**REVIEW & DISCOUNT** Keto Fast™ - Exogenous Ketone Supplement

Some people are having a lot of success with the keto diet. I lost about 10 pounds the first 2 months I was on it. Then I hit a donut and fell off the wagon. I'm kidding. I fell off because I didn't have any support and my cooking space was limited. I have no excuse now because I joined a Facebook group that is super supportive and I have a full kitchen all to myself.

I am re-committed to my cleaning up my eating habit and taking in fewer carbs than usual, but that means cutting my coffee and tea habit in half. At least. All that flavored cream is what does me in. Less coffee and tea equals energy drop. I am already battling fatigue so... I needed a plan.

This is what I am going to be trying out to boost my energy and help my metabolism:

 

It's Keto Fast from Healthy Wiser. As soon as I got a chance to get some to review, I jumped on it. Before I even start telling you more about it, let me say now that I can score you a discount. I'll give you the details in a minute. First, let me share my initial impressions:

Product Claims

• Boost or "supercharge" your blood ketones
• Promote better mood, and
• sustained energy, and
• mental acuity, and
• decreased appetite

The most important claim is what I'm interested in:

Or can't have carbs

I love when a brand guarantees their product like this. I can check my ketones with my testing strips and I will be taking photos every week to track my progress. (If you all are nice, I will share the weight photos.)  Now, I got my first product for free but if you guys want to try it, there's a 100% money-back guarantee to go along with the discount. But let's run through my impressions as of Day 2.

Label & Info

I was surprised at how powder-fine the Keto Fast is. You can see from the video that it's almost like talc. Almost.

Keto Fast (I like the name) is, most important of all, not low-carb but carb-free. This is good because on the diet I use, I allow myself up to 40 grams of daily carbs and I want to save those for any creamer I use in my hot beverages!

Less important to me but really important to some folks, this is also gluten-free. Also, it's non-GMO. I think we can all appreciate that. Oh, and it's made in the good old USA.

Taste, taste, taste

Okay, so the one thing I thought I wasn't going to like about this is the "Lemon Lime" flavor. No matter how good a product is, it won't work if you can't stand to use it and  I seriously almost didn't accept the chance to try the supplement just because of that. Then I thought that as long as the product helped, I could probably just slam the drink really fast.

I only put this is water and I didn't blend or shake it; I just used a fork and stirred it really well. I should have put it in my water bottle so that I could shake it because just stirring left a bit of residue on the surface. I was anxious to try this though so I just took a teeny-tiny sip. Not bad! This is something I could enjoy doing a few times a day. By the way, 3 scoops per day is the maximum dose.

There is none of the saccharine-fake-sweet taste that I associate with lemon-lime drinks. This reminded me of a tart Kool-Aid type beverage. I personally would not add this to any of the smoothies I've fixed because the flavor wouldn't compliment them. I prefer drinking this just with cold water.  There is no way that I would ever add this to... MILK.

Results?

As I said, this is only Day 2 so I can only tell you about the initial effects. I will have to update about further results at a later time - maybe with the promised photos.

So.

Did I feel an energy boost? Yes. I got busy and forgot to pay attention, but I think it was within an hour that I noticed I felt as alert as if I'd had my usual caffeine boost. Sure enough, there were none of the jitters we get so used to from caffeine that we think it's normal. My energy didn't last long, but that's probably because of my other health issues - which is also why I am only going to be using the supplement once a day.  It was a very nice  flush of energy for the 3 or 4 hours that it did last.

I don't think that it really suppressed my appetite. I don't eat breakfast or big lunches, so maybe the effects wore off by the time dinner time rolled around. I did kill dinner though! I had two servings of something a keto gal ain't supposed to have in the first place! ~my bad, my bad~

Since I will probably cheat too much to keep up with a dedicated keto-er, I guess I will be better at seeing if this does work for regular eaters. If this boosts the metabolism, I should see some results unless I start eating more than usual.

For truly committed Keto-ers - especially those just starting out - carbs are the most familiar energy source so the first few weeks on a ketogenic meal plan can make you feel so sluggish. Or, at least, that's how it was for me.

I'm looking forward to cutting back on my carbs and seeing if this can replace some of my caffeinated drinks.

The Discount

As promised, here is the discount information...

