I've been wanting to write this post for a few weeks now and finally managed to gather my thoughts and pull it all together. Around the time I came up with the idea to start my own wellness project, I also decided to make public a private Instagram account I had started (but not maintained) last year. This Instagram account allows me to document health and fitness related stuff without clogging up my normal account so if you would like to follow along with me there and see how I am doing please feel free to come say hi: https://www.instagram.com/lnb_fit/
I have been struggling with some health concerns for a few years now and when they first started popping up I went to see my doctor who put me on the pill. I no longer was experiencing the symptoms I had been struggling with and it was working..... or at least I thought it was. What I didn't realise at the time was that being on the pill only helped to manage the symptoms and didn't actually deal with the problem. When I came off the pill all those symptoms came rushing back, worse than before. Around the middle of May I just couldn't keep going and so finally built up enough courage to go back to the doctors. After five blood tests and an ultrasound. my doctor was finally able to tell me what was going on. My blood tests revealed that my iron and vitamin D levels were so low that they barely registered, my testosterone levels are elevated and I have estrogen dominance. On top of that, I have a large fibroid growing. Knowing all of that it is no wonder I have been feeling so awful for so long now.
My GP gave me two options. 1. I could take tablets to help deal with the symptoms again...however, there is a very high risk for a number of serious complications. It just doesn't make sense to me to take something that has a high risk to lead to other health problems. 2. I could undergo surgery. The draw back for me though is that it only has a 25% success rate. Neither of these two options seems right for me at the moment so I want to try a more natural approach. Which leads me to my Wellness Project.
My plan is to figure out what being healthy means to me. It's about owning my own story, about caring for myself. Figure out what works for my body and life and what doesn't. This is more than just food and fitness - it's about environmental factors, rest, balance, the mind, and heart. Below are my thoughts and plans. It probably isn't the same as yours and that is totally OK. Everyone is different and wellness likely means something different to each of us. I don't know where this journey will take me but I do know that my focus is on living my best life.
The areas that I either am already focusing on or plan to do more in:
Food | My plan is to focus on whole foods and moderation. I know that I am not the type of person who can cut the foods I enjoy out completely, so I am approaching this with the 80/20 rule in mind. 80% of the time I choose whole, organic (when my budget allows for it) foods and the other 20% I just let it go. I have cut out processed sugar (for the most part), wheat and processed foods. I eat dairy two to three times a week but I no longer have it on a daily basis. I keep my daily carb intake on the lower side but once or twice a week I will have some sweet potato or brown rice. I will have a small serving of fruit every day or every second day and I try to have protein with every meal.
I was doing great with this plan of eating, but over the past six weeks, I have struggled. I have been eating more processed sugar than I should and I have been skipping meals, which makes it difficult for me to balance my blood sugars which in turn impacts on my hormone levels. So I know that I need to focus a little more here over the coming weeks.
Exercise | Currently I work out one to two times a week but I know this isn't enough. My workout of choice at the moment is walking or swimming but I want to add in resistance training that I can do at home. I would like to get into the habit of working out Monday to Friday and preferably first thing in the morning.
I have some work to do in this area and that is ok. To give me some direction and guidance with the resistance training I am starting the sixteen-week BodyBoss challenge.
Supplements | With my iron and vitamin D levels being so low, the doctor has put me on high strength supplements to bring these back up to normal levels. After three months of taking these, I will go back for further tests to see if the supplements are helping as they should.
Toxins and chemicals | From the research that I have already done toxins and chemicals play a huge role in clogging your liver which then can lead to messing with your hormone levels. And there are chemicals and toxins in EVERYTHING! Home cleaning products, processed foods, beauty products. I have been working on this for a few months now, exchanging more and more natural products for the standard chemical filled ones. This has definitely been a trial and error process but I have found a number of products that I really love and will share in a future post. This area is also an 80/20 area for me as there are some items that I just haven't been able to find a good alternative for.
Stress and Caffeine | I really need to work on this more. Increased stress levels lead to increased Cortisol levels which again, mess with hormone levels. There are a number of different techniques and routines that I can put in place to help reduce these levels, the easiest one to start with is reducing the amount of caffeine I consume.....which is what I have done. As with my food and toxins, I am applying the 80/20 rule to caffeine. Once or twice a week I allow myself one cup of coffee.....to help keep me sane.
And that is it for now. As I continue with this journey I will share more and more of my story. And don't forget that you can join along with my at my Instagram account.
