40 is the New 20!

Forty. I'm about to turn forty.

I have been living in this world for forty years. Until now, I've always had the impression that forty was old. As in elderly. I was sure that if I didn't do something before I turned forty, I would never do it. I'd be too old and tired and achy. I'd have to start camping out in a rocker, knitting. I'd have to give up hopes and dreams and prepare for death.

Okay, my anticipation of this age may have been a little on the dramatic side. But I have come to a strange but relieving conclusion about turning forty. I'm okay with it. Not only am I okay with it, I can honestly say things are better now than when I was thirty. Or twenty. Or even ten!

How about an explanation?

I have a standard answer I save for the conversations that inevitably lead to the question "Why in the world do you have such a restrictive diet? Why are you so careful about stress, food and exercise?"

Well, the best way to put it is: my body hates me.

Most people don't struggle with this conflict to the degree I do. But then again, you don't hear most 40-year-olds saying that they feel better than they did at 30, 20 or even 10. But I absolutely do. I guess sometimes we get things backward.

 This is a picture of me with my sisters (I'm the oldest sitting on the far right) when I was almost ten. (Please disregard the hair. It was 1985 and my mother expected sons.)Most people don't remember feeling too poorly when they were ten. But to be honest, I'm not sure this nearly ten-year-old knew any better. I'd already been fighting asthma and allergies for as long as I could remember.  When I was ten, I was hospitalized for a week with an asthma attack. I took it in stride. It was the first time I'd had a T.V. all to myself, after all. And you don't spend too much time contemplating your mortality when you're ten. But it was the start of a long series of autoimmune issues. In those days, you took daily medicine and steroids for asthma. I'm not saying they didn't help keep me alive, but there are reasons why we no longer treat this condition this way.

Fast forward ten years. Ten long years of trying to keep my weight under control though I wasn't eating any more or exercising any less than anyone else in my family or circle of friends. I got into the habit of blaming myself between extreme diets. Obviously, there was something wrong with me. Obviously, I had no self-control and I must be doing something to cause my problems.So at twenty, I added emotional problems to my growing list of issues. By now, it was asthma, allergies, IBD and migraine headaches. I was hospitalized twice when I was nearing the age of twenty because I had caught a stomach bug and my body completely overreacted. And for every condition I was diagnosed with, a long list of prescriptions was the only answer I was given. No matter that my body overreacted to the medicine as much as it overreacted to a stomach bug. I went off the meds after dealing with every side effect known to man.This was the first time I asked God if I was going to die. I felt like I would both times.

Midway on my way from 20 to 30 I faced a new hurdle. I knew I was meant to be a mother. I was convinced there were four little ones - two boys, two girls - who needed me to be their mom. Problem was, my body didn't agree. I added PCOS to the list of body malfunctions and got fed up enough to do more than starve myself and exercise obsessively. 

My research in order to get pregnant was the first major step I took toward becoming healthy. My trail led to a simple little unassuming book called "Fertility Foods" by Dr. Jeremy Groll. It changed my life. I lost weight as I learned to eat less carbs and more protein. To my joy, my prayers were answered with a baby girl at the age of 26. 

Followed by a boy. And another girl. And another boy.

Pregnancy and childbirth took a toll on me. Through my early thirties, I probably felt the worst I have in my life. The hormonal issues I had with PCOS spun out of control. I couldn't control my weight. I felt old and tired and desperate.

I don't regret a single one of my children, by the way. Worth it.

But as our family reached completion, I reached the end of my ability to deal with my stubborn, uncooperative body. I needed ANSWERS. So I went back to researching. Slowly over the next few years, God brought answers in the form of people who taught me how to think differently. How to go outside the box of the normal and do things that would heal my body and bring a measure of peace.

I stopped eating wheat, sugar, anything with chemicals or preservatives, and inflammation drastically reduced in my body. I learned to deal better with stress, and with the help of the Holy Spirit I addressed my wrong thinking and let him begin to change me from the heart. I had the blessing of meeting a caring integrative doctor who treated my then undiagnosed thyroid problem with a natural form of gentle thyroid medicine that made me feel like a completely different person. And finally, not even a year ago, I met a wonderful doctor I only spent 15 minutes with who told me to consider the PCOS factor again. And a lot of new research, the loss of forty pounds and six months later, I cannot imagine a time in my life I have ever felt better.

And I'm forty. It took me forty years to figure out how to live at peace with this body. But it was possible. Persistence paid off. 

So maybe I'm living life backward. Or maybe God intends for all of us to grow into our bodies and our minds and feel like 40 is way better than 30 or 20 or 10. Either way, I feel responsible to share this story and help others find their way. I know better than anyone that you don't have to live in survival mode with a body that hates you. There are answers. They just take a little hard work, persistence and faith to accomplish. And the truth is, I couldn't complete the jobs God wants me to do when I was in that survival mode. So this healing is giving him glory. That's what it's all about, after all.

So all that being said, I'm glad to be forty. I wouldn't go back even if I could. I know there will be new challenges ahead, but I'm ready. 

Thank you Lord, for forty years of life you gave me to serve you. I give you the rest of my days and ask you to use my story to inspire others to pursue peace in their bodies.

 

Available on Amazon Kindle!

If you haven't had a chance to like my author page, I have an ebook available on Amazon today! 

It started out as a journey to learn how to survive the day with multiple health issues not solved through traditional medicine. I've learned quite a bit and finally started to feel well, and I told myself if I got to that place I'd be responsible to share my story for others in that same place.

