Vibrant Sexy Strong

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This year has been a growing year for me in terms of health and wellness. I overcame a lot of my binge eating issues, my daughter’s intestinal inflammation is healing, and I started consulting with clients about how to better take care of their bodies (by examining lab results).

Considering what I have conquered in my personal life, I wanted to see what resonated most with my readers. Here are the Top 7 posts, receiving more traffic than the rest.

Hirsutism: The Big Hairy Truth. Outlines hirsutism, includes a chart on varying degrees of hairiness, and I share my own personal experience with it.

A Primer on Macronutrients. My first Science Made Simple post still gets a lot of traffic from people trying to figure out what the heck protein, carbs, and fat are…and which ones to eat.

7 MovNat Lessons from an Uncoordinated Stay at Home Mom. MovNat opened my eyes to how I could like physical activity, how I am a powerful woman, and how to better trust my children’s physical abilities.

Paleo: A Nutrient-Dense Eating Disorder?. My struggle with using healthy food in an unhealthy, manipulative way.

Meet the Cast: Food Personalities. A follow-up to the eating disorder post, highlighting all the strange roles I assigned to food that have nothing to do with nourishment. Re-reading, I am sure happy those dark days are over.

Paleo Mistakes 101: Cheat Meals. People Paleofy a lot of foods and claim they taste the same. They don’t. Don’t be fooled.

Mat Lalonde Humbles a Crowd in 48 Minutes. A summary of Mat Lalonde’s AHS11 talk. I don’t agree with everything I wrote here anymore (mostly the tone) and hesitated to include it…but it made the top 7 and I’m nothing if I’m not honest.

Bonus: Most popular Link-up: Paleo PCOS Success Story featuring Danielle who showed PCOS who’s boss.

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When I was an intermediate school teacher, I tried to make my classroom active. PE was twice a week, recess wasn’t permitted, and there wasn’t an outdoor break before school, after lunch, or after school.

There was a latent energy amongst the 1,000 adolescents that was suppressed for social convention, safety, and practicality. The students did their best to find ways around this and I watched in amusement. There wasn’t a doorway that could be passed through without the boys trying to jump to reach the top. The girls taught each other the newest dances. And an empty corridor between classes always found one student sprinting or jogging.

Even my most inactive, sedentary students seemed to want to move and it was contagious. I wanted to move too, but felt trapped. After school ended, I sprinted up and down those halls where I so often instructed, “Walk!”

Our True Nature is to Move

After my MovNat workshop in January, I began to understand these feelings—movement is part of my true nature and an innate response in human beings. Since the announcement of a MovNat Certified Trainer program, my bucket list won’t be complete until I am certified.

Unfortunately, being so foreign to natural movement (or all exercise, for that matter), I didn’t know where to start in order to gain the physical skills needed to move like my inner gazelle.

But today is my lucky day! Erwan Le Corre, founder of MovNat, began publishing a four-week program at Breaking Muscle last week, complete with videos for the novice and advanced . I started this morning and I’m excited to keep moving. Perhaps one day I will move like these gorgeous ladies. I can only imagine how much fun they have with their children:

To access the MovNat training program (for novice or advanced alike), click here.

To get a better idea of what MovNat is, read Erwan’s explanation here.

Happy Training!

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When I switched hosts a few months back, my email subscribers were left behind. I’ve missed you these past two months and am delighted we are finally reunited!

Here’s what you may have missed while I was semi-away.

Big News

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Announcement: Online PCOS Course Coming Soon. I am creating a FREE online PCOS lifestyle management course. Please hop on over to the post and leave a comment about what you’d like to see addressed.

Review of PCOS Unlocked: The Manual. Stefani Ruper of Paleo for Women wrote an eBook about PCOS. It’s pretty great.

Emotional Health, Paleo, and PCOS

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A Confessional: I Am Enough. An epiphany that I am good enough just as I am.

Finding Your WHY for Healthy Eating. Every time I try to eat healthy for the “right” reasons, I fail. But there is something that makes me succeed.

