in a very positive way in the end.

5:26But 15 years ago when I got in a really bad car accident, I had broke the five bottom vertebrae of my back, my pelvis in four places, seven ribs. I punctured my adrenals, my kidneys, my lungs, everything. I had to have surgery, have a rod put in my pelvis. I was in the hospital for two and a half, almost three weeks. A lot on my back for two months. Couldn't walk or sit for almost four months. It was a long physical journey to recovery. And once I finished that, I did not know. Everyone can prep you and tell you how you're physically, they expect you to heal physically. No one warned me of what could happen with mental health.

6:03And at that time, I felt like nobody was talking about it very much. You know, Carlin was kind of past, we were friends. you were kind of past some of that and you talked about it. You were probably my biggest resource, but people didn't talk about it. So mental. Well, 15 years ago, I didn't really talk about it much either because I knew how much I had been judged and people weren't as open to it as they are now. So now I talk freely about it. But 15 years ago, I still wasn't really. Nobody was. If you need a doctor, you ask all your friends when you don't know what's happening to your brain.

6:30There was no one to go to. So by then, PTSD had settled in really terribly bad depression, anxiety attacks. My first anxiety attack, I could not figure. I didn't know what that was or what I was experiencing. And then even that, I didn't have anyone to talk to or know how to get help. So slowly your world just closes down once you have an anxiety attack at the grocery store. Now you can't go to the grocery store, any grocery store now. If you have one in your kitchen, now you've got to stay away from your kitchen. And so my whole world was just shutting down. And it stayed pretty shut down for eight years with really bad depression and anxiety.

7:02I never was suicidal like Carlin was, but I wanted to leave my family because I was just a huge burden to them. And I also at this time, I feel like no one talked about this. God plays a really big role in my life. Like that's where the foundation of my whole life is. And during that time, I just could not feel him or have him be a part of my life like he had been for all those years. And so all of the things that used to be my go-to to be able to fill spirituality were just gone because depression and anxiety really block a lot of that feeling and emotions. And I went to every doctor. They write you a prescription.

7:37That's what every doctor did. So I would come home with prescription after prescription after prescription. I'd fill them. And that just didn't feel like that was it. But that's all anybody could give me. And so eventually I ended up on lots of prescriptions. You had to have a prescription to go to sleep. You had to have a prescription to get going in the morning. You had to have a prescription for an anxiety attack, for your depression, for your, you know, like, so I was just on a ton of pills and pretty much living a comatose life. I think I just barely made it every day. I don't know how my kids survived back sometimes.

8:10You had four little kids during. Yes. Well, I only had three at the time. I wanted another one and I thought this was just my new life. So we just had to, I don't even know who let me have a baby during that, but. You did. Yeah, I did. You and your husband. anyways it was a hard long road and I just remember one December I had gone down to the basement and it's like the graveyard of all things in our lives that were not done and I just remember I had to put stuff away and I was walking through it and everything that I had never you know been able to fulfill all the things for my kids like it was just like every time I couldn't deal with something I'd be like put it in the basement that's like how we dealt with it and I was just on the stairs and just sobbed, like crying to God, being like, I can't like this house needs, it'll make me rot.

8:57It's so hard to relive. But I was like, this house needs a mom. My kids need a mom. My husband needs a wife. Like I've tried everything. I'm on medication. I've been going to talk therapy. We'd made some, in the MDR, I'd made some progress there, but I just was like, I don't know what else to do. I'm totally, I've tried everything and nobody's helping me and nothing's working. And that was in December. And two days after Christmas, I got the flu like so bad. My husband finally came in on day 13 and said, I have to take you to the hospital. We've got to go figure out what's wrong with you because I couldn't move.

9:29He's like, I'm concerned. This is bigger. It was just the flu. But I ended up really sick with the flu for almost three weeks. Then I had strep throat. Then I had a sinus infection. During this, my son got it. He got asthma from the flu. We finally took him to the doctors. He only had like an 82 oxygen level, which I think is already low. And we had just neglected him because we couldn't function. That's how the family was running. But by the time I was starting to get better, I was still weak and I would just lay in bed. And I had been off my medication for almost three, four weeks because I hadn't been taking it.

