The Liberated Woman Podcast| Thriving in the “Flow”: How to Feel Empowered & Confident by Tuning into Your Hormonal Cycles With Robyn Srigley

In this episode:

Hear Robyn’s story about working two jobs, attending nutrition school and pushing harder every single day…and the moment she realized that something needed to change.
Learn why you need to S-L-O-W down in order to balance your hormones,especially in those moments that you feel like you need to do more in order to “get healthy”.
Discover the natural process of your menstrual cycle and how you can make it work for you instead of against you. It’s all about allowing your body to move through the four phases wish compassion and understanding

Click here to listen to my interview with Amber Chalus.

How to Balance Hormones When You Have No Time or Money

Like anything important, balancing hormones takes both vision and focus. However, big dreams and big time focus can be really fucking scary.

Like, how would I go through life if I was actually HAPPY? And energized?! It’s definitely a tall order that scares many women away from making the changes they want to make.

There’s also those feelings of possible failure. For example, what happens if this doesn’t work? What kind of fool will I be?

Interestingly enough, the closer we get to making the change, feeling better or whatever that VISION of yours is, we can put up different blocks and excuses.

This post is all about the top 2 excuses I hear from women all the time.

“I don’t have TIME”

“I can’t afford it”

And before you get defensive, think about it as objectively as possible: are these EXCUSES or truths in your life?

Perhaps the following will help you decide.

“I don’t have time”

Yes, I get it. We’re all busy. We’re all running around like Wonder Woman with bulletproof bracelets. Doing and fixing and supporting (everyone but ourselves).

I’m busy too. I run my own business, I exercise and cook my own food, I spend time with my family and friends. I have pets to look after. Among other things. But I don’t let that stop me from getting and being well.

Why? Because it’s all about prioritizing what you believe to be important.

Is your health + wellbeing important to you? Then why don’t you make it a top priority- an activity that you participate in before almost anything else?

Because you’re serving others. Because you’re DOING so much. That’s what you’re thinking, right?

Well, consider this:

Do you have time to get sick? Can you afford to miss more work because of your pain?

What about the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. If that happens, do you have time for it?

My guess is no. Who the hell has time (or want) to spend in and out of doctor’s offices, hospitals and labs. Who has time to get surgery and recover? Who has time for the splitting up of relationships? Not me. Not you.

The truth is that we can serve others better when we are better.

As in, being able to communicate effectively and help our kids, spouse, family, coworkers, whatever- be the best they can be. As in, creating incredible bonds with the important people in your life because you’re not too tired or too bitchy.

As you’re considering what I’ve said here about priorities and time, also consider where you can fit some health into your life. Who can you ask for help so that everything important gets done?

Just as you would schedule in your appointments, kid’s after school activities, work and spousal commitments, you can schedule in some YOU time. Some health time. Carve it out. Tell your friends and family to fuck right off (in nicer words) during your time. Set your boundaries. Be a DIVA!

There’s always time for health. Even 2 minutes at a time.

“I can’t afford it”

Another big time excuse we use to distance ourselves from true healing, this one takes the cake.

I often hear this, or a similar version of: it costs too much, I don’t have enough money, money is tight right now, or the funds just aren’t there.

Another day, another metaphorical barrier to our health.

Consider the alternative: Can you AFFORD to get sick? I mean really sick. Like can’t work, can’t play, too damn sick to do anything but wallow kind of sick. In and out of doctor’s offices kind of sick.

Spending hundreds and thousands on doctors, medications, surgeries, assistance, life modifications (wheelchair ramp installation, anyone?).

I don’t say these things to scare you. But sometimes a little jolt is needed to spring us into action.

Again we come back to priorities. What are your financial priorities right now?

Does it include a daily coffee run(s), extra cable channels, lots of new clothes or expensive booze runs? I’m willing to bet it does. Do you really need these? Or do you need them as much or as often as you think you do? I doubt it.

I have women come to me wanting to create happy hormones on a budget. So they get money from family. Or they pay a little at a time. Or they re-jig the family budget. Or they cut back on these ‘extras’ that unknowingly have become extra expenses eating away at the little spare income they have. All so they can create a positive and happy hormones-sustaining lifestyle.

Do they miss these extras? Maybe at first. But once that JOY starts to bubble up, it’s all but forgotten.

So what can you decrease or eliminate from your spending, to allow a little wiggle room for exuberant health and happy hormones? I bet it’s more than you think. Try it!

How do you make room for health in your life? Please share in the comments!

What Do Estrogen and Testosterone Have to Do With PCOS?

PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a hormonal disorder that causes your ovaries to produce higher levels of androgens (male hormones) than normal which can interfere with egg production. Eggs which are normally developed and released during the cycle get turned into fluid-filled cysts which can be very painful and may cause larger health problems. Up to 1 in 10 women has PCOS, although I suspect this is under-reported and under-diagnosed.

Read the rest of my guest post on Sonia Turingia’s Kick-Ass blog here.

