About
Marlène: I’m the gal behind Speed Trials, a blog dedicated to healthy living, and living simply.
The Trigger:
Started in 2006, Speed Trials chronicled my life starting from a moment of self-realization, following a life-changing trip to Australia. I was slightly overweight, adrift, lost to a world of bars and drinking, smoking, and self-abandon. I made the decision to change some of my bad habits, but I was pretty clueless and picked up a few new bad habits along the way.
The Dark Times:
From 2007 to 2009, I stumbled (and suffered) through many food experiments including fasts, diets, binging, and restrictive eating. My weight fluctuated radically during this time, and my physical and mental state suffered greatly.
In my quest to heal my body and my mind, I saw a Naturopath, a Psychologist, a Family Physician, two Endoscopists, a Dietician, and a Counsellor.
The Breakthrough:
After years of suffering from GI torment, I decided to take matters into my own hands. In the summer of 2009, I went on an Elimination Diet. For two weeks, I completely eliminated the big 7 from my diet (Meat, Dairy, Soy, Wheat, Corn, Eggs, Peanuts, Caffeine). I gradually reintroduced each food into my diet, and that’s when I discovered that my physical ailments were caused by an intolerance to soy.
My success in curing my physical ailment spurred me on to heal my mind and sould, too. I was lucky enough to benefit from an Employee Assistance Program at work, and was able to meet with a counsellor (totally for free) who helped me identify a lot of things that I’d been repressing for a long time, and gave me some valuable tools to deal with them.
And Then…
Halfway through 2009, life just became fun again. I started smiling again, and enjoying myself. I began to look outwards instead of inwards, and Angelo started to recognize that girl he had fallen in love with. And I finally remembered who that girl was too. I also think the blog became way more interesting then, because positivity is way more fun to read!
And Now?
Angelo and I started trying to conceive in August 2010. We’ve had our ups and downs with that. But the only thing that matters is that we’re expecting our first in September 2011, and we couldn’t be more thrilled (check out my Family page for more info on that). I’ve already fallen in love with my baby boy, and I’ve come to fully appreciate what this bod of mine can do. Even though I put it through hell, it still gave me what I needed from it. So for that I am forever grateful, and I will never take it for granted again.
Email: baddirt@gmail.com