10:00And I thought, I think I have this chance. I'm off the medication. And I started by saying, what can I do in my home and family to help our immune systems? Like, what can I do to never have to be this sick again and for my son to be this sick? Like, So I started researching that while I was just laying in bed and, you know, found a different influencer that was doing a beta test, like a beta class that she was starting to teach this new thing that was heal your gut to heal your mind. And at the time I was like, well, that sounds like amazing. Well, but also amazing, but also crazy. Like you can change your food and your brain will respond.

10:38Like to me, that felt crazy. So I took. How many years ago was this? So this was seven years ago. Yeah. Yeah. So that was new information right then. And I have brothers who are doctors and they were telling me there's no such thing. You know, that's not true. And so I took her class, learned all about the gut and leaky gut and those things. So then beyond the immune system, I was like, I wonder if this could help my mental health. Like, is there a chance I could stay off my medication and maybe heal from this? and so I had to dive in really quick and fast I felt like because I had to test this without you know I'm off the medication because I would get really dizzy and sick coming off of it if we ever tried so I was like I'm off the medication I have this chance I'm just gonna go going for it like even though everything around you is telling you it's crazy so we started changing our food I started with my you know switching to organic fruits and vegetables first easiest step for me was that and so they're expensive so I decided if I'm gonna buy them I have to eat all of them like Like, we're not going to throw away any food.

11:40So that's how I could afford buying organic fruit and vegetable. Then I went through my pantry and then I went through my fridge and I just started changing all of the food products. And probably shortly, I'm an accountant and I had shortly before this, I had also decided to quit doing accounting because I had brain damage. There was no way I should continue doing accounting. So I was quitting my job and all of that stuff. And all this happened. And within three months, I realized I don't think I have brain damage. There's something else. I didn't even know about brain inflammation at the time.

12:12And so I kept going. And within six months, I was totally myself again. I felt great. I didn't have any. I wasn't struggling with depression, anxiety. All of that had gone away. I never went back on the medication. And then at that time is when my oldest daughter, I think she had held the role of mother for eight years. And so once her mom came back, she fell apart. and so she was suicidal she was struggling and you know if you're a mom then you dig in 10 times deeper and so then we went at that point we went to lawn detergent we went to deodorant to face to you know everything and we changed all of our products because if your child's suffering then you want to do whatever you can and she was mad at me she wanted pills that's what all of her friends got was pills if they were depressed and so she was really angry at me carlin always says this and this is kind of our practice at the time is like if our house is on fire we at the time said there was eight hoses we're gonna put all eight hoses on the fire we're not gonna put just one medication pose and so i dug into that even further as we were going to do sleep we were going to reduce stress we were going to change our food and our products we were going to exercise reduce our screen time i can't remember all eight of them but there was eight hoses things yeah therapy and then a and then if we needed to we could resort to pills i think there's a place for medication And I could not have survived without medication.

13:32She did eventually go on medication for a while. And so I think medication has a very important role in the world. And I have nothing against it. I just wanted off of it. And so then our family at that point was changed forever. And my daughter manages her mental health very carefully with those same principles that she learned then. And so do I. Oh, that's amazing. That's an amazing story. So like you said, medication can be one of the tools in the toolbox to help people with mental health. Or like you said, one of the hoses. If your house is on fire, you need like not just one little tiny hose.

14:07You want eight or nine or ten hoses, all the different things that you can do to help. And so, yeah, you're doing great now and your daughter is doing great. And so everybody, if you don't know, she is a huge supporter of J.I. because of the same beliefs that we have, that food can really be healing and nourishing to the body. And so she'll tell her story at events and lots of different people. And she helps get people healthier. And that was honestly, you were starting Just Ingredients right about the time that I had finished that beta class. So you were starting to say, buy this sour cream or buy this cottage cheese.

