One day you feel great, one day you feel crappy. Sometimes you only have one good week a month. Why? The short answer is that disrespecting your body, can create the autoimmune storm. But how does it happen? Can it be stopped?
The answer is yes. It can be stopped.
That is the easy answer. And I’m going to tell you how and I will sound like a broken record but I’m going to say it again anyway. First let’s start with the disrespect. It’s the best place to start.
I say to my clients all the time that your body will whisper to you and it likely has been for years. The difficulty is that it isn’t widely understood that symptoms aren’t normal. Symptoms are not even remotely something we should be living with. Symptoms are a sign of dysfunction in your body and don’t show up until you are already into stage 4 of the development of dysfunction.
Symptoms are things like headaches, joint pain, bloating, digestive issues, skin issues, sleep issues, constipation, diarrhea, weight gain, etc. They are simple things that we have gotten used to.
Dysfunction means somewhere in your body an organ or tissue or several of them aren’t working properly.
Your body has been compensating and by the time you get to stage 4 of dysfunction organs and tissues have already started to break down. It can no longer compensate. And at this stage, your organs or tissue can’t make it back to a healthy state without significant help.
The whispers of your body are getting louder and likely screaming. Symptoms are affecting your quality of life and you are taking notice. And you likely haven’t made any changes to your lifestyle. Your body is doing its best. It can’t pay attention to everything that is going wrong and focuses each day on the most important functions. It is fighting to survive.
The focus changes each day depending on what it is exposed to.
So today you might have your hair colored. That might be a game changer because all of a sudden it is bombarded with chemicals and it might be too much. It might push your immune system over the edge and next thing you know you are in a storm that is going to last several days.
You might be in the week before your period.
When you have autoimmune or are struggling with dysfunction, a period can really wipe out your system. You might already be low in iron and you are about to lose some more. Your system might be fighting just to keep up. While your body prepares for the crime scene, it is going to divert all possible energy to just functioning and then recovery. And in its weakened state, if you over do it physically, or bombard yourself with sugar and junk food next thing you know, storm.
Travel can be brutal on your system.
Yes it can. You are taking your body into an environment that it isn’t used to. New food, new bed, maybe a new time zone. It’s hard for those that are relatively healthy. Again, if you are already struggling, it is like putting your body into another fight for its life and the outcome, storm.
And if you are unfortunate enough to be dealing with mold or lyme the opportunity for putting yourself into a storm can be day to day and for no good reason. Your poor body is struggling so hard that everything kicks it off. Your health journey is harder than most and it takes a long time to heal.
If you are struggling with autoimmune storms or something like it, it’s time to start paying attention.
Your body needs your help. It is time to stop over doing it, eating the wrong things, pretending like it won’t get worse because it can get lots worse. Well, let me rephrase that. It will get lots worse.
The first thing needed is a commitment to yourself and your health.
Nothing is going to get better if you don’t commit. And when I ask you where you are from a 1-10, you had better be a 10. I know you are an adult now, but somebody needs to kick your ass. The reality coddling isn’t going to get you well. Nope. Get your ass up and make the changes that are going to get you better.
The Autoimmune Protocol is the second thing you need to do.
Everyone that knows about it refers to it as the AIP. So now you don’t have to ask what that is when people talk about it. I’ve written a bunch about it and you can find articles on my website blog page.
You know. www.yourhealthmadesimple.com
And you can’t screw around with it. 100% AIP for at least 90 days. I highly recommend 6 months before you try to add foods back in.
Quick tidbit. Shakes are easier in the morning but make sure your protein is not whey based. Should be Vegan. It’s an easy way to provide nutrients to your system in a way that they can handle it. And yes, the Arbonne protein powder tastes better than anything else you are going to try. Probably not quite as clean as Izabella Wentz’ Autoimmune protein powder, which is probably the best out there for you but it does taste better which means you will drink it.
Exercise is so important but if you are wiped and short walks are all you can do, go for it. Lean muscle building is also recommended. Careful with the cardio. It is so hard on your adrenals.
Sleep is next. You might be having a hard time sleeping so then you just rest. And your sleep might get a little better with better food. You should be sleeping 8-9 hours per night minimum.
Stress management also a key player. Stop yelling at people while you are driving. Stop fighting with your kids, it isn’t worth it. Get yourself into a meditation class. Do some yoga. Go find a sound bath (you know where they play the Himalayan bowls). It is music to your soul.
And if this helps you a bit but it isn’t quite enough to get you feeling better, find yourself a functional medicine practitioner that knows how to test you to figure out what the heck is going wrong. And don’t stop everything else you are doing. It is needed to help you heal and is working behind the scenes weather you feel better or not.
And, one last thing. You probably need a good probiotic. I feel that Megasporebiotic from Microbiome labs is the best on the market. If you want more info, email me. clientcare@yourhealthmadesimple.com
Thanks for being here, have a great week.
Leave a Reply