All about the healthy stuff today
Hi friends. I'm telling you straight up that this post is not for my man friends. It is about health stuff, vitamins, food, and girl troubles. Seriously, go away.
Now then. one of my big goals for this year was to take my health more seriously. In the last few years I'd turned that lifestyle corner where I wasn't actively chasing kids around everywhere or picking up a toddler 500 times a day. I was still having intermittent fatigue issues, and the scale was creeping up a little more each year. My PMS symptoms were getting worse, starting earlier, and lasting longer (headaches, mood swings, anxiety that was clearly connected to pms, pain when running up the stairs-you know what I'm talking about). It was no good. If any of you have gone to the doctor for these things, you know what they say. "Oh, well, you have kids. It's normal to be tired." or "You have a lot going on in your life. You should cut back." Why didn't I think of that?! Which child should I kick out so that my life can be easier. There's the "Are you depressed? You could be depressed." No, I'm not depressed. I'm tired, not apathetic. I also got the, "Your vitamin D and B levels are low. You should take vitamins." Okaaaay.
After cleaning up my diet last year, I saw some real improvement with my energy levels. I've been dutifully taking my vitamins which also helped some, but I still felt like overall I continued to slide down. Then my diet slid back to what it used to be (my family sabotages me). I've been taking steps this year to tick off all the things I can do to feel better. I am 36 years old. There is no reason for me to have some of the fatigue and hormone issues I was having. I started with exercise. I've been working out consistently for the last few months. I got stronger, but I didn't see any real difference in my energy levels. Even so, I'm developing some legit muscles and my plank game is improving. ;)
After googling (YOU SEE WHAT YOU DOCTORS HAVE DRIVEN ME TOO!!! I'M GOOGLING MY HEALTH ISSUES!) Anyway. After googling and reading so many articles, blog posts, and check lists, I found a connection between low vitamin D and B levels and estrogen dominance as well as thyroid issues. Since the thyroid deals so much with hormones, and those vitamins are also involved in hormones getting to where they need to be, it made sense that they would all tend to show up together. After even more googling and searching around for natural supplements that are safe to use, I decided to try Diindolylmethane (DIM). Basically it's the good stuff in cruciferous vegetables that help metabolize estrogen into the good kind. I didn't even know there were good and bad kinds. Now I do. The worst side effect is headaches if you take too much but I was already getting headaches so I didn't think it would matter. Overall, it seemed very promising and very safe to try. It's been used for a long time, studies have been done, and it's widely used. I was desperate enough to venture into the holistic world. In that same month, I also did my week of Whole7 which you're probably already tired of hearing about. The week after I continued to follow most of the same rules.
And where am I now? I've been taking the DIM supplement for a month now, and I have to say I saw a huge improvement with pms symptoms. Some of that is probably related to diet, but the supplement really helped. Like, my headaches that were hormone related completely stopped. The only time I took any meds for a headache was when I was dealing with sugar withdrawals. My energy levels are better. I've been busy for weeks. Normally I could go hard for about 4 days then I would need some recovery time. That hasn't happened in the last month. I didn't have that couple of days of major anxiety that hit like clockwork each month. The family swears my moods are better, and I suppose they would know better than anyone else.
The diet change also had a big impact. I mean, yeah, I lost weight and inches (Yay me!), but I could also tell that my blood sugar was staying level instead of swinging up and down. Generally, it made me feel better. I know this because over the weekend I indulged in some delicious and not so healthy food. I'm talking pasta and alfredo sauce, cookies, fries and ranch dressing...it was wonderful. And then I paid the price for it. I got headaches, stomach issues, and sleepiness in the middle of the day again. Basically, I enjoyed my weekend, but it was a planned detour. Now it's time to stay the course for good. I didn't break myself from sugar slavery to jump back into it again. I don't ever want to have to go through sugar withdrawals again. It was awful.
So then. I'm sharing this because it seems like a lot of my friends are dealing with the same health issues that I was while getting the brush off from doctors. While the one supplement has been really great so far, I think it works best with a healthy diet. For me, I know I need to avoid extra sugar and high carb foods most of the time because it makes me feel bad. Soy probably isn't great for me either since I'm so sensitive to hormone changes.