Could These 4 Foods Be Causing Your Weight Gain?

Weight gain is hard. Losing weight is even harder. I prefer to use the term “weight release” because I definitely don’t want that ‘lost’ weight to be found again!

While the causes of weight gain are numerous, there are some foods which could contribute (or be an independent factor) in weight gain. Here I’m outlining the top 4. If you’re unsure of how to reduce your consumption of these foods, check out the Happy Hormone Swap I’ve mentioned at the end of each section.

Sugar

I’m sorry, I know seeing this on the list may make you cringe (although it may not be new information). But the cold hard truth is that sugar casts a spell on us that’s hard to get away from. Besides the fact that refined sugar is toxic, and could be carcinogenic (cancer-causing), it definitely can pack on the pounds.

When you eat something with sugar in it, like a candy bar, muffin or even white bread, your blood sugar (aka glucose) spikes. Your body will then release sugar-controlling insulin, which helps the sugar get into your cells for energy. This mechanism works best when the ‘sugar’ isn’t refined, but rather naturally occurring sugars and carbs in vegetables and fruits. With loads of refined carbs and sugars coming into the bloodstream, more and more insulin is secreted to bring it all into the cells. The problem is that your body eventually gives up, not recognizing insulin, so sugar doesn’t get into the cell. Then you have tons of sugar and tons of insulin running around.

Insulin by nature is a storage hormone, so when you have too much of it, it will begin to store sugars in your body as FAT. People with insulin issues may notice extra weight gain in the belly and ‘love handle’ areas. Also, when insulin is constantly high, it raises your stress-hormone cortisol, which also packs on the pounds- especially in the belly area.

Happy Hormone Swap: Replace that daily store bought breakfast muffin for a homemade version using coconut flour, eggs and a small amount of natural sweetener like honey. No need to give up those muffins entirely!

Dairy

I should note that I’m not 100% against dairy, if the person can tolerate it. Raw and/or organic dairy definitely has some health benefit, but most of us don’t have access to raw dairy, or don’t purchase organic (unsweetened, of course) in the store.

Here’s the scoop on why dairy might be contributing to your weight gain:

It’s commonly thought that the problem with dairy is the lactose or the fat it contains. This is not completely true, because there are other factors in dairy that tend to cause many more issues than the above parts.

The fact is, a protein in dairy called A1 casein morphs into casomorphin or BCM7 when your body tries to digest it. Why does this matter? Well, that bugger has the potential to really upset your insulin sensitivity. The casomorphin it contains causes inflammation (another Happy Hormones no-no), which in turn impairs your body’s ability to recognize and use insulin properly. When your insulin balance is off- so are your hormones. Remember what we said about insulin above? Yeah, not so good when it comes to weight management.

Happy Hormone Swap: Limit dairy consumption and choose full-fat, organic, raw and/or fermented dairy (a la yogurt/kefir) instead of conventional, low-fat, sugared-up dairy

Gluten

Hotly debated, and for good reason, in my opinion. Although you may not have celiac disease, gluten can still be an issue for some. Besides the fact that many women don’t digest gluten properly because our food supply is so doctored, gluten can interfere with the thyroid gland- the seat of our metabolism. Poor thyroid function often means weight gain.

Gluten is simply the protein found in wheat and other grains (spelt, rye, kamut). When this protein passes through your gut lining into the blood stream, your immune system has the potential to tag this compound as a ‘foreign invader’, so it can be destructed. The issue here is that your immune system can forget to put on its glasses sometimes and mistakes the thyroid for gluten, causing it to be attacked. This creates thyroid issues, and as a result, weight issues.

Happy Hormone Swap: Substitute gluten free whole grains like quinoa, amaranth, millet and brown rice for gluten containing grains. Use flours of these grains to make your own homemade baked goods like breads, wraps, pasta and desserts.

Trans Fats

It’s time to get your fat facts straight. Fat is good, if using the right types. Low-fat is no good, and the wrong types of fats are no good either. The biggie no-good fat being trans fats. What are trans fats? These are fatty acids which have been created through high temperatures, like during hydrogenation (as in margarine- PLEASE throw this shit away!!).

Examples of trans fats or foods containing trans fats:

margarine
vegetable shortening
anything fried or battered
microwave dinners or popcorn
cake/cookie/muffin mixes
store bought ice cream
canned chili
non-dairy creamers
and this list goes on forever

The process of creating trans fats changes the chemical structure slightly, but with dramatic effects. Over the long term, consumption of trans fatty acids can be an independent factor for weight gain. Beyond this, trans fats mess with your blood sugar as trans fats could impair glucose disposal (aka glucose isn’t getting into the cell), which will contribute to that vicious cycle of high sugar, high insulin and high cortisol which packs on the pounds.

Happy Hormones Swap: Use butter! Butter is an extremely healthful form of fat which actually has health benefits, unlike it’s fake counterparts margarine and shortening. Avoid those foods at all costs!

Bottom Line: Keep your insulin steady. Doing this will go a long was towards releasing excess weight.