What if it's not Deprivation

but Self-Respect and Self-Sovereignty

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

I mentioned before that I’m doing quite a strict hormone health diet program. For many, they say, it sounds very restrictive.

I get that - I thought so first when I started it. (less than 200 mg caffeine per day, less than 5 g of sugar, no gluten, dairy, corn or soy.)

But - here’s another perspective -

It’s also a way of showing self-respect and having sovereignty over what I put in my body and to contribute to my overall wellness and health.

That sounds like just a line -

I get it.

But - I don’t think it is.

Because - so many people have said - well, I can’t give up dairy, I can’t give up coffee, that’s too little sugar for me.

It’s an adjustment but it’s also a trade-off for how much better you could feel.

For me, it was also a decision to use the investment I made. I jumped right in and bought the hormone health program when it first came out. I probably wouldn’t have done so but I was amazed at not just the weight people lost but where they lost it and how much better they felt, with hormonal systems but their energy levels as well. I saw lots of pictures and testimonials.

I thought - there’s something to that and I want to try it.

After years of only half assing my health and wellness, because I kept things that I refuse to give up - my coffee, my alcohol, whatever - I justified a lot of things.

And, quite frankly, I didn’t feel myself.

I am fortunate that I can invest money and time into my own wellness —both mental and physical.

And as the website that I listened today reminded me (with Justina Blakeney), self respect IS self-love, just one that also requires some accountability and responsibility on your own part.

I think if we focus on what we lose, it will always seem like sacrifice, deprivation or punishment or shaming.

It’s also part of the reason why I replace my sugar with stevia, my coffee with green tea, my cocktails with mocktails and nootropic and adaptogen drinks.

I want to invest in my wellness and feel the best that I can.

I grew up in a family with two parents that were mentally unwell and had unhealthy vices. I was exposed to many and gave up some earlier than others, soda then diet soda then sparkling water - now on to no libations and no sugar-added and limited caffeine.

I want to feel my best - especially now as I enter into middle age. I am aware that if I have my mother’s genetic disposition then I am also more likely to have cardiac disease.

So I try to make an effort to get my therapy, my physical exercise- cardio and weight lifting. I’ve taken supplements for a long time.

But I’m also trying to shift my relationship with food, really trying to revision eating as nourishing myself, so that the food that I eat will fuel me - so I can feel my best self.

I eat chocolate still - but I replaced it with mid-day squares. Again, trying to fuel myself and respect myself rather than deprive or shame myself.

I am trying to love myself and show self sovereignty practices that build me into a healthier lifestyle. So, that, rather than a diet, with an end goal or stop date, that it’s a a new life style and better healthier habits that I enjoy doing because they make me feel better.

And honestly - I do.

I feel much healthier better at 41 than I did 10 years ago. Some of it is mental health, proper therapy and medication, but I also pay a lot of attention to toxins, gut health, macros and nutrition - healthy fats, protein and veggie intake.

I never thought I’d be able to live and function without anti-depressants. I thought it was something that I just would always have to have - like my mother.

While I retain some medications - for sleep and anti-anxiety, my overall mood and mindset is so much healthier now.

I tell people - I just FEEL so much better.

But that is so largely subjective. And if you are used to just feeling just one way, I get that it is extremely difficult to imagine that a different lifestyle and nutrition program could help you feel tremendously different than you do at this precise moment.

It’s hard to convey - I didn’t realize I could feel this much better and give someone an internal view/feel of that in a before and after snapshot.

And, quite frankly, many of us aren’t willing to give up our habits and lifestyle and choices.

I understand that.

But, I will simply say that - for me, my motto in life and the reason that I truly believe I’m here, when my other family members aren’t, is because I keep trying new things - from therapies to lifestyles to supplements to other ways that I can have a healthier lifestyle.

The more I read, the more I realize, there is so much more information now available to us through the internet than there ever used to be-especially in how to improve the quality of our lives, if we’re simply willing to learn and make lifestyle choices.

I am healthy - mentally and physically.

And for that, I am so incredibly thankful, because I feel so good.