14:42Good, better, best. Yes. And at that time, there was no way I could have learned to read labels. Like that was too much. And so if you said this is the sour cream to buy, that's the sour cream that I could do that. like and so yeah yours was like telling me that's what you can buy so then I would follow exactly what you know I stood holding your Instagram all the time being like well that's what I'm allowed to buy without and now I can read labels but I couldn't back then and now would have been way too much so you always talk about step at a time like one step at a time it is it's one step at a time oh I love that well thank you for sharing all that because that's a lot and very vulnerable but I know it helps others yeah yeah and I decided like Carlin I'm going to talk about it because I had no one to talk to.

15:25Yeah. And the recovery would have been faster had I had resources. There were not resources back then. I know. I love that people are now talking about it, but still some people want to just hide about it. And so as more and more people talk about it, then I think more will also. Yeah. All right, Kara. Yes. You also have a healing journey. Yeah, it's been a long and arduous journey. I think the first time I was on antidepressants was when I was 15 and I'm 42. I'm not very good at math, but that's like almost 30 years of it and when I first started on it I mean nobody was talking about that and my parents were like we just need to get you help so I was like on them off them for a very long time then I had my first kid and I thought I was doing great I was not on them when I had him and then shortly after I had him was like whoa I need to get some help this is so bad I can't cope with my life.

16:20So then I got back on. So it was like on and off, on and off through all my kids. It was like, oh, I'm going to have a baby. I don't want to get divorced now because I have three kids. This is going to be the fourth kid. What should I do? So I lived that life for a really long time. And then in my thirties, after I had my fourth kid, he was like six months old at the time. And I was like a disaster. It was like putting it lightly. I was just a wreck. I just couldn't handle my life and I had a plan and I was so like I have a really good life like they have known me for a while and have a great life like I mean my family's really healthy my husband has a job I have a great house I have great friends I have great family and I couldn't figure out why I was so sad but it was it was really bad so he was like six months old I'd like come up with a plan I think I had been talking to my mom she was really worried about it so she was like why made you an appointment to go talk to this lady and mind you I've been to doc therapy also since I was 15 years old so I was like okay whatever so she makes this appointment I go meet with this lady and she was like this doesn't have to be this hard and I'm sure that we can like work through this but I want you to go talk to this guy because we can get you on medication that will help like get through and then we'll work through it and I'm like okay that sounds good also at the same time like thinking to myself well if I just evaporated into the wind like nobody would really care like my kids would be fine I'm not even that great of a mom my husband he would be just thinking like everybody's gonna be fine but I guess so I met with this guy I got like oh I don't know five different diagnoses with major depressive disorder major anxiety like so many that I was like what anyway so he put me on medication two different antidepressant medications and I can't even say it sounds so funny but he put me on an anti-psychotic at the time so that was when my youngest who's seven he was six months old so I got on them and was coping was living life was it a full joyous tons of feelings in my life no but I was surviving not necessarily thriving but closer to thriving than failing we were doing fine everybody's getting along and Carlin says like we should go do this hair DNA pool?

18:35And I'm like, okay, yeah, let's do that. That sounds whack, but sign me up. I love doing that. So we went to do it. And I also need to make a little statement that I don't feel like I present all those times in my life as someone who was maybe not thriving. Like, I feel like I present as a happy person who maybe has it together. So we go to do this hair pool she does it she scans it the person is Johnny so she scans it and we're chatting I think the three of us are all in there we're laughing we're having a great time she looks me straight in my eyes and is like are you depressed and I was like why would you what why why would you say that to me and she's like well you don't like to say it sounds ridiculous especially because of the struggle it was in my life for like 27 years okay she's like it looks like you don't have any like B vitamins and you can't be happy without that.

19:30And I'm like, that's weird that you say that. Okay. So she tells me like, you need to start taking a methylated B vitamin. And I'm like, cool. Making a mental note of it. I asked Carlin later, like, what should I be taking? She tells me I start taking it and three months in, I'm like, I'm going to try to wean off this one, the antipsychotic. It's going great. We're like six months down. I'm going to try to wean off this other one. Six months past that, I'm going to try to wean off this other one. The methylated B, I weaned off them all. That's amazing. And I would say out of the seven days a week, I'm thriving probably five.