I wish I could say a pill fixed me, but I had to be a grown up and realize that I can't eat like a 20 yr old anymore. It is sad, but it's worth it to feel better. So there's my health journey so far. If you're dealing with some of these same symptoms, just know you're not the only one, and no. You don't have to get rid of a kid to lighten your load. ;)
Now then. one of my big goals for this year was to take my health more seriously. In the last few years I'd turned that lifestyle corner where I wasn't actively chasing kids around everywhere or picking up a toddler 500 times a day. I was still having intermittent fatigue issues, and the scale was creeping up a little more each year. My PMS symptoms were getting worse, starting earlier, and lasting longer (headaches, mood swings, anxiety that was clearly connected to pms, pain when running up the stairs-you know what I'm talking about). It was no good. If any of you have gone to the doctor for these things, you know what they say. "Oh, well, you have kids. It's normal to be tired." or "You have a lot going on in your life. You should cut back." Why didn't I think of that?! Which child should I kick out so that my life can be easier. There's the "Are you depressed? You could be depressed." No, I'm not depressed. I'm tired, not apathetic. I also got the, "Your vitamin D and B levels are low. You should take vitamins." Okaaaay.
After cleaning up my diet last year, I saw some real improvement with my energy levels. I've been dutifully taking my vitamins which also helped some, but I still felt like overall I continued to slide down. Then my diet slid back to what it used to be (my family sabotages me). I've been taking steps this year to tick off all the things I can do to feel better. I am 36 years old. There is no reason for me to have some of the fatigue and hormone issues I was having. I started with exercise. I've been working out consistently for the last few months. I got stronger, but I didn't see any real difference in my energy levels. Even so, I'm developing some legit muscles and my plank game is improving. ;)
After googling (YOU SEE WHAT YOU DOCTORS HAVE DRIVEN ME TOO!!! I'M GOOGLING MY HEALTH ISSUES!) Anyway. After googling and reading so many articles, blog posts, and check lists, I found a connection between low vitamin D and B levels and estrogen dominance as well as thyroid issues. Since the thyroid deals so much with hormones, and those vitamins are also involved in hormones getting to where they need to be, it made sense that they would all tend to show up together. After even more googling and searching around for natural supplements that are safe to use, I decided to try Diindolylmethane (DIM). Basically it's the good stuff in cruciferous vegetables that help metabolize estrogen into the good kind. I didn't even know there were good and bad kinds. Now I do. The worst side effect is headaches if you take too much but I was already getting headaches so I didn't think it would matter. Overall, it seemed very promising and very safe to try. It's been used for a long time, studies have been done, and it's widely used. I was desperate enough to venture into the holistic world. In that same month, I also did my week of Whole7 which you're probably already tired of hearing about. The week after I continued to follow most of the same rules.
And where am I now? I've been taking the DIM supplement for a month now, and I have to say I saw a huge improvement with pms symptoms. Some of that is probably related to diet, but the supplement really helped. Like, my headaches that were hormone related completely stopped. The only time I took any meds for a headache was when I was dealing with sugar withdrawals. My energy levels are better. I've been busy for weeks. Normally I could go hard for about 4 days then I would need some recovery time. That hasn't happened in the last month. I didn't have that couple of days of major anxiety that hit like clockwork each month. The family swears my moods are better, and I suppose they would know better than anyone else.
The diet change also had a big impact. I mean, yeah, I lost weight and inches (Yay me!), but I could also tell that my blood sugar was staying level instead of swinging up and down. Generally, it made me feel better. I know this because over the weekend I indulged in some delicious and not so healthy food. I'm talking pasta and alfredo sauce, cookies, fries and ranch dressing...it was wonderful. And then I paid the price for it. I got headaches, stomach issues, and sleepiness in the middle of the day again. Basically, I enjoyed my weekend, but it was a planned detour. Now it's time to stay the course for good. I didn't break myself from sugar slavery to jump back into it again. I don't ever want to have to go through sugar withdrawals again. It was awful.
So then. I'm sharing this because it seems like a lot of my friends are dealing with the same health issues that I was while getting the brush off from doctors. While the one supplement has been really great so far, I think it works best with a healthy diet. For me, I know I need to avoid extra sugar and high carb foods most of the time because it makes me feel bad. Soy probably isn't great for me either since I'm so sensitive to hormone changes.
I wish I could say a pill fixed me, but I had to be a grown up and realize that I can't eat like a 20 yr old anymore. It is sad, but it's worth it to feel better. So there's my health journey so far. If you're dealing with some of these same symptoms, just know you're not the only one, and no. You don't have to get rid of a kid to lighten your load. ;)
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