You get a 25% OFF coupon using the code IMHEALTHY7 redeem it at  www.HealthyWiser.com

If you do try this, I would be interested to know what you think about the flavor and what your overall results were.

Peace
--Free



DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned in this post for free in exchange for sharing my honest opinion.

*REVIEW Revisit** DIM (Di-indolyl Methane)

Back in May, when I was still prepping for moving, I started taking this amazing supplement. It's for balancing estrogen levels, but I like to think of it as my "Fatigue Fighter":

Now, usually when I review a product, I'm done and move on. Sometimes, I will go and do a little bit of an in-post update. Rarely, do I return to do an update in a separate post. This time, I just had to.

I was pretty happy with DIM when I first started using it. Like, from the very first day. It's one of the few supplements that I was faithful about taking. I hate pills and tablets and I already have to take enough of them. It's not like I want to add something else to the mix. In this case though, I really feel that these tablets help. DIM gives me added energy (I can always use more of that!) in addition to helping with my depression.

Free of GMOs, gluten, soy & dairy

If you really want to know if a supplement works for you, try running out of it. That's what happened to me.

In the midst of moving from my temporary digs at my brother's place and into my new apartment, I ran out of DIM. I took the last tablet and kept the bottle to remind myself to order more when I could budget for it. To be honest, I didn't think about it again after a few days. I was too busy getting to doctors' appointments, getting utilities set up, and just stocking up on basic household necessities. Like food.

After my last infusion, I felt worse than I ever have after a treatment. Then, when I took my weekly shot at home, I got so sick that I almost wanted to die. Getting slightly sick and extra fatigued is normal after my shot - for a couple of days. This time, I was so nauseous that I got dehydrated. A couple of times, I literally crawled part of the way to the bathroom. It went on for three and half days!

Once the med-sick wore down a bit, I was wiped totally out. Getting to the kitchen to heat up soup in the microwave made me want to nap for a couple of hours. At least the nausea had passed though, I was so happy about that, the fatigue didn't matter as much.

When I got back to "normal", I skipped my next shot. I had so much left to unpack and put away. I managed that, but I was dragging butt the whole time. I'd spend half and hour getting stuff done, then have to rest for an hour.

My nephews were bringing the last of my belongings from their place and when I opened up a bag, the empty DIM bottle rolled out.

To cut to the chase, I had the extra bucks to order another bottle of DIM so I did. With a quickness. I mean, I cut back on some of my grocery spending so that I could afford the DIM. That's how seriously I wanted it because I remembered what it had done for me before.

I am back using the supplement as of today. I didn't get the immediate boost of energy that I did the first time. That was disappointing until I realized that I'm way, way more run down than I have been for a while. Regular fatigue is bad enough, but after moving and still getting settled in (and don't forget what I think of as Hell Week after that infusion), I guess this super fatigue is to be expected. The DIM might take a couple of days to give me a bit of an  energy boost. However, I can tell you that my mood was better today than it has been for a couple of weeks.

Of course, you need to check with your healthcare team to see if this is something you can or should use. I think too many of us who are battling with an illness tend to jump on every supplement band wagon that comes along. We want so desperately to feel better, but we have to be careful we aren't making things worse. Amen?

This, this, THIS!!

This is, I suppose, my report about at least one supplement that not only works for me but that feels necessary. And, yes,
I am going to let my new doctors know about my experience with it - not just because I have to inform them of anything I take anyway, but because it might be something they can look into for other people to use.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** DIM (Di-indolyl Methane)

(I'm ahead enough with the packing that I could take a little time to post!)

You all know me. I will try just about anything (within reason) to improve my health and energy. I've tried some things that I initially liked but gave up on after awhile. It's like dieting: seeing results increases motivation. Out of about 15 supplements, vitamins, and other health-related things that I've reviewed, I continue to use some of, specifically:

• Ceylon Cinnamon (I like to put it in my drinks)
• Beetroot powder (and beetroot juices because I like the juice better than the powder)
• Matcha tea (though I still don't like the taste and mask it in smoothies and foods)
• Raw Honey & comb (and I have a couple of favorites that I will try never to be without)
• Magnesium oil 
• Most of my natural skincare oils (especially coconut, castor, and nearly all my essential oils)
• I've slacked on using the super greens & wheat grass but only because of lack of money.)
• Yacon syrup & Blackstrap molasses

As a matter of fact, I am shipping my oils and I made a list of other items that I plan to restock once I get moved and settled in a new place. Of course, I will have a kitchen of my own and room and time to make use of everything.

