How I went from surviving to healing

This story doesn't begin here, but this is where it changes. Five months ago, I walked away from my business as it was. Here's why...

This 6 year journey has been both challenging and rewarding, shaping who I am today.

Back in April, I planned to step away from social media for just a few weeks. I was exhausted not from my work, but from trying to be someone I wasn't online.

My marriage was falling apart. The business felt overwhelming. I was hiding behind this manic, hyper persona that I thought everyone expected from me, I was burnt out. Trying to be everything to everyone. Still hairdressing, trying to build my business and had started teaching too. I was completely knackered, but running on pure adrenalin and coffee!

I was giving away my life's work for pennies and getting nowhere fast. 

That wasn't serving anyone. Least of all me.

I made the difficult decision to close my Gut-Zen membership even though I'd literally just re-opened it a few months before. I felt like a complete failure. Here I was, supposed to be helping people heal, and I couldn't even keep my own business model straight.I was burnt out. 

So I stopped. I went quiet. And I went deeper than I've ever gone before.

Those few weeks turned into months. And something unexpected happened. I loved the quiet. I discovered who I actually am when I'm not performing and trying to keep up with society.

But I wasn't just sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I was going deeper into my research than I'd ever gone before. And I made a breakthrough that changed everything. Not just for me, but for my business too, and more than that even, for anyone I end up working with. 

My Mission

So let me take you back to where this all started. May 2019. I'm lying in a hospital bed, heart monitor beeping, pumped full of steroids, whilst my 4-year-old daughter watches her mum being taken away in an ambulance.

I was going blind and had my first eye operation in July 2019. I got married that same month and could hardly see during my own wedding.

After my eye surgery, I had a massive autoimmune flare. The pain in my joints was so excruciating that I could barely walk or stand. I was back at the doctors' constantly, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me.

The last time I ever went to the doctor was a September day in 2019. I was referred to rheumatology, and my GP mentioned a drug called methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug for autoimmune symptoms, even though nobody could explain to me what was actually wrong with me.

That was my moment. The moment I decided to try something else.

My mission, when I started this journey 6 years ago, was to create something, something I desperately needed myself: something simple, with all the answers in one place, to stop the endless, confusing research that was driving me mental whilst I was dying. I made a promise to myself back then that I would learn, and not stop learning, because I wanted to help those people out there who were like me and were scared and did not know where to turn. 

"I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become." - Carl Jung

The Last Five Months

During those months of quiet from April onwards, I wasn't just hiding away. From early July 2025 when my shoulder froze, right through to now in September, I've been on this healing journey. I was still working in the background, but at a slower pace. Taking time out, sleeping properly, not getting stressed about everything.

And it was weird and bit of divine intervention I believe, because my shoulder freezing made me instantly give up my 36 year hairdressing career. One that should have ended years ago. I realise now 5 months later, just how detrimental it had been for me to continue it these last few years. I did nothing but moan, because to be honest I did not want to be there. And it added to my stress every week as I struggled to keep up with the amount of work I was doing. But hey ho these things happen for a reason, and it was perfect timing. A wee bit scary I might add as my husband had lost his job a month previously so we had not a penny coming in. But I trusted and still do trust the process and I truly believe it was all meant to be, as I would not have done the rest of what I am about to tell you without it happening. 

So over the summer I was still supporting my 1-on-1 clients, still teaching my students at the academy, and also building websites for business clients and coaching and mentoring them too, but most importantly, I was conducting the deepest research of my life.

I was diving into systemic candida, histamine intolerance, MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome). Areas that conventional medicine often overlooks, and may only begin to look into the MCA eventually, but that I knew held the final pieces of my own puzzle, and also again the divine intervention was happening, as all the clients I was attracting seemed to be struggling with exactly these kind of issues. And OMG it is all related to so many chronic health issues. I have been quite blown away by my findings this summer. And it was a sheer accident, what happened next.

I went back to the drawing board, connecting dots that nobody else was making, I accidentally came across the work of Dr. Royal Lee, and all of his suppressed research from the 1940s and then connected it to modern amino acid therapy. I started a new experiment on myself, a targeted gelatin protocol, just to see what would happen. I had no idea it would be the key that unlocked everything. I also at this time went on to find another great man called Ray Peat, who also had documented lots of findings when using gelatin as a healing tool.

