Special Edition: This one's personal. Not a deep dive into research or bloodwork. Just something that happened this week that I can't stop thinking about.
I Opened an Etsy Shop and It Terrified Me
I've been writing about carnivore for a while now. Explaining the science, breaking down the research, answering reader questions about hormones and bloodwork and why their sleep got weird in week two. That's comfortable for me. I understand how to read a study and translate it into something useful.
Opening an Etsy shop? That's a completely different thing.
A few weeks ago, I designed a set of watercolor food list cards. Carnivore, keto, lion diet, pescatarian. The kind of thing you print out and stick on your fridge so you don't have to keep Googling "can I eat this?" at the grocery store. I sketched and hand-drew the original layouts, organized the foods into clear categories, and then used a little AI to help polish up the final artwork. I'm not going to pretend I did it all by hand. The ideas and the structure are mine. The finishing touches had some help. That feels honest to say.
Then I had to figure out Etsy. Setting up the listings. Writing product descriptions that don't sound clinical. Choosing tags that people actually search for. Dealing with the digital download settings. It was humbling. I'm someone who can explain the HPA axis in plain English, but optimizing an Etsy listing made me feel like a total beginner.
It was also the most fun I've had in months.
The First Sale
My phone buzzed on a Tuesday afternoon. "You made a sale!"
I'm not exaggerating when I say I screamed. Out loud. In my kitchen in Whistler. My husband looked at me like I'd lost it.
It was $4.49 CAD. Not exactly life-changing money. But someone, a real person out there, looked at something I made and thought, "I want that." They downloaded it. Maybe they printed it. Maybe it's on their fridge right now.
If you've ever sold anything you created with your own hands, you know this feeling. It doesn't matter what the amount is. That first sale is proof that the thing you made has value to someone besides you. I texted three friends about it. They were very kind about pretending it was normal to be that excited about $4.49.
Then Etsy Sent Me an Email
A few days after that first sale, Etsy's marketing machine kicked in. "Bridal Season is here! Prepare your shop for wedding shoppers!"
I almost deleted it. My food list cards aren't exactly bridal shower material. But then I sat with it for a minute. And it hit me in a way I didn't expect.
I thought about my own wedding. The months of preparation. The dress fittings. The stress about looking a certain way in photos that would hang on walls for decades. I remember the bloating, the fatigue, the skin that wouldn't cooperate no matter what products I threw at it. I remember feeling inflamed and exhausted during what was supposed to be one of the happiest periods of my life.
I didn't know then what I know now.
What I Wish Someone Had Told Me
I wish someone had sat me down six months before my wedding and said: the way you feel in your body isn't fixed. It's not just genetics or stress or bad luck. A lot of it is inflammation. And inflammation is something you can actually change.
I didn't know that refined carbohydrates were driving the puffiness in my face. I didn't know that seed oils were making my skin more reactive. I didn't know that the "healthy" granola and oat milk I was eating every morning were spiking my insulin and keeping me in a cycle of energy crashes and cravings.
I definitely didn't know that the way women respond to dietary changes is hormonally different, and that what works for a man losing weight before a wedding is not what works for a woman. I was counting calories and doing extra cardio and wondering why I felt worse, not better.
Here's what I've seen work, over and over, for women who want to feel genuinely good in their bodies. Not "I starved myself for three months" good. Actually good. Energized, clear-headed, sleeping well, skin looking like it's been drinking water for the first time in years.
It starts with eating real food. Specifically, protein-rich, nutrient-dense animal foods. The skin clarity that people report around the 60-day mark isn't a gimmick. It's what happens when you remove the dietary inputs that were driving inflammation and replace them with bioavailable nutrients your body actually uses.
This Isn't a "Wedding Diet" Post
I want to be careful here. I'm not saying every bride needs to go carnivore. I'm not saying the path to a happy wedding is a restrictive eating protocol. Please don't hear that.
