Guys it's been such a long road and I'm not out of the woods yet, but I'm finally feeling well enough and strong enough to start doing full studio classes with LEK again. After nine weeks of vertigo, I was wiped out. And still treating the underlying condition of anemia, I had a ways to go before I could get back into the swing of working out for more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time. Thank goodness Lauren offers little shortie classes and add-on's on her site, am I right?
After starting with last week's class (July 25/18) only doing the first 20 minutes for three days I eventually got brave enough to try the whole class and it was terrific. The first day I did it, it took everything I had so I need a rest day in between. Then I was able to tackle it again and got through with flying colors. I loved it so much, I hated to move on to the new class (August 1/18) but... new month, new attitude, new class. I have to say, I can tell right off the bat that this is going to be one of those classic workouts that I will revisit again and again long after the next week's class comes up.
It starts off in a very gentle, wake your body up kind of way. Moving and stretching with your body's own rhythms. Then it moves into a ballet vibe, with strong control over every movement. Nothing is wasted as Lauren takes you through a series of leg exercises that work the legs and core beautifully. The workout takes on a bit of a burlesque feel. I haven't felt well, so needless to say I've not been feeling too sexy, but the workout woke up my inner goddess and got me in touch with my sensual core.
Nothing fancy here, no gimmicky, over-complicated moves, no props, or too hard to complete movements. The best part, is I rarely even had to look at the screen because our brilliant teacher talked us all the way through everything.
It was smooth and jazzy, then built to a funky finish with great energy.
I am so glad to be back. Able to move my body. And delighted to have such a great platform to do that.
Hope you're all doing well. Enjoying whatever movement you're into and loving this beautiful summer.
Love,
Shan
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Sunday, July 1, 2018
The Diary of an Anemic Vegan
I can't tell you how much I hate being called anemic. I feel like I'm giving all vegans a bad name. Like this label I've been saddled with gives fuel to the argument against plant based diets. But it's a misconception. I was anemic long before I turned into a herbivore. So I'm here to set the record straight and to share the steps I've been taking to turn this low-iron-stores ship around.
Much of the following account is true, some of it may be imagined or deduced from a life-time of clues, but all of it is how I see the situation. I don't have a ton of childhood memories, the ones I do have are very specific, but I'm not the person who is going to be telling you the shoes I had on to the first day of school, or my first grade-school crush, or even what I dreamed I'd grow up to become. But I can tell you that my mom ate a lot of grapefruit for breakfast when I was growing up. She had a special spoon with a jagged edge on it for just such an endeavour.
Okay, I admit, that is a weird memory, even for me and I pride myself on being a bit of a weirdo. But I guess it's no more strange than remembering the twister exercise board she used to work out on. Anyhoo - I digress.
I'm pretty sure that I have a memory from childhood wherein I was made to drink some kind of iron supplement. It was horrible. I'd have to ask my mom, maybe she'd remember, but she's got a memory that's about as unreliable as mine. What I'm saying here is that I think my little body has always had difficulty absorbing iron.
Now knowing, years later, that I am gluten intolerant, it makes perfect sense. I was an especially fussy eater who lived on Kraft Dinner Mac and Cheese, perogies, sandwiches (on whole wheat bread because my mom was trying to get some nutrients into me, bless her) pasta and cold pizza. It was a feast of gluten. I wasn't absorbing any nutrients at that point, no matter what I ate.
At the ripe old age of 18 or 19 I became a vegetarian and switched to an almost entirely carb based diet. Without knowing how to create balanced meals I just cut out meat and ate as I had before. Throughout my adult years I'd often have my iron levels checked and they'd always come in low, but about 8 years ago, those levels were at a nasty level of low. Now iron levels can vary depending on your sex and age and a number of other factors. My doctor said it would be ideal for me to have a level of around 75. That's what she wanted to see, but she would have been happy to have me get up around 30-50. In that last 8 year period, the highest I've gotten was up to 28. Generally I range from between 7 to 14. It's not great. I'm tired all the time. I'm hypothyroid too so I get extra tired. But at the end of April when I got struck with "The Vertigo" - that's how I like to refer to it - THE VERTIGO - giving it its own special title - the Doc and the acupuncturist both attributed it to my long term extremely low ferritin stores. Something had to be done.
