What Do Hormones Have to Do With Self-love? Everything.
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Carly Anne.
Copy by: Kelly Shiple
Model: Carly Anne
Creative Direction: Catie Menke
Have you ever noticed that you don’t feel as good as other people seem to? That you struggle to get out of bed in the morning? That your memory and brain fog seem to be so overwhelming? That no matter how healthy you eat or how often you exercise the weight just won’t come off? That you’re irritable? That your lust for life is pretty much nonexistent and has been for as long as you can remember?
If you’re nodding you’re head and wondering how I know any or all of the above I want you to stop for a second. Take a moment. And acknowledge yourself. It’s not normal to feel this way. You’re suffering. You’ve been suffering. And yet you still push through and make it through each day. You’re strong. You’re incredible. Give yourself some credit. Give yourself some grace. Show yourself some compassion.
Art Direction and Photograph by: Catie Menke. Model: Carly Anne.
I know because I’ve been there. When I was 23 years old I should have been in the prime of my life. I should have been healthy and happy. I had just graduated physician assistant school. I was starting my career. I had my whole life ahead of me. But I was miserable. I woke up one day with an extra 20 pounds on my petite, 5’3” frame. My clothes didn’t fit. My scrubs were so tight they were uncomfortable. I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. I had no motivation. My brain fog was so severe I couldn’t remember anything. I was depressed. I was anxious all the time. I had no idea what was happening to my poor body. I was a mess.
Luckily for me, I was joining my dad in practice and he knew exactly what was happening to my poor body. He checked my hormone levels and diagnosed me with an underactive thyroid, low testosterone, low progesterone, low vitamin D levels, and a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS. I started on hormone medications with the hopes of getting back to feeling like myself.
But it never happened. I started having some good days mixed in with my bad days, but I still felt like complete crap on a pretty much daily basis. I became less and less consistent with the medications because they weren’t helping. Eventually I had to stop them completely because they all started causing intolerable side effects.
I started trying anything and everything else. Weight loss programs, meal replacement shakes, supplement lines. Nothing ever helped me feel like myself. I started accepting that I was doomed to feel like this for the rest of my life.
Then, something seemingly unrelated happened, but it changed my entire life. My husband at the time and I decided we were unhappy in our marriage and it was time to separate. I moved from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the city of Philadelphia to live with girlfriends. I was sad and confused and wondered where I went wrong. And as a result, I didn’t what else to do other than to start pouring into myself.
Over the course of the last few years I started reading constantly - self help books, quantum physics books, books on unlearning codependence and learning how to actually love myself. I worked with life coaches, therapists, energy workers, mediums, shamans. I started really researching what could be going on with my body and came across the medical medium. I started eating differently. Moving my body differently. Seeing myself differently. Thinking about myself differently. Showing up for myself. And actually loving myself.
For most of my life I was taught it’s not okay to show emotion. It’s not okay to be sad. It’s not okay to cry. But as a cancer sign with a ton of water in my astrological birth chart, I’m an extremely sensitive emotional being. Stifling these beautiful qualities in me stifled my soul for decades. Finally tapping into that sensitivity and learning how to feel my emotions helped me move energy in my body that had been stagnant for so long and feel a love and compassion for myself that I had never felt before.
As a result I feel completely different. So much better. Clearer. My body functions better than it has in years. My energy levels are up. Weight comes off easier. My brain fog is completely gone.
As a result I feel completely different. So much better. Clearer. My body functions better than it has in years. My energy levels are up. Weight comes off easier. My brain fog is completely gone.
The symptoms you’re experiencing are a reflection of something going on in your soul. Maybe you’re unhappy. Maybe you’re dissatisfied. Maybe you’re unfulfilled. Whatever it is. It’s time to tune in. It’s time to listen. You can start by treating the physical, but eventually the metaphysical, or the mind body connection, will need to be acknowledged and addressed. So go ahead. Tune in. There’s nothing to lose and so much to gain.
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