Hey there all you wonderful people! I have been thinking about doing a post like this for a while now as this is something that I have been struggling with for about 3 years or so now. Most people that know me know that I’m a very hard worker and my family knows that I have a hard time saying no to anyone that has a need of any kind, unless I absolutely can’t do it. So, I guess that you could say that I have worked my body into the ground in the last few years, and it has taken me hanging onto the tiniest of threads to wake me up to the fact that I need to make some changes before my body is permanently damaged.
I have been struggling with many different areas of my health and I wanted to share my thoughts and plans for trying to get back to a healthy lifestyle and to get my body to start functioning properly again. More specifically, I’m trying to get my headaches/migraines under control (I will probably always have them to some degree), get my energy levels back to normal (I’m hoping a change in nutrition and better sleeping schedule will help), cut down on inflammation of all kinds (I have been surprised over the years to find out just how much inflammation effects a body in so many different ways), get my asthma symptoms under control, get my thyroids working better, my adrenaline levels back on the charts, and eat healthier foods that actually fuel my body rather than just fill it up.
I am currently working towards getting on the Whole30 program, but before I do that I’m trying to get a couple things out of the way. The first thing that I’m doing is a gut cleanse. On this self made program, I’m doing an anti-parasite tincture of black walnut and wormwood for 10 days and then I’m going to a 15 day detoxification and rebalancing cleanse that is a natural supplement to clear out everything and reestablish a healthy gut.
I originally thought about just doing the 15 day cleanse, but then I was doing some more reading on parasites and it just made sense to go there too, because over the years I have cared for many animals (dogs, cats, goats, cows, horses, mules, donkeys, ect.) of my own and other peoples’ that have had varying degrees of infestations, so it kind of seemed like a logical place to start. As gross as that is, it could account for a couple of my symptoms.
Right now, I’m on the anti-parasite stage. I want this stuff to taste like licorice so bad, because that’s what it smells like. But it does not. Unfortunately, it really does not. 😉
I’m also taking a natural supplement for my thyroids that I have seen real improvements with. As long as I can take it consistently! 😉 I’m not really great about remembering to take something twice a day, but I’m working on that! The hardest part has been the fact that I have to take it with food, to when I get home from work at 10:30pm, I have to eat a snack and take my supplements.
Sam, Mom, a couple of friends, and I am going to do Whole30 together as soon as some of them get back from their mission trip. I have gotten the book and have started reading through it and I’m really enjoying their thoughts on nutrition and it’s role in a healthy body. I definitely see how important it is to give the body the nutrition it needs to function properly because at this point my body is working on nothing but adrenaline and stress!
I would love to work towards being the source of most of the foods, but I know that we need to have a permanent residence first! Right now, I will be looking into trying to buy quality, natural ingredients from local people. I’m thinking that we can buy beef and pork from our friends who do organic 4-H animals, and then we can buy fruits and vegetables from out local farmer’s market or straight from the farmers themselves. I don’t know what that will look like in the winter months, but I’m hoping that we can come up with a way to continue eating healthy!
I have always liked the idea of homeopathic remedies and using things that God has already provided in His awesome creation to heal the body. I do still believe that there is a time and a place for modern medicine practices – my sister might not be here today if it wasn’t for that – but I think that many of the problems that our bodies have can just as easily be treated through natural means. Plus, I don’t want to put the rest of my body through the ringer with all of the side effects from medications just so I can sleep better, not have headaches/migraines, ect.
And, yes, I will try to find a good chiropractor. So many people have talked to me about it, I thought that I might as well put it in writing. I have been to 3 different chiropractors that haven’t done to much but make the headaches worse and make me feel like I can’t walk. But I will keep trying! After coming off of Lightning and Sundance last year, I do have some chiropractic issues.
Anyway, I guess that I have just gotten to a point where my body said “no more! I can’t do any more!” and I have to listen to it. It’s really hard for me to mentally put my health in the mix because it’s something that I haven’t really been focusing on until this point in my life. At this point though, the amount and severity of my problems could have probably been prevented by taking better care of myself in the past.
Know though, all I can do is hope that I can learn from my mistakes and strive to learn about caring for my body and treasuring it as the temple that God has given me. It will be hard, it may get worse before it gets better, and I may fall off of the wagon before the end of this, but I believe that this is the challenge that God has put before me right now, so I know that I can do it and that I should do it with the utmost diligence!
I will be trying to keep this updated as far as how everything goes and hopefully that will also help me stay consistent!
To God be the glory,
~ Lizzy Lou
Life with Lizzy Lou 