I worried if it was because I was vegan, but not so. Apparently I have "The Fibroids" a common condition for we women as we hit mid-life. Great. Just another reason to love aging. I don't know a whole lot about fibroids other than they grow, they make you bleed, A LOT, and they suck. I'll be going to see a specialist later in July to find out more. Bottom line, even if I was chowing down on steaks and burgers I would still be anemic because I am losing more blood than I can make.
And for me - adding meat to my diet simply isn't an option so what's a girl to do? Build her blood the plant-based way and that's what I've done. I have completely overhauled my diet - including adding back sugar which I have been strictly OFF for a couple of years now. More on that in a bit.
I wasn't sure how to tackle this post when lovely noble reader Kate said she'd be curious to hear more about how I'm building my blood. So I think the easiest way will be two fold. The first being a list of foods that are high in iron - the ones we anemics should be having EVERY DAY - yep you read it here folks - you should be eating iron loaded foods daily.
And the second is how I typically include these foods in my daily diet.
Still before that - I want to say that it doesn't matter one bit if you follow this list to a Tee and eat it daily if you are not absorbing it - so make sure you're getting vitamin C in at every meal as C helps with the absorption of plant-based irons and check your gut health. Are you sensitive to gluten? Lactose intolerant? Are you eating foods that are causing inflammation in your body and therefore unable to absorb any of the nutrients from the food you consume? The best way to find out is to go clean for three weeks. Follow Dr. Junger's Clean program to see what you may not be tolerating.
Once you're gut is in tip top shape then you'll be able to take in all the benefits of a nutrient-rich diet.
Okay - so, what foods are high in iron? Remember, this is not an exhaustive list because I've only included plant-based sources. But my favorites are:
You don't even have to read this list, at a glance you can see a theme - dark leafy greens, richly colored fruits and veggies and nuts and seeds.
My go-to, try to get it in me everyday foods are:
Spinach
Beets
Brown Rice
Lentils
Pumpkin Seeds
and two things that you'll note are missing from that photo -
Blackstrap Molasses and Dark Chocolate.
Remember how I mentioned earlier that sugar has made a reappearance in my life? It's for a good cause. Blackstrap molasses and dark chocolate both have sugar. There's nothing you can do about the amount of sugar in molasses, but just one tablespoon of organic blackstrap molasses contains 14.3 grams of iron. That's 21.45% of your daily intake! So it's worth it and so far hasn't trigged the sugar monster in me. Dark chocolate on the other hand has been a bit of a slippery slope as not all bars of chocolate are created equal. I stick to the dark dark chocolate and organic brands. Ones like Endangered Species and Alter Eco. I try to keep to the ones that contain between 4 and 7 grams of sugar.
So how the heck do you get a tablespoon of molasses in you daily? Why drink it of course. So here's the other thing you need to know when building your blood. You can't get the iron in you if you don't have something to help absorb it - like vitamin C, but you also can't get it if you're consuming things that block or inhibit iron absorption. And this is the bad news. This is the news that will make you hate me and want to stop reading. All the good stuff we love to drink - green tea, black tea, coffee, wine, pretty much all booze really - they all inhibit absorption. So when you're building your blood - you have to commit to getting off that stuff. Once you build up your stores a little bit - then you can drink those things at alternate times. So not with meals basically.
Now - back to drinking molasses. Had to give up my tea and coffee but still wanted a hot drink so... I have hot water. About 160 degrees - def not boiling. I add a healthy squeeze of lemon, which is really good for digestion just on it's own, but then I stir in one tablespoon of blackstrap molasses and voila - my morning warm beverage. It does take a wee bit of getting used to, but now I even put it in my travel mug and drink it at work. It's helping me feel better and...
Hidden benefit! It is rich in a ton of other minerals and no word of a lie - as I'm starting to grow out my grey hair, it's looking a whole lot less grey than it did six months ago. I'm not joking. I think it's helping my body actually produce more melanin. Sounds crazy, but it seems to be the case. I'll keep you posted. But hey if your health can't motivate you, perhaps vanity will?
I used to live on smoothies in the morning. I do still have them occasionally, because it's a great way to pack in your spinach, dark berries, prunes and other iron rich foods, not to mention that my Sun Warrior Protein powder has a ton of iron in it - I've switched things up and am now more often having gluten free oatmeal. One serving (43 grams) contains 2 mg of iron which translates into 11.28 percent of your daily intake. Not bad. And it's pretty low in calories so if you're watching your weight, it's a good way to go. My shakes can run up to 450-500 calories easy.