Back at the beginning of April, I started using a supplement that I plan to keep using. The reason I even tried it was because I'd heard it could help with menopausal symptoms and weight loss. It might actually do that - once I get back on my sensible eating/Keto plan - but that's not the result I'm experiencing. What I am experiencing is a lift in energy and mood.

Moving is stressful, number one. My reasons for moving were super stressful, number two. Then, of course, there is my struggle with fatigue due to health and required medications.

Honestly, I had no idea how I was going to manage the planning and packing, etc that comes with moving and a big life change. That's why I started so far in advance.

As soon as I started taking this supplement - and this is the particular brand I am using right now

- I could feel the boost of energy. Not a buzzing boost - like you get from coffee or an energy drink - but a definite surge. That was on Day One, Tablet One.

There are lots of different brands out there. Some brands are solely the Di-indolyl Methane and others add something other than the BioPerine (which is a black pepper extract). I picked this one because it had high reviews and was a 2-months supply for a good price.

After about three or four days (to the best of my poor memory), I was feeling a lot less of the general "blues" and those sneaky attacks of anxiety I'd been having. Understand that I was so stressed and depressed that I was having bouts of inner weeping and wailing. After about another week or so, I was actually able to get things done.

The one thing this doesn't alleviate (and I had no hopes that it would) are my general cognitive problems. I still struggle with keeping details and tasks straight in my head, and I have days when I feel as if I'm functioning with half my brain. But... I don't feel so crazily fatigued that I can't get anything done. Matter of fact, because I have to work so hard to get even basic tasks done, I count on the DIM to give me energy for perseverance.

As of today, I have finished most of the packing and other little tasks that come with planning a move, All I have left to do is sell the car - not something I plan to do until the last second!

The DIM has caused no side effects for me other than promoting more regular bowel movements. Sorry for the TMI, folks! Also, I tend to sleep a little bit better on most nights. I still have a bit of insomnia but I think that's just going to be a fact of life until things settle down for me.

Now, since I am no kind of medical professional, I am not recommending this to anyone. I am just reviewing MY results with DIM. You can do your own research and talk with your medical care team. I have to admit that I did only light research before I started using the DIM.

I read that our bodies create DIM naturally when we eat a lot of certain vegetables. I read that DIM can have an effect on the metabolism and hormones and might even either act like estrogen or block it.  

Like I said, I haven't experienced any weight loss with the DIM. Because it improves my general mood, I can believe that it does impact hormones. I'm post-menopausal and if I thought monthly PMS was bad... Hah! Menopause is like PMS without end.

So, along with the other natural and non-RX things that I use for my health, this is going to be a staple in my new home.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Thyroid Support from Zhou Nutrition

This right here...

... is the subject of today's post.

That's the Zhou Nutrition supplement Thyroid Support with Iodine.

There is a reason I applied to test out this product. Bear with me for the story.

Just over a month ago, I started experiencing some weight gain. This is after I had worked so hard to lose the first 40 of the 45 pounds that was my goal. The weight gain hit at a time when I was also dealing with more fatigue than I'm used to. I knew that I had not been eating well because I hadn't had much of an appetite. Mostly, I was living off of soup and bits of deli turkey meat. I hadn't been getting much green stuff in my diet other than some of the green food powder that I'd put into some gel caps.

My initial reaction was to start drinking more water and making sure to get some black strap molasses on a daily basis. Black strap had almost miraculously increased my energy levels before, then I had started slacking on my intake.

When my energy was still down after a few days (and was even getting worse), I too tired to deal with anything other than crawling out of bed for a few hours a day. The next symptoms were really worrying. Almost overnight, I started to develop patches of dry skin on the lower inner sides of both feet - the area just above my arch line. No other part of my body was dry or irritated.

I talked to someone I know who told me to try adding some iodine to my daily diet. And, wouldn't you know that I just happened to have some J. Crowe's  around.

As soon as I began adding a few drops of iodine to my water and coffee (for at least 3 cups of beverages each day), I noticed that the drying skin on my foot stopped getting worse. The itch was disappearing withing the first few days and it looked as if the skin was healing.