A Bucket List: Because There’s More to Life than Paleo. Sometimes PCOS and Paleo and health is so all-consuming that I have to step back and examine what I really want out of life. Do I want the focus of my life to be on cooking meat or do I want to learn samba in Brasil?

Chapter 7: The Hysterosalpingogram. Resuming my story where I left off last year.

The Practical Side of Paleo Parenting

How to Travel with Kids and Special Diets. My daughter is on a diet of meat and cooked vegetables. How in the world did we go on a month-long road trip?

Five Unexpected Ways Paleo Makes Parenting Easier. Being a Paleo parent with Paleo kids isn’t easy, but there are some surprising bright spots.

An Update on Baby Mimi’s Gut Saga. My baby’s health and the protocol she’s on. Though I suppose she’s not technically a baby since she’s two.

Guest Posting Here and There

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Potty Talk: A Primer on Bowel Movements and Digestive Health. I talk about what your poop wants you to know about  your intestines on Modern Alternative Health

Organizing the Home: Cut the Clutter. Tips on clearing your mind by clearing our your house

How Strength Training Improves Your Health: 6 Myths Debunked. Why ladies won’t get bulky lifting weights

Sometimes I focus on the lame-o aspects of Paleo because I get tired of hearing so much rah-rah about how easy and simple and perfect it is. It’s hard. When I am in a bad place and see how someone effortlessly eats Paleo for all virtuous reasons, I feel like a total loser.

I know I’m not a total loser (or even a minor loser) and I know Paleo isn’t easy for everyone. Probably isn’t easy for a lot of folks, which is why I like to write about the sucky aspects of  good nutrition. I like the support and I like being supportive.

Unfortunately, I also risk sounding too complainy, which is certainly not the tone I try to convey. Paleo really did save my life and that’s not something I take lightly. Being realistic about challenges and being ungrateful is such a fine line.

So the other day, when I was cooking vegetables for the 800th time and murmuring about how other parents can give their kids crackers, I realized Paleo makes parenting harder. And easier too. Because let’s face it: Parenting is hard, whether you eat kale or not. There’s a silver lining if you are so inclined to look.

How Paleo Improves My Mama Skillz

Paleo does in fact make certain aspects of parenting easier. Here are my 5 favorite complaints and how they are also my favorite blessings.

Number 1: Food Prep Is Never, Ever Convenient

Why It’s Lame: Thawing, chopping, washing, cooking, baking, whatever. There’s no such thing as a convenient or quick meal.

Why It’s Awesome: My kids love it. I sit them on the counter and they learn how to cook, which gives us plenty of family togetherness and fills hours in the day that I don’t have to think of an activity or enforce “alone play-time.” Plus, my new favorite game is to peel carrots as fast as possible and watch their heads bob while trying to pick up scraps and throw them in a bowl. Picture whack-a-mole with a lot less coordination.

Number 2: Cooking, Cooking, Cooking = Anxiety

Image by Cyn74

Why It’s Lame: I don’t like to cook and it sometimes triggers anxiety, which is a nice treat 3 times a day.

Why It’s Awesome: Absence of anxiety over whether or not my kids’ meals are nutritious. I can’t pull an Uncrustable from the freezer (which I want to, sometimes), yet I don’t have any guilt about what they are eating. The sound of my Littles fighting over the last of the zucchini is music to my ears.

Number 3: Family Traditions Just Aren’t the Same Without Normal-People Food

After Our Christmas Track Meet

Why It’s Lame: Mom’s egg rolls and pancit,  Abuela’s tamales, rice at every meal including Thanksgiving. My husband’s fond memories of sourdough pancakes, frog-eye salad, homemade rolls every Sunday. These are sometime foods for my husband, never-ever foods for the baby, and anything with gluten is off-limits for my son and I. The childhood memories I hold so dear and looked forward to passing on…won’t be passed on. Or perhaps they will, and we will watch the extended family enjoy it.

