Hormonal Balance: Embrace the Change

I’ve finally got my head wrapped around this thing. Yes, it took a few days, but I’m there.

This weekend, Jeff brought multiple bags of potato chips into the house. He also brought in other goodies I couldn’t eat. Of course, he and the kids ate them in front of me. I didn’t touch one of them. At first, I struggled with it and even whined a little. But yesterday, I finally got ahold of myself.

As a homeschooling mom, the only time I get to form a complete thought without interruption is in the shower. 🙂 Standing in the shower yesterday, I was thinking over when to re-start T-tapp and what routine I wanted to do and how. I had a flash back to my very first T-tapp boot camp. I was doing the long, 45-minute workout and it was day three. T-tappers know what I’m talking about. Day three is the WORST. You’re sore all over and you just have to muster up the determination to push yourself over that hump. If you don’t get over that hump, you quit and allow the fat, the health problems, the tiredness, the hormonal problems to win. You loose.

My arms are the weakest part of my body, they always have been. By the time the arm portion of the work-out came around, I was in tears. I stood there and cried, forcing myself through the workout. My arms shook and acted like limp noodles. I didn’t even really feel like I had control of them, they were so sore. Someone (who shall remain nameless) happened to see me standing there, looking like a flailing duck, trying to do the moves right and stay balanced, tears streaming down my face, and they encouraged me to stop and they told me the workout was too difficult for me.

I refused.

For the first time in my life, I WANTED it.

I wanted something to kick my butt, get me up and help me fix my health problems. I know I can’t do it by staying in the same place I am, I’ve got to move, change, do something different.

I somehow managed to finish both the arms and the rest of the workout that day. The next day got easier. The next day was even easier. Soon, I was seeing awesome results and I couldn’t have been happier. I just had to get over that hump.

So standing in the shower yesterday, I picked out which T-tapp videos to do and I start tomorrow.

Hump Day

Today isn’t any different. I WANT this. I’m not going to let his addiction to carbs stop me. I control what I eat, what I cook, what goes into my mouth. I’m the only one that can work on a solution to my problem.

I’m not going to let my love of carbs stand between me and the better health that I want. I’m not going to whine about how much I love bread, potato chips or ice cream and give myself permission to binge on carbs all while getting fatter and sicker. I’m not going to tell other people it’s ok, just continue on, give them my permission. I’m going to look forward to better health instead of letting the addiction of a taste and ease of preparation hold me back.

You DON’T have my permission to make yourself sicker, weaker, worse off. I will not coddle myself, and I won’t coddle you and tell you it’s ok to stay sick, stuck and complacent.

I want better for myself. And I want better for my readers. I have always said that if and when I changed, I saw a better way, I would say so. I wouldn’t be proud and stiff necked, sticking to my position to keep from losing face, or start blowing like the wind.

Today’s that day.  The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting different results. I can’t expect my hormonal problems to get better if I don’t change what I’m doing.

I believe most women are harming themselves hormonally by consuming excess carbs.

Dirty Words

I have been floored at some of the letters and messages I have received since I first started posting about my trials last week. It seems that I uttered some rather dirty words in my last post. You see, there’s a big secret in the real food circles among women who have hormonal problems. No one wants to acknoweldge it, no one wants to talk about it, and no one is willing to blog about it.

What is it?  Period problems?  Severe PMS? Bowel issues? Insomnia?  Brain fog? Problems with their sex drive? Constantly being asked if they’re pregnant from having so much excess abdominal weight? Worse?

No. It’s hair loss.

I was FLOORED by the women who contacted me to admit they also had hair loss and they could find no help, no good resources, no idea of what to do. The attitude was that most of the women who wrote me about it seemed they’d rather have a pelvic exam in public than to discuss their hair loss and seek help that wasn’t anonymous.  It seemed that most women deemed their hair loss more embarrassing than the most intimate details of their life or their marriage.

So, I’ll go first.

Hi. I’m KerryAnn and I Have Hair Loss.

Since my hormonal problems developed and I had the miscarriage, I’ve lost a significant amount of hair. My hair has also become more brittle and the individual stands have become smaller in diameter.  It’s been difficult and painful.  When it first started, it was so bad I didn’t leave the house for weeks, not sure how to make it look better. I cried buckets of tears. Finally, I picked out a few methods that help some, but I’m still quite self-conscious.

Helping hair loss look better isn’t easy. I’ve tried a few different methods, and soon I’m going to try some more.  As the series goes on, I’ll be discussing what has worked for me and what didn’t.

The Path

I wish I had definite, quick-to-fix answers as to why this is happening and how to fix it.  In my case, we believe blood sugar control and certain supplements will help my overburdened liver, which will in turn allow it to more effectively do its job of clearing hormones from the body.

It’s a first step. From there, I will get my thyroid, adrenals and hormones checked by a saliva test.  I hope to be able to do that in September.  That will give us a better picture of everything going on, and how to get better balanced.

Since the liver is responsible for clearing and processing hormones in the body to get rid of them, it makes sense to me that supporting the liver in easy and gentle ways will help it do its job more effectively.  It also makes sense to me that supporting the glands that produce the hormones will better help them do their job correctly, too.

T-tapp is well known for helping with hormonal balance moreso than other exercise programs.

I will do everything I can to reduce stress and have more balance in my life. I’ve been working far too much to get the Real Food Cooking School and the Lactofermentation Class launched and the Gluten and Dairy-Free Training Course finished.  After the launch, the work load is now stabilizing and I can arrange my schedule better. We even have planned a vacation soon as a friend has given us a week in their time share. We haven’t had a vacation in almost 7 years.

To help with the blood sugar control, I will consume 100 grams of carbs a day and work up and down from there as we see it is needed. I need to lose 20-25 pounds in a combination of carb control and exercise. I will T-tapp through a bootcamp and then every other day. I will take my supplements and my infusions.  I will go to bed by 10:30. I will scrimp to have money for the testing I need.

I’m the only one who can help myself get better. It all begins with me. Tomorrow’s a new day.  I can do this.

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