In May 2025, I traveled solo to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands—a two-week soul-reset on a lush, turquoise island, perfectly set for transformation. I didn’t go for the postcard-perfect views. I went because I needed some deep downtime… and to celebrate the transformation I’ve already accomplished with my health and weight loss.

To celebrate the woman I’ve become. To celebrate life.  

Even after years of low-carb living, my body was whispering that it needed more. My GI Map test discovered H.pylori which caused IBS.   My DUTCH test revealed elevated cortisol.  Insulin spikes were triggering cravings, I’d started snacking on low carb food—but more often—and a few pounds began to return. Energy was reduced, and my nervous system was begging for a reset.  I was tired.  

Being an entrepreneur and holistic practitioner can be draining (I’ve been on this new journey of reinventing myself and building a business since 2018). Even though I help women reclaim their energy and health, I knew it was time to make my own health the priority again.

So I did what I coach others to do:
✨ I made my health an adventure.

I packed my cellphone, my supplements, my hiking shoes—and I flew 11 hours (taking a whole day’s travel) to paradise in the South Pacific.

As a traveling Health Adventure Practitioner and Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, I believe that healing happens in motion, in nature and outside of the home.

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✨ Flashback: Remembering Who I Used to Be

It wasn’t long ago that I weighed 225 pounds and felt like my body was holding me hostage. I couldn’t walk far without knee pain and shortness of breath from asthma. I was constantly fighting cravings that felt stronger than willpower.

I remember wanting to stop eating the foods that caused me to gain weight and lived with anxiety and depression, but I felt too exhausted to fight these urges to overeat—so I just gave in and felt numb.
I was always hungry and tired and felt trapped in a body I didn’t love.

But I never quit.
I never stopped looking for my weight loss solution.

I tried every solution I could find, but nothing stuck—until I found the low-carb lifestyle that would eventually bring my brain back online, balance my hormones, and help me lose 100 pounds naturally…

–and miraculously keep it off!

So I never looked back and never cheated on myself ever again with food that I knew would make me sick and overweight.

That woman—exhausted, aching, and discouraged—could never have imagined I’d one day walk the entire circumference of an island in the South Pacific… and feel stronger with every step, feeling joy!

“You don’t need permission to be powerful. You just need one decision: to begin.”

So when I stepped off the plane in Rarotonga, I wasn’t starting over—but I was ready for a deeper kind of healing.

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🌴 My Morning Island Rituals & Healing Habits

Each morning I woke before dawn. I brewed coffee and sipped Matual tea to address H. pylori and pathogenic bacteria that I’d discovered via my GI Map test.

 I stood barefoot in the morning dark, grounding on soft grass, and felt the soft tropical air as I watched the sun rise.  I could feel my nervous system reset, the stiffness dissipate and the joy set in as the first birds woke. 

I kept my morning gentle: blocked the blue light, dim lamps, and audiobooks on health alongside a worn copy of The Amino Revolution for amino acid therapy. I read it cover to cover, highlighting what was empowering and transformative, thinking about my current clients and how it would apply to them as well as myself.   

I wandered that tropical paradise daily, cut the red hibiscus and stunning white plumeria flowers for my kitchen and felt my heart beat slow down and reset. (I confirmed this with my Oura ring which showed my heart beat reduced by one point per day.) This confirmed that It was indeed a stress response and taught me what to focus on.  

That trip taught me circadian balance needs to be a priority and that amino acid therapy isn’t a theory—it’s real. By getting that daily grounding at sunrise and adding therapeutic aminos, I felt more emotionally resilient, less fatigued, and noticeably less hungry as my stress melted away. 

Cooking became a mindful practice—two nourishing low-carb meals daily in my island paradise home. Snacking was infrequent and joyful: coconut chips, macadamias, and brazil nuts that I found at the local Wigmore grocery store.

It felt intentional—and I lost two pounds without even trying.

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🚶‍♀️ Walking Into Wholeness

Movement became medicine. I walked to the grocery store (a mile round trip), strolled along quiet beaches and village paths. I walked nine miles one day, twelve another—until I’d circled the entire island in sections. I averaged six miles a day and felt joyful and energized.

But I went deeper.

I hiked the Cross Island Trek and climbed up The Needle, winding through jungle, volcanic ridges, and the beating heart of the island.

“I hiked through tangled jungle, roots underfoot, sweat tracing my spine as I climbed toward the Needle—lungs pumping, heart open.
At the top of the Needle, the island stretched below me in a quilt of green and blue.
The day was perfect. I felt like I had climbed into the woman I was always becoming.”

On other days, I walked along the shore, in and out of the clear water and to and through Muri Lagoon, chest-deep in sparkling water, searching for shells along the shore, amazed by hermit crabs that scuttled like tiny reminders of progress, delighted. 