Why It’s Awesome: Now that food can’t be the centerpiece, we are forced to create relationship-based traditions. Instead of making cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve, we had our first-annual Family Olympics. All of a sudden, Christmas was about being together and not about eating dinner and fudge.

Number 4: Everything Outside of the Home Involves Junk Food

Candy not needed for a good time (though he wouldn’t turn it away if given the chance)

Why It’s Lame: Festival scones, parade candy, church fruit snacks, school lunches, bank lollipops, library story time crackers–junk food everywhere. Can’t my kids fit in anywhere? Why does there need to be an artificially-flavored juice box at every event and non-event?

Why It’s Awesome: Then again, we just went to the movie theater and a handful of kids were crying and tantruming that they couldn’t get the soda, ice cream, AND nachos to go with their popcorn. My son asked once, has consistently been told no, and into the movie we marched to enjoy Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. The movie was the treat, not the pseudo-meal that goes with it.

Number 5: Parents (and Doctors) Are Judging Me

Image by texasfarmersdaughter

Why It’s Lame: Yep, they are. “If you don’t give your baby rice cereal, they will be iron deficient and it will cause allergies later.” “Just give the kid a Popsicle.” “What, you think you’re better than me?” “How long are you going to breastfeed that baby? It’s been way too long.” “Your kids aren’t getting enough nutrients, that’s why they’re so small.” “It’s not right that your kids have never had candy.”

Why It’s Awesome: Going against the grain (haha) has forced me to really figure out my priorities. Because my children’s well-being is at risk, I have to stop worrying about what other people will think. I have to stop sacrificing my children’s health in favor of an acquaintance’s convenience or comfort level. This has been incredibly challenging. However, it’s taught me to trust my intuition (it was there the whole time) and find a safe haven within myself. I am stronger and more secure because of it (For the record, my son has had candy while my daughter has not).

And of course…

Parents learn these lessons without eating Paleo too. But for me, Paleo slammed it in my face and ensured that I got the message loud and clear sooner rather than later. For that, I am grateful.

Does real food make parenting easier for you? What have been some of the unintended benefits?

In case you are just tuning in, my baby (2yo, technically) doesn’t have the healthiest set of intestines. Mimi’s last update outlined our 3-month plan with the potential to continue for an additional maintenance year if she responded well. That was February.

She had a fantastic initial response to her meds, but slowly started digressing. I called up Dr. Gerstmar where it was decided a second round may be helpful. As a family, we also put some family rules into place to increase  her stability and support her healing.

We went on a three-month travel hiatus. We passed on a much-anticipated family wedding, a cousin’s farewell before he leaves for two years to serve a church mission, my nephew’s homecoming from Afghanistan, etcetera. The way we looked at these sacrifices was logical: if a comfy crib and a place to cook for three months is what she needs, well it’s no sacrifice at all. An eternal optimist, I was sure her diet and lifestyle would be enough to bring her into great health.

In May, she had another fantastic response to her antibiotic, but then started going downhill almost immediately from there.

Stop. The. Crazy.

Image by Tree Leaf Clover

I was a hot mess. Still believing I could “save” my baby, I  started creating hedge laws for her diet. I went on a crazy mission to only add in one new item to her very limited diet every week (a most unpleasant three weeks). I was tracking her bowel movements, psoriasis, ecczema, night wakings, naps, food intake, daily schedule. If she put a crayon near her mouth, I flipped out because “that one time in March she ate my deodorant and had diarrhea for three days.” I started exploring different diets for her condition (low-FODMAP) and different practitioners (Chris Kresser, Allison Siebecker). I posted on Robb Wolf’s forum to get information from Joe Brasco even though I never do forums and I created a complicated method to heal our baby and simultaneously drive my family insane.

Having a sick baby is hard. Really hard. Mimi’s symptoms started to activate powerful survival circuits in my brain. Things working and then not working made me unable to distinguish between normal two-year-old behavior and sick behavior. My baby can’t say much about her symptoms other than, “I hurting Mommy” and my emotional brain screamed at me, “It is your job to heal your baby! If you don’t, you are a failure!”