The "Eureka!" Moment

Within days of starting my targeted gelatin protocol, my body went into what I can only describe as a healing crisis. Swollen lymph glands, exhaustion like I'd been hit by a ten-ton truck, emotional releases I hadn't expected. I spent around a week in bed, as I just could not function at all.

Slowly as the time went on my skin which had been on fire for months finally started to heal a little. The chronic stress that I had been hiding from lifted like the sun came out. I was sleeping better than I had in almost a year. Everything just felt so different, I felt like myself, like the me that was really me and not that hyper persona I had come so used to being.

Then my shoulder froze. I don’t need to go into that too much as I mentioned it above, but let me tell you, I could not even lift my arm away from the side of my body. I couldn’t get off the sofa without help as my arm was useless. By that time I had been on my protocol for maybe 2 weeks. And I re-gained around 80% movement in my arm within a week. I couldn’t believe it, as I was expecting this to be months and months of not being able to use it much. Don’t get me wrong it is still not fully back to normal. My movement range front and side is brilliant, but my arm won’t go too far back the way yet and putting a bra on is like a wrestling competition that I do not win haha! But just last week, I was back swimming for the first time in a long time and I managed to swim gently for around an hour. I certainly wouldn’t have won a race but I did it and that was enough for now. 

During this time I had been planning to try carnivore again, as I had used it as a healing nutrition tool the previous year for systemic Candidiasis and it was the only thing that worked. So I had beenbuilding myself up to it. I'd fallen off my keto lifestyle earlier this year and had to get rid of all the crap I'd reintroduced, then move back to keto in the weeks leading up to finally taking the plunge.

Last Monday, September 1st, I finally did it. My skin was so sore, itchy, and just fucking horrid. It was keeping me awake at night again, that 1am to 3am liver time (in Chinese traditional medicine) when I'd be clawing my skin till it bled and wept. The more you scratch, the more histamine releases, and the more your nervous system gets affected, which stops the bloody sleep.

Within just 5 days, the difference is unreal. I can still feel wee tingles like it wants to be really itchy, but it's not bad enough to make me scratch which in itself is amazing. 9 lbs of inflammatory weight dropped off me in just 4 days. I was sleeping through the night again. My body was finally getting the break it needed to heal. I cannot wait to see what happens this week coming. It is Sunday 7th Sept today so I have been on Carnivore for one week tomorrow. I am excited about what comes next. I have stopped drinking alcohol too. Every day I just take that day as it comes and tell myself, “just get through today and see what tomorrow brings”. 

My first goal is to stick with it for a month. I have a conference in Manchester the weekend of the 9th October. It is being held at The Monastery, and is for the 25th Anniversary of Active Health Group, who I did my own studies with for Nutritional Therapy and Integrative Health Coaching. I now teach for them and I love it so much. It was probably the best thing that has happened in my life this year. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to teach Nutrition and especially for Chronic health issues.

Anyhoo I am going off on a tangent, but going to the conference gave me the perfect thing to work towards when diving into my Carnivore and healing protocol deeper. I had been really struggling again health wise and also still have around 5 stone to lose, even though I am around 6 stone lighter than I was in 2019 I still have a way to go. So this was my goal. As I did not want to turn up to a health conference looking and feeling like a big blob. 

Carnivore is not a diet to me. It is a healing tool. I know that the body cannot lose weight when dealing sith things like systemic candida overgrowth and inflammation, even keto wasn’t cutting it for me this time. So this is it now. I am all in. And this is the very beginning of my new journey, and I plan on sharing it here on my blog each step of the way. 

Next I am going to talk about something that I have been seeing a lot of and I want to bring it up because it is such an important topic of discussion right now.

Let's Talk About Those Weight Loss Injections

Before I tell you what I've rebuilt, I need to address the elephant that seems to be in many rooms at the moment,:

Those weight loss jabs like Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy that everyone and their granny seems to be on right now.

I'm not here to judge anyone for considering them. Trust me, I get it. As Linda, the person who's struggled with weight my whole life, not Linda the nutrition expert I understand the temptation. When you've lived life overweight, when you know how society treats you, when you're desperate for a solution, of course these injections look appealing. And believe me, there have been moments that even I was tempted. Because being overweight is not nice and it can often lead to feelings of self-worthlessness and just feeling like shite about yourself, as you can see just how sad I am in the picture above. Yep I totally get it!

But let's talk about what's actually happening with these drugs, because the reality is far from the glossy success stories you see on social media.

