Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 19 – Taboo Topics

I’ve had some ups and downs with the whole Almased bikini plan I started a couple of days ago. Day one of the fast was alright. I tried Almased made with water, made with almond milk and made with dairy milk, I mixed in vanilla extract, cinnamon and cocoa powder. I drank homemade vegetable broth, a fasting tea, lots of water, and water mixed with fresh lemon juice and a splash of maple syrup. By day two I was already not liking the Almased very much so I went out to the health food store and purchased some unsweetened chocolate almond milk and an unsweetened almond and coconut milk blend to try. By the evening I was feeling really run down and a whopping migraine was coming on along with some serious sinus issues. I was worried that I might be getting a sinus infection and had a small amount of food before taking something to deal with the pain and heading off to bed. The next morning I had no choice but to fast because I was prepping for a colonoscopy. As I sipped on clear liquids all day like more vegetable broth, lots of water, pulp free orange juice, and water with lemon, I casually Facebooked:

Prepping for a colonoscopy tomorrow. I’m starving!!!!! Too much info? Every one of you should have one done too!!

It got a few interesting replies. Some thought that yes it was too much information and others thought that there were better things to discuss on Facebook than ones colonoscopy and that it wasn’t something they would want announced on the internet.

It made me think about many things. My husband Frank got colon cancer at the age of forty-six.

It was stage 3-B and spread to his lymph nodes. He had to have surgery to remove over a foot of his colon, his appendix, ileocecal valve, and nineteen lymph nodes. He then faced having a port surgically implanted in him for months of horrific chemotherapy and was hospitalized with pulmonary embolisms. He suffered from neuropathy, the loss of his long and beautiful hair, mouth sores, hernias and feeling nauseous, weak and miserable pretty much all of the time. Thankfully he is in remission, the port has been removed and his tests continue to come back good. He will be having a colonoscopy every single year for the rest of his life.

Watching him go through that ordeal and almost losing him was devastating for me and my children and led to my being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which was thankfully cured by homeopathy. Maybe it helped me to become more vocal about parts of the body that many think are taboo. I summed it up with one of my responses to the above post I put on my wall:

….I’m pretty open about much of my life and seeing what Frankie went through with having colon cancer I’ll happily shout out to the world that they really should have a colonoscopy.

I got two likes for that! So what is taboo about your body? Do you have a taboo area that you don’t feel anyone should talk about or that you wouldn’t talk about yourself? With women the area of menstruation is a taboo topic to discuss. The media machine has taught girls from a young age that their moon cycle is messy, inconvenient and a bother. It is rarely viewed as the beautiful, magical monthly occurrence that makes women the unique and amazing creatures that they are. I have only ever seen a beautiful portrayal of the moon cycle depicted in the absolutely awe-inspiring book, “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant. I highly suggest reading it. This book has inspired women from all across the globe to begin their own Red Tent societies and gatherings, many of which have been featured in the documentary, “Things We Don’t Talk About: Women’s Stories From The Red Tent“. Take a look at the trailer:

So let’s go back to the question I posed earlier, what is taboo about your body? For me nothing is taboo, in my twenties I was a nude model for the thriving artist community where I lived. I would pose for drawing classes and for artists working on portraits. The work greatly helped me get out of my shell and learn to better love my body and every inch of it. During breaks I would walk around and look at what the artists had just drawn and see how they saw my body. It was liberating.

I’m not encouraging you to necessarily go out and pose nude for an art class but I do encourage you to spend some time and look at yourself in the mirror nude. Do this alone and take in your marvelous self. You may not be at the healthy weight you want to be at right now and that is alright. Love the you that is right at this moment and love that you are making the journey towards being kinder to that person staring back at you in the mirror.

You may not want to talk about menstruation or a colonoscopy, there may be a bunch of areas of your body that you still think would be a taboo topic. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t still love yourself.

The colonoscopy went well and didn’t hurt even a teeny tiny bit. The medical prep drink I had to guzzle the night before was the hardest part because I wasn’t very fond of the taste, but beyond that it was nothing at all. So I encourage you, if you want to talk about it with anyone or not, to get a colonoscopy!

Lots of love! Every step you take is forward and heading to a healthier you inside and out! Love the you that is you!