Lunch might be a serving of brown rice with red lentils, raw orange or red pepper (thrown in for vitamin C and a nice little added crunch) and I might top it with sauteed spinach and roasted cauliflower or steamed broccoli. That puts me well over the 50% mark for the day.
I'm not a huge bean fan. I find it hard to incorporate them into meals but I have a new trick. Check this out. If you mash a 1/2 cup of black beans with a bit of salsa, then spread it on a piece of gluten free toast with mashed avocado - it's a vegan Mexican iron-rich party on a plate.
Are you a hummus fan? I can't stand the stuff. But I have learned that you can use chick peas to make a vegan tuna salad. OMG! It's amazing.
Mash 1/2 a cup of rinsed and drained chickpeas. Add some veganaise, a tablespoon of dijon, finely chopped celery, green onions and dill pickle (I'm not joking it's the pickle that makes this), and whip it all together with a squeeze of lemon (gotta get that C in there), then stuff it into a fresh warm soft corn tortillas and top 'em with spinach - they are to die for. An absolute fave.
And dinner can be all sorts depending on the mood - but I try to sneak beets in there. Either steamed and cooled over a spinach salad, or roasted with mashed potatoes. Potatoes are a great source of iron! I didn't know that, did you? Or I'll do a quinoa based dish with a ton of veggies and some tofu. Whatever mood strikes.
Snacks are pumpkin seeds for sure. I'm not the kind of person to add them to a salad. I dunno why. I just don't like them in salad. But I've taken to covering them in dark chocolate and that's a super-hit of iron and feels like a real treat.
Watermelon is high in iron. Who knew? That's a great seasonal summertime snack. As are sweet red cherries, organic strawberries, raspberries and grapes too. Dried fruits are awesome for iron. Prunes, dates, apricots and raisins, but you gotta be mindful of the sugar content. One date is 24 grams of sugar. That's a lot noble reader. Consume with caution.
In addition to making sure I consume 100% of my daily required intake of iron through food, I also take two supplements because I need all the help I can get. The first is from the health food store. It's called MegaFood Blood Builder.
I take this because it includes a host of other goodies like the Folate, vitamin C and B12. All the stuff our blood needs. Plus it's vegan, gluten free and organic and it's a whopping 26 mg of iron.
Then because I'm in the low end of low blood levels (My ferratin is sitting at a bouncy 9 at the moment) I take a pharmaceutical iron supplement as well. There are a lot of brands that your doctor can recommend and over the years I've likely tried them all - and they all have one thing in common. They PLUG YOU UP. Now I don't know about you, but I do not appreciate being constipated. The good news is that I have finally found a brand I can take and because it's a powder I can adjust my dose accordingly. It's called Feramax
It has a very non-offensive grape flavor - which is to trick kids into taking it I think, but it works for me too. I have tried the Feramax 150 tablets too, but I find them too strong for my system.
So, to recap, the must haves daily are:
Blackstrap molasses.
Pumpkin seeds
Dark chocolate
A lentil or bean dish
A grain (brown rice or quinoa)
Dark leafy greens like spinach, kale or chard
and Beets! Beets! Beets! If your poo isn't a pretty shade of purple or red, you're not getting enough beets. Don't like beets? Try juicing them. I love a good beet juice with kale, lemon and green apple. Yummy.
And lots of veggies.
Hope this has been helpful. I'll be going back to be retested in August. It's my hope that I can beat my record high of 28, but going from 9 to above 28 in three months may be too much to hope for. I'll keep you posted! And lemme know if you have questies or concerns in the comments section below!
Lots of love,
Shan
Much of the following account is true, some of it may be imagined or deduced from a life-time of clues, but all of it is how I see the situation. I don't have a ton of childhood memories, the ones I do have are very specific, but I'm not the person who is going to be telling you the shoes I had on to the first day of school, or my first grade-school crush, or even what I dreamed I'd grow up to become. But I can tell you that my mom ate a lot of grapefruit for breakfast when I was growing up. She had a special spoon with a jagged edge on it for just such an endeavour.
I'm pretty sure that I have a memory from childhood wherein I was made to drink some kind of iron supplement. It was horrible. I'd have to ask my mom, maybe she'd remember, but she's got a memory that's about as unreliable as mine. What I'm saying here is that I think my little body has always had difficulty absorbing iron.
