A hamster running in her meaningless wheel! I confidently wore my badge as a perfectionist as I ambitiously scaled one life mountain after the next. I was fervently pursuing an accelerated career ladder, and found myself taking frequent guilt-trips over the many compromises I made to balance my career while being a daughter, wife and mother of two precious little girls all in the same stride. Over the years, I had cultivated an impressive ability to shut off any signals of distress from my body. This allowed me to work 60 hours a week, successfully ignoring my body’s cries for rest, sleep and food.
My wakeup call happened after recovering from acute COVID. I quickly spiraled into an intense fatigue that wiped me out by 4pm every day. Simultaneously my gut decided to wage a war. I couldn’t tolerate many of the foods I grew up eating, and my food choices quickly dwindled down to a select few. My immune system revolted throwing my body into what felt like chaos. My highly inflammed nasal airways meant that even the littlest of things that I took for granted – like breathing became constricted.
In a desperate attempt to figure out what was causing it all, I happened to stumble upon Functional Medicine. I was diagnosed with severe gut dysfunction and systemic inflammation. My body was throwing a tantrum. It was time for a major diet and lifestyle cleanup!
Having experienced the healing power of lifestyle change – slowing down, prioritizing nutrition and working to build resilience offered me the choice to respond and not react to what life threw at me.
Insulin resistance disproportionately affects my family and our community at large.
Defeating insulin resistance and optimizing metabolic function has to be more than just a personal pursuit. It has to be a community health movement, one that ensures we take care of ourselves and teach our children how to do the same.
There are two peculiarities about insulin resistance – it manifests very slowly like a slow burning fire and it’s flames are intensely fanned if we create the environment it demands to survive.
My experience has taught me two things:
In our ambitious race to attain social significance and material wealth, we often choose to accept social isolation and an unhealthy disconnection between our body and mind. Unfortunately that in itself is an invitation for disease. In cultivating the space to honor the physical body we live, in calming our mind to finding our center and in seeking to connect with our inner self lies the prescription to good health.
How do you feel about taking charge and steering your ship on the journey to good health?