The Side Effects Nobody Talks About

Yes, people are losing weight. But at what cost? The most common side effects can be brutal: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation that can last for months. But that's just the beginning.

People are reporting "Ozempic face" that hollowed-out look from rapid fat loss. Others are losing teeth. One person lost seven teeth because the dry mouth led to decay, costing thousands in dental bills. There's something called "Ozempic teeth" that dentists are seeing more and more.

Then there are the serious risks: pancreatitis, gallbladder problems, potential thyroid tumours, eye issues, and even reports of people experiencing depression, anxiety, and emotional numbness. Some describe feeling like their personality has changed like the drug is messing with their dopamine.

And here's the kicker when people stop taking them? They describe being "ravenous, emotionally wrecked, and desperate." The weight comes back because nothing has actually been fixed. And the thing I have seen most, seems to be that people struggle to eat fat. And fat is absolutely essential for health in every way, from hormone health to brain function and emotional wellbeing, plus tons more but I am not here today to write about that. 

The Financial Reality

These injections cost hundreds of pounds every month, and they are going up even more. Forever. One person mentioned paying £300 monthly just for Mounjaro. That's £3,600 a year, year after year, for the rest of your life if you want to maintain the results.

A note added June 2026

I wrote the section above when I was firmly in "this is a sticking plaster" territory. And I still believe that. But since writing this, I have gone much deeper into the clinical and pharmacological side of these medications.

My position hasn't changed. Food is still medicine. Root cause still matters. The weight still comes back when people stop, because nothing underneath has been fixed. But I understand now far better than I did why these drugs work, what they actually do in the body, and why, for some people, they are a genuinely useful tool, if the right support is wrapped around them. But I DO get it. The why behind people using these drugs. I have watched lives transform and just how happy it has made some people. I have struggled with my own weight forever, and if I were in a different situation, I honestly cannot say that I would not try them either. That is my truth around it.

The problem was never the drug. It was always the gap. Nobody filling it with real nutrition, real behaviour change, real education. That gap is still there. That's what I'm working on. Supporting people to Change. That is what is important long-term. Because one thing is for sure in my mind. I do not believe anyone should be on them forever.

The Root Cause Reality

One of the biggest things that I've learned over these past few years: being overweight is often a symptom of ill health, especially as we age. Yes, you can take an injection that suppresses your appetite. But what are these drugs really doing? Are they dangerous? The honest truth is we don't know the long-term effects yet.

More importantly, whilst these medications might help with cravings while you're on them, they won't address the root cause of food addiction. They won't heal your chronic health conditions. They won't fix your relationship with food or teach your body how to function optimally.

They won't address the candida overgrowth that's driving your sugar cravings, well they might a bit because you are simply not eating, but that all depends on what people eat whilst they take them, as I know that some people still eat utter shite processed foods, just in smaller amounts. They won't heal your gut lining that's causing inflammation. They won't balance your hormones or fix your insulin resistance. They're essentially a very expensive band-aid over symptoms.

If you're someone who feels worthless because you're overweight and dealing with health conditions, I want you to know there is another way. Is it hard work? Yes, absolutely. But there's something incredibly empowering about breaking through cravings and food addiction using your body's own intelligence.

That's what real healing looks like. Not managing symptoms with expensive medications that you'll need forever, but actually addressing what's driving the weight gain and health issues in the first place.

The culmination of my work over the last 18 years follows my four pillars of health:

• Food First - Food is Medicine Approach
• Sleep - because we cannot be healthy without adequate sleep
• Stress - because an overburdened nervous system is the root of chronic health issues
• Movement - even just moving more today than you did yesterday will improve your health now and you longevity

What does this mean? No more scattered information, and googling your symptoms at 3 am. No more guesswork.

My journey taught me that healing isn't a DIY project; it's a guided process. Information alone isn't enough. You need support, accountability, and a strategy that adapts to you. And sometimes, just someone who truly gets it and you can moan to and completely be your unapologetic self with.

That's why we can start with a deep dive into what is going on with you.

It’s the exact partnership I wish I'd had all those years ago. It’s how I help you the same way I helped myself: by addressing the root causes and empowering you to take control of your own health, with an expert guide by your side.

If my story resonates with you, and you're ready to start your own healing journey. Find more info Here

Further Reading Links

Dr Royal Lee - Link Here

Ray Peat - Link Here

Linda McClure

Cut the Bullshit

In Health | In Business | In Life

Bespoke Branding | Creative Web Design | Low Carb Nutrition Expert