My primary doctor was absolutely no use at all. I checked with him about the iodine and explained why I was taking it. His answer was just not to take too much iodine. Well, done, my physician, well done.

I have an upcoming appointment with my specialist and I trust him with the whole of my life. I will talk to him then. In the meantime,  I am taking the Thyroid Support (with iodine) from Zhou Nutrition. Since the supplement includes iodine, I'm not taking the J. Crowe's right now. What I was interested in is the ingredients listed in the T.S. supplement:

Here is some general info about the various ingredients:

• Iodine - deficiency... in the diet... Wikipedia
• Magnesium oxide - Warnings/Effects...Wikipedia... benefits of
• Zinc oxide - skin benefits/uses... various benefits/uses...Wikipedia
• Selenium - chelated minerals in general...General info... Wikipedia
• Copper oxide - uses/warnings
• Manganese - Wikipedia... uses/warnings
• Molybdenum - uses/warnings... how it helps
• L-Tyrosine - uses/warnings... stress reliever?
• Schisandra Powder - uses/warnings... another 'super fruit' ?
• Ashwagangha Root - uses/warnings... benefits of
• Bladderwrack Powder - uses/warnings... benefits
• Cayenne Pepper Powder - cayenne powder vs pepper
• Kelp - General info...  general info/benefits

When I just glanced over some of this info, I could see how all the ingredients (or the blend) could help with clearing up some of the skin issues I was having. This is what my feet look like after just using the iodine for a few days. They are getting better and I hope they will be back to normal after using this supplement for a while.

Everyone who knows me know that I take excellent care of my skin. It's a vanity thing in a way, but it's also the one thing I've always been able to control. So... yeah.

I know that a lot of my symptoms indicate thyroid issues. I have never had such problems so I'm interested in the relief I'm getting from the ingredients in this supplement.

I received the bottle on Tuesday and, even though it was after 5 o'clock, I took one tablet right away., then I took another tablet just before going to bed (about midnight). The recommended dose is no more than 2 tablets each day. On Wednesday, I took my morning dose and started doing some freelance work. At around 3 or so, I realized that I wasn't so wiped out. I have no idea if the supplement is supposed to start working so fast. I can't remember what time I took my second dose on Wednesday, but I can tell you that I woke up this morning not feeling like I was going to die of fatigue. Of course, I'm not seeing any weight loss yet. To be honest, I don't care if the supplement doesn't help me lose weight. Now that I am getting some pep back in my step, I will be able to make it to the gym. I'm already more active around the house and my pedometer step numbers are way, way up from the past weeks.

I'm going to have to do more checking up on all the individual ingredients listed on the label of this supplement but, in the meantime, I am overjoyed at the resurgence of energy. Until you have dealt with extreme fatigue, it's hard to understand how much it impacts your life. For me, either the fatigue or underlying symptoms, had me feeling so depressed that I was scaring myself. I was sleeping like Rip Van Winkle and, even when I was awake, I couldn't function. I completely dropped off the radar with Google Plus, and I wasn't able to do any work on the revisions for my short story collection.

Today, I feel more alert and my depression is nearly gone. I'm actually getting more than one thing done. The past several days, I could pull myself together only long enough to update a review, post some photos, or pay some bills online. After I finished one thing, I'd take 2- or 3-hour nap.

In a few weeks,  I will come back and update this post but, for now, I just want to say how much better I feel. I can't say what this supplement will do for anyone else, but it's been (so far) life-saving for me. I mean that literally. If I'd had to go on any longer with the fatigue and depression, I was going to be dialing a helpline.

If anyone else has dealt with the symptoms I've mentioned, please let me know about your experience. I'm looking anywhere and everywhere for information because I don't think that my primary care doc pays that much attention to me when I talk about my concerns. I have been spoiled to having the best doctors ever and this new one is just not that impressive in my opinion. I want to hear from other "real" people who can relate to the symptoms I've had.

To close, I want to mention Zhou Nutrition's site. Many of their products are available via Amazon (which helps for those of you with Prime membership). A nice Plus is that their guarantee will accept even your empty bottle.

Peace
--Free



DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned for free or at discount in exchange for my fair and honest review.