Find it HERE  and please share with others you think might benefit! 

Thanks!

Available Tuesday, February 10, 2015!

Have you tried everything to lose weight, or to shake off debilitating symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, depression and infertility? Have you been pronounced healthy by your doctor yet you are suffering on a daily basis? Are you tired of lengthy books and expensive fads that overwhelm or promise more than they can produce? Are you ready to give up on the process altogether, since nothing works anyway?

Don’t give up just yet! In this short, inexpensive, easy-to-read-and-follow ebook, you will learn (from someone who has been there) how to achieve weight loss, find your missing energy, and manage symptoms of thyroid problems, infertility, adrenal fatigue and autoimmune conditions, even if you have been unable to conquer these issues with prescription medicines or diet fads.

You will get an introduction to supplements and oils that can renew your metabolism and gut health, recipes and shopping lists that will give you a practical place to start your changes in food, and the emotional reassurance we all need that our health and weight struggles are not all in our head, are not all our fault, and ARE able to be defeated without the process taking over your life.

Hi! I'm Miranda Shisler, author of outside-the-box Christian fiction and healthy living advocate. I've been on a life-long journey to overcome these problems, and I've learned the things that really work and will get you started on your own journey to wellness and healing.

This ebook will be available this Tuesday, February 10! I hope you'll check it out! I will have a link up when it is ready.

My Journey to Health (Healing from Hypothyroidism and PCOS)

Every time I've sat down to start writing out this story - a story I hope will help readers who may relate to find their own answers to their own puzzling journey - I'm stumped at where to start. The beginning of this journey started so long ago I was still a child in the process of becoming a young woman. The effects of this journey have been my constant and frustrating companions for most of my life. I am still in shock when I consider that I may have reached the end of the worst part of this struggle. The part with no answers. No help. The part where hope for a solution had dwindled away almost to nothing.

It's hard to believe this body can be well. But it's been almost a month since I found the answers that tied everything together. And I feel WELL.

So I will try to briefly sum up what's been going wrong for the past 28 years:

My childhood was relatively normal in the way of health, although I did get sick more than the average child and I did battle asthma and allergies. I suppose it was my normal. But when I hit puberty, my body ... well, the only way to put it is that my body freaked out. I started gaining weight for no reason, and I began to have new symptoms that would eventually be diagnosed as Ulcerative Colitis. After a few years, migraines began, and when I got married and wanted to start a family, I had to deal with infertility first.

My body and my four pregnancies did not go together well. Four body freak-outs (and beautiful kids) later, and 10 years, and I was in a bad place. Overweight, tired, depressed and anxious, I had to drag myself out of bed and face each day, try to think clearly enough to teach my kids and write. I was trying to beat myself into a place of health. Strenuous exercise that drained me of every last reserve of energy, trying to eat healthy, whole foods and take the right supplements left me mostly disillusioned. I thought it was impossible for my body to get healthy. I seemed allergic to the very exercises and food that doctor after doctor or fad after fad or product after product had told me would make me a healthy weight and help me feel better. I had the thought many times that if I could just stop eating altogether maybe my body would be happy. I even tried it a couple times, but it only brought on new problems.

I'm not sorry for the journey. Having those health struggles are what made me start thinking about a healthier way to live. I will never regret learning a lifestyle that has helped my entire family develop healthy habits of living.

But one day very recently, out of nowhere, I stumbled upon the address of a doctor. An integrative doctor who was a five-minute drive from my house. I called her office, thinking it would be months and months until she could see me, afraid that insurance wouldn't cover her fees and I would put a strain on the family financially. I thought there had to be a catch.

She welcomed me into her office and talked to me for over 2 hours. She listened carefully to every detail of my health history and my story. She did a careful examination and decided to send me to an endocrinologist (who won't be able to see me for three months) to rule out more complicated problems with my thyroid. She gave me a thorough list of everything I should be eating and shouldn't. Told me several supplements to help with my troubling symptoms. Handed me the bottle of thyroid pills I probably should have been taking 20 years ago.

But there was a moment in her office where everything fell into place. Where all my years of blaming and berating myself were canceled out. She put her hand on my shoulder, got my attention, and said confidently, "This is not your fault."

So, dear reader who can relate to this story, I'm here to tell you, if you have been vigilantly trying to get your body out of a life-long freakout, if you have tried every fad and diet and supplement out there and still feel and look unhealthy, if you know deep down in your soul that something is wrong with you no matter how many doctors have told you your levels are "normal," IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT. I invite you to stay tuned to this blog. I'm going to have several more posts in the coming months that will deal specifically with the two issues that were causing me the most trouble. PCOS (and other hormonal issues) and Hypothyroidism. These are two types of autoimmune trouble that are not well understood or easily treated, but more and more people are struggling with them every day. 

We're going to find some answers. And I'm going to tell you, that even though I am only beginning my journey to wellness, after one month of following her instructions (to the letter) I have lost an entire clothes size. That may not sound amazing unless you, like me, have tried everything in vain and still feel swollen and uncomfortable in your body. I have never lost weight so painlessly in my life, and I've been trying to lose weight for most of my life. Something is working here. And if it can work for me, it can work for anyone.

So follow my blog and check back. Sign up on the email list. We're going to talk about specific symptoms, diet, supplements and even how our attitude will affect our ability to get well. 

I'm not there yet. Neither are you. But we're going to get there together. I'd love to hear your thoughts or your stories. Let me know in the comments what you've been dealing with and what answers you are hoping to find.