I've been....away.
Not away away. But away from here. But don't you worry! I haven't backslid and gone back to my old habits. I'm not hiding any chocolate in my coffee cupboard and I'm still not exercising.
I blame the exercise on the weather. Holy snow balls Colorado has gotten a lot of snow lately!
My family is still on track. My son is still refusing french fries and now, thanks to a very informative school assembly....my daughter is monitoring my 'screen time'. Awesome!
What has been keeping me away....is the PTA. Hey! That rhymes. I'm the Summer Education Chair and with the help of my committee, we've been launching reading programs, selling summer workbooks and setting up field trips! It's been a blast!
I'm also the coordinator for Kindergarten Field Day. You'd think someone athletic would be great for this job but you'd be wrong. HA!
And I'm now the PTA co-president.
All of this has been taking a toll on my already jacked up hormones and it's time to do something about it. I just spent the weekend reading this book.
This book is ground breaking for anyone that doesn't want to be put on a bunch of medications but would instead like to take a million vitamins and try to adjust your wacky hormones with food (or the lack thereof) the natural way.
I'm all for the natural way. I don't like medicine and I don't trust pharmaceutical companies. Based on the quizes I took in the book, I have symptoms of high and low cortisol, low progesterone and low estrogen.
Here is what I'm going to do about it!
High/Low Cortisol
My symptoms include difficulty sleeping and fatigue, sugar cravings, loss of stamina and muscle weakness. I'll be correcting this with 500 mg Vitamin B5, 4000 mg Fish Oil and yoga.
Low Progesterone
My symptoms include PMS, irregular cycles, headaches and disrupted sleep. Correcting this one is going to be tricky. I requires a huge change on my part but I'm willing to try it if it means I can feel better and not lose whole days of my life every month.
I'll be correcting this with 750 mg Vitamin C, Saffron Extract (15mg twice a day), 600 mg Calcium (twice a day), 200 mg Magnesium, 100 mg B6 ALSO....I'll be cutting way back on caffeine alcohol, sugar and going paleo. Goodbye (again) bread and cereal!
Low Estrogen
This is hard to admit and I can't believe that this is happening to me because I have always been kind of a naughty girl, but I'm having....libido issues. It seemed to start happening around the time I hit 40 and when all of the symptoms I listed above started happening. This is the symptom that concerns me the most because if you're not having sex with your hubby...then you're just roommates and that sucks!
So...here's the deal. I'm going on vacation in three and a half weeks. HOLY CRAP I'm going on vacation in three and a half weeks! We're going to San Francisco, Fresno and Ventura Beach. It will be very difficult to change my diet so drastically (and not drink around my in laws) so I'll be starting when I return. Seriously, there is a Trader Joe's 2 blocks from my hotel.
In the meantime, I'm starting the vitamins. Lots and lots of vitamins.
Have you noticed changes since you turned 40? What are you doing about it?
I'm not sure what I'm doing but I'll start with you when you get back from vacation.
ReplyDeleteYAY! Let's start a support group!
DeleteWe'll call it.....Hormonal Old Ladies
Kickin Ass in Menopause
These Girls are on Fire!
Hot Flashers!
What do you think?
How about Hormonal Hell's Angels? ;)
DeleteI love it!!
Deletethis is so awesome that you're on top of this!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chooseyourhabits.com
Well, you KNOW I'm in the camp of taking millions of vitamins :)
ReplyDeleteA few suggestions-- 750 mg of Vitamin C is kinda low. I take 2,000-3,000 daily. It also helps shrink belly fat ;) AND, it has a short half life, meaning that from the time you take it, only 1/2 of the dose is still in your body within a few hours. Unlike Vitamin D, which has a long half life (28 days....so 28 days from now, 1/2 of the D I took today will still be in my body). This means we should take the C more often for maximum affect. So, I take 1,000 mg 3 times throughout the day.
Also, make sure that your magnesium is an -ate (malate, oxate) and not an -ide (oxide). -Ates are much better absorbed. If you take an -ide, then it only has a 4% absorption rate. The Magnesium Miracle is a good book if you're interested. The magnesium will also help with your muscle fatigue that you mentioned with the low cortisol.
Sounds like a plan you've got going! Good luck!!