20:05So all because of B vitamins? That is amazing. Are we joking? Like 30 years, I was drowning because of B vitamins? Like make that make sense. But then you also found out you have the mthfr gene variant yes yes of course you didn't have i didn't but the thing that makes me laugh about it is like that is a simple that was a simple fix and all those years no all of those years and that's a lot of years that's like 25 years of struggle and toil and that's to put it lightly well and i feel you though because i have the same variant which makes it hard for our body to absorb B vitamins. And so that's why methylated vitamins are so important for those that have that variant.

20:52So I could say the methylated B complex saved my life. It sounds stupid to say it, but it saved my life. I mean, I am a daily exerciser. I do not miss unless there's a, well, I slept in, but that's like once a year, but I have to do that. I have to take my vitamins. I have to get sleep and I've been able to manage it and do, I mean, My family might say it's like not thriving five days, but I would say five. They would maybe say four to three. But we're thriving over here. You're doing amazing. I mean, you're doing amazing. Four and a half rows of it. Five out of seven is a good day. That's what I like.

21:28Let's take a quick break to hear from our show sponsor. You guys know I'm super picky about snacks, especially protein bars. It can be hard to find a protein bar that actually tastes good without feeling overly processed or having a dry, chalky texture. That's why G2G protein bars are such a great option. They're made with real ingredients, have 18 grams of protein, and are designed to both be satisfying and convenient for busy days. They're refrigerated for freshness, but still designed to fit real life, whether that's travel days, work, gym bags, after-school activities, or just keeping something quick on hand between meals.

22:05With over 10 flavors, there's truly an option for everyone, whether you like chocolate, peanut butter, or fruity flavors. It's exciting to see G2G growing so quickly. They're now even more accessible since they just launched nationwide in 7-Eleven stores. Finally, a better choice on the road. You can also check them out at g2gbar.com and use code JUSTINGREDIENTS for 15 % off. Now back to the show. So I have an extended family member who also attempted suicide. Long story short, once she found out that she was just low in B vitamins, it was game changer also and so she was like carlin it same thing like she was like it's such a simple thing and for years no one told me to go get my b vitamins checked and no one told me to take b vitamins and so she could have not even gone organic if i had just taken b vitamins like literally buy these pills that are going to cost you 45 a month and it will save your life like yeah she was like we've got a screen just on the rooftop somehow crazy people need b vitamins and People aren't getting enough because they're not eating enough leafy greens.

23:12And that's why I eat spinach and my protein shake every single morning because that was a habit. I just had to be like, that's it. You need it. You are getting the folate from that. Yeah. And exercising. Exercising is huge. For me, it's my best like antidepressant. If I go more than like three days without exercising, I mentally have a hard time. B vitamins will change your life, but so will exercising. You guys did that for me because I had been not exercising for 10 years. Then I had had knee surgery, bought a Peloton, had been doing that for six months, which I had to start at four minutes.

23:42And then we cute. And then you guys gave me go to the gym one night and I was like, I'm not ready. I'm going to die. I did die for about two weeks. I could not move. But now it's been almost four years. And is that how long? You guys are. I don't know. Yeah. August is like, I remember it. It's August. It was Jessica's birthday party. And I had dropped off Olivia and you guys were like, come to the gym tomorrow. And I was like, I can't. So find yourself some friends too. That will encourage you to go. Anybody that will bully you to exercise and make you push yourself harder than you want to is a good friend.

24:14She goes around. Okay. I know people will love hearing those journeys because they're so real. Like there's so many out there dealing with mental health issues like this, feeling like they're not enough, not thriving. So if people are listening to this, what's your number one piece of advice you would give them to get started to feel better? Mine's bigger. I would say those, realize there's like all the hoses and you can't do all of them. Maybe you can only pick one of them or you can do them somewhat. I think I would say the world will never be a better place without you. Your family is still better off with you.