In a moment of sanity, I shot off an email to Dr. Gerstmar. My logical brain knew I just needed to contact him.  I told him Mimi was backsliding and asked if he still felt it was within his expertise. I also asked if he could handle an overstressed mama bear because I suspect that would be the worst part of any practice.

Getting a REAL Game Plan Based on Science (Not on Stress)

Dr. Gerstmar talked me down from my emotional ledge and explained what he believed was happening. Evidently, Mimi’s response to the antibiotic is a good sign. Did you know bad bacteria can build a hard concrete-like protective structure over themselves (biofilm) that prevents the antibiotic from working properly? I didn’t. So the antibiotic killed the bad bacteria that was free-floating (yay!), but then the biofilm-protected bacteria popped their dirty little heads back out to repopulate the gut when the course was complete (boo!). Instead of freaking out, I could have just called. Why do I consistently make it harder for myself? Being human is hard.

Now Meems is on an aggressive protocol to get the gut in good shape and break down that stinkin’ biofilm. As always, this is patient-specific and not a recommendation for anyone else. But in case you are curious:

• Digestive Help: 1 Vital-Zymes digestive tablet3x/day; 1/2 capsule Betaine HCL 2-3x/day
• Immune Support: 1 tsp Xymogen IgG 2x/day
• Reduce Dysbiosis: 2 capsules InterFase Plus; 2 drops Biocidin 2x/day
• Healing the Gut: 1/4 tsp probiotic 2x/day; 1 tsp GI Revive 2x/day
• Diet: Meat (excluding shrimp and anything in a package) and well-cooked veggies (excluding onion, garlic, sweet potato, butternut squash, and carrots); bone broth if she would agree to drink it
• Add-Ons: not a part of the protocol, but fish oil or FCLO, vitamin D, and a multi-vitamin are all approved
• In four weeks: a last round (fingers crossed) of antibiotic Bactrim

Mimi is still too young for pills, so we empty the capsules and powders into our trusty Magic Bullet to create a medicine cocktail. The tender mercy is that she asks for it every morning and night. “I want medis. Medis pease.”

Is it Working?

The million dollar answer: Yes.

She has had a lifetime Bristol Stool Scale of 5-7 (diarrhea), with the occasional 1 or 2 (constipation). She is now consistently at a 3 or 4 (perfect), minus the rare hiccup with a random irritating food. Her hair is starting to grow better on top of her head. Eczema is non-existent, sleeping 13 hours at night, and happy. So, so happy. She’s talking better, developing well, climbing, and comfortably laying on her stomach. Oh yes, and she gained 5 pounds in 7 weeks (4 weeks of being on the protocol). This is a big deal because it took her 19 months to grow 6 pounds.

I am one happy mama and my Mimi is one happy baby.

Some of the links above are affiliate links. Earned commissions support Vibrant Sexy Strong. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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This past week was my two-year Paleo anniversary and after two years, the big question remains: Am I still Paleo?

Uh…yes? A couple months back, Cheeseslave ignited a firestorm citing flaws she personally sees in the Paleo diet. Some were accurate, some weren’t but that’s irrelevant since blogs are generally just opinion. The thoughts that followed were what I found valuable. They went something like this…

1. This Cheese woman is right about this.
2. Ooh, she’s way off on that one.
3. Wow. Just wow. smh
4. I don’t do that. In fact, WHO does that?
5. Well goodness, sure some people…but you don’t have to. I’ve never ever…
6. Whatever.
7. That’s just plain Paleo nonsense; I’ve never done any of that in my whole Paleo life.

And so on and so forth.

Fitting in the Pretty Paleo Box

Image by stevendepolo

In speaking to the audience about the future of the ancestral health movement at AHS11, Mat Lalonde referred to it as “your movement,” suggesting he wasn’t part of it. I thought that was silly and maybe even a little pretentious. Obviously he is part of the movement because so many people are looking to his Big Brain to provide further research.

