Don’t Jump to Hormone Testing—Start With These 5 Healthy Habits Instead
I think we’ve over-complicated how to get healthy.
There are fancy hormone tests and blood panels, supplements, electrolyte powders, and a zillion types of specialists, naturopaths, and “practitioners” of every modality under the sun. Now, I’m not knocking them. In fact, I’ve gone to them and used these things, but I don’t believe most people should start there to fix their health issues.
I think the average person who wants to get healthy should not start there, but they do and then wonder why it’s not working.
If you haven’t landed the unsexy basics of being healthy, taking an electrolye powder or getting a hormone panel will not move the needle.
I think shiny object syndrome can easily happen in the journey to health - we think the fix to our insomnia, chronic pain, weight gain, etc is going to be found in the newest fad, when in reality most people are simply not doing the BASICS because they aren’t willing to put in the discipline it takes, and quite frankly:
because it’s not sexy, it’s not a dopamine hit.
They’d rather take an exotic supplement or go see a fancy doctor who may give them a complicated protocol they can tell their friends about, when in reality - you can improve your health significantly for free (or very low cost) by integrating these 5 unsexy basics into your lifestyle.
I would say:
Until you’re doing these 5 basics consistently for 3 months, don’t seek a specialist or a supplement or hormone testing.
Get your baseline health up first:
Take 3 months to integrate these into your lifestyle
Then, live them consistently for the next 3 months
So 6 months trending better overall…
And tell me you don’t feel significantly better in mind and body.
It’s highly likely some of your symptoms will disappear completely.
If this is your baseline and you maintain it, you reasons for needing to see a doctor will decrease and you will save money on appointments and supplements.
What kinds of health issues am I talking about? I’m talking migraines, insomnia, anxiety, chronic pain, joint pain, inflammation-related conditions and symptoms, weight that won’t come off. I’m talking lingering, low-level health symptoms that keep you from feeling vibrant and energized on a daily basis.
I am not talking about a back sprain or broken wrist or a sudden sharp pain in your abdomen. Those things require you to be seen generally immediately.
Okay, what are The 5 Unsexy Basics? Here you go:
#1 Walk
Walk daily for 30 minutes or 5 days a week for 45 minutes. This would be for the folks who have no movement routine yet. I know an exercise routine may not be the sticking point for some of you, but for many folks it is one of the biggest, and well, walking is the best starting point and has a zillion benefits, not just physical.
You can walk in nature and soak in all the medicine that time in nature and under the sun (yes) provides. If you’re already a walker, you can add a weighted vest for a challenge. And if you already work out reguarly, but don’t walk - maybe add 1-2 long walks a week - your mind will feel calmer.
I mostly do a long weighted vest walk on Saturdays and I look forward to them.
Bottom line - you MUST be moving regularly and walking is the most accessible way to start creating this habit. It also has loads of non-physical benefits: your mind will feel clearer, and your emotions calmer, it lowers stress, etc.
#2 Prioritize Sleep
Sleep is when our body heals, takes out the trash, clears the cache and when our brain resets. If we don’t get enough sleep or we get sub-par sleep, our brains and bodies are not where they can be and basically, we feel like crap mentally and physically. When we feel like crap, we make poor choices, thus continuing our poor health conditions.
As adults in our 30-40s+ we have to be getting 7-9 hours of decent sleep, ideally flowing with the rhythms of the seasons, meaning sleeping more as we go into Autumn/Winter, and naturally sleeping a little less as we move Spring into Summer, but always within that ideal range. Some basic settings for ideal sleep are:
Daily Sunlight - helps your body recognize the season and know when to produce melatonin
Magnesium - more than you think! 400-500 mg.
Low Lighting at nite & as you wind down. Your bright cool bathroom lights are not helping your body wind down! They are the worst. Use a night light or gentle, warm, dim lights once the sun sets.
Keep the temp cool - Find your sweet spot, typically 65-68. Either you’re paying for the AC or your paying by aging sooner, feeling like crap and having to pay for medical treatment. You choose.
No electronics near bed - modems, monitors, devices go on airplane mode
Darkness - yes, get the blackout curtains.
Exercise - helps you sleep better, period.
#3 Limit Alcohol
It does not help a single thing trend better. Greatly reduce intake, esp. if you drink daily or weekly or heavily on weekends. Limit it to special ocassions - dinner with friends, celebrations. It causes your liver to struggle, which is the seat of your entire detox system. I am an akward introvert who hates peopleing, but I’ve never used alcohol to help me socialize and have a good time. If I can raw dog life, so can you. It adds so many things - calories, sugar, carbs that work against your progress, not to mention causes your systems to be sluggish because of how it stresses the liver. I’ll say it again - it does not help a single thing trend better.
