Hormones & Mental Health
Coming off the high of a busy week in Halifax where I was doing contract work for a national conference I found myself feeling a little low.
Sometimes life can feel a little bit like I’m on autopilot. Going through the motions of the commitments I have without stopping to check in with myself.
And if I learned anything in my time working with Gineen, it’s that when we stop checking in with ourselves that things can really get out of control. Yet, it seems that when I’m feeling this way my tendency is to find more ways to numb out rather than face what’s going on and find my way through it.
I’m also really good at keeping my calendar so full that I don’t have a lot of time to slow down and decompress.
When I finally slow down and get totally honest, I can admit that I've been struggling with my body image and my energy levels.
It’s hard not to let these struggles get the best of me. It can become a negative loop in my mind that I’m not feeling my best and that makes it really hard to feel joy. In these times I need to put in extra effort to practice gratitude and be kind and gentle with myself. Though not easy, it is key to managing my mental health when I’m struggling with my physical self.
I also have digestive issues that I am having a hard time getting under control.
My GP diagnosed me with IBS last spring and suggested I try the low FODMAP diet but as I was heading into my busy tourism season I pushed that recommendation aside and didn’t really look into it until last month.
Though it was a bit confusing and felt restrictive, I did follow this quite closely for about a month.
In this time I had some days where I saw improvements which felt like a win but my energy levels were still lower than I’d like. I felt defeated by this because I’d convinced myself that my gut was the problem and that if I could just get that sorted out that everything else would fall into place. It didn’t feel like the small wins I was getting was worth the amount of effort to follow this plan.
Logical me knows that real change takes time.
But social media seems to be filled with people who have the magic cure to fixing your issues instantly. And influencers tell you that if you do exactly what they do, you’ll look just like them.
It can also be so tempting to believe them. But what I’m learning is that we are all so unique that no single approach is going to be the solution for everyone.
No two women are likely to need the exact same exercise program, nutrition plan, sleep schedule or supplement regime.
The physical, emotional and mental changes we’ll go through are plenty.
There is a lot of information out there and it’s important to educate ourselves. And commit to ongoing learning because things are going to keep changing.
I’ve worked with a lot of professionals over the years for many different things. We need time both for learning and seeking the advice of experts and time to integrate the learnings. While you may have multiple things you want to work on, you may have to spend your time focusing on one or two to start and then layer more in once those are better managed.
But, like anything, the only way we’re going to get help is by asking.
We need to recognize that we deserve to feel our best. And we need to start prioritizing our needs. I heard on a podcast today “you are more important than the menial tasks that you prioritize over your own health”. Let that soak in. And also put this Mel Robbins episode on your playlist!
Writing this blog and talking with loved ones about how I’ve been feeling has helped me start to see through the fog of feeling blah. Knowing that I’m not alone in this helps. We aren’t meant to navigate life alone and that goes for your health journey too.
Talking about things creates connection. It instills hope and it helps us know we aren’t the only ones.
It helps turn out thoughts of giving up because it’s too late into knowing that at any moment we have the power to make a change.
And if you’re in PEI and wanting to connect with other women going through this phase of life I hope you’ll join us on April 13 at Hormones, Body & Mind: Understanding the Connection
I’ve been working with a group of amazing women to create this event to bring women together to explore the link between our hormones, burnout and mental health. We have a number of expert practitioners who will share their insights and strategies and we will have a panel of women sharing about their personal experiences navigating these changes.
I hope to see you there! Let’s connect and learn together!
Until next time,
Julie Ann