Well paint me silly and maybe even a little pretentious. I don’t know the depths of Mat Lalonde’s reasoning, but I can see legitimate arguments for the philosophy.

Once a movement starts gaining momentum, the purpose can get muddled. Without vigilance, it’s far too easy to get caught up in the rhetoric of “Is It Paleo?” or “It’s Only Good If Our Ancestors Ate It” or “It Doesn’t Make Sense to Drink Milk Intended for Another Species.” Those aren’t sufficient reasons for me to eat or not eat a certain food (decent starting points, though).

If Cheeseslave’s understanding of the Paleo diet is the norm, the Paleo label isn’t terribly fitting.

I Don’t Want to Be Paleo. I Just Want to Be Healthy.

Painting by Sophia Strawsser (4th grade) via Bush 41 Library

My family’s Paleo purpose is not to throw on loin cloths and fashion our own spears. Low-carb is only our thing if we’re sleeping. We don’t care to mimic the diets of our ancestors and even if we did, is that possible? My children are English, Irish, Spanish, Filipino, German, French, Italian, Polish, and more German.

I don’t follow a Paleo diet for the sake of emulating caveman or because I presume everything our ancestors did was right. I only mention Paleo because as my husband so wisely asserted: It’s the easiest way to describe it.

Healthy is subjective, and “whole” or “real” foods is confusing. Paleo is simple and descriptive, suggesting that I don’t do grains, dairy, blah blah blah. More accurately though, I am an Average Jane trying to be Healthy (vibrant, sexy, and strong to be more specific). If wheat becomes healthy tomorrow and doesn’t irritate my gut, then tomorrow is the day I add wheat back to my diet, no matter what my great-great-great-x 100-grandma ate.

How about you? Are you an Average Jane or a Me-Jane?

Have you been listening to Underground Wellness’s Real Food Summit?

It’s not strictly Paleo, but here’s the thing: a lot of us Real Food eaters are on the same side. My sister-in-law is vegan and I’m Paleo, but it isn’t me vs. her. We both want better health and more ethical treatment of animals; we simply find our answers in different ways.

So if you’re interested in Real Food, I would highly highly *highly* recommend tuning in.

The details are all on the site, but the basics are:

• 9 days
• 3 presentations per day
• Presentations are available for 24 hours only–midnight to midnight PST
• Free during the initial viewing period, then sold in a package after the summit

And lucky for us, the first two days’ presentations have been extended until tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon PST. The presentation outline is available with the speakers’ presentations, but I’ll even give you a little preview of what were personal highlights:

Day 1 Presentations (<– link)

Joel Salatin. You may recognize him as the incredibly articulate farmer from Food, Inc.

Joel Salatin, Farmer.
Real Food Defined.
Food for Thought: Powerfully exhibits how we can break our addiction to the supermarket. Teaches how an ethical farm functions and the way animals, humans, and Mother Nature work together. Discusses sustainability and whether or not Real Food can feed the world (spoiler: it can!).

Chris Kresser, Integrative Health Practitioner.
The Role of Fish and Seafood in the Real Diet
Food for Thought: The vitamins and minerals present in fish and why mercury is not always as big of an issue as we may believe

David Getoff, Traditional Naturopath and Board-Certified Nutritionist
The Historical Truth About Raw Fruit Consumption…and the Best and Worst Sweeteners
Food for Thought: Caused me to examine the quantity of my son’s fruit intake in relation to his body size. Powerful stuff.

Day 2 Presentations (<– link)

Paul Chek

Paul Chek, Founder of C.H.E.K. Institute
Eating Whole Foods for Body, Mind, and Soul
Food for Thought: The soil is connected to our soul. We can eat less food if what we’re eating is more nutrient-dense. Fixing our physical health can really help our emotional health.

Jeffrey Smith, Author of Seeds of Deception
Genetically Modified Foods: What People Want to Know
Food for Thought: Answers basic questions about GMOs. A little sensationalist for my taste, but good information all the same.

