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How one woman went from sick to fit

Kimberly Daya learned to deal with her chronic illness by doing something that could help many of us

Kimberly Daya says she remembers like it was yesterday, the day she began her journey with chronic illness.

In 2008, she tried to get up from her desk at work and her legs couldn't support her.

The doctors first thought it was multiple sclerosis. Then they thought lyme disease. She finally connected with a doctor at Stanford who diagnosed her with myalgic encephalomyelitis.

She would have good and bad days, but wasn't seeing much improvement, even with medication.

She would feel better, put her foot on the gas and go full speed. Then crash later in the day.

That's when she realized the only way to control her illness was to budget her energy.

She started connecting with people on Instagram and realized many people weren't planning their energy output. Now she documents each day through Instagram stories. Over the years, she has been able to get such a great handle on her energy, she entered a fitness competition. Her handle is a perfect description of where she is today: @mysickfitlife.

As her health improved, her husband Mark, started looking for ways to celebrate her 40th birthday. He thought Hawaii. She had a different idea.

She wanted to get her house organized. She said over the years of her illness she would just throw things in closets and behind closed doors. Every time she saw this, she would start to relapse due to the stress of trying to figure out how to get it all organized.

Professional organizer, Kim Salisbury, spent days clearing out the old and making the space less stressful.

The illness has brought it's challenges, but at the end of the day Kim Daya says she feels she is a better person because of what she learned along the way.

Continue the conversation with Monica Woods on Facebook. 

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Watch more: Monica Woods talks with professional organizer, Kim Salisbury, about how to get everything from sheets, to chargers - even local magazines - into one ready bag for your guests!

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