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Monthly Check-In: Your Questions, Wins & What's Next

Celebrating your progress, answering your biggest questions, and previewing next month's deep dive into food addiction

Hi growing friend,

Welcome back to another check-in newsletter where we check on your challenge progress, answer questions, share community wins, and look forward to next month's topic!

A Check-In on Your Challenge Progress

How is the challenge going? Have you purchased any of the gut-friendly supplements?

As always, I have some self-reflection questions I'd love for you to ask yourself—and please respond to let me know how you're doing!

Reflect on these questions:

  • What have you found to be the hardest part of this challenge?

  • Have you found any gut-friendly supplements that work for you as replacements for Tums-type products?

  • Have you found any that didn't work for you?

  • Have you noticed any changes from using herbal products instead of Tums or acid blockers?

Answers to Your Most Thought-Provoking Questions

Here's another round of your amazing questions!

1. I've never felt that intense stomach pain before. How did you know whether you needed to go to the doctor or not?

First, I want to reiterate that this is just my experience—you may have completely different reasons for your stomach pains. I highly recommend getting checked out if you're experiencing intense stomach cramps!

I had actually been to the doctor for my stomach pains many times before. I knew that every time I went, they would take an x-ray, tell me to take Tums or laxatives, and send me home. I'd ask questions but never got any real answers.

For me, I felt like I had already tried to get help and going back wasn't going to resolve anything. I decided it was time to take control of my own health and be my own advocate. Through that journey, I learned how to listen to my body.

I started understanding what foods aggravated my stomach by intentionally paying attention to how I felt before and after eating certain foods. That awareness began shaping my eating habits. Really, it came down to listening to my body, understanding what it was telling me, and following my intuition.

2. Do you still eat fast food after your Freddy's experience?

Yes—but not often! I've worked hard to heal my gut, so I'm not trying to go back to feeling terrible. But I also realize there are times when I just need to eat.

We don't eat "fast food" very often, maybe once a month. We eat out at restaurants more frequently, but we try to pick places that won't be so hard on my stomach. Sean doesn't get affected the same way I do, so I think the severity of how certain foods affect you definitely impacts what you're willing to eat.

I do try to always have my digestive enzyme and upper GI relief from Silver Fern when I'm going to eat fast food, and that pretty much reduces most symptoms.

3. Do you recommend Hilma vs. Silver Fern?

I don't recommend one over the other—I think they both offer different benefits.

I see Silver Fern as really healing your gut and offering solutions that help restore your gut lining and microbiome. It can be life-changing if you're consistent with their regimens. They have so many products, and you'll change what you're taking as you start to heal your gut.

I use Hilma as my Tums alternative. It's a great fast-acting option when you do get stomach aches or acid reflux. Silver Fern products gave me more long-term benefits versus the immediate relief I get from Hilma.

Celebration of Community Wins and Shared Experiences

I had someone reach out who said they used Silver Fern from my recommendation over a year ago and has been fairly gut-healthy ever since! I love that these products helped!

Another reader mentioned they tried to do this before and it just didn't work out, but they're excited to try again! I want to acknowledge how normal it is to try something new and then have to try again later on. That's exactly why I created this community—to have a resource that's checking in and wanting to hear about your progress!

It's beyond normal for life to get busy and things to fall off your radar, and it's OK to try again! We're all human, and wellness journeys aren't linear.

Speaking of community—I really want to create a Facebook community group to help keep us all accountable. I mentioned it last month, and I'm mentioning it again to keep MYSELF accountable! The plan is to launch this in August or September, so keep an eye out for that announcement.

We also had a few readers reach out asking about the Silver Fern quiz and excited to get started on their new regimen. Whether it's your first time starting or you've been on this path before, I'm excited for us all to be on this journey together!

Carefully Curated Resources to Deepen Your Practice

I highly encourage you to follow Silver Fern's social media pages! They post so many educational and valuable videos that help explain certain symptoms and why a product will or won't work for that issue. Their videos are some of the best and easiest to understand!

I find when I understand why something works, I'm far more likely to stick with it than when I just think I should be doing something that's "good" for me but don't really know why or have a connection to it.

Preview of Next Month's Focus

I had a poll on my Instagram stories this week asking what you want to see for next month! The winner was: How addictive the chemicals in our food are.

This topic is honestly mind-blowing and explains why it's SO hard to drop processed food. So stay tuned—I'm excited to keep diving deeper on this gut health journey with you all!

Special Bonus This Month!

But wait, there's more! This month has 5 Wednesdays, and I don't want to miss out on connecting with you for 3 weeks! So I'm adding a BONUS newsletter on July 30th—a special sourdough edition!

I've had so many random questions about sourdough this month that it felt like the perfect time to dive deep into this topic. We'll cover the gut health benefits, my favorite recipe, and all my best tips and tricks for sourdough success.

Have specific sourdough questions? Send them my way and I'll be sure to answer them in the bonus newsletter!

Don't forget to send me your responses to the reflection questions above! And send any questions so I can answer them either directly to you or in next month's newsletter (or the sourdough bonus edition)!

Follow @we.rootnrise on Instagram and Facebook to get tips and tricks throughout the month and to stay connected!

Rooted in wellness & rising together,
Erica

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