My healing journey is rough and bumpy. Full of ups and downs, failures and mistakes. Small wins and no wins at all. It's discouraging and hopeless at times. It's a constant struggle of balance and finding what works for me. It's missed days, and completed weeks. In short - its midwest roads in the summer. Frankly, I usually give up. For 1.5 years I was strictly - no added sugars, gluten, or dairy - of any kind. I can't say it was a perfect plan, but it was the best I had ever felt, but then the stress of life changes, cross-country moves, and finding a new home took a tole on me. I couldn't handle not feeling satisfied when I ate. I was fatigue, exhausted, and malnourished, so I just ate whatever I wanted to - almost.
I began my sourdough journey (more on that later :)), and fermented my own breads and vegetables. I made pitchers of juices, had cream cheese, goat cheese, even some goat milk. I was so excited to eat anything I wanted to again... A few stomach bugs, late nights cramps, inability to do things from being so sick, nausea, emotional meltdowns, and much more - later, I decided this wasn't a life for me. I began cutting back on my gluten and dairy intake. I would only eat sourdough once a day, or not at all. I gave up on dairy and cut it out almost completely, having it maybe once a week. I don't feel a change.
I listened to a podcast today called Are You Running on Stress Hormones by The Freely Rooted Podcast. Having extreme imbalanced hormones is only the root of my problems, but having to fix the root, is nearly impossible. In the podcast they discussed the purpose of balancing hormones and why it is so critical. They gave pointers and advice on how to balance your hormones, what you should eat, and they focused on that it is okay to rest and digest. Our bodies (and minds) need time every day to relax. Not just sit down and watch TV, but rest in the moment. I won't tell you everything they discussed, you'll have to check it out. But what struck me in everything they said was this: it takes time to feel and see progress.
Progress is over a period of time. They mentioned themselves, even after 5 years of working towards a balanced hormonal life, she still is working to see progress. We live in a society where speed is everything. We want it and we want it now! We hate waiting for things; we despise waiting. We want to cancel waiting... why is fast food such an appealing concept? We like things fast and that goes for everything. We want the get rich quick, get fit quick, loose 30lbs in two weeks and you see the ads. Everyone's found the cure, the solution, yet it's all temporary.
My no gluten, dairy, and added sugar solution was temporary, and it didn't fix all my problems. True, it did help but I wasn't able to attain it for long. And so, here I am once again starting my health journey again...
But am I starting it again, or is it just continuing? After all, my journey doesn't have a definite end. But, journey's must have goals and rewards for us to stay the course, along with accountability and tangibility. I want to use food to heal. Food is fuel. Food is medicine when done right. But food is only the start of my healing journey. Prayer and meditation, exercise and relaxing, reading and writing... it is all part of my healing journey. I will check back every week to every other week, to tell you how my progress is going. And so, I am using this platform (and my YouTube channel) to hold myself accountable. I want to be honest and raw. I want to be real with you... this journey will not always be easy but it will always be worth it.
Anything worth having, is worth waiting for.
Comments