How I lose weight using a pendulum.
Had to give up my football dreams, though.
(Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional, nor am I giving any medical advice. This essay shares my personal experience of creating a happy body. Read and enjoy — but always consult your own medical/holistic/mental health pro.)
I was uncomfortable in my body for years and very sad I couldn’t play professional football.
I had a Kim Kardashian body long before it was popular and was often mocked for my butt, lips and curves. I did my best to lose weight but hey, my bones were my bones and my body was my body — and it was beautiful. I just didn’t know it then. Combined with a normal period that added natural weight fluctuations, I was really uncomfortable in my skin, one of the many forgings of a teenager.
Last night after watching football, I laughed over the memory of being a disappointed sixth grader after realizing I’d never be able to play pro football, though I was tall, athletic and strong. I loved football.
Oh, well. I’d rather watch huge men crash into each other from the couch and keep my brain intact.
It started with giving up milk. Then wheat. Then dairy.
I cleaned for a woman in college who was a real woo head. All organic products, rice milk, etc. She’d make me lunch on that disgusting crumbly bread (you early coop people know what I’m talking about…) with sprouts, spreads and weird things on top. I came from meat/potatoes/milk/rice cooked in Crisco childhood, so this was all suspicious and from the devil, as the coop in town was considered by my Christian college as “hippie” and obviously, sinful.
I ate it, anyway. I was hungry. This was the start of my journey into organic products. I didn’t think Hm, this will help me to lose weight. I simply added it to things I ate. Organic food was costly at the time, so it wasn’t often. Once I moved to NYC, cleaner food was readily available — but it still wasn’t that tasty!
When I later moved to the sticks, I had horrible allergies for the first time and I’d wake in the middle of the night, unable to breathe. It terrified me enough to go to an amazing healer, known for her powerful methods. I was growing more comfortable with acupuncture, craniosacral and energy work, so allergies really puzzled me but I certainly wasn’t going to live with them.
Try giving up wheat for 10 days and see how you feel, she advised.
Denying my body wheat and dairy was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
Wheat was so ingrained (ha) in my eating habits that it seemed she asked me to go on a hunger strike. I couldn’t imagine that wheat that caused allergies — my bread products were not strictly organic but relatively clean at the time — but my suffering forced me to try.
She was right, years before warnings over glysophate polluting wheat and cross-contaminating other grains like oats.
Then the dairy.
Dairy (cheese/ice cream) was next on the list but I waited a few years. It wasn’t good to give everything up at once — otherwise, it would be a shock to my system and I’d already sacrificed enough. Plus, the GF bread back then was awful.
The initial allergies healed but my body began to ache, especially in winter.
Dairy was MUCH harder than wheat. I gave up drinking milk but loved ice cream and soft cheese — but my sinuses did not. Add a cold environment and what did my body do? Gain weight. Bad colds. I was sluggish and tired.
Inflammation = weight. Clogged sinuses. Unhappy bones.
My beautiful body did what it could to make me comfortable — but when I overloaded her with inflammatory foods, she’d push it to the nether regions as fat and water so that I could function. This took me a long time to realize the connection.
Suffering forced a change because I will not allow my body to suffer.
Becoming disciplined about wheat made an immediate improvement, though be forewarned: it is a long cleansing process. I’d slip back, eat a scone and feel achy and snuffly all over again.
I like feeling good. I like waking up and being able to breathe. It’s simple, really. No food is worth the pain! I’d hear people say, Oh, that’s just what happens when you age — but I learned to block those voices.
I am ageless.
Believe what you want, but that will never apply to me. I will be healthy and strong to the end.
I was still a little too heavy and curvy for my liking — but began to speak with kindness to my body. It helped. However, my future self was much leaner.
