when your body's in trouble blah blah TMI TMI blah blah, ginger
A light went on yesterday. It was the light of Oh, I see. I get it. Wow, this is different. The light of This isn't gonna be as easy as I thought. The Welcome to your Body, Mid-life light.
For some strange reason, I kind of thought I was gonna skate into (and through) the menopausal interlude without an issue. Perhaps this comes from not really identifying as feminine, and therefore disqualifying myself from usual female issues. This has, for the most part, been my story. Easy periods, predictable, and thanks to Chinese herbs, mostly free of PMS. And then, about 8 months ago, things changed a bit. Things still come and go with relative ease, but my clockwork 28 days turned into 21 or 23 or 24. Things got lighter and brighter and didn't last so long. (ding!)
Whiskers. Can we talk whiskers? I used to think it was from having my face out in the cold. The fuzz is fuzzier, the chin-sprouts more frequent. Still not a ton, but they come more often. And those blonde little catfish whiskers drive me nuts. (ding!)
I can live with all of the above. But the thing that's driving me nuts is the weight. The lingering weight. The gaining weight despite my best efforts. The exercising and gaining. It's entirely possible that it's all hormonal. So I'm looking into my herbal options, and I'm working through the bit where I have to admit to myself that the old 60 minutes of cardio 5 days a week may have to turn into 90 minutes of cardio 7 days a week. Or something. I'm still working through judgments on all of this-- as I move away from all of that I see it as simple facts: my body needs what it needs. If it wants to store fat, and I have lots of fat cells available to it (remember: I was well over 200 pounds as a 13 year old, and fat cells never die), this will be a struggle. I want to honor my body's needs, but right now, there's a conflict between the hormonal hankerings and the need to maintain a healthy weight.
And that's where I am. The perspective has deepened. I act accordingly.
posted by Stine @ 11:24 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
That was my favorite Gary Larson cartoon EVER! Blah, blah, blah, Ginger....hahahahaha!!!!! And above and beyond that, I so do witness you in these changes. I'm right there on the journey with you. I take dandelion leaf tincture when I feel like it's water retention...sore nips is the main sign.
AND Susun Weed says over and over and over that gaining 5-10 is the body's way of easing herself through the 'pause process. It really sucks, but there it is: Fat stores estrogen and we're just not making too much anymore. (Wah!)
How many calories a day are you eating? Just to give you perspective or something to compare to: I eat 1550-1700 calories a day. I burn between 3400-4000 calories a week; less than 1/3 of those calories from yoga and other forms of strength training. Lately, I've been in the higher range and have upped the cardio, but am still up 2 lbs from where I want to be (under 150). And my body is so stubborn: "You gave me the 1700 and now that's what I want or I'll complain. Loudly," sort of thing.
So there it is for what it's worth.
xo
Maddy
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