Wholeness: the Beginning
I recently had a severe panic attack along with severe headaches. Since I really didn’t just want to take a pill to relieve my symptoms (and cause 10 million “side effects”) I was hesitant to see a doctor. I searched around and found Integrity Wellness. Their website drew me in with their 6 steps to wellness which include things I care about like our electromagnetic body and emotions, things I am just starting to get into like such as avoiding toxins, and things I kinda of didn’t care about like nutrition.
I went in and some of it was your routine checkup – eyes and ears, reflexes, blood pressure, heart rate, pulse. I also received a spine adjustment which relieved a lot of my stress. I was most surprised by Dr. Petro’s adept ability to hone in on some root causes of my anxiety that I wasn’t even aware of. I had always felt like I should, even needed to do better. I strive for perfection in everything. In the end I was tasked with testing the pH level of my body each morning, maintaining a food diary for 3 days, taking licorice root extract, and it was recommended that I go on a gluten-free, low carb, low sugar, high protein diet for 6 weeks.
It’s been just over a week since I was enlightened with this knowledge, and I have been letting my body down. I have been eating damn near everything that I should be avoiding. And I can feel it. I can feel the tightness in my chest when I breathe, the food sitting heavy in my stomach, the congestion in my head. And still, even through all this, I still just want to eat some effing ice cream!
On the more uplifting front, my mood has improved significantly. I feel more like myself, although I still can’t seem to drag myself out of bed in the morning. But, it has been a fairly productive weekend for me in getting organized. I identify as a HSP, and something that can help overly sensitive souls like myself is some sense of order and structure in life. I am learning that it doesn’t have to be perfect, but that routines are good. So I’m working on that this week – my goal by the end of the week is to have my morning routine figured out, since that is the most important part of the day for me. If I have a bad morning, it’s more difficult for me to have a good day. Oh, yeah, and I bought some gluten free, coconut milk, cookie dough ice cream at the store today :).
So that’s where I am. As part of my routine, I plan on intuiting an AM Affirmation, and reflecting on the day with a PM Praise List. You can connect with me on Twitter and Facebook, and other social media using the buttons on the right to follow those. In addition, I’ll aim to post my food journal at least on a weekly basis, (but no guarantees!)
Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self. – St. Francis of Assisi
The hardest part has been finding gluten free recipes that are appealing to me. Are you gluten free? What are your favorite recipes? Tell me your #1 tip for staying gluten free in the comments below.
Love & Grace,
Rachel