I cleaned up my eating habits. Stuck with them. No dairy. No wheat. Organic, as much as possible. Walked. Went to the gym. Continued my yoga practice. Cared for my sleep. Went to healers. Tinctures and clean vitamins. I still had a period but was well into peri. My body was still too heavy for my comfort and wanted to be leaner and less hippy. I didn’t understand how I could have so much weight even with all the exercise. Maybe it was childhood wounds — but more than likely a symptom of perimenopause, holding onto fat in case of a change of heart about kids. My body was stronger than ever but my guess is that cortisol levels were also stressed when I should have rested more to adjust to meno.
I kept up the practice of loving my body exactly as she was — healthy, strong, a real powerhouse and when I slipped into criticism, I changed the wording, even when I was in pain or nauseous. I’d praise her for being so strong and healthy, a dear and wondrous friend. When I’d project into the “future” — such as speaking to a more mature self — I saw a curvy body but leaner. Not skeletal, not scary. A reshaping.
Little did I know that weight loss / body reshaping would be a gift of menopause. Gain weight? Nope. The exact opposite. Bye, eggs!
Often articles about meno will proclaim that you will gain weight — as if it’s written in stone. Wrong! At least for me.
During the last year of peri — heading into meno proper — I read books on deep liver cleanses. One of them mentioned giving up eggs.
I loved buttery eggs — and thought, Give up ANOTHER THING?
Well, yes. I ate the best eggs but my stomach was a little wonky afterward. I attributed it to meno (any unexplained, weird symptom I put under the category of menopause) and thought, Okay — let’s try. I’ll go for a month without eggs.
I immediately lost weight. It was as if my body said, Oh, thank God. She finally listened to us. I couldn’t believe how the weight dropped off — so easily.
Eggs, inflammatory? I couldn’t believe it. How could something I love be harmful to me? It’s PROTEIN, right? But I loved wheat once. Milk. Dairy. Cheese. Ice cream. Junky food. Whoppers. Clove cigs.
But damn — I liked what I saw in the mirror. I loved how I felt in my jeans. Bye, eggs! Bye, junky organic snacks and fake meat! Bye, cane sugar! Hello, coconut sugar!
Only this year did my body allow eggs — hallelujah!
And here be the pendulum section.
I use my pendulum all the time — and not only for intuitive work. My pendulum (which is a physical extension of inner wisdom) helps focus my often scattered mind on what my body needs for a particular day.
Sure, I could have gotten an allergy test or be lazy and turn to dangerous drugs to drop weight. I’d rather tune in, trust myself and use the tools at my disposal to make my body ever more optimal. It’s my body, after all — and no one knows it better than me.
As the weather turned colder this year, I went through every category in the fridge and pantry to suss out inflammatory foods. Now, I eat all organic/non GMO and as clean as possible. I cook 98% of my meals, bake my own bread and make creamers. You’d think I’d be clear of all inflammatory foods.
Nope.
I discovered more that caused issues. I’d say or touch the item and ask my pendulum, Does this cause inflammation in my body? Brown rice (tragic — esp for GF baking). White rice (SO tragic). Chocolate (what? Will cut back but never giving up). Potatoes. Certain herbs. To have a flexible body free of arthritis and aches, I’m willing to cut or only eat 1-2x a month to see how I feel.
Tiger Nut flour is an awesome substitute for brown rice flour and makes an excellent crusty bread — I combine with organic oat and coconut flour. Cassava flour is also amazing fiber source. I’m also eating goat’s milk cheese because shockingly, my body wants it. Brown rice pasta was traded for Konjac noodles (love them.) I’ve heard of others who can eat wheat after many years away — but I love my bread so much that I don’t miss wheat, especially with glysophate issues. If I did go back, I’d only eat organic Einkorn wheat (Jovial pasta is excellent for GF and Einkorn).
In giving up, you gain.
I’m a huge foodie — but nothing is worth the pain and the weight. Every food you think you can’t give up can be replaced with something better. It just takes time to adjust. The irony? Now that people chase the Kim look, I’ve reshaped it off. Such is life!
Besides, what is a happy body worth?