Now knowing, years later, that I am gluten intolerant, it makes perfect sense. I was an especially fussy eater who lived on Kraft Dinner Mac and Cheese, perogies, sandwiches (on whole wheat bread because my mom was trying to get some nutrients into me, bless her) pasta and cold pizza. It was a feast of gluten. I wasn't absorbing any nutrients at that point, no matter what I ate.
At the ripe old age of 18 or 19 I became a vegetarian and switched to an almost entirely carb based diet. Without knowing how to create balanced meals I just cut out meat and ate as I had before. Throughout my adult years I'd often have my iron levels checked and they'd always come in low, but about 8 years ago, those levels were at a nasty level of low. Now iron levels can vary depending on your sex and age and a number of other factors. My doctor said it would be ideal for me to have a level of around 75. That's what she wanted to see, but she would have been happy to have me get up around 30-50. In that last 8 year period, the highest I've gotten was up to 28. Generally I range from between 7 to 14. It's not great. I'm tired all the time. I'm hypothyroid too so I get extra tired. But at the end of April when I got struck with "The Vertigo" - that's how I like to refer to it - THE VERTIGO - giving it its own special title - the Doc and the acupuncturist both attributed it to my long term extremely low ferritin stores. Something had to be done.
I worried if it was because I was vegan, but not so. Apparently I have "The Fibroids" a common condition for we women as we hit mid-life. Great. Just another reason to love aging. I don't know a whole lot about fibroids other than they grow, they make you bleed, A LOT, and they suck. I'll be going to see a specialist later in July to find out more. Bottom line, even if I was chowing down on steaks and burgers I would still be anemic because I am losing more blood than I can make.
And for me - adding meat to my diet simply isn't an option so what's a girl to do? Build her blood the plant-based way and that's what I've done. I have completely overhauled my diet - including adding back sugar which I have been strictly OFF for a couple of years now. More on that in a bit.
I wasn't sure how to tackle this post when lovely noble reader Kate said she'd be curious to hear more about how I'm building my blood. So I think the easiest way will be two fold. The first being a list of foods that are high in iron - the ones we anemics should be having EVERY DAY - yep you read it here folks - you should be eating iron loaded foods daily.
And the second is how I typically include these foods in my daily diet.
Still before that - I want to say that it doesn't matter one bit if you follow this list to a Tee and eat it daily if you are not absorbing it - so make sure you're getting vitamin C in at every meal as C helps with the absorption of plant-based irons and check your gut health. Are you sensitive to gluten? Lactose intolerant? Are you eating foods that are causing inflammation in your body and therefore unable to absorb any of the nutrients from the food you consume? The best way to find out is to go clean for three weeks. Follow Dr. Junger's Clean program to see what you may not be tolerating.
Once you're gut is in tip top shape then you'll be able to take in all the benefits of a nutrient-rich diet.
Okay - so, what foods are high in iron? Remember, this is not an exhaustive list because I've only included plant-based sources. But my favorites are:
You don't even have to read this list, at a glance you can see a theme - dark leafy greens, richly colored fruits and veggies and nuts and seeds.
My go-to, try to get it in me everyday foods are:
Spinach
Beets
Brown Rice
Lentils
Pumpkin Seeds
and two things that you'll note are missing from that photo -
Blackstrap Molasses and Dark Chocolate.
Remember how I mentioned earlier that sugar has made a reappearance in my life? It's for a good cause. Blackstrap molasses and dark chocolate both have sugar. There's nothing you can do about the amount of sugar in molasses, but just one tablespoon of organic blackstrap molasses contains 14.3 grams of iron. That's 21.45% of your daily intake! So it's worth it and so far hasn't trigged the sugar monster in me. Dark chocolate on the other hand has been a bit of a slippery slope as not all bars of chocolate are created equal. I stick to the dark dark chocolate and organic brands. Ones like Endangered Species and Alter Eco. I try to keep to the ones that contain between 4 and 7 grams of sugar.
So how the heck do you get a tablespoon of molasses in you daily? Why drink it of course. So here's the other thing you need to know when building your blood. You can't get the iron in you if you don't have something to help absorb it - like vitamin C, but you also can't get it if you're consuming things that block or inhibit iron absorption. And this is the bad news. This is the news that will make you hate me and want to stop reading. All the good stuff we love to drink - green tea, black tea, coffee, wine, pretty much all booze really - they all inhibit absorption. So when you're building your blood - you have to commit to getting off that stuff. Once you build up your stores a little bit - then you can drink those things at alternate times. So not with meals basically.
