Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Obesity and Fibriods






Since about 2004 I had been leading a sedentary life style. Because of that I gained a lot of weight. I had at least two jobs and worked several graveyard shifts on top of a regular 40 hours a week day job. I ate whatever I wanted anytime I wanted to and I justified it by telling my self that I worked hard. I “treated” myself to a lot of fast foods and sweets. I don’t drink carbonated drinks like soda, I don’t smoke, I rarely drink alcoholic beverages, and I was not using birth control pills.

In 2006 I started to feel very tired all the time. I had joint pain, and I would have these wicked leg cramps. I was hungry all the time. I was stressed out. I could eat and eat and never feel satisfied. My periods started wigging out. I went from no cramps, no PMS and 4 days of light bleeding to 7 to 9 days of cramps, acne breakouts, PMS, and heavy to moderate (including blood clots) bleeding. Over time my period got worse, i.e. heavier and longer to the point where I became anemic. I was depressed and tired all the time. I tried dieting to lose weight, but it was so hard or harder than usual. I lacked the energy to exercise, and my hunger and craving were overwhelming. I’m telling you all this because I think my excessive weight (my FAT) and my completely non-nutritious diet was a direct contributor to my fibroids. In effect I feel as though I was poisoning myself, and I was not listening to what my body was telling me. It wasn’t until the Doctors told me that they wanted to take my uterus and maybe my ovaries out of me, that I woke up.

Obesity seems like a ticking time bomb that is fueled by our diets and sedentary lifestyles. For me (so far) my bomb was fibroids, but obesity can manifest in our bodies in all kinds of nasty ways. There are so many articles about obesity and hormone imbalances, obesity and cancer, obesity and infertility, obesity and heart attacks, the list goes on. Check out the links below.
OHSU Research Reveals The Complexities Of Obesity/cortisol Interactions
It is shear luck that I stumbled across a book that got me thinking that maybe I had other options besides surgery. My holistic regimen is about taking control of what I put and do to my body, understanding my body, balancing out my hormones (i.e. my estrogen to progesterone ratio) and supporting/healing my liver (so that it can do it’s job of removing/detoxing excess estrogen and other toxins) with lots of reading and talking to medical professionals, an anti-inflammatory diet, supplements and herbs. I know there are lots of overweight and skinny women who are perfectly healthy, and I’m glad for them, but I had to listen to my body I had to empower myself. I do all this so I can hopefully keep my uterus and ovaries. I eat right to live right; to live longer and healthier, I eat right to keep myself whole, intact and healthy. Crazy as it might sound so far its been working.

To sum it up: Being, fat, over weight, sedentary, obese, however you want to put it….FAT is BAD. Estrogen overload is BAD. Not listening to your body, ignoring signs like menstrual and reproductive abnormalities, can lead to BAD things.

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