#4 Be Disciplined with Sugar
This one is close to home because I love my cookies and muffins and carb treats! But I know myself - if I buy some for a “treat,” (ex: Nate loves PB cookies!) I will keep buying them for months. It’s a slippery slope (aka, it’s addicting!) So I don’t buy them, period. I don’t keep cookies or candy or ice cream in the house. My only indulgence is my hazelnut creamer, which is sweetened. I think we can all have our small daily delights - have your piece of dark chocolate or pumpkin spice creamer. We need to enjoy life - it can’t all be a penance, I get it! But keep all the majority of processed sweets outside of the home.
You want ice cream? Make it an event - go to to the ice cream parlor and have an ice cream date! It’s actually more fun that way anyway.
I have noticed I stay leaner and feel better the months we don’t have these things in the home. They just aren’t available, so we make other choices when we’re snacky - fruit, yogurt, a LaCroix, etc. Once you stop buying these items, it becomes easier to not reach for them each grocery trip because you notice that you actually feel better not eating them!
#5 Lower Your Stress
I know this sounds cliche, but the fact of the matter is most people don’t make these lifestyle changes and this is a huge one that moves the needle!
Now, this is very personalized. We all have different things that stress us out. Bad stress causes cortisol to rise, and in chronic cases, stay risen. This causes a cascade of health issues from blood pressure, to weight gain and so on. Some people live in chronic stress from their job, to being an overwhelmed parent, to living as a people pleaser. Something’s gotta go (and often, many things must go) in order to lower those levels:
Some people may need to leave their 9-5 or switch to working from home
Others may need to invest in a mother’s helper or hire a babysitter more often
Some people may need to set a boundary with their mom, a boss or a friend
Others may need to bow out of commitments that drain them
Some probably need to sign up for commitments that breathe life back into them
There is taking away and there is adding in and the formula for each person is unique.
But you gotta lower your lifestyle stress in multiple ways, and consequently increase your lifestyle joy and ease.
For me, as a highly sensitive person for whom peopleing and high stimulation environments are overwhelming and eventually dysregulating, this looked like various things over the years:
Leaving the 9-5 world and figuring out ways to use my skills from home.
As unpopular as it is - not dog sitting anymore! They totally stressed me out on multiple levels. Sitting only cats is truly a joy to me and relaxing.
Choosing to housesit full time instead of working full time. I’d rather move from sit to sit, work less and not pay rent, than work 40 hours a week in order to have my own place. This is my low stress life, I get to live it how I want.
Signing up for dance classes! Best adult decision ever. Changed the trajectory of my life.
Saying no to many invites - work invites, dance invites. I socialize how and when I want to. I mostly say no, with a few exceptions.
Wrap Up
Okay, so that’s it: move, sleep, lower alcohol, sugar and stress.
No dopamine hits in that list. These are like the investing of health. You know how investments, when done right, are boring? You automate them and they play the long game for you? These are the same with your health. You automate them to play the long game of vitality.
Also, people complain that staying healthy costs money or blah blah blah.
No. It doesn’t.
I am not a high earner by any means - in fact, I am probably one of the lowest earners I know - and I am one of the healthiest people I know.
I just have a foundationally healthy lifestyle - I move regularly, I don’t drink or eat much sugar, sleep is a huge priority and for the last decade, I’ve intentionally been moving in the direction of more ease, less stress.
So, if you’ve been wanting to get on the healthy train, but feel overwhelmed by all the choices and flashy fads out there, I invite you back to the basics. Give yourself 3-6 months to integrate all of them, then give yourself at least 3 to actually live them consistently. In 9 months, you will be a new person. Guaranteed.
You will have clarity,
a mind more at ease,
you will feel fresher and more vitality on a daily basis,
you’ll have a more optimistic outlook,
you’ll probably lose some weight,
and as a consequence, your health markers, blood work and hormones will improve.
Oh and you’ll actually save money because you won’t be buying drinks, wine or processed crap!
What do you say? Will you try it out and let me know how it’s going?
I’d really love to hear how it goes for you - send me a note and let me know.
If you’d like support around your health journey, book a Health & Healing Reading. We can get clear on where you are and set a plan for how to integrate these basics into your life, or dig deeper into the cause behind what is stalling you.
*Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. Do not take this as medical advice from a health professional. This is my personal blog, experience and opinion.