Sarah Pope, Blogger at The Healthy Home Economist
The Bountiful Benefits of Bone Broth
Food for Thought: How to make bone broth and know you’ve made it right

Day 3 Presentations (<– link)

These presentations end at midnight so hop to it

Chris Masterjohn

Chris Masterjohn, Blogger and Doctoral Candidate
Weston A. Price on Primitive Wisdom (part 1 of 2)
Food for Thought: Gives me an entirely unexplored and deep love for Weston A. Price’s work and his credibility as a renowned researcher. I thought I loved him before, but I respect him so much more now. Also, Masterjohn sort of sounds like Matthew Broderick, so when I was listening, I was picturing Despereaux teaching me all about Dr. Price.

Mira and Jayson Calton, Authors of Naked Calories
Micronutrient Deficiency: The Missining Link in the Fight Against Obesity?
Food for Thought: (Still listening)

Aaron Lucich, Film Producer and Director
We Are What We Eat: How What We Eat Affects Everything Within and Around Us
Food for Thought: (Still listening)

Enjoy the Summit! I’d love to hear your thoughts, too.

There is so much great content out there. Here’s a sampling of what I’m reading when I’m not writing.

Image Source

The Whole9 Five Movements Series. Dallas and Melissa asked 12 fitness folks which five movements they would do for the rest of their lives if they had to keep it to the bare minimum.

Gotye cover by Walk off the Earth. This song is ridiculously popular to cover and this is by far my favorite. Five people on one guitar? It has 4,571,955 views and I’m fairly certain 300,000 are from our house alone (3yo asks regularly: Mama, I want to listen to the didn’t have to cut me off song)

Rant 64: The House That Stumptuous Built by Krista Scott-Dixon. Language is saltier than I prefer, but the message is powerful. Get some exercise (no matter who/what you are) and quit worrying about other people.

How My Son is Raising Me by yours truly on Modern Alternative Mama. My thoughts on how I wanted to raise a perfect child. And how I have a lot more growing up to do than he does. PS Happy Mother’s Day!

All gorgeous photos courtesy of the incredible Omar Foster. If you are in the Las Vegas area, check him out at Camp Fit Force. All photos of my gorgeous children courtesy of my phone.

How did this happen?

On a windy January day in Las Vegas, I found myself asking, “How did I get in this tree?”

It was one of those refocusing, defining moments. Me–the quintessential non-athlete–trying to activate muscles I never even knew existed and swing my leg onto an uneven tree branch. With total clarity and flow a la Csikzentmihalyi, I felt powerful. Nay, I was powerful. I’d transcended the limiting beliefs about my capabilities and was acting on my true nature. This was MovNat.

My love affair with MovNat began on Halloween day, 2010. I was at Robb Wolf’s Paleolithic Solution Seminar in Houston and Erwan Le Corre (MovNat founder) was visiting. His quiet and humble presence drew me in. I could feel his energy and I observed him the entire day. Simply striking.

We hardly spoke–an unfortunate mistake on my end since he was entirely approachable. He smiled for, cooed at, and doted on my 4-month-old baby who came in twice to nurse and make googly eyes at all the Fitness Hounds in the room. But since I’d never heard of him or MovNat, I didn’t recognize my opportunity. I could feel that he was doing something special, but didn’t know how to say: “Hey Mr. Erwan, I can read your energy and my intuition is telling me you are going to change the world and my life.” The more I learn about him and his mission though, the less embarrassed I would be to make that statement.

From that point forward, I pined for a MovNat seminar. I wanted it badly despite my vehement dislike for physical activity and conventional exercise. I have absolutely no confidence in my athletic capabilities and believed MovNat could be the key to helping me become more physically adept. I almost registered for the session right after the Ancestral Health Symposium, but working out with a bunch of Paleo fitness fanatics was too terrifying of a prospect. Fourteen months later, my intuition finally won me over and I registered for the Las Vegas workshop.

