I actually wasn’t planning on making this post, not yet at least.
Since I have only been on my wellness journey for nearly two years it feels a bit odd to give any sort of advice. Instead I plan to give you my story with the hope that you can find some kind of inspiration to take the first steps to your healthiest you, or even give you motivation to keep going.
Skinny is healthy, right? If you just took a glance at me growing up and even early into my twenties you would see a tall(ish), stick thin, young lady. What you couldn’t see, though, was the copious amounts of beef jerky, ramen noodles, takis, chicken nuggets, doritos, cheese, and whatever other junk I was constantly eating. If it tasted good- you can bet your marbles I would be all over that shit. You couldn’t see how lethargic I felt every day: needing to make multiple coffee runs to keep going. I reeked of camel menthol’s and convinced myself that smoking was not as bad as they said it was. My paleness was not just a skin color; I was suffering from anemia, b12, and vitamin d deficiency. I was suffering from lower abdominal pain constantly- day in and day out it was cramps, whether I was on my period or not. I was SICK. I was sick and I didn’t even know it!
What I failed to understand was that even though I was thin, I was suffering, I was NOT healthy in the slightest.
In 2012 I decided to begin to tackle my lower abdominal pain.
Over the course of eight years I had tried two different birth controls, the FODMAP diet, vitamin b12 injections (for over a year), acupuncture, herbal medicine, and consultations with three different surgeons as well as a chiropractor. It had been a long and ridiculous journey with seemingly no real results, (aside from the b12- that helped significantly with my anemia).
In that amount of time we found out I was suffering with fibroids, which are benign tumors that grow on the uterus. Every doctor I spoke with told me I was too young to be having this issue- yet there I sat, on their examination table, begging for help. Finally in 2020 a surgeon cleared me to have them removed, we did a saline ultrasound to find and map out all of the fibroids and they found nine. The biggest one being 4 inches in diameter; Have you ever seen a lime cut in half? It’s about the same size. At this point in my journey it was a struggle to lift anything over 20 pounds, and most days I couldn’t keep my jeans buttoned because my lower stomach stuck out too much. I was in high hopes, though, because finally non “essential” surgeries were allowed during the pandemic and I had a surgery date; It was finally happening!
I will spare you the surgery details, but if you would like to look it up for yourself the procedure was called a laparoscopic myomectomy. My surgery ended up going three hours over schedule because instead of nine fibroids they found thirteen as well as some endometriosis (scar tissue). After the first night and day, recovery was actually a breeze! I was feeling great and walking around very quickly.
Once I was fully recovered I finally had the realization of just how sick I previously was. I had been living my life in constant pain and it took me this long to realize that you don’t know how sick you felt until you know what it feels like to be better. We get so used to feeling crappy that it seems like there is no other option for us. So in June of 2020 I made the conscious decision that I never wanted to feel like that again- not if I could prevent it. I quit smoking for good this time- with a few slip ups here and there for a bit. I realized that I needed to surround myself with people that are actively working towards bettering themselves. I learned about nutrition, which ultimately led me to the decision to cut out all animal products. I cut my processed/junk food consumption by about 75-80%. My husband and I learned how to cook and started going to the gym! I ultimately decided to do right by me and learned how to care for myself properly.
This change did not take place overnight, nor am I anywhere close to being done improving. For me, this is making the choice every day to do something that I will thank myself for in the future.
I realize that everything I had done during my eight year stretch of sickness was all done halfheartedly. I did not have a reason to change, I had given up all hope of feeling better thinking that was as good as it gets. If you are feeling stuck in a rut or pondering whether you should start on the path to health and wellness- I am urging you, please do it! Find your motivation and give it a real shot- what I failed to do before it became out of hand. Health doesn’t have to be boring and once you find your niche it will become something that you can genuinely look forward to. I do plan on making a separate post about diet/lifestyle change, but I will give you this bit of information beforehand: If you are looking to improve your diet- your taste buds will change over time. Healthy foods may taste awful at first, but once you phase out processed foods you will prefer the healthier options sooner than you think! Again, my diet used to consist of absolutely everything that is trash.
I wish I would have taken my health more seriously in my early adulthood but I am so glad I got started with bettering myself when I did. My hope for anyone reading is that you will make the hard but necessary choices to make your life healthier and ultimately happier!
Thanks for taking the time to check out my story- even if it is only the tip of the iceberg.
-Sophia
The Working Homemaker 