Two years after my son was born (which happened two years after my daughter arrived), my body still hadn’t recovered.
I didn’t think of it in these terms, of course. I just thought, This having-two-young-kids-and-working deal is hard.
I mean, having two young kids and working is definitely challenging. But the fact that my body wasn’t functioning well made it seem a whole heck of a lot harder than it had to be. I was:
- A total stress case – one of the kids would cry and I would sweat blood.
- Picking fights with my husband when something didn’t go exactly the way that I had planned (for instance, nap time).
- Using wine to “take the edge off” each night. As the number of glasses I “needed” crept up toward two, and then three, it started affecting my sleep.
- Waking up in the middle of the night, unable to get back to sleep.
- Falling asleep each night at 7 o’clock when I put the kids to bed, waking up after an hour, then buzzing around like a crazy person to “get something done” before I turned in for the night. Then wondering why it took me so long to get to sleep.
- Craving lots of comfort foods—cookies, risotto, pancakes, you name it.
- Sporting a pretty impressive jelly belly.
- Struggling to focus on work. I’d sit down to write something, then end up Facebooking for a couple hours.
- Just not thinking clearly.
Stop me if any of this sounds familiar. =)
There were a few things at play, some emotional, some mental. But the underlying truth beneath all of it was that my body needed some help.
I finally found my way to a naturopathic physician who told me my thyroid and adrenal glands were struggling. I made some dietary changes, took two supplements, changed some other habits (like my nightly wine intake). It wasn’t necessarily easy–although, neither was feeling like I was getting dragged behind the bus all the time. But it was simple. And it made all the difference.
Fast forward to today
I certainly believe in addressing the mental, emotional, and spiritual parts of the equation that add up to fulfillment and happiness – after all, that’s the goal of my coaching practice! But you’ve got take care of your body too. And sometimes that means simple fixes, like getting real about your sugar and alcohol intake and making sure you move enough every day. And sometimes you need a little more guidance than that.
For those of you out there who are getting the sense that maybe your body needs a little more love and support than it’s currently getting, I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be interviewing a lovely, whip-smart, and inspiring expert in hormonal health—Andrea Beaman, host of Fed Up! and author of The Whole Truth (you Top Chef fans will also recognize her from season one).
Once known by the nickname “The Neck” because of her enormous goiter—which was triggered by a thyroid imbalance—Andrea has studied and taught herself everything she can get her hands on about taking care of your thyroid and your adrenal glands. I sat on a panel with her a few years ago and she is awesome. Real, funny, nice, and totally knows her stuff.
I’ll be interviewing her live next week, October 30, at 12:30 PM for a no-cost teleclass titled:
Are Your Hormones Making Life Harder Than It Has to Be?
It will be fun and informative, and I hope you’ll join us!
