About My Guest: Kyle J. Willis is a 26-year-old Nationally Published Fitness Model and Chronic Lyme Disease warrior. In 2011, Kyle was infected with Lyme Disease, a tick-borne illness, in his hometown of Londonderry, New Hampshire. After undergoing 3.5 years of high-dose antibiotic treatment, Kyle made the decision to get off of all medicine and began his healing journey through fitness and nutrition. Despite suffering from neurological and cardiac complications, Kyle puts his faith in God and continues onward in the Fitness Industry, landing on the cover of Men’s Fitness Magazine and frequently featured in Muscle and Fitness Magazine. Kyle currently resides in Huntington Beach, California, where you can find him spending time with his wife Madison, working out at Equinox, reading in local coffee shops, and playing golf. Key Takeaways: Life with Lyme is like living in the “Upsidedown” of Stranger Things. Having Lyme disease throughout college felt like learning to live with a 200lb weight. Ah-ha moment “If anything is going to change in my life, (no one is going to tie my shoes for me) I’m the one who has to take action” ”It was so easy for me to look around and want to be a victim.” Listen to what your body is saying. If you feel good in CA weather, honor your body and what it is telling you. Your Environment is HUGE, make your environment work for you and not against you. Nature can heal your heart. Lyme and chronic illness is a tremendous weight. And when that weight gets removed, you can make exponential gains. Start small-taking small steps towards your health will empower you down the road to take action in new ways. Do NOT put your hope in a human being. A battle of the mind-Persistence and Resistance are a must. Life inevitably will be difficult, it’s super beautiful, but everyone has to face death, illness, loss, and adversity. Everyone has something to teach you “Battling Lyme disease was, and is, and I think always will be, a messy process.” Chronic illness brings you to a place where you have to start asking yourself the deeper questions, what am I doing here? I'm not here just to suffer and die? Who am I and who do I want to be? Then...Write up an actionable plan. START with what you have and begin to create your life. Writing up actionable plans-START with what you have https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3OONZ-HGQA&feature=youtu.be You can suppress it, (the losses of chronic Lyme) or press into it, and I found that the more you press in, the more juice you are going to get out of it. Give yourself permission to have the freedom and find who you truly are. Connect With My Guest: [email protected] Resources Mentioned: The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck MD The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson Links Alkaline Anti-oxidant Water- http://www.lymewater.com/ Envita Medical –Envita Medical Lyme Voice Facebook The Lyme Voice Podcast- Lymevoice.com Lyme Documentary-Disappearing From Society, Life with chronic Lyme in 14 minutes…Documentary Little Bite, BIG TROUBLE, available on Amazon –Children’s book about Lyme disease LivLyme Summit https://livlymefoundation.org/conference/