I almost didn’t go. Two days prior, my baby got sick. And goodness knows I was looking for an out. But she healed miraculously and I found myself working out at Legacy Park with seven men.

7 Lessons

1. My body is strong and beautiful. Brian Tabor (MovNat instructor) moves like a cat-gazelle crossbreed. It’s glorious to watch and I found myself in awe when he would jump onto a trash can or leap through the air, landing in a diving roll. As we moved throughout the day, the bodies of the participants (including my own) transformed into something similar. Strong and beautiful, even if they were untrained or still building their physical fitness. Because they are human, they have the capacity to move naturally. There is an underlying strength that may have been forgotten, but it is present nonetheless. And that is beautiful.

MovNat Las Vegas. The strong and beautiful bodies.

2. It’s all in my head. The first person I saw was Paul. He is an enormous mass of muscle and was wearing a shirt that looked like something from the periodic table (It read “Ow: The Element for Pain“). I looked over at my husband and shook my head saying I couldn’t do this. I wouldn’t fit in here. I don’t like exercise, I am not strong, and I really really really hate pain. He let me blabber until I could pull myself out of the car. But there was nothing intimidating about these guys. There was an atmosphere of camaraderie (of which I attribute to Brian’s ability to build a safe culture in such a short amount of time) and my fears dissipated by the end of the breathing exercises. Any ability I thought I couldn’t develop was all in my head. I could do this. I was made to move.

Our true nature is to move

3. I am afraid of my body. I was born massively pigeon-toed and required special shoes to shape my hips. The shoes were removed early and my hips/coordination are still paying for it. Even more, I got glasses in second grade (bifocals in fourth) and my optometrist said my poor depth perception would prevent me from ever being able to play sports that involved hand-eye coordination (i.e. anything with a ball). These early experiences shaped the last 20+ years of body image and I never got to know my capabilities very well. The unknown is frightening, so my body was frightening. Even at the end of the workshop, I was still timid about catching a ball (thankfully Robert went easy on me).

My special shoes

4. My children are inheriting my fear. The biggest motivator to finally get to a workshop was watching my children. Because I parrot the safety mantra “Be careful. Don’t break that. That’s dangerous” all day long, my kids started to exhibit more fear and timidity. I was creating a very pseudo-dangerous world for them. At the park, I would have minor panic attacks when my son climbed the big rocks because I was afraid he would fall and crack his head open. I always envied my husband’s ability to just let our kids be kids. But because I didn’t know what my body could do, I didn’t know what my children were perfectly capable of either. Luckily, that’s starting to fade.

My 3yo son climbing those big scary rocks.

5. MovNat is for moms. And everyone else, yes, but I’m particularly interested in moms. I don’t know how to play with my children very well. I’m great on academics and great at loving them, but having pure, unadulterated fun is hard for me. MovNat showed me how to awaken my body, play with my kids, and create stronger bonds with my Littles. Eight hours well-spent. More on this next Tuesday.

Hiking Zion barefoot with the baby wrapped in a sling on my chest

6. I could stand to do a few more squats, lunges, and push-ups. Sigh. No surprise there. From a purely functional standpoint, it would be in my best interest if I gained a bit more strength. I was able to hold myself on the pole, but couldn’t shimmy my way up at all.

Paul on a pole in a totally non-Las Vegas kind of way

7. Exercise ain’t so bad. Please don’t tell. I have spent so long hating it, I am almost having an identity crisis.

The Best Part of MovNat

…was walking away a new woman. I found someone who was hiding deep inside of me, and I really like her. More confidence, more joy, more love.

And in case you’re wondering…When I finally managed to pull myself up onto that tree branch with the help of the mighty Brian Tabor, everyone cheered enthusiastically. I am so proud.

Big thanks to Brian, Robert, Tim, Phil, Phil, Omar, and Paul who all helped me find myself that day. And to think I almost didn’t get out of the car.

"Mr. Hall, I was surfing the crimson wave."

