I am working on reducing my stress so I will feel better. I actually have been feeling nauseous at times lately, and I have gained a few pounds. Five years ago, I began playing around with intermittent fasting. I would drink bulletproof coffee in the morning, workout, then come back and have my breakfast. In the beginning, I would feel nauseous and a bit woozy before breakfast. It took about three months to adjust to my new protocol. Once I adjusted, it was actually quite amazing. I started to lose weight. I dropped ten pounds, which was the menopausal weight gain I was beginning to think was impossible to lose.

Back to now. I have been feeling off and have been wondering whether my bulletproof coffee, intermittent fasting routine was the cause. I reached out to my friend and creative Holistic Health Counselor Jessica Shepard. I have known Jess for years and we actually bonded over bubble gum at a health conference. I gave Jessica a call and told her what was going on with me. She asked if I had been doing my breathing and meditation. Usually, when I need it the most I stop. She felt that my issue was not my diet. I also talked to to her about my gum habit. I knew she would understand. It is not a pretty story. I love to chew gum. Usually after lunch, I pop a piece of gum in my mouth and get on with my chores. I might be outside for hours gardening and chomping on my gum. It feels like it is a way to get rid of tension. According to Jess, “The gum is an immediate distraction and deceptive tension reliever which actually causes more tension.” Who knew?

Gum chewing can also screw up your digestive system. Chewing sends a signal to your brain that you are eating food. Your body starts to produce enzymes to digest the food. After a period of time, you begin to overtax your digestive organs and they stop producing the amount of enzymes that you need. I am not going to get into artificial sweeteners in gum because at least I was chewing Pur Gum with Xylitol instead of aspartame.

It is so important to focus on being strong, healthy and OutdoorFit. I haven’t had a piece of gum since our call. I have been using Fennel essential oil instead, I’ve gone back to Wim Hoff breathing, meditation and a 30 second cold shower. I feel so much better. I feel like I just shared a deep dark secret with you.

Vicky Perry and I were live in our 2 Grandmas and A Microphone Facebook group. We talked about stress, agitation and coming in second in a spelling bee. Vicky loves words and has always enjoyed spelling.

We tried going Live on Instagram, which didn’t work as well. We will figure it out for next week. Please head over to the pages to like and follow.

Love,

Mary