What I am saying is that I spent the months before my wedding feeling lousy in my body, and I didn't have to. The information was out there. I just didn't know where to find it. Nobody told me that the chronic bloating was likely tied to the foods I was eating, not some character flaw. Nobody explained that the hormonal shifts that happen when you change your diet could actually reduce the PMS symptoms that were making me miserable during an already stressful time.
If I could go back, I wouldn't have spent money on a juice cleanse. I would have bought a ribeye.
Why This Connects to the Food Cards
When I designed those printable food list cards, I was thinking about the version of me who was just starting out. The one standing in the grocery store going, "Wait, can I eat butter? What about heavy cream? Is pork carnivore?" I wanted to make something simple and beautiful that took the confusion out of day one.
That's really it. They're fridge reference cards with watercolor illustrations and clearly organized food lists. You print them, put them up, and stop second-guessing yourself at the store. I have them in my little Etsy shop if you're curious. They also exist because I needed a creative outlet that wasn't writing another 1,200-word post about insulin resistance. Sometimes you just want to sketch some steaks and see what happens.
Starting Something New at Any Age
The Etsy part of this story matters to me for another reason. I'm not 22. I'm not a tech-native person launching a startup. I'm a health coach in Whistler who decided to open an online shop and had to watch YouTube tutorials about product photography and SEO tags.
It was uncomfortable. I made mistakes. My first listing had the wrong file format. I priced something too low and had to adjust. I'm still learning how the Etsy algorithm works, and honestly, I might never fully figure it out.
But I did it. And someone bought something. And that feels like the same energy I try to bring to the health content I write here. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to start. Whether it's changing how you eat, opening an Etsy shop, or deciding that you want to feel genuinely good for a big life event instead of just surviving it.
What I'd Tell a Bride Right Now
If you're getting married this year and you found this post somehow, here's what I'd say:
You don't need a crash diet. You need to stop eating the things that are making you feel bad. That's a different project, and it's a kinder one.
Start with protein. Eat enough of it. At least 100 grams a day, more if you can. Prioritize beef, eggs, fish, and animal fats. Drop the seed oils. Cut the sugar. See how you feel after 30 days. Not how you look. How you feel.
Pay attention to your electrolytes, especially sodium. When you cut carbs, your body flushes water and minerals. If you feel dizzy or get headaches in the first week, it's almost certainly an electrolyte issue, not a sign that the food isn't working.
Take photos. Not for Instagram. For yourself. So that at the 60-day mark, when the changes start to become visible, you can see where you were. That evidence matters on the days when motivation is low.
And if you want a simple reference for what to eat? And honestly? I couldn't stop thinking about all of this. The Etsy bridal email. My own wedding. The things I didn't know. The women who are right now standing in front of a mirror feeling the same way I did. I kept coming back to the same thought: what if someone just laid it all out? The food to prioritize. The timeline. The milestones to watch for. Not a crash diet plan, but a real protocol for feeling good in your body over 90 days.
So I sat down and wrote it. I built a 90-day Keto Bride Protocol that walks through exactly what I wish someone had handed me before my wedding. Week by week, what to eat, what to expect, how your body changes when you give it real food instead of diet shakes and anxiety. It's the guide that didn't exist for me, and I needed to make it exist for someone else.
The Part I Didn't Expect
I opened an Etsy shop to sell printable food cards. I didn't expect it to send me on an emotional trip through my own wedding memories. But that's how it goes sometimes. You start something small and creative and it reminds you of all the reasons you do this work in the first place.
I care about this stuff. I care about women feeling strong and clear and at home in their bodies. Not just for weddings, but for everything that comes after. The energy to be present with your partner. The sleep quality that makes you a nicer human. The hormonal balance that affects your mood, your cycle, your skin, your ability to think clearly.
I wish I'd known all of this sooner. That's why I write. That's why I painted those cards. And that's why an email about bridal season made me want to tell you this story.
I'm not a doctor. I've researched this deeply and lived it personally, but I can't see your bloodwork from here. If you have health conditions, take medications, or are making changes during a high-stress period like wedding planning, please talk to someone who knows your full picture. Everything I write is based on research and what I've seen work. Your situation might be different.