Great Health in a Large Body

Why yes, you can have great health in a large body – even if you are a compound heterozygous MTHFR, have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in addition to Celiac disease and a SIgAD genetic immunodeficiency. How? Let’s explore how nourishing yourself and embracing body peace can have a positive impact on your overall wellbeing.

Every year around my birthday I treat myself to the ultimate self care: a pap smear, mammogram, dermatologist, and annual physical with full bloodwork. For as long as I’ve been having a more in-depth review of bloodwork, my inflammation has been high. Even when I was uber-orthorexic limiting a ton of food groups and pretending that atypical anorexia in skipping meals was “intermittent fasting”. Not only was my digestion a nightmare and my hair falling out, but my health markers told a story that I wasn’t actually healthy – despite losing weight and garnering the praise from the (literal) entire world.

In addition to testing with my doctor, I check my nutrient levels with this tool.

Great Health In a Large Body

Not that I need to prove myself, which as people in larger bodies we are constantly being put in a position to do. And, not that being healthy makes me a better person, because it does not. But because I want to a) give hope, and b) show proof for others who struggle with the toxic wellness world influencing us into diet culture and a belief that we need to exist in a smaller body in order to be healthy – I’m showing you my full health report.

As a reminder, the body mass index (BMI) is actually more wrong than correct in predicting health. There are people in smaller bodies who have health issues. There are people in larger bodies that do not. If you’re here I encourage you to stop worrying about anyone else (please especially do NOT ever discuss someone else’s body). And, instead I suggest you think about your own goals. I’ll share how I achieved my improvements since my last bloodwork – but I’m not a medical professional and certainly I am not yours. It may be worth a conversation with your doctor about some of the things that worked for me and see if they may be right for you.

Test Results

Notice all of my health markers are in the “green” zone (how I’m defining great health in a large body). The bloodwork I get checked includes a complete metabolic panel:

• Glucose
• BUN
• Creatine
• eGFR
• BUN/Creatine Ratio
• Sodium
• Potassium
• Chloride
• Carbon Dioxide, Total
• Calcium
• Protein, Total
• Albumin
• Globulin, Total
• Bilirubin, Total
• Alkaline Phosphatase
• AST (SGOT)
• ALT (SGPT)
• Lipid Panel

I also run a CBC with differential and platelet, because my autoimmune disease presents as high white blood cell count. I’ve actually been to a blood cancer specialist to ensure it’s nothing more. Those numbers have gone down, but the one of significant improvement is my Sedimentation Rate-Westergren. This is a measurement of inflammation in the body, and one I’m SO proud and excited to see in a “normal” range.

If you’re not familiar with this test, it is a way to measure inflammation in the blood. For over a decade I have had mine tested and never been in the normal range. Even when I was at my lowest weight and the most restrictive with dietary choices. I saw it spike-up with Long Covid and it has remained elevated since.

What did I do for my health?

This has been a long journey for me, from unlearning what wellness and diet culture “taught” me would make me healthy (spoiler: it didn’t), all the way to actually learning body peace and trust. I think this is part of an evolution I will constantly be on in my life, but learning to prioritize HEALTH and looking at the real science to support that I have seen measurable improvement. Well first let’s look at my overall health prioritization areas.

Joyful Movement

I don’t do a good job of consistency or accountability when working out from home. I love water aerobics, but this summer the pool schedule changed and I noticed I was moving less. So I got myself an indoor trampoline and ensured I dedicated at least a few minutes a day being active. We can all find a few minutes in our day! And that’s all science says we need for significant health impact.

I put together this fun plan for myself to have a variety of movement when I’m feeling “stuck” and needing to get into a routine. I’m hoping you’ll find something enjoyable!

MONDAY:

• The science of why and how to warm up by Natacha Océane here  +
• 10 min Full Body Stretch for Mobility & Flexibility here

TUESDAY:

• Warm-up, then Choose at least 1 dance video here
•  Or, go big and do Day 1 of the Dance Challenge here

WEDNESDAY: Enjoy a movement of your choice: go for a walk or hike, swim, bike, row, or lift some weights, or that thing you’ve been thinking about for a while but haven’t made time to do for yourself. Today is YOUR day! I do pottery, and heck yes I count that.

THURSDAY:

• Enjoy the low impact 25 min total body workout here

FRIDAY:

• We made it through the week! Let’s get our mind-right with a 22 min Brain & Body Balance by Yoga with Adriane here

SATURDAY:

• We’re having fun playing at the Pop Sugar channel, start with a 10 minute upper body boxing warm up here
• Then a 10 minute 90’s themed lower body dance workout with Arianna Davis here

SUNDAY:

• End the week (you made it!) with Yoga with Kassandra, decompress with Evening Yoga here
• Finish with with a Guided Meditation to reflect on your amazing week here

Sleep Health

Is super important! Like, seriously. Almost EVERYONE is chronically sleep deprived and it has a significant impact to our health. Create a sleep hygiene routine for yourself and use supplements or medication if needed.

Hydration

This is the biggest struggle for me. Recently I did a health “reboot” and created a habit of drinking 160+ oz a day based on the personalized recommendation here. I felt like I was drowning, legitimately lost efficiency and productivity with the frequent bathroom breaks, and woke up several times during the night. And yet, my hydration still remains low.

Now, I did see improvement from this week of deep hydration when I tested, so I will continue to work on this.

