Balance

Following IRONMAN, my body seriously revolted.  I don't think I could have ever prepared fully for the way my body was going to recover or the way I was going to have to embrace the un-sustainability of the IRONMAN body.  Some people can put incredible stresses on their bodies over and over again with very little recovery and seemingly very little negative side effects, but I am not one of those individuals.  I think at first coming to this discovery was incredibly frustrating, but now I am in such a great place and have learned SO much through the recovery process.  I am strong, beautiful, confident and powerful, but no, I am not invincible and no, I cannot do incessant cardio training without consequences.

I have spent the past 5 months under the careful and watchful eye of a great Naturopath.  Its been a journey to say the least and quite frankly, its still ongoing.  After a month of Adrenal and digestive support, we decided to look into the possibility of food sensitivities and my gut.  Since everything works symbiotically in the body, if you over stress the body, naturally other functions, like digestion, will be impacted.  Sure enough........a host of foods had been attributing to the problems and the next step in the journey was eliminating those foods to promote internal healing,  Now I won't lie, this is the part of seeing a Naturopath that I was the most worried about.  Whether you believe in the power our food has over our bodies or not, the reality of becoming one of those "I can't eat that" persons was terrifying.  My Doc read over the list and long story short came up with over 120 foods I should remove.  Um......what?

All dairy, all grains including rice, oats and quinoa, all nuts and seeds and nut butters, all beans and legumes, broccoli, cauliflower, brussell sprouts, artificial sweeteners, cumin, curry, paprika, PEPPER, coke, beer.......on and on it went.  I just sat there in mesmerized silence.  How?

My Doc smiled and said, "Breathe Bethany..........you're body is not happy right now.  Its stressed and the recovery process is long, Yes, you have to remove these things, but NO its not going to be forever."  She then proceeded to tell me, "1 week.  One committed week of this and then 6 weeks of limiting all of it.  You are a fruit, vegetable, meat and egg eater."

I left feeling overwhelmed, but also oddly justified......no WONDER I had been feeling so awful.  I was literally bombarding my body with foods that it was simply to over stressed to digest and it simply wasn't having it.  So I made up my mind.  I told myself that eating a diet rich in veggies, fruit, meat and eggs could only be good for me and that leaving behind the dairy, grains etc. wasn't going to be the death of me.  It took me about a week to get the hang of it and not live on bananas and boiled eggs, but once I got it, it lost its fear and became my key to feeling good.  Oh man did I start to feel better........moving in the right direction.......

Now 3 months later I am still 90% on my "diet," and except for the occasional yogurt and oatmeal, don't miss all those foods.  Its amazing and frankly I feel oddly simplified in my eating and let me tell you, I eat WELL.

The final piece to this puzzle has been to help get the hormonal aspect of my problems solved which has required that I use Natural Progesterone.  I won't lie that it makes me nervous using hormones, natural or not, but when you need them, you need them.  I started incorporating the use of Progesterone last month and WOW......I have seen a huge change.  I am so grateful because for the first time in a while I am feeling really balanced and healthy.  Its a great feeling.

I am now back to training for an Olympic distance race next weekend and then the Tucson Marathon in December.  My training schedule is finally on par with "normal" again and I incorporate rest days and work to be flexible.  Its hard and the hyper motivated part of me really wants to get back to that intensity, but its simply not supported in my life right now......and that's okay.  

I am finally beginning to put my energy to use in other, less selfish ways and finding joy in those.  Balance is a good thing and something I am determined to rest in....for now.