My Story: Lisa Nicole Bell | The Healthy Beauty Project -by Todra Payne

Lisa Nicole Bell is an author, award winning filmmaker, and media personality who empowers ordinary people to live extraordinary lives.

I met Lisa on Facebook and was immediately taken with her energy and passion. Besides her work in film (she is currently working on a documentary on weight and culture), Lisa also started Inspired Girls International, a socially conscious company that shows girls how to become successful feminine leaders.

But believe it or not, there was a time in Lisa’s life when she was struggling with health issues that kept her from living a full life. She decided to do something about that.

HBP: Lisa, there’s so much to your story – from your high school days when you first started having health issues, to the cocktail of meds and eventually the decision to make a complete life overall.  What were the symptoms of ill health that started for you in high school?

Lisa: In high school, I was a majorette. One day during practice, I suddenly felt a sharp, incredible pain. I went to the bathroom and coughed. Blood came up. I was rushed to the emergency room where they did all sorts of tests.

HBP: And what did they find?

Lisa: Nothing, really. The doctor put me on medication to settle the acid in my stomach. That’s what they thought the problem was.

HBP: So did that help? Was it simply stomach acid?

Lisa: No. My hair started to fall out. I got severe acne. I had no energy. And I’d get debilitating headaches. They always came in the afternoon. They were almost on schedule. So, then I started to take medication for the headaches. And eventually, I was diagnosed with chonic anemia, so I was on meds for that, as well.

HBP: Looking back, I know you realize some of the things that were contributing to your ill health.

Lisa: Oh, sure. For one, I was eating so badly. Sugary cereals, lots of candy, fast foods. Although I loved vegetables and fruits, I was eating mostly bad stuff – heavy on the dairy, carbs. I was clueless about preservatives and chemicals in food. Or beauty products. Or cleaning products.

HBP: I think that’s how most people are who have health issues. They don’t immediately make the connection between diet, lifestyle, and even the chemicals in the products they’re using. We’re conditioned to think we need to fight against some foreign disease with medications instead of evaluating what we can change in our lives. So, when did you start to realize you needed to change some things?

Lisa: As an adult, I moved from Alabama to California. It was a new world; a new lifestyle towards health and fitness. The first year I was here, I was like “these granola eating, tree huggers are extreme.”

HBP: So you saw the people around you living differently, but you weren’t initially interested.

Lisa: I considered the eating organic thing, but I had this idea that eating healthy was going to be more expensive than what I was currently eating. And it wasn’t going to taste good. But I’d been on so many medications and I still had other issues. I was dealing with seasonal allergies. I’d have sinus infections six or seven times a year. I was taking antibiotics to deal with them. And I had antibiotics for my acne issues.

HBP: Wow, that’s a lot.

Lisa: It is. And I felt I was too young to be on all this medicine, but I didn’t realize at the time that it doesn’t have to be that way. The body is a self-healing organ if you’ll let it do its job. I decided something wasn’t right. I started researching whole food first before anything else. A simple Google search taught me some interesting stuff about food. I researched sugar and meat and soda and all the things I was putting in my body.

HBP: Were you radical about it or did you ease into?

Lisa: I did it as an experiment for 30 days. I cut out dairy, pork, beef – and something amazing happened. The headaches stopped. No stomach aches. My skin was glowing. I had more energy than I’d had in years. From there I explored supplements and homeopathic remedies. I started exercising 3-4 times a week.

HBP: So you just went for it.

Lisa: I went for it because I saw immediate improvement. My body went through an amazing healing process. I didn’t even have painful periods anymore. I was able to stop the prescription meds for anemia. My hair began to grow in thick and lustrous.

HBP: Did you see your doctor during all this?

Lisa: I did. When he ran tests, my blood levels were normal. He didn’t believe that I’d stopped the meds. He’d said I’d have to be on them for the rest of my life. He asked what I was doing because he was completely blown away by the results.

HBP: That’s amazing. Let’s g o back for a moment to something. You mentioned acne as a problem. Where is the beauty tie-in here? How did you learn to pursue healthier beauty products? I mean your skin is just really pretty now. I wouldn’t guess you’d been through so much with your skin.

Lisa: I’d had acne for a long time, so I wore makeup to cover it. But one day I had a wisdom tooth removed and I was inside for a week. I didn’t have any reason to wear makeup because I wasn’t going anywhere. And my skin got remarkably clear.

HBP: So you made the products connection.

Lisa: Yes. When I felt better (from the tooth) I decided to stroll through Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I was intimidated by the selection of natural personal care items. But I realized crossing over with topical products was the same as I’d gone through with food. I experimented with the brands I found, did some research online. I learned ingredients to avoid.

HBP: That’s so wise. Cause even at a store like Whole Foods, there are brands on the shelves that use preservatives we’d not recommend.

Lisa: I learned I wanted to stay away from parabens, sulfates and such. I learned about the benefits of tea tree oil. I discovered Aubrey Organics. And Dessert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash changed my life. My skin responded so favorably to that. It soaked up the oil, but left my skin soft. After that, I changed my entire beauty routine. I even stopped using chemical relaxers in my hair. I bought natural shampoos and conditioners that I thought wouldn’t work on my hair texture, but they were wonderful. My hair LOVED them.

HBP: You have such thick, beautiful hair. That was the first thing I noticed when I saw one of your interviews on a morning news show. It looks so healthy. And I love natural hair.

Lisa: I had a friend who first brought to my attention that I was so healthy, but I was still using chemical relaxers. I had been programmed that straight was “right” and European beauty was right. And for me to be as God made me was somehow flawed. I was doing things that are body and earth friendly, but putting Draino on my hair!

HBP: I so agree! But we all get there gradually. Not everyone’s as brave as you were to change everything so radically.

Lisa: I took six months to grow my natural hair out. I gradually trimmed away the chemical ends.

HBP: I didn’t transition. I did a Big Chop and ran around with two inches of hair. It was scary, but very liberating at the same time. So, just a recap here. How long were you suffering with health issues and on meds?

Lisa: Eight years.

HBP: And now you’re not dealing with any of those issues, correct?

Lisa: That’s correct.

HBP: That’s totally inspiring. Thanks so much, Lisa, for sharing your story. There is so much more to it, but this post would get so long if we kept going. I will say this, I’m really looking forward to the documentary you’re working on. Please let us know when it’s completed.

Lisa: I definitely will.

HBP’s Wellness stories aren’t meant to be medical advice. They are simply someone’s account of what improved their health. HBP, Lisa Nicole Bell nor any of our writers are advocating you stop your medications or use medical advice that is contrary to your health care professional’s advice.