As a small, naïve, thirteen-year-old, I stumbled into the middle school nurse’s office profusely sweating. My hands and feet were tingling, my vision was blurry, and I was in pure panic. I had no idea what was going on with my body. Was I sick? Was I going to faint? The school nurse took my temperature and tried to calm me down. As soon as I could, I said, “Please tell me what’s wrong with me.” In utter confusion, she sent me down the hall to Mrs. Demarco, the school counselor. I was so frustrated. If I was sick, why wasn’t I still sitting on the bench in the nurse’s office or being sent home? The counselor quickly realized what had been going on and sat me down to explain, “My dear, you have just had an anxiety attack.”
Since that moment I have struggled with anxiety and depression. At the time I had no idea what those words even meant or how they would make their way through my life, but I quickly had to learn how to cope. Throughout the years my coping mechanisms have evolved, and I’ve finally found a prescription option that works wonders for me, but the process of figuring it all out was not easy.
One of the largest challenges I had to face was removing caffeine from my diet. As a third-year college student, this is impossible because of the many early mornings and late-night study sessions. I began drinking energizing beverages with less caffeine than a typical cup of coffee (around 90 mg caffeine). I tried half decaf-half regular coffee, tea lattes and so much more, but I wasn’t getting a lasting boost of energy. When I met the Strohl family, they told me about the products they sold for their company, Red Leaf Nutrition. At first, I’ll be honest, I was a bit scared because of what I had heard others say about other pre-workout brands.
But Red Leaf Blueberry-Acai Pre-workout changed the game for me. It’s naturally sweetened with stevia and monk fruit and has significantly less caffeine than those other brands I’d heard bad things about. I began with half of a scoop, two-thirds and so on until I prepared my mind and body for an entire scoop. This is by far the best alternative to coffee and has never left me feeling anxious or uneasy. There are so many other benefits to a lower-caffeine pre-workout (better sleep, maintaining heart health, etc.) that you must try it.
I’m so glad that I’ve found a company to not only intern with, but that also helps me stay awake through those long nights in the library without making me anxious. Through these challenging times, anxiety levels are at an all-time high, and along with Red Leaf Pre-Workout, I wanted to include some other coping mechanisms to help ease the stress on our mental health as Covid surges on. These homeopathic strategies have worked for me, friends, and family members that have struggled with anxiety and depression and I hope that they can bring you some relief as well.
- Obviously, drink less caffeine, try tea and Red Leaf instead
- St. John’s Wort Supplement
- 20 Minutes of Yoga and Meditation a day
- CBD drops or Gummies
- Valerian, lavender and jasmine essential oils
- Ashwagandha Supplement
If you are interested in trying a lower-caffeine alternative to the standard energy drink, use the code redleaf at checkout to save 10% on Red Leaf Pre-Workout!