I snorkeled for the very first time. Explored coral reefs at low tide. Spotted sea cucumbers, soft purple coral, schooling fish—and a blue starfish that stopped me in my tracks. It was all amazing to see and experience–an Adventure.

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✨ Mini Moments of Magic

These were my sweetest, most healing slices of island life:

🌊 Wading waist-deep in crystal lagoon water, feeling held by both water and strength
🐚 Collecting shells in silence, the hermit crabs reminding me: even tiny steps matter
🐦 Watching island birds and learning about hermit crabs morphing into coconut crabs—nature teaching me about patience and transformation
💧 Walking the reef at low tide, waves breaking at my back and the island in the distance—standing at the edge of two worlds
🌴 Touring with Ariimoana Walkabouts, discovering soft coral, sea cucumbers, a squid that squirted ink, purple coral—and feeling the guides’ warmth like a gift
🍽️ Enjoying an outstanding lagoon cruise in Aitutaki, BBQ fish lunch onboard, snorkeling through turquoise waters with turtles and giant fish
🏝️ Stepping ashore on One Foot Island, walking barefoot in gentle surf under palm trees on white sand with turquoise water where few ever experience
💨 Embracing stormy days where strong winds grounded the island—and I grounded too, resting without guilt

“The greatest gift I gave myself on this trip wasn’t the view—it was the reminder that I deserve to feel this good every day.”

You do, too.

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💬 A Message for Women Over 50

If you’re a woman over 50 reading this, I want you to know deep in your soul:
You are not too late. You are not too old. You are not too far gone. You are not broken.

I lost 100lbs after 50. I reclaimed my energy, balanced my hormones, silenced the cravings, and reset my metabolism–finding ME. I brought clarity to my mind and became a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner because I had the energy to do it and found excitement in my passion to learn all that I could to help others in their journey.  “This is how I can help more people,” I had said when I made the decision to invest as an FDN Practitioner.

At 62, I can stand and walk for miles, hike rugged canyons, climb ridgelines, train for & participate in yearly half-marathons, and run my global holistic health business with joy and purpose.
I’m pain-free, disease-free, and energized—not because I’m chasing youth, but because I’m committed to living fully.

You deserve to feel strong.
You deserve to feel beautiful.
You deserve a life that feels like yours again.

This is not about perfection—it’s about choosing possibility.

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🌟 Returning Renewed

I came home two pounds lighter—but more than that, I came home renewed.

My circadian rhythm was reset.
My cravings were quiet.
My nervous system felt calm and clear.
My purpose and vision was more anchored.
My goal to live my life as a Health Adventure felt renewed

I wore swimsuits with pride. I love the strength of my legs—no varicose veins, just vitality—and stood rooted in gratitude for my capable body and beautiful strong feet.

I modeled what holistic low-carb living can look like anywhere—even in a “self-catering” island unit.
I proved that you can eat well, stay active, and love your body in your 60s and enjoy an island paradise vacation as a reward.

This trip wasn’t just a vacation—it was a declaration.
A celebration of the woman I’ve become.
The old me wouldn’t have believed she deserved this kind of island escape nor would she have gone solo.

But I paid for this trip with money I earned by reclaiming my health, my confidence, and my business as a low carb practitioner.

✨ I am thankful. I am grateful.
✨ I am a successful, beautiful woman and entrepreneur.
✨ I am a powerful practitioner—with a powerful process—anchored in the mission of helping women over 50 reclaim their health and rise with vitality.

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✨ Ready for Your Own Health Adventure?

If your energy feels parked.
If your cravings feel relentless.
If your confidence is whispering, “What if this isn’t my best life?” — let’s talk.

As a practitioner, I rely on powerful tools to dig deep into healing:
🧪 The DUTCH hormone panel,
🦠 The GI-MAP gut health test,
🥗 The Oxford MRT food sensitivity test,
💧 Fluids IQ permeability and metabolic panels, and
💁‍♀️ The HTMA (hair tissue mineral analysis).

These aren’t just lab names—they’re lanterns guiding me and my clients through the fog toward real answers.  You will find your hidden weight loss blocks as I did–that’s the power of labs and functional nutrition.  

🎯 When you Book a free Health Adventure Strategy Call with me.
We’ll uncover:

✅ What’s truly draining your energy so you can get the weight loss you want and deserve
✅ How to rebalance your body with nutrition, labs, and movement
✅ A roadmap for feeling alive, strong, and adventurous again

👉 [Click here to schedule your call]

Age Adventurously!

Lori Balue, A-CFCH, Certified FDN Practitioner and creator of the Holistic Low Carb Method and Recipe book for Aging Beautifully and Adventurously