Mind/Body/Spirit Wholeness

I don't know if this is what normally happens when you start a more informational blog but I just have so many things I want to share so I am making a lot of new posts.  Because of some conversations I have had with a dear friend, I realize that we can't dismiss the impact our body itself plays into our overall health and wholeness.  On top of the emotional healing I have had this past year, I have also had great physical healing.  Now you can understand why it's been such a big year for me.  All the mixed up puzzle pieces of my life started coming back together and now I feel completely whole again.  I'm still a puzzle, but I am whole!  HAHA!  Aren't we all still a puzzle?  But we can be a whole and complete puzzle with all the pieces fitting together and making sense resulting in a beautiful picture.  It is possible!  You are not meant to live in depression, despair, and hopelessness!  There is hope and there is a way to find peace, happiness and wholeness!

Too often our body, spirit and mind are separated and battling each other.  I remember years ago when someone asked me what I wanted most.  I said I wanted to be one with my body, mind and spirit because I honestly felt I was at war with myself all the time.  I have found that wholeness this past year.  My mind, body, and spirit are one.  Now of course there are still times where I struggle.  I am not an exalted being yet.  All of us will continue to have to work until our dying day to keep our mortal man in check because Satan will never stop trying to drag us down and claim us.

Four or five months ago, I found a doctor whose passion is to help women.  She realizes that as we age our hormones start changing and start really messing us up.  Little did I know how much my hormones played a part in my depression over the years.  She took some very in depth blood tests on my hormone levels and other key functions of the body.  Most doctors do not go this in depth.  How many of us have been to our doctor, or an internal medicine doctor, or an endocrinologist to get a thyroid check, knowing down deep inside that something just isn't right, only to get the tests back and hear the doctor tell us that everything looks normal?  Its because these doctors do not test deep enough or thoroughly enough.  I had that very experience with several other doctors.  After getting the tests back that this doctor ordered, she told me that I was in the basement on my thyroid, my testosterone, my DHEA, and my progesterone.  In the basement!!!  Meaning I literally had none!  No wonder I was so messed up.  All of our hormones play a huge role in our overall feeling of well-being and in our energy levels.  How many of us are just tired all day long?  No wonder we go to chocolate and Diet Coke for energy!!  We simply can't function when our hormones are in the basement!  If you live in the Utah County area or anywhere for that matter I highly recommend my doctor.  Her name is Kristie Rosser.  Her number is 801-899-6131 and she is in Provo.  Not only does she know what she is doing, but she cares.  She cares about women in general and she cares about each woman individually.  If you can't see my doctor, then I recommend trying to find someone who does more in depth hormone testing which may even be an alternative medicine doctor.  Do some research.  I wish I had more referrals to give.

Let me also make mention of something else I discovered about my body.  Without going into graphic detail, I will just say that my bowels were not doing so hot.  Something was wrong and my bowel functions did not seem normal.  When I saw Dr. Rosser, she mentioned a blood allergy test that was helping many women not only find out what their food allergies were, but also lose weight and feel better.  In fact, I had a friend that went to Dr. Rosser and had the allergy test done.  She found out that she was allergic to anything cow.  She eliminated cow from her diet and within months, I am talking 2 or 3 months, she had lost 30 lbs. and she felt amazing.  Now that is a huge thing to eliminate from your diet.  I know it sounds daunting to eliminate whole food groups from your diet, but it really works and helps with energy levels and bodily functions.  So I decided to take the test.  It's a pricey test to take, but wow is it worth it in my opinion.  When Dr. Rosser got my results back, she told me I was allergic to corn, carrots, onions, cottonseed oil, red dye #40, and a few other minor allergens.  Corn?!!!  :0  I was supposed to remove corn from my diet?  You mean I can't eat salsa and corn chips, my favorite snack in the world?  Aaaaagh!  Do you know how many things have corn in it?  Corn starch, corn syrup (which I really detest anyway so that one was easier for me), corn flour, cornmeal, etc.  So many things have corn in them.  I also found out that I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis which is an underactive thyroid disease.  So she recommended that I stay away from dairy because dairy inflames the thyroid.  Plus I had come to the realization that gluten made me feel bloated and gross.  That's a lot to eliminate from any diet.  Unfortunately, having an eating disorder has had its consequences on what my body can handle.  Apparently my body was done with several foods.  But I have done it.  I am not perfect and there are many days that I cheat knowing full well what will happen shortly thereafter in my bowels, but for the most part I try in all of my daily food choices to read labels more and not eat the things that I am allergic to.

