PHOENIX — Michelle Rene Jackson is finally living her best life — after giving up hours spent daily scrolling through her social media feeds.
"I realized I was just connected to this false narrative of organized chaos and I didn't want it anymore."
You may remember the Valley-based celebrity hairstylist changing lives with her Monday-morning makeovers on ABC15's Sonoran Living Live.
“What I didn't realize is that I was giving my social media platforms so much about me and they kept delivering things to kind of keep me in my own little jail,” she said.
Now, 10 years later, she is also a changed woman after what she calls a digital detox.
“I was so tired I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop my brain from thinking of things or trying to correct things or panicking about the next day.”
She ended up getting sick with Hashimoto's Disease.
“The stressors manifest in your body and it's slow. My famous line that I tell my clients is - your reality is where you put your eyes. I was putting my eyes in the wrong place and I created a reality that was not healthy," she said. “All the symptoms were there. The weight gain, brain fog, and facial swelling.”
But with the help of her doctor and tuning into real-life experiences, she says the auto-immune disorder is almost gone.
“I’ve made huge strides by redirecting what I’ve done in my life from what my eyes were looking at. What my mouth was eating and what my body was not doing. You just have to re-learn. You have to unlearn everything you were taught.”
In one year she says she went from a fear of missing out to being full of energy and shedding nearly 30 pounds without hitting the gym.
But how?
“Just sunshine, circadian living, hydration, some exercise, and the correct food! No sugar, very minimal carbs and I’m almost healthy.”
And, instead of scrolling her social media feeds, she is getting more quality time with her husband of 33 years.
It's something she says comes with a bonus of way more romance.
“I've now created my new reality which is peaceful. I know the city is burning around me but in my hula hoop, it's calm.”