Intuitive Eating

One of the biggest health improvements I’ve made is to quit dieting and instead think about how I can nourish my body. This mindset shift was incredibly valuable for learning to stop fighting an internal war. Under-eating causes stress on the body, especially when it leads to binges when the body can no longer be starved. This roller coaster causes hormones to go haywire and cause inflammation. My top 3 tips to lean into IE:

STOP LIMITING

I know this can be really scaring, especially if we’ve dieted our whole lives – we have literally trained our brain and body to live in scarcity mindset. This has repeatedly been shown in science to cause behavior like food obsession or binging. So while at first you’re going to think it’s insane to allow yourself unlimited cookies, eventually your body will say “oh, OK… if I can always have a cookie I don’t need one right now.” No foods are off limits.

Allowing yourself to have the foods banned by restrictive diets removes any guilt you might feel about eating them. And when it’s no longer forbidden, the food may not seem so appealing. Eating what you actually want can mean you feel more satisfied with your meal – if you deny yourself, you likely will want snacks regardless of hunger (your body’s way of ensuring it’s not starved). After practicing this for a while, I’ve now come to say to myself “Absolutely you can have that. First, do this thing… ” Which is why you need to:

PAUSE BEFORE AND DURING EATING

When competing noise is loud, including a busy life, it is impossible to hear what your body might be telling you. By allowing yourself the time to take a few deep breaths before consuming food, and then being fully present (not on a screen or in the car) while eating it will help you understand when you’re full or what your body might want more of. Pause during the meal to think about how it tastes and how full you are. Sometimes this looks like enjoying the food more deeply, or it may queue you to stop eating when you are comfortably full – even if that means leaving food on the plate or saying no to dessert.

Fun fact: you can have dessert anytime of day! And in fact, studies have shown people who choose to eat dessert before dinner eat less calories overall daily. Longer term, this practice will allow you to truly identify your body’s cues for hunger and hydration.

SEPARATE EMOTIONS FROM EATING

This one is easier said than done. It may become the first or perhaps last thing you become aware of. At first simply allow yourself to identify, “I want ice cream, because ____” The answer might be because it sounds delicious, or your body may be telling you it needs more calories from under eating throughout the day, or it may be telling you you’re nutrient deficient from the day. In either case you can work on your food choices the next day to eat more during the day to avoid late night cravings of high calorie but low micro-nutrient foods. You can also ask yourself in that moment if there is something else that sounds even better, for example a LifeShake or snack with more nutrients. But if the answer is “because I’m upset” then work to obtain the vaildation you need about those feelings.

Many of us weren’t raised to have someone help us cope in healthy ways. While the seratonin boost of ice cream is a short-term solution, it won’t actually help solve the emotional problem. Instead, talking to a friend on the phone or talking a walk to relieve tention may actually be a better solution.

Nutrient Sufficiency

One of the things I’ve learned on my intuitive eating journey is that I do NOT want to track nutrients nor do I enjoy certain foods that I need to get in all my nutrient needs (organ meat, for example*). And, even when I was doing all the things, obsessing, and tracking – I still was nutrient deficient. I attribute my reduced sedimentation rate and improved health specifically to switching to Shaklee supplements.

*which is why I also recommend Grassfed Organ Complex, more about PaleoValley in this article

Specifically ones that were “prescribed” to me through an assessment tool using my actual blood work, a lifestyle assessment, and even my DNA. To be clear, I do not recommend taking supplements without having done any personal testing on what your body needs. Please, TEST – DO NOT GUESS.

I love the free Meology assessment tool because it will give you recommendations that you can edit based on personal preferences. I was already testing (and constantly chasing nutrient sufficiency) and taking high quality supplements with safety testing. But Shaklee’s products have been proven to be the most effective and comprehensive on the market through a 30+ year Landmark Study.

What I specifically take, based on my assessment, from the Essentials + I actually removed a couple things. You can customize with the toggle switches depending on what you want.

• VitaLea – the most comprehensive, clinically-backed multivitamin
• Optiflora Di – probiotic
• Carotomax – for eye health because I’m on screens all day
• Vitamin D – because 97% of women (myself included) are deficient
• Omega 3 Gellys – an alternative to fish oil pills, these are delish and no burps!
• Vivix – which is quite an investment, but I was sold on the science and have now seen it myself in these bloodwork results.

Vivix

Shaklee’s Vivix is formulated to Slow Aging at the Cellular Level by targeting the key factors that cause it. Powered by the world’s most potent source of polyphenols and backed by 27 global patents, Vivix not only delivers proven anti-aging benefits to help you live younger longer, but it has been clinically proven to reduce inflammation.

Key ingredients in Vivix are shown to:

• Protect DNA from Damage
• Neutralize Free Radicals
• Protect Against Oxidative Stress
• Blunt Inflammatory Response
• Reduce Formation of Damaging AGE Proteins
• Power Cellular Energy Production

It’s not just me. If you’d like a sample of any of the tools I’m using to achieve great health, e-mail me and I’d be happy to send samples your way!

Lifestyle

I talk more about other lifestyle factors, like quitting alcohol and caffeine, that have played a huge role in my health here.

Having great health isn’t just one thing – no matter your body size. It is an ever-evolving journey as we age, especially. There are lots of things you can do to show your body love, to nourish it, and to exist in peace. The last area I didn’t include but has been especially helpful for me personally is a gratitude practice. Having an abundance mindset, reducing my stress, and becoming a more peaceful person in general has allowed my nervous system to calm down – which plays a huge role in our overall well being. Though admittedly, not an easy thing to “teach.” I have lots of podcast and others articles if you’re looking to learn and continue to grow!

References

1. What Is Sedimentation Rate (ESR)?
2. Healthline, A Quick Guide to Intuitive Eating
3. Why is sleep so important?