hormones

Today I’m sharing the top 11 ways I continued healing in 2017.

This is my favorite time of year for all things blog related because it’s the time of year when I reflect, remember, and then plan and prepare for the next year. 

I kick off this season with the reader survey, which I recently published. You can share your thoughts and voice by clicking HERE (it will remain open until January 1, 2018).

And then I plan and prepare posts to share with you for the upcoming year on both blog and personal goals, as well as the past year recaps. This year, I’ve added one more recap – this one – the top 11 ways I continued healing in 2017 because I think the information could be useful for many of you.

How am I able to write this post with ease? Because 2017 was, by far, my healthiest and best healing year yet! Did I have some lumps and bumps along the way? Of course. Success absolutely looks like this….

(source)

In 2017, though, the kinks and coils on the upward were far fewer than any other year.

And these are the things I attribute to that.

Top 11 Ways I Continued Healing in 2017

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{The list below is in no particular order of importance.}

1. Two doctors, one institute. I stayed the course with the gut doctor I see, but then I added another doctor at the same institute to help dial in my hormones. I am constantly being asked about my doctors, so I’ll share again. I go to the California Institute for Functional Medicine. I see Sunjya K. Schweig, M.D. and Amy Nett, M.D. Sunjya constantly has a huge wait list (and I don’t think you can get in as a new patient anymore) so adding in Amy to help was priceless for my healing efforts. Together, I think I saw them a total of 5-ish times in 2017.
2. Stomach acid focus. My overall stomach acid has increased. At least I think it has because I am down to 2-3 HCL’s with protein-heavy meals (last year I hovered 7-8). I have stayed super consistent all year long by doing many of these 11 things.
3. WP Thyroid. I am so thankful I take this Thyroid medication over Synthroid or any other traditional Thyroid medication. As of about this past month, I think we have finally dialed in the perfect amount to take on a daily basis. 
4. LDN. I still take LDN, and I have zero concerns about it. In 2018, I may consider weaning off it because I might be ready.
5. Super intense training and SIBO battle like cats and dogs. I kept learning these lessons the hard way in 2017, and I’m hopeful I don’t make them anymore in 2018. Everyone has to know their own body, what you are and are not capable of. Could I be a great runner? Maybe, but will I ever fully see that potential? I’m not sure, though I highly doubt it because super intense training completely drains me, causes flare-ups, and introduces a downward spiral. Realizing this only helped my healing efforts, though, because when I heed that which I know I feel fantastic and still make fitness progress.  
6. Found way more balance with food. This one is sort of chicken and egg because I’m not sure what happened first – I healed more and then found I could have more balance with food or because I was more balanced with food, my healing efforts multiplied? Either way, my eating style became far less dogmatic. My core beliefs still tell me that s#$% food is s%&* food, but I no longer have rules about what I can and can’t eat based on a theory that may or may not be true. 
7. Meal Spacing for SIBO. While I might be much more liberal with what I eat, I do still practice meal spacing as often as possible because yes, yes it does it work. 
8. Add-ins vs. crowd outs. At The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, we learned a lot about adding things in vs. crowding things out. In other words, instead of constantly removing things from the diet, what can you add in to help healing progress? The more good you add, the less room you have for other things. In this way, I consumed way more things like collagen and gelatin, fermented veggies, cod liver oil, greens, root veggies, and organic in general.
9. Supplements on point. These 10 have been key.
10. Beautycounter. You think I’m bluffing on this one, and some of you might think that just because I’m part of the Beautycounter team and make money from it that it’s not real. But let me tell you…..it’s so real. Skin health and endocrine disruptors have everything to do with gut healing. The hormones and gut go hand-in-hand. I’ve been reading all the books and paying attention to The Never List. In addition to swapping all old stuff in for Beautycounter, I also made sure my toothpaste was on point, and for those body care products I could make, I have made (i.e. THIS Peppermint Body Scrub). 
11. Knowledge meets listening. In addition to staying consistent with everything in 2017, the best thing I did for my healing efforts was applied knowledge and listening. I have honed in on listening to my body in a massive way and then applying the knowledge I have to whatever my body is telling me. I can literally feel my “remedy” for every situation on any given day. If I feel slight “upper stomach fermentation,” I know what to do. If I feel famished for no good reason, I know what to do. If I feel drained, I know why and what to do. Because of this, I never stayed down for very long in 2017, making the kinks and coils on my line to success far fewer.

But How Do You Know You’re Doing So Well?

So now you might be thinking….but how do you know you healed so much in 2017?

Symptoms and numbers. It all comes down to symptoms and numbers.

From a symptoms standpoint, I can count the number of times I thought my SIBO might be trying to relapse and of those times, symptoms lasted less than a week (while I re-routed efforts and corrected anything I knew was throwing me off – i.e. intense running). My SIBO never came back in 2017, and I never needed Rifaximin, Neomycin, herbal supplements or anything else targeting SIBO directly. (I did, however, use Atrantil in the beginning of the year, which I believe worked wonders in setting me up for the rest of 2017.)

I go to the bathroom now like a normal person. I rarely feel bloated, and most of the time if I do feel bloat it’s only the type of female-monthly-friend bloat (which, by the way, is nothing compared to SIBO bloat).

My energy came back! I am able to function the way I wanted to for so long. Of course, I’m still tired at night by 8 or 9 pm, but I’m also up every single day between 3:30 – 4 am (you can read a typical day via Experience Life Magazine HERE). 

My weight stabilized. When my gut is off, I always know because my weight changes quickly – like within just a day or two. For several months now, the scale has not budged much, and it’s at a place that feels natural and comfortable.

From a numbers standpoint, my SIBO tests showed that, while not completely eradicated, it was improving (and by the way, the last time I did this test was early 2017 I believe – I have made leaps and bounds progress since then).

“Overall,” said Dr. Amy, “your DUTCH profile looks good.” T3 is still somewhat low, but we are managing that and I am retesting those levels in early 2018. 

My blood pressure continues to be fairly low and my hands and feet remain cold (I am trying some new things for that, too!), but all blood counts are normal and “healthy.”

We are continuing to do some testing in 2018, and most everything will remain the same (not fixing anything that’s not broken). I’m hoping for another healthy and vibrant year in 2018. And I wish the same for you as well!

Xox,
SKH