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Melissa Joulwan calls it hormone poisoning. Cher from Clueless calls it the crimson wave. Whatever your euphemism, a monthly menstrual cycle is part of the female experience.

Unless you have PCOS.

Sure, there are women who may have regularity sans birth control, but 8 periods or less per year is a possible indicator of PCOS.

A Late Start

In 8th grade, my best friend Romi used to tease me about how I wasn’t mature. I finally lied and said I started my period just to keep it from being a regular topic of conversation.

Two years later when I was just under 16, I finally went to the OB/GYN (upon recommendation of my voice teacher, of all people) because my period was non-existent. The doctor prescribed some birth control pills and said I hasn’t started because I was athletic (ha! misconception of the century).

Everything I learned about my body, I learned from my friends at school and the school nurse. So basically, I knew bra sizes started at A and that was about it.

I was so confused about birth control and how it worked. We had the Internet, but accessing it for answers to all of our problems wasn’t quite the norm yet and our set of Encyclopedia Brittannica offered absolutely nothing helpful to me. I don’t know what I thought–maybe a baby would spontaneously show up in my uterus or something–but I was terrified to take those little pink pills.

I looked at the package every day for a week and hid them in my super-secret-hiding-spot lest any of my friends found them and thought I was not a virgin anymore. I was so embarrassed and uncomfortable (and really needed the birds and the bees talk, evidently).

Finally, I prayed I wouldn’t have to take them and I started my period that same night. Which also happened to be the same night my horde of girlfriends was going to see Titanic in the theater. All I remember about that night was Kate Winslet flying at the end of the boat and wondering how one movie could be So. Long.

The End. Right?

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Now that I was finally a woman, I thought everything was fine and paid no attention to my monthly cycle. From that first period until I was 29, I only had 11 non-medically-induced cycles. About one per year. Even during the three years on birth control, my period was unpredictable and didn’t always come during the placebo week.

My friends couldn’t have been more envious and I sure saved a lot of money on hygiene products. So what’s the big deal? Just be grateful, right?

The big deal came when I couldn’t have children. Of course, no period was a big deal before the doctor encouraged in vitro, but I was ignorant to that fact. The convenience of always being able to go swimming was not worth the infertility.

I started myself out on a mission to have a monthly cycle. It was the only measurable way I could see that would indicate I was a healthy woman. The doctors I visited only seemed concerned with getting me pregnant and wouldn’t adequately respond to the queries about what I needed to do to be healthy.  Even if I could have a baby, I wasn’t going to be pregnant forever, so I needed a more permanent solution. Docs offered up birth control, but I intuitively knew it wasn’t addressing the real problem. I didn’t want to be on birth control because I wanted an entire football team of children, but I also hated the way it turned me into Mood Swing Extraordinaire. That couldn’t be normal. And if it was, I was opting-out.

Paleo and Periods.

Can food change my menstrual cycle?

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Once my baby turned 15 months (13 months on Paleo), my body started to regulate itself again. In 6 months, I’ve had 5 periods on my own–nearly half of my lifetime record. It is a celebration every time. Of course it’s not fun (and I can now understand why women scorn the inconvenience), but it’s an indicator of proper function. Even if I don’t want to deal with it, my body was designed to do certain things. This is one of them and after years of being abnormal, it’s a relief to be working.

I also don’t experience any pain or cramps anymore, which is a miracle in my world. Prior to this, I would lay on the cold tile, crying because of the pain. I missed class and called in sick to work. When I gave birth to my baby naturally, the contractions up to about a 6 were equivalent to the cramps at my yearly menstrual cycle. To be gone is a very welcome thing, and I would happily choose a period 12 times a year to avoid those cramps again (unless I’m giving birth).

I can’t explain the science of what Paleo did to get my ovaries-a-rockin (and I don’t even believe Paleo is a cure-all), but I have a strong inclination that removing toxins and replacing them with nutrients had a pretty positive effect on my entire body system, female processes included.