Now - back to drinking molasses. Had to give up my tea and coffee but still wanted a hot drink so... I have hot water. About 160 degrees - def not boiling. I add a healthy squeeze of lemon, which is really good for digestion just on it's own, but then I stir in one tablespoon of blackstrap molasses and voila - my morning warm beverage. It does take a wee bit of getting used to, but now I even put it in my travel mug and drink it at work. It's helping me feel better and...
Hidden benefit! It is rich in a ton of other minerals and no word of a lie - as I'm starting to grow out my grey hair, it's looking a whole lot less grey than it did six months ago. I'm not joking. I think it's helping my body actually produce more melanin. Sounds crazy, but it seems to be the case. I'll keep you posted. But hey if your health can't motivate you, perhaps vanity will?
I used to live on smoothies in the morning. I do still have them occasionally, because it's a great way to pack in your spinach, dark berries, prunes and other iron rich foods, not to mention that my Sun Warrior Protein powder has a ton of iron in it - I've switched things up and am now more often having gluten free oatmeal. One serving (43 grams) contains 2 mg of iron which translates into 11.28 percent of your daily intake. Not bad. And it's pretty low in calories so if you're watching your weight, it's a good way to go. My shakes can run up to 450-500 calories easy.
Lunch might be a serving of brown rice with red lentils, raw orange or red pepper (thrown in for vitamin C and a nice little added crunch) and I might top it with sauteed spinach and roasted cauliflower or steamed broccoli. That puts me well over the 50% mark for the day.
I'm not a huge bean fan. I find it hard to incorporate them into meals but I have a new trick. Check this out. If you mash a 1/2 cup of black beans with a bit of salsa, then spread it on a piece of gluten free toast with mashed avocado - it's a vegan Mexican iron-rich party on a plate.
Are you a hummus fan? I can't stand the stuff. But I have learned that you can use chick peas to make a vegan tuna salad. OMG! It's amazing.
Mash 1/2 a cup of rinsed and drained chickpeas. Add some veganaise, a tablespoon of dijon, finely chopped celery, green onions and dill pickle (I'm not joking it's the pickle that makes this), and whip it all together with a squeeze of lemon (gotta get that C in there), then stuff it into a fresh warm soft corn tortillas and top 'em with spinach - they are to die for. An absolute fave.
And dinner can be all sorts depending on the mood - but I try to sneak beets in there. Either steamed and cooled over a spinach salad, or roasted with mashed potatoes. Potatoes are a great source of iron! I didn't know that, did you? Or I'll do a quinoa based dish with a ton of veggies and some tofu. Whatever mood strikes.
Snacks are pumpkin seeds for sure. I'm not the kind of person to add them to a salad. I dunno why. I just don't like them in salad. But I've taken to covering them in dark chocolate and that's a super-hit of iron and feels like a real treat.
Watermelon is high in iron. Who knew? That's a great seasonal summertime snack. As are sweet red cherries, organic strawberries, raspberries and grapes too. Dried fruits are awesome for iron. Prunes, dates, apricots and raisins, but you gotta be mindful of the sugar content. One date is 24 grams of sugar. That's a lot noble reader. Consume with caution.
In addition to making sure I consume 100% of my daily required intake of iron through food, I also take two supplements because I need all the help I can get. The first is from the health food store. It's called MegaFood Blood Builder.
I take this because it includes a host of other goodies like the Folate, vitamin C and B12. All the stuff our blood needs. Plus it's vegan, gluten free and organic and it's a whopping 26 mg of iron.
Then because I'm in the low end of low blood levels (My ferratin is sitting at a bouncy 9 at the moment) I take a pharmaceutical iron supplement as well. There are a lot of brands that your doctor can recommend and over the years I've likely tried them all - and they all have one thing in common. They PLUG YOU UP. Now I don't know about you, but I do not appreciate being constipated. The good news is that I have finally found a brand I can take and because it's a powder I can adjust my dose accordingly. It's called Feramax
It has a very non-offensive grape flavor - which is to trick kids into taking it I think, but it works for me too. I have tried the Feramax 150 tablets too, but I find them too strong for my system.
So, to recap, the must haves daily are:
Blackstrap molasses.
Pumpkin seeds
Dark chocolate
A lentil or bean dish
A grain (brown rice or quinoa)
Dark leafy greens like spinach, kale or chard
and Beets! Beets! Beets! If your poo isn't a pretty shade of purple or red, you're not getting enough beets. Don't like beets? Try juicing them. I love a good beet juice with kale, lemon and green apple. Yummy.
