Have You Gotten Used To Feeling Bad?
Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t know how bad you felt until you started to feel better? That was my life about 15 years ago. I was fatigued all the time, I was having a hard time processing and remembering things, and I was bloated.
When I say I was bloated I mean I was so puffy that one of my yoga teachers told me there was something going on down there (imagine someone pointing to my gut). No matter what I ate or what I did the puffiness would not go away.
In yoga, a lot of activity happens in the lower abdomen. We are trying to use muscles below the belly to help support us as we move. While I understood what I was supposed to be doing in theory, actually feeling it was a whole other story. I couldn’t feel anything in my low belly except pressure and digestive discomfort. I always felt full even when I was hungry. It had been going on so long that I didn’t remember ever feeling any other way.
Once I found out about my autoimmune issues my naturopath focused on my liver, my bladder, and my intestines. What she knew that I would soon learn is that all health starts in the gut. Through a mixture of supplements, herbal remedies, some gentle detoxes, and removing gluten, sugar, and dairy from my diet I slowly began to feel different.
For the first time in a long time, I started to feel how different foods affected my digestive system. I didn’t know how bad I felt until I started to feel better. After taking gluten out of my diet I could literally feel how reactive my gut was when I did eat it. I’ve always been lactose intolerant so the way dairy affected me was no surprise. When I would eat sugar I could feel it the next day in my joints.
It is interesting to me that we can get so used to feeling bad all the time that we don’t even really notice it anymore. The build up of crap in our system is so slow and gradual that we don’t even really feel it happen. It’s not until something dramatic happens to our health that we begin to pay attention.
This exact thing happened to a client recently. Back in September he started seeing spots here and there on his skin. Over time there were more and more until he couldn’t ignore it anymore. His dermatologist told him he an autoimmune skin condition. My client loves bread, pasta, and tortillas a lot (although who doesn’t?). I suggested he start to cut out gluten as much as possible since gluten is know to be a major cause of inflammation in our system. He did it begrudgingly.
A few days ago we were talking and he said that he really noticed a difference. When he stays away from gluten he finds that he doesn’t feel as sluggish, he has more energy, and he doesn’t feel like he has a lead weight in his stomach. When he has had gluten on occasion he notices how tired and lethargic he gets and how weighed down he feels. He also didn’t know how bad he was feeling until he started to feel better.
Don’t get me wrong, none of this was particularly easy. Cutting sugar and gluten out of my diet was quite challenging. I gave myself a timeline I could work with; I started with 7 days. I knew I could commit to anything for 7 days. Once I got through 7 days I kept going a little longer and a little longer until I hit the 6 month mark. By then, when I would eat sugar or gluten I could feel the difference in my body. That awareness is what has helped keep me on track for the last 15 years. I still indulge from time to time, but now it is something I do for a day and then my body wants to get back on track. It is no longer worth it to me to eat food that makes me feel crappy.
If this sounds familiar to you then try a little experiment. Cut dairy, gluten, and sugar (or even pick one) out for a few weeks and see if you start to notice a difference. If you need support or accountability then hit me up! This is exactly what I do for my clients and I would love to help you out too. Click the button below to get in touch.