Cleansing

The act of cleansing is so gratifying, isn’t it? When you finally get the urge to clean out that closet or you’ve just had it with that extra inch or two of a muffin top spilling over your jeans—it’s time to clean out the kitchen and clean the house.

Cleaning out closets and cleansing toxins from the body require about the same amount of discipline, intention and attention—in my house anyways.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve shared my ups and downs with gaining weight through menopause, and truthfully, if I were married and living a “normal” life out of the public eye, I might be just fine with these extra pounds and curvier curves. Honestly, I vacillate from acceptance, which means aging gratefully, to continuing to make change happen where I can–which means not giving in and giving up to unwanted pounds.

As this year turned over, however, something in me screamed—I don’t want to give up the fight—yet!

I want to walk up to my jeans and pull them up without twisting and turning and laying on the floor. I really want feel sexy again in my body! And, I want a flat tummy with no muffin top!

At the heart of this issue, for me, is that feeling that I just don’t feel like I’m in my body.

As a last effort, I heard about the Clear Center in Marin and a doctor supervised cleanse called the HCG diet. I talked to the doctor about my struggles and he explained that I was likely Leptin resistant and my metabolism just wasn’t kicking in to fat burning mode—no matter what I tried. I weighed in and left the center with my blue folder and HCG injections in an ice pack, feeling highly encouraged that I would lose 10 to 18 pounds in the following 23 days. Moreover, I was most pleased at the possibility that I would correct my metabolism in the process of this plan.

That’s a benefit I can dig into because that’s the root of the problem.

First thing I did was go out and buy the sexiest piece of lingerie I could find, a red lace teddy, and hang it in my bathroom near my scale as a motivational reminder of what I’m working towards. I’ve been fairly to the letter on this plan and I’m so happy to say, it’s working. Quite frankly, I wasn’t sure I could be so disciplined, but I’m down to my last five pounds to get me to my pre-menopausal weight and I’m comfortably pulling my jeans on and buttoning them up with very little “extra” spilling over the top. Cheers to that!

Now, I know what really clean eating is and I’m learning that I don’t need to eat as much as I think I need to eat to feel satisfied. I’m looking at this as the new dawn to this 50-something era of navigating my health and feeling sexy to 60-something and beyond. It’s not my goal to stay the same—but it is my intention to feel great.

This time in life requires some effort to find new direction when something no longer works—even if it had always worked before.

My personal motto is a rendition of the Serenity prayer:

Change what you can—accept what you cannot change! And, the wisdom is always knowing the difference.

Staying open to change and making some mind shifts that show up in our actions is paramount to living vibrantly—mind, body and soul—and to living with optimal health.