When I was 34 I had a full hysterectomy. At the time, I was just getting my feet wet with natural medicine and while I searched and searched for an alternative, I found none at the time. If I knew then what I know now, things would be different. But, that is a different story for a different day. What that has to do with today’s blog post is the fact that most women begin a metabolic crisis at age 35.
Metabolic Crisis is when your body stops functioning properly due to a reduction in hormones. Symptoms are varied. You may or may not have some or all of the following symptoms which include fatigue, weight gain, difficulty in losing weight, insomnia, diabetes, pre-diabetes, foggy brain, depression, osteoporosis, muscle twitching, spasms or seizures, muscle weakness, loss or changes in vision, enlarged liver, heart, kidney or spleen.
Around age 35 female hormone levels begin to reduce. Estrogen not only regulates all the facets of the reproductive system, but it also influences the brain, skeletal system, adipose system, and cardiovascular system. Additionally, it suppresses hunger pains. Progesterone is the hormone that regulates the menstrual cycle. If your progesterone is low, you have irregular and / or heavy periods. Testosterone, while a predominately male hormone, women also have a small amount. It’s role is to manage fertility, sexual desire, menstruation, tissue and bone mass, and red blood cell production. All these hormones together manage a large part of the human body. When they begin decreasing, the body goes into a crisis and basically the “fight or flight” response or the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in. This changes everything about how your body manages itself.
We have talked about the parasympathetic nervous system in previous posts, but to provide a quick example, let’s start with the fire department. A normal day is quite boring, they clean the trucks, sweep and straighten the building, cook meals, watch TV, boring right? What happens when there is an emergency? Do they continue to cook and clean? No, everything changes. This is exactly what happens when your “fight or flight” response takes over. Your body believes you are imminent danger of death, and changes how it handles every aspect to allow you to run when needed. It stores all the fat it can in case you can’t eat for days. It stores the liquid in your body differently in case you can’t drink water for days. And there are a whole host of other changes. Back to the firehouse, so what would happen if there were constant emergencies? No downtime, no cleaning time, no time to cook or clean the trucks and gear? It would be a disaster, right? Same goes with your body. You would have a higher chance of disease, organ failure, stroke, etc. Additionally, your body would hold weight around your middle, and you would feel like you are running on empty. Sound familiar?
With a society that is “always on” there is no chance for down time. We are chronically stressed, chronically tired, chronically critical of ourselves. It is time to break that cycle. Are you ready? Are you willing? Let’s do this together.
Step 1. Destress. It is time to take back your life. You are one person. Even if you have a partner, you are still just one person and able to do only so much each day. Accept that and stop being so critical of your own capabilities. Make a list. Cross off things as you finish. Take time to destress several times a day. Go for a walk. Listen to some music. Take a shower. Meditate. If these don’t work, you may need to make some harder choices. Is where you are today, where you are best served? Remove the things from your life that don’t serve you. Whether that is a relationship, work, or something else. You must put your wellbeing first in order to serve those around you. Once you have this in order, you can move on to step 2.
Step 2. Detoxification. Your body, like you, needs to get rid of things that don’t serve you. Toxins have been held onto in your fat cells and need to be purged. Detoxification takes up to four (4) weeks for you to see a solid difference. How? Add DAILY to your diet the following things. These should be consumed 2 – 3 times per day, dark green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, and allium vegetables. These are all best consumed raw or lightly sautéed. These specific vegetables help strengthen your immune system and remove toxins.
Step 3. Intermittent Fasting. This is a critical step. There are many options here, so don’t think I am going to starve you from day one! Recommendations are by age, by need, and by lifestyle. Before you even think about this there are some things you need to know, and others that you need to consider.
Let’s start with the need to know. If you are considering intermittent fasting because of this blog, you need to understand that you won’t achieve ketosis with anything less than 14:10. Recommended is 16:8. What these numbers mean is fasting time:eating time. So, with 14:10 you fast for 14 hours (typically overnight) and eat within a 10-hour window. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Now, to reach ketosis, what does that mean? First, it is different for everyone. Some people can achieve it at 12 hours but most are closer to 16 hours. Ketosis is when your body stops burning the sugars in your body and starts burning the stored fat. It is a trial-and-error process. For me, I am a 16:8 girl who sometimes falls to 14:10. At the end of my fasting, before I eat my first meal, I walk for two (2) hours. This ensures that I am burning fat and not the food I have just eaten. Make sense? And my first meal, I ensure I am eating protein to build muscle. Another piece you need to know is that your body requires 4 hours between meals. This allows your food to digest, AND allows your body time to repair itself. If you are constantly feeding it, there is no time for healing.
Now, things to consider. Look at your lifestyle. When do you typically rise in the morning? What do you typically eat? What does your day look like? When do you typically eat dinner? Can either your first meal or your last mealtime change? Start slow. You don’t have to jump right in for the shortest window especially if you are having to change a bunch of things at once. Taking it slow and doing it right are more important than jumping in with both feet and then getting frustrated that you can’t follow through. Ready for step 4?
Step 4. Nutritional Ketosis. We just talked about how to achieve ketosis by fasting. Now we will take it a step further. Understanding how important ketosis is for healing our bodies is very important. You always want to be in a state of burning fat and healing from within. There are two ways to achieve nutritional ketosis. First, eat a 100% plant-based diet focusing on the foods in step 2. Obviously, you will eat other things as well, but ensure that you eat the foods in step 2 daily. Now, don’t freak out if you can’t do this. I can go vegetarian for several weeks before my body screams for a hamburger. 100% plant-based is NOT for me. The Keto diet is a struggle for me though – no sugar of any kind, even honey, no bread, no juice. Noooooooooooooo! But I get all the vegetables and fruit I want, so I can make this work.
Why no bread and no sugar? Some days do you wake up and are hungry all freaking day long? Nothing you do stops your body from craving food? And not just any food, bread, and sweets. Here is the kicker, bread breaks down to sugar in the bloodstream. Sugar breaks down into fat. If you are eating these things, not only are they terrible for your immune system, but they also make you crave more, and more, and more. You will never be satisfied. Rather than start your day with pancakes, toast, bagels, or a muffin, start with protein. Proteins take longer to break down in your body and help build healthy muscles. It also gives you good sustaining energy for your day. Sugar promotes cancer, brain fog, and anxiety. Time to step away from the bread and the sweets.
Now you have the full process. I know it is a lot to take in all at once. As I said, it is a process and takes time. I promise you, if you do this, you will see a marked improvement in your mood, your weight, and your overall health within four (4) weeks.
Let me hear about your progress!
Blessings – E