When I first started my journey in perimenopause I had this sudden and I mean sudden weight gain. I really felt like I was gaining a pound a day and there was not stopping the freight train. Now keep in mind, I had not changed a thing in my eating, exercising, drinking lots of water, sleeping 7-8 hours a night. I had lost 55 pounds from having babies and maintained for over 10 years so I knew that something was not working right in my body. I woman knows her body best! Remember that always. When I first went to the OBGYN she told me that my numbers were not perimenopausal although what I was telling her was? Her first inclination was to put me on birth control pills and an antidepressant. What? I was already gaining weight and had never been able to take birth control pills. Well, she said, they’re different now, better. Can you see my facial expression right now? I just could not believe she was saying that to me. Well I gained 50 pounds from menopause and after many tried and true plans I finally started down the holistic path.

You see I was working really hard to lose this weight with very little results and that was frustrating to say the least. I exercised and was careful with my food portions, I went low glycemic and took high quality supplements. But as I tell many of the women I talk to today, your body isn’t a savings account or a calorimeter. It’s all about chemistry. You really have to learn how your body is responding to the foods you eat. I found out that I was not eating right! Yes, a holistic health coach eating wrong. So, I decided to try a new protocol and take out the gluten, dairy, soy, corn, eggs, peanuts, artificial sweeteners (did very few of those already), sugar. I began to lose weight following a less stressed exercise program as well. I am still on this journey and so far I have lost 27 of the 50!

How about you? Are you on this journey? What is your story? Please post your comment below and tell me about your journey with weight gain. You can find my website at www.livinglifeholistic.com and get my free PDF of my favorite 12 green smoothies!

I often wonder if people who come to my site really know me. How did you find me? What were you looking for? I was featured in an article this week for a mastermind group that I belong to that is a sisterhood of Christian women who are working from home. These ladies and the coach who leads them are phenomenal. Especially the coach Theresa who helped me to get the clarity I needed to birth Living Life Holistic. I wanted to separate my ministry with women and my business of coaching with a clear message. You see my message was mixed and I was getting a lot of “What exactly do you do?” For those of you in business you know that is not a good question to get if your message is clear.

So here is my feature article of Who I Am, and I pray that you get to know me.

http://networkedblogs.com/ViEkd

If you are looking for coaching on menopause, weight loss, hot flashes, mood swings, cravings or not sleeping then go to my website www.livinglifeholistic.com and take advantage of my free 15 minute consult to get started today! I am passionate about helping women get through this journey to see a new life on the other side! Embrace the new you!

Why is being a woman so hard sometimes? I get that a lot from my coaching clients who are in the midst of chaos. Let me just say, it’s not fair but it’s a fact that women are much more vulnerable to hormone imbalance then men. At least 26% of women are on a pill for anxiety, depression, or just the general feeling of unable to cope. Guess who has the babies, oh that’s right women! Pregnancy amplifies the demands on the endocrine glands, which release hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, cortisol, thyroid, leptin, growth hormone, and insulin. We as women are especially sensitive to hormonal changes. God made us that way for a reason. But these days let’s add in the stresses of juggling multiple roles and working outside the home. I can remember those days oh so clearly!

I like to equate this to the bank reserve account. See our organ’s reserve is inherent to withstand demands such as kids going in all different sports directions, trauma, surgery, you know that everyday stress we call life. And when you’re young you have more of this to bounce back fairly quickly. You can restore and create balance. But as we age, we take out the reserve and forget we need to put back twice the deposit for balance. Did you know that after age 30, organ reserves decrease by 1% per year! Wow, so by age 85 (women are now living to this age and beyond), organ reserve is a fraction of the original capacity. How about the next generation? I can see my kids living well beyond the 100 year range. So, let’s get back to those hormones. Do you see the connection here? If you have great hormone balance earlier and continue, then later your reserve will be higher so the imbalance is less chaotic. So those food choices, environmental toxins, attitude, aging, stress, genetics, even the chemicals of everyday life affect our hormones. Something to think about huh?

For more information check out my other blog posts at www.livinglifeholistic.com

I gave up gluten about a year ago. Actually I gave up gluten, soy, dairy, corn, peanuts and all artificial sweeteners to lose the menopause weight. See I gained about 50 pounds which seemed like overnight. I was eating healthy and exercising with that weight gain! I lost 27 pounds in three months. But here is another fascinating angle on a common reason for hypothyroidism; celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Celiac disease is a permanent intolerance to gluten, even a very small amount, and it triples your risk of problems with low thyroid problems. A person with celiac disease who eats gluten will usually result in inflammation and damage to the lining of the small intestine, preventing this 20 foot section of the gut from absorbing nutrients. This can result in diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue and bloating.

I was not aware that I was gluten intolerant as I didn’t show signs or specific symptoms at all. But I can tell you when I stopped eating it and then tried to reintroduce it back into my diet I knew immediately just how bad it was making me feel. It’s called a leaky gut theory. I now use very high quality vegan supplements, vegan protein powder and essential oils to help balance out the hormones and help restore the gut with good bacteria. I use a high grade probiotic. This has reduced the fatigue and bloating to a bare minimum.

Pay attention to your body, you only get one.

For more information on this subject go to my website at www.livinglifeholistic.com