24:46Like even if you feel like you are the utmost disaster, it will not be better if you leave. But when they're in such a dark spot, because I've been there, you can't believe that. No, it is hard to leave. What's your tip for those that are in that dark spot? Very first thing you tell them to do. I mean, have hope that they're healing. Well, I want to say. I think pray. Even though that one's hard to come because you're not, it's hard. That one's hard. And people should know that if you're feeling disconnected from God, depression can be in the way. But during my whole depression, I was praying.

25:19Well, I know that's what he's saying is it doesn't always work. You know what I would say. What's that? We're going to go through this 10 minutes at a time. 10 minutes is like a time frame that you're like, I can do this for 10 minutes, even if it's terrible. Like when I was in labor with my second kid and had him on an accident without an epidural, I was like, give me the time until he's out. They were like, it's 50 minutes. And I'm like, I can do that. So five zero. They said five zero. And I was like, I can do that. But like 10 minutes, you can do anything for 10 minutes. So if you're like, OK, this is super hard.

25:50I'm going to go on a walk for 10 minutes. depression is such a big overarching thing that if you look at the whole thing you think you'll never make it through because it's so hard but if you just 10 minutes at a time go on a walk for 10 minutes try to just break it up you will make it through and you probably are making more progress than you actually realize when you're looking forward it doesn't feel like the movement is happening but when you look back then like you then you can see real things are happening like or I would always say the habit stacking that's where I started was like I'm gonna make put spinach in a protein shake every day that for me was just one thing I could commit to and that was a hard commitment for me and I just was like I'm never gonna not do that yeah and so that was 30 extra seconds and I mean stayed like you don't have to have big things just one thing at a time one little thing at a time baby steps literally I love that what's your advice to somebody that's actually a good question I like all your guys's tips I actually think I would say go get tested oh and see what the root cause is because there's lots of good answers for this I could say lots of deal with things I have somebody in our community who I spoke to the other day and her son's dealing with depression and I said why what's the root cause and she's like I don't know he just has depression and I said I know but what's causing it and she's like well I'm not sure I don't know if it's friends at school or food he's eating or what and I was like I know but go get tested and he she was like well there's nothing they can test for and i said oh there is blood where it can show so many different things it can show if inflammation is contributing to it if the b vitamins are contributing to it you know low magnesium all these different things and she's like i don't know if i believe that and so i guess first you have to believe it and the second though maybe just try it too i think a lot of people don't want to do that because okay let's say insurance won't pay for it or it doesn't pay so you're like oh i'm afraid of this $180 bill or whatever it is, I spent a whole lot more money on tons of prescriptions and feeling miserable and not being able to work and not paying my electricity till it got shut off.

27:54So then I had to pay to have it be put, you know, like just where you're at, like probably the best investment. Find a doctor that will do the blood work and figure out the root cause of the blood. This is a better question for you too then. So, I mean, times are changing. We know more now, But do traditional doctors test for that now or still not? We're just going functional. A lot of doctors don't still these days, which is crazy to me. More and more are learning and more and more are recognizing that food plays a huge role and lifestyle factors play a huge role. But if you have a doctor that doesn't believe in it, then it's like, thank you so much.

28:27They're not going to test you for that. And go find a doctor, a functional medicine doctor that is trained to find the root cause of your issues. So, but I think people are waking up to, oh, let's not put a Band-Aid on it anymore. Let's actually figure out why we're sick or why we're dealing with this health issue. Yeah. I think people are waking up to that. I mean, at least my listeners are, but I think I always think that like, oh, we're learning so much. And then you talk to someone and you're like, oh, there's so much you could learn. You know, so I think it also is talking to people, sharing is important.

28:58Oh, sharing is very important. When you think of, I mean, because I talked to you about talk that, you know, like my friends and the people that I was able to open up to, like not even figuratively, it saved my life. So being someone that is willing to talk to somebody about that or share your story or be a friend too would be huge. Okay, so I have another question for you since we're all moms. What's the number one thing you hope you've taught your kids about depression? I want my kids to know all of these things, like the hoses we talk a lot about in our family. When they leave my house and I'm not controlling all those food choices or those things, I hope they can come back to those principles.