Dearest readers,
Hello hello, how do you do?
It’s Wednesday today, and I’m so sorry for not getting yesterday’s Blogmas up! Tuesdays are notoriously my heavy-duty teaching day, I started at 7:45am and ended at 7:15pm (with a few breaks here and there). What gets me through my Tuesdays is caffeine (2-3 energy drinks; NOT good) and power naps (took a 30 min nap between gigs). I also love what I do, so that helps tremendously. The only thing I don’t like about my job is all the freakin’ driving and commuting! Being stuck in rush hour traffic is a singular hell, but I try to avoid this situation by scheduling my clients strategically to avoid rush hour. Perks of being your own boss and setting your own schedule!
One thing about Tuesdays I like is that my day is so structured, I stay busy and know exactly where I have to be and what I have to get done throughout the day. None of those blank spaces on my Google Calendar that denotes hours of unstructured time, and that gives me anxiety. I have a million things I need to do, but which task should I do first? I like staying busy. I always say, I’d rather be busy than bored. I am used to hustling and non-stop work, just go-go-go, that is my lifelong normal. But to manage my mental health, I need to be careful not to overload myself. That’s why I stagger my work days in terms of busyness– Tuesdays are hellish, but Wednesdays are a lot chiller.
Before we get into today, I want to share a couple reflections I came to last night. The first one happened as I was walking out of the country club gym after my last client of the day. It was 7:20pm, and there was a holiday party going on in the banquet hall, where I sometimes teach salsa and line dance classes. People were dressed in tux’s and lavish gowns, and everyone was, for some reason, oddly attractive. Not to mention, wealthy. I had a vision of my future: one day, I will be an attendee at one of these black-tie events. Instead of working at these high-end country clubs as a trainer, I will be a member. I will live in a big house in Atherton and continue training wealthy clients while running my wellness business. I will be one of the most sought-after fitness trainers in the Bay Area. That’s how I can afford to go to these parties. I love parties, I’ve been going to more, lately. I enjoy getting dolled up and feeling pretty, and meeting new people and sharing stimulating conversations! I love getting inspired people who are more successful than me (success: getting what you want). I want to make it big. I am not particularly money driven, but it’s nice to live comfortably and have financial resources to be as creative as you want. I want to be able to afford not to work like a madwoman, and sit in a coffee shop for 8 hours a day, writing and reading to my heart’s content. I want to be able to travel the world and learn flamenco dancing in Spain, Argentine tango in Argentina. I want to be able to treat my friends to dinner without wincing at hte bill. Donate to mental health charities and non-profits, like NAMI. All this, you need money for. And I will get there, if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. It’s progress, not perfection. There is no such thing as perfection in life, and especially in business and entrepreneurship. You’re met with uncertainty and pivots at every corner. Ruthless competition. And the competition is only getting more intense, with the advent of AI making branding/marketing/website building/app designing/podcasting/content creation more accessible to the common person. But you gotta believe in yourself, you need almost an absurd amount of self-belief and a little bit of delusional thinking and grandiosity that you have the power to change the world… and that’s where bipolar hypomania comes to play, and serves me in that regard.
As for today… It’s 11:53am as I write to you all. I taught a great mat pilates class this morning, I pushed my students hard and they got an effective core workout! Teaching is one skill I believe I have mastered. I’ve been teaching fitness for almost 5 years, and I’ve come a long way from the shy and introverted teacher I used to be. I am confident and well-spoken and have the knowledge to back it up.
I haven’t eaten lunch yet, so that’s probably what I’ll do next after completing this section of Blogmas. I’m reading this book, Brain Maker, that is changing my life. Imagine if you could heal diabetes, autism, ADHD, Alzheimer’s, and depression by changing your diet and eating patterns! This book reminds me of another one I read called Brain Energy. Both books posit a radical thesis that cites gut microbiome and metabolism as the underlying root cause of medical and psychiatric conditions, alike. Both authors of the book, who are doctors, have healed patients with treatment resistant brain conditions, like autism, ADHD, and schizophrenia, by putting them on a special diet that is rich in probiotic foods (kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles, Greek yogurt), low in carbs, high in healthy fats. They talk about the common pathway for illness which is INFLAMMATION. If you can eat foods that are anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidants (like blueberries), and stay away from antibiotics that trigger and immune response, you can fix a lot of your brain issues. They also emphasize the health benefits of intermittent fasting, which helps regulate gut microbiome and kick-starts ketosis, whereby the body turns to fat as a source of energy, as opposed to carbs and sugar. Anyway, I’ve taken what I’ve learned to heart, and am now wholly committed to changing my diet. Less unhealthy carbs, more fiber from fruits and veggies, more healthy fat (olive oil, egg yolk), probiotic foods and supplements. Brain Maker also states that Vitamin B12 is a good supplement to take for metabolic health, as well as Vitamin D. I’m gonna revisit intermittent fasting– first meal at 11am, last meal at 7pm– as well as longer fasts 4 times a year (24 hr or 72 hr ones, if you’re ambitious). They recommend doing the longer fasts at the cusp of a seasonal shift, so my next big fast will be end of December.
I’ve been telling everyone I know about this book. Friends, family, clients, healthcare providers. One client of mine, a retired doctor, told me that while the research findings are radical, she does see the link between gut health, microbiome, and brain conditions, and there’s a lot of promise in the burgeoning field of metabolic psychiatry. So if you’re a therapist, wellness leader, or fitness coach, you should definitely read this book, in conjunction with Brain Energy. Another book I’ve read was Fast Like A Girl, which talks about the health benefits of intermittent fasting, and how women specifically should fast safely in a way that aligns with their menstrual cycle.
I’m on a deep-dive healing journey right now, and I’m feeling quite optimistic about all this research. What if, one day, I could heal myself from bipolar through non-invasive, alternative practices, like changing my diet? What if, one day, I could get off all psychiatric medication and still be fine? What if I could become a mother without worrying about my bipolar affecting my child’s life? What if my big dreams didn’t have to be curtailed by the low ceiling bipolar constructs? Incredible. Simply, incredible. That is my biggest goal of all, beyond making money– to cure myself of bipolar disorder, using myself as a case study, and sharing my practices with the world.
Speaking of eating, it’s time for lunch. I’ll check back in with you guys later today, if I have time. Otherwise, I bid you adieu, and stay tuned for Blogmas Day 11 tomorrow!
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