And lots of veggies.
Hope this has been helpful. I'll be going back to be retested in August. It's my hope that I can beat my record high of 28, but going from 9 to above 28 in three months may be too much to hope for. I'll keep you posted! And lemme know if you have questies or concerns in the comments section below!
Lots of love,
Shan
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
A Hairy Topic
This blog is called Mastering My Midlife and as a woman, when you hit that "midlife" age-range, a whole host of issues can crop up. Health issues, beauty, finances, all sorts - it's a wide range of subjects that some of us (read:ME) are reluctant to talk about. But since I letcha know that I was suffering from vertigo, I thought I'd post an update along with a conversation about something I've been thinkin' about for a long long time - HAIR.
So here's the CliffNotes catch-up version - I was getting ready to walk out the door to head to work (at the end of APRIL for crying out loud!), bent over to lace up my Chucks and when I stood up the world was a tilt-a-whirl. I sat on the sofa to rest for what I thought would be a five to ten minute bout of dizziness and it turned into an eight-week nightmare. More or less. I started feeling a bit better two weeks ago, but still stuffer from the spins - in fact had to stop everything today over lunch because the ground was moving.
Apparently, the long and the short of it is that I am pretty darned anemic. Like... I've been told for years that I had an issue with lack of iron. But like the idiot who sees the oil light in the car flash and just ignores it, the problem did not go away. Instead, like the car, my engine finally seized up. My body said enough and everything came to a grinding halt. During that crazy eight weeks of spin, I was running back and forth to the doctor and managed to catch the mother of all flus and became a fever-riddled, delirious mess on top of everything else. I think the message was pretty clear.
Slow the fuck down, Dear One. So I did. I have. I am.
I am more or less on the mend now (ish). I'm off work for the summer. Meaning, no writers' rooms for me. I will continue to write, but from home... Where I can stop and rest when needed. Pay close attention to my diet and adjust as required. I feel like quite the old lady.
The good news is that for the past two weeks I have (barely) eased back into some simple movement. Only twice a week for 20 minutes. Did I say I felt like an old lady? I meant a geriatric patient.
Thank the good Lordissa for LekFit who has little mini-classes posted to her site. I have been able to participate in ballet arms and standing legs. The reason I'm finally posting now is because I am actually starting to believe this nightmare will end (fingers crossed, touch wood, pray to God etc) and I heard on this past week's Insta Live Stream thingie that tomorrow's In Studio class is going to be working with the disk. That's my all time favorite of Lauren's tools, so I am going to attempt to do the class. We'll see how far I get. Wish me luck.
Anyhoo, with all this mandatory bed-rest (which has been absolute torture) I've had a lot of time to think. About all kinds of things. How to turn the world vegan, how to dominate television with my own shows, how to overcome my fear of elevators, how to develop a taste for blackstrap molasses, just all sorts. But one of the things that kept coming up for me was my hair. My hair of all things. I'm basically clinging to my very life (being dramatic) and I'm worried about my hair?!?
In a word? Yes. At one point through all of this, I managed to drag my dizzy self to the pharmacy, pick up a box of hair color, and color the front half of my hair. I was too dizzy to do the back but God forbid I die with my roots showing. That was kind of a wake-up call. I mean, I can't go to work, I can't even keep a glass of water down, but I'm dying my hair? Really? Something had to change.
So, I got on the old Google Machine which led to a deep dive down a million YouTube channels, where I got hooked on all these transformation "transition" videos of women who have chosen to stop being a slave to color. Lemme tell you I became somewhat inspired. I've been toying with the idea for years, years I tell you and have discussed it with a number of friends - three of whom have already elected to go grey. And then, as if it was a message from the heavens, I had a lunch meeting with a couple of producers that I've known and worked with for years, but hadn't seen in awhile. And when they showed up, Emma (who as you may have guessed is one of the producers) had grown out her grey and holy crap did she look good. She has the most magnificent green eyes which I hadn't ever really noticed before, but they just sparkled under those silver strands she was rocking.
I thought, if she can do it and look this fantastic, why can't I? I'm hypothyroid and anemic, so my hair has really started to thin out. Add to that the heaps of chemicals I pile on every two weeks to keep my dark tresses dark - yeah you read that right, every TWO WEEKS, I figured my hair could use a break. So...
I'm stopping the color. There! Said it out loud. Now it's done.
