Just like that, my car was hit by another as I was making a left turn.
My car started spinning out of control.
Then it finally hit the divider.
I pushed away the airbag and jumped out of the car.
I was scared, upset, and physically shaking.
I won’t be able to study for my boards tonight.
I can’t be late tomorrow morning, I have an important meeting.
I had a brand-new private practice and looming medical certification exams.
And my health was seeing the effects.
I felt completely imbalanced.
I was no longer energetic, as I used to be.
For the past two years, I had been moody and cranky.
I was gaining fat, despite exercising like crazy.
I couldn’t sleep at night for unclear reasons.
I was constantly stressed.
At first, I figured these symptoms were due to the fact that I was in my mid-30s.
But inside, I knew something much deeper had been going wrong for years.
They had no answers for me.
My physical exam and blood tests were fine.
They told me I was “normal” and that there was nothing to worry about.
But I justknewsomething was off.
So I started doing research and experimenting on my own.
I read books and I looked into natural solutions.
Sometimes this shows up as food sensitivities.
I made slow changes, first with food.
I replaced my quick, processed choices with whole foods.
No more sodas and lunches outI started to pack my own.
I did away with salad dressings and condiments that were hidden sources of sugar and salt.
I replaced candy, my old afternoon snack, with whole fruit.
I took out food groups like wheat, soy, and dairy totest my response.
In less than two weeks, I was already feeling better with just these changes.
I made lifestyle tweaks.
I started sleeping morealotmore.
Allowing myself more Zs and making sure I did a half-hour wind-down routine before bed completely changed my energy.
I also started a morning routine.
Now, I cushioned my morning with 10 to 15 minutes of downtime for stretching and mindful thinking.
Lastly, I added in mindset changes.
I practiced “abundance thinking.”
And slowly, over about 90 days, my symptoms disappeared.
This was now more than two years ago, and I honestly feel 100 percent better.
In fact, better than I ever have before.
They don’t realize that theycanfeel better.
Dr. Amy Shahis a double board certified MD with training fromCornell,ColumbiaandHarvardUniversities.
She is an expert on intermittent fasting for women and hasa 2 week guided group program.