This past summer I hit a point where I was finally fed up and ready to take action.
My waistline was uncomfortable because my pants didn’t fit right, my emotions were dull and my energy was crap. I could not sleep through the night and that also played in to my low energy. Let's just say I was not a fan of this “almost fifty” lifestyle!
I kept thinking to myself, I know it doesn’t have to be this way. I don’t have to fall in to this mid-life pattern.
I had been feeling like this for awhile, but for some reason, despite guilting myself, I never moved to action.
This time was different though. I had two gnawing factors that I couldn’t ignore anymore.
One, was the fact that my eczema was flaring so bad I knew something was going haywire in my body. I have had really small flares on my hands for years and that was the extent of it.
Now it was taking over my arms and neck and getting worse by the day. Being the kinda-crunchy person that I am, just slapping some steroid ointment on it was like putting a bandaid on it. I wanted a root fix.
I had a hunch that all of this change was due to hormones. Especially with me knocking on fifty’s door. That is when I started doing some research about hormones.
I had been on birth control for a LONG time. Too long. I was hooked on it because it kept my hormonal headaches at bay. But after I listened to a podcast from a doctor about Post Birth Control Syndrome a huge lightbulb went on.
I take a natural approach to a lot of other things in my life, what the heck was I STILL pumping this synthetic stuff in to my body for?
I started reading Dr. Jolene Brighten’s book Beyond The Pill and was totally enlightened to what the birth control pill can do to your hormones and the risks it poses for other diseases (heart, auto-immune, gut and skin issues etc)
If you are not getting off the pill but want to wrangle those hormones, I highly recommend The Hormone Fix.
Reading about all of it gave me totally anxiety and the urge to jump off the pill right then and there. But I knew I needed a game plan first.
So I geared up with all the suggested supplements, hormone supporting essential oils (like Tranquil, CBD, Rutavala, Clary Sage and Endoflex) and set the date. I was never going to be fully ready, but I started August 10th.
The purpose of the program I was on was to detox the liver, because my liver was what was processing the synthetic hormones all these years. Another goal of the program was to reset the microbiome in my gut.
I removed so many things from my daily diet that I thought I would die. But I didn’t! It was a lot easier than I thought. Maybe because there was an end point!
On the do not consume list was: soy, grains, gluten, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, dairy, peanuts. There was more but those were the biggies.
I made sure to make my emails really yummy so that I didn’t miss any of it and I think that was key. Lots of seeds, healthy fats and nuts were added in and I never felt hungry.
The only time I felt deprived was when my family would bust out the popcorn at ten at night or my nightly glass of wine with dinner.
While I eliminated a lot of things, I added supplements like liver support, turmeric, magnesium, multivitamin, and Omegas. I also used my hormone supporting essential oils (you can grab yours here) everyday, drank lots of water, walked thirty minutes a day.
Within a week I had dropped a few pounds and more importantly, felt alert and awake. That was enough to keep me going. When I did want to give up, I kept thinking about my eczema and how it was a bigger sign of something wrong.
Most of the eczema went away within a couple of weeks and the last of it under my arms went away the very last week of the month-long program.
I noticed less indigestion and over-all gas (TMI!) so this was also a sign my gut was healing.
I didn’t drop a ton of weight but I did lose a lot of inflammation and bloating. I felt great AND I was sleeping all night long again!
So now that the thirty days are up, I am taking some of these new habits with me as I head in to the future that is peri-menopause. I am not cutting out everything, but am passing up a lot of foods that don’t serve me or my body.
I am armed and ready to conquer mid-life and not fall prey to the status quo. If you need better sleep, to feel better or to support your hormones, arm yourself with knowledge and act. You won’t be sorry!