Some people's allergic reactions may be more severe than others.  I have a friend who found out she was allergic to over 40 different foods.  Corn was also one of hers.  She went to the dentist one day to have some work done and they used the numbing agent in her mouth before they gave her a shot.  Well that numbing agent was made of corn syrup.  She immediately started to swell on that side of her face.  So some of us are much more allergic to things than others.  I am not that allergic, but I am allergic enough that I feel it in my gut and bowels and in my energy levels when I eat those certain foods.  It does seem overwhelming to have to eliminate foods, but I have realized that eliminating foods from my diet is a lot easier to do when I am doing it for my health as opposed to just losing weight.  However, since I have discovered this and have tried hard to not eat those food allergies, I have lost 25 lbs.  It was a wonderful side benefit to my main purpose of feeling better.  I am not going to promise the same results for everyone.  Our bodies are all different.  However, I have heard enough testimonials in addition to my own experience to know that there is truth in the fact that the allergies we have towards certain foods play a huge role in how we feel physically and in normal body function.  I am also on hormone medication for those hormones that I didn't have any of and between eating what my body can handle and increased hormone levels, my energy level is amazing and I feel great.

Now I will make a comment about this.  I believe that I was more able to eliminate these certain foods from my diet because I had gotten to a place emotionally where I had let go of my attachment to food.  Be real with yourself.  Are you ready emotionally to go take a test that is going to tell you that there are foods your body can't tolerate so you can't eat them?  If you are not there yet, then don't go take the test.  You'll just end up making yourself feel more guilty that you can't stay away from those foods.  Do the emotional work first.  Start being aware of your negative thoughts like I talked about in my previous post.  Write them down so you can start ridding yourself of them.  You'll be amazed how your behavior starts changing when you eliminate your negative thoughts.  Start gaining an understanding of who you are according to God, not the world.  What are your talents and gifts?  What experiences in your life have made you who you are today?  What are your desires and passions?  Who are you really?  Start learning to embrace who you are and who God created you to be.  Healing will not happen over night, but each day we can make progress if we do the work.  Let's not focus on the end result, but instead focus on what we are going to do now to make a change in our lives.  Focus on the now.  Be in the moment.

Favorite Quote #4:

What we do today, right now, will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows.

I know all of us have said to ourselves, "Oh as soon as I weigh ___ I will be happy."  I did that all the time and the funny thing was that when I would get to that weight, I would still be unhappy.  It's because the only thing that had changed was my body not my mind or spirit, nor my behaviors or beliefs.  In addition to that, how many times have we been on a diet, have lost the weight we wanted, went off the diet then gained the weight back.  Why does that happen?  Once again, because we have only changed our body, not our mind.  We have not let go of the thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that drive us to food.  We only put those behaviors on hold for awhile and then when we are no longer accountable to that diet, we relapse into our old ways.  So while I am a huge advocate for taking care of the body and addressing the needs of our body, if we want a permanent, lasting physical change, it can only come from the inside out.  Mind/body/spirit wholeness begins as an inside job, not an outside job.

And let's remember one final thing about our bodies.  What is the one thing Satan doesn't have that we have?  A body.  He is miserable because of that and therefore is doing all in his power to make us hate and treat our bodies with disdain and disregard.  He wants to get us to destroy the one thing we have that he doesn't have.  Please be aware of that reality and be grateful for your body.  As frustrating as they may be and as imperfect as they may function or look, our bodies are doing their very best to keep us alive and safe no matter what we put them through.  Have a new appreciation for your body and the fact that it's still working (to whatever degree that may be ;)) and that your heart is still beating.  As I realized that my body allowed me to give birth to 5 babies, to run a marathon, do several triathlons, and is still functioning despite the fact I put it through a 22 year long eating disorder, I was able to let go of some of the frustration I had in regards to how my body looked.  Remember, as we let go of the negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones, we will start having positive results.

You can do this!!  Keep pressing forward and take time each day to work on you!  YOU ARE WORTH THE TIME!!!  God obviously thought you were worth it and spent His time creating you, so spend some of your own time each day focusing on your emotional state and becoming more aware of what's going on inside of your beautiful mind!

be.YOU.tiful!!!