It's been three weeks and whoa do I have roots. But I feel differently about them this time around. I have the entire summer ahead of me to lay low and grow my hair. By the fall I hope to have a better idea of how grey or silver or white I actually am and make a more informed decision of how to proceed. Some women have done high-lights and low-lights to get rid of what they call their "skunk line" - a term I personally don't love. It's like calling the backs of our arms bat-wings if they aren't perfect and toned. Let's not do that to ourselves. Other women have bleached out their hair to create a softer combination of an ashy blond and white mix, while others have continued to color the part down the centre of their head so that the top bit continues to have color and they let the grey grow in underneath. And finally, there are those who've just said "fuck it" and let it grow, roots, skunk line, demarkation lines be damed. At the moment I'm in the last camp.
I love hats. Sun hats, page-boy hats, ball caps, knit caps - all kinds of hats so during the worst parts I figure (cue Beyonce) If I don't love it, then I better put a hat on it!
My mind-set is this -- we have all had times in our lives where we've gone to the salon and done something crazy. That tight-curled spiral perm, the pixy cut, the weird bob that never worked out - whatever it was, we were stuck with it. So we sucked it up, resigned ourselves to the fact that we had a style we didn't love and we grew it out. I am not prepared to shave my head and go through all the crap stages of going from short to long simply to avoid the root line. Nope, I'll suffer through that knowing it will look yucky for a good year or two (yikes, I hope it doesn't take longer than that) and then hopefully come out on the other side with beautiful, original, one-of-a-kind silvery tresses that will become my trademark. Alternatively, it'll look like crap and I'll run crying to the salon to say fix this and will be a prisoner of the color for the rest of my life.
In the mean time, I'll be having a conversation with my stylist this weekend to keep her abreast of what my plans are. My hair tends to go reddish in the summer sun, so may have to go in and get it toned back to it's cooler hue in the fall, but I am determined to see it through.
I've pinned some gorgeous pics, I've following a few beautiful silver-sisters on Insta for continued inspiration and I've gone public here. So hope I can pull it off. These are the looks I'm currently in love with...
These woman are all older than me, but there's one girl on YouTube who's only 39 and she looks amazing! She lives in the same city as me so it's going to be hard not to stalk her and pepper her with a million questies! Lol. I apologize in advance Erica, if I bump into you on the subway and completely geek out.
So I think I'm ready. I'd love to hear your thoughts on transitioning. (That's the term I'm using because it sounds the most positive and life-affirming.)
Also, if you're curious to know what my iron loaded diet 2.0 consists of, lemme know and I'll put together a post on that.
Loads of love,
Shan
So here's the CliffNotes catch-up version - I was getting ready to walk out the door to head to work (at the end of APRIL for crying out loud!), bent over to lace up my Chucks and when I stood up the world was a tilt-a-whirl. I sat on the sofa to rest for what I thought would be a five to ten minute bout of dizziness and it turned into an eight-week nightmare. More or less. I started feeling a bit better two weeks ago, but still stuffer from the spins - in fact had to stop everything today over lunch because the ground was moving.
Apparently, the long and the short of it is that I am pretty darned anemic. Like... I've been told for years that I had an issue with lack of iron. But like the idiot who sees the oil light in the car flash and just ignores it, the problem did not go away. Instead, like the car, my engine finally seized up. My body said enough and everything came to a grinding halt. During that crazy eight weeks of spin, I was running back and forth to the doctor and managed to catch the mother of all flus and became a fever-riddled, delirious mess on top of everything else. I think the message was pretty clear.
Slow the fuck down, Dear One. So I did. I have. I am.
I am more or less on the mend now (ish). I'm off work for the summer. Meaning, no writers' rooms for me. I will continue to write, but from home... Where I can stop and rest when needed. Pay close attention to my diet and adjust as required. I feel like quite the old lady.
The good news is that for the past two weeks I have (barely) eased back into some simple movement. Only twice a week for 20 minutes. Did I say I felt like an old lady? I meant a geriatric patient.
Thank the good Lordissa for LekFit who has little mini-classes posted to her site. I have been able to participate in ballet arms and standing legs. The reason I'm finally posting now is because I am actually starting to believe this nightmare will end (fingers crossed, touch wood, pray to God etc) and I heard on this past week's Insta Live Stream thingie that tomorrow's In Studio class is going to be working with the disk. That's my all time favorite of Lauren's tools, so I am going to attempt to do the class. We'll see how far I get. Wish me luck.
