What’s Normal?
I was so excited to see the results from my latest bloodwork, ready to see the fruits of my labor. I had adjusted so many variables in my normal nutrition habits and my workouts. I had slowly added in supplements to fill in the gaps or assist with better vitamin levels. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD - I eliminated alcohol! YET… I did not receive the results I thought I would see, the labs showed I was a hot mess! BUT HOW??? WHY? I’m putting in the work, I’m being diligent, so why am I not “normal”? So…… I can possibly retire at 65, but my Thyroid can choose to retire at 53? Ridiculous and unfair!
I remember my mom telling me in my teen years that I wasn’t “normal”, maybe she was right. I always wondered why I never “fit in” but later realized that I wasn’t created to fit in. I don’t have FOMO and God didn’t create to fit into a certain category BUT now I am fitting in! I’m fighting the same battles everyone else is fighting as they “age”. Normal hormone imbalance, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone and NOW thyroid! Oh you may think I look healthy on the outside but these test results helped explain why I was having some of the symptoms I’d been having. Energy highs and lows, brain fog, depression, constipation, headaches, sugar cravings, becoming more introverted than I already am, and holding onto weight.
I started to ask more questions… I wanted more holistic answers. Is my gut microbiome unhealthy, do I need to make more changes in my food? Is my body not getting what it needs to work properly? I thought I was doing well with my nutrition and exercise plans, I stay hydrated, I sleep well, and try to keep stress levels low. So, I asked my Dr if she thought I could fix this with food or other changes over time and unfortunately the answer was “probably not.” My thyroid levels were so low “T3- has left the building” that the only option was to add a Thyroid hormone into my daily hormone cocktail.
I felt deflated, I had been working so hard to find my healthiest me, only to be told that no matter how hard I try I don’t have any control over this, IT’S NORMAL. I WANT to be healthy and strong! I needed to look at this another way and change my perspective. Most of us are eating nutrient rich foods but still need to take supplements to get our levels where they need to be. Our cells aren’t as strong as they were when we were younger, our hormones and mitochondria age, and maybe they want a little help. It’s ok to ask for help (if you know me, this is a hard hurdle for me to jump). I need to be grateful that I am able to get these additional tests to dig deeper into my wellbeing. I’m thankful there are modern ways to assist us in aging more gracefully from the inside out. Maybe this is like adding a little “tox” to slow down the aging process from the inside. Maybe this is Gods way of saying you don’t have to fit in, you don’t have to accept this as normal or bad, embrace this as an opportunity to give yourself grace! You are doing things outside of the “norm” you are taking back control of your health and not settling for basic. You are walking this journey and helping others along the way to realize they are not alone! It might be the norm but let’s reform the NORM!
T