Anyhoo, with all this mandatory bed-rest (which has been absolute torture) I've had a lot of time to think. About all kinds of things. How to turn the world vegan, how to dominate television with my own shows, how to overcome my fear of elevators, how to develop a taste for blackstrap molasses, just all sorts. But one of the things that kept coming up for me was my hair. My hair of all things. I'm basically clinging to my very life (being dramatic) and I'm worried about my hair?!?
In a word? Yes. At one point through all of this, I managed to drag my dizzy self to the pharmacy, pick up a box of hair color, and color the front half of my hair. I was too dizzy to do the back but God forbid I die with my roots showing. That was kind of a wake-up call. I mean, I can't go to work, I can't even keep a glass of water down, but I'm dying my hair? Really? Something had to change.
So, I got on the old Google Machine which led to a deep dive down a million YouTube channels, where I got hooked on all these transformation "transition" videos of women who have chosen to stop being a slave to color. Lemme tell you I became somewhat inspired. I've been toying with the idea for years, years I tell you and have discussed it with a number of friends - three of whom have already elected to go grey. And then, as if it was a message from the heavens, I had a lunch meeting with a couple of producers that I've known and worked with for years, but hadn't seen in awhile. And when they showed up, Emma (who as you may have guessed is one of the producers) had grown out her grey and holy crap did she look good. She has the most magnificent green eyes which I hadn't ever really noticed before, but they just sparkled under those silver strands she was rocking.
I thought, if she can do it and look this fantastic, why can't I? I'm hypothyroid and anemic, so my hair has really started to thin out. Add to that the heaps of chemicals I pile on every two weeks to keep my dark tresses dark - yeah you read that right, every TWO WEEKS, I figured my hair could use a break. So...
I'm stopping the color. There! Said it out loud. Now it's done.
It's been three weeks and whoa do I have roots. But I feel differently about them this time around. I have the entire summer ahead of me to lay low and grow my hair. By the fall I hope to have a better idea of how grey or silver or white I actually am and make a more informed decision of how to proceed. Some women have done high-lights and low-lights to get rid of what they call their "skunk line" - a term I personally don't love. It's like calling the backs of our arms bat-wings if they aren't perfect and toned. Let's not do that to ourselves. Other women have bleached out their hair to create a softer combination of an ashy blond and white mix, while others have continued to color the part down the centre of their head so that the top bit continues to have color and they let the grey grow in underneath. And finally, there are those who've just said "fuck it" and let it grow, roots, skunk line, demarkation lines be damed. At the moment I'm in the last camp.
I love hats. Sun hats, page-boy hats, ball caps, knit caps - all kinds of hats so during the worst parts I figure (cue Beyonce) If I don't love it, then I better put a hat on it!
My mind-set is this -- we have all had times in our lives where we've gone to the salon and done something crazy. That tight-curled spiral perm, the pixy cut, the weird bob that never worked out - whatever it was, we were stuck with it. So we sucked it up, resigned ourselves to the fact that we had a style we didn't love and we grew it out. I am not prepared to shave my head and go through all the crap stages of going from short to long simply to avoid the root line. Nope, I'll suffer through that knowing it will look yucky for a good year or two (yikes, I hope it doesn't take longer than that) and then hopefully come out on the other side with beautiful, original, one-of-a-kind silvery tresses that will become my trademark. Alternatively, it'll look like crap and I'll run crying to the salon to say fix this and will be a prisoner of the color for the rest of my life.
In the mean time, I'll be having a conversation with my stylist this weekend to keep her abreast of what my plans are. My hair tends to go reddish in the summer sun, so may have to go in and get it toned back to it's cooler hue in the fall, but I am determined to see it through.
I've pinned some gorgeous pics, I've following a few beautiful silver-sisters on Insta for continued inspiration and I've gone public here. So hope I can pull it off. These are the looks I'm currently in love with...
These woman are all older than me, but there's one girl on YouTube who's only 39 and she looks amazing! She lives in the same city as me so it's going to be hard not to stalk her and pepper her with a million questies! Lol. I apologize in advance Erica, if I bump into you on the subway and completely geek out.
So I think I'm ready. I'd love to hear your thoughts on transitioning. (That's the term I'm using because it sounds the most positive and life-affirming.)
Also, if you're curious to know what my iron loaded diet 2.0 consists of, lemme know and I'll put together a post on that.
Loads of love,
Shan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)