So, I feel that there are different types of Mom Funks…What are the types? Well, you see, that’s the tricky part: mom funks are so screwwed up, that they’re difficult to snap out of, let alone catergorize! But you will certainly know when you have it.Even if you didnt know there was a name for it, till now.
Not the easiest thing to dig yourself out of,once you’re in it, but certainly not impossible.In fact, I was given five easy changes to make that helped me out of mine.
So what would a “typical” Mom Funk entail: (this is pretty broad, but also pretty common signs that the Mom Funk is within you.)
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– Firstly, you’re a mom. (if you’re not, well then you’re just suffering from normal general funk)
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-You may have simultaneous emotions of both anxiety with urgency coursing through you like you have something you must do, but also feeling completely paralyzed at even the thought of doing it. So you’re left, spinning your wheels, wanting to stop and regroup, but equally afraid of applying the brakes because you have to keep going. You still with me? Sound familiar?
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–You’re getting sick. A lot. Like you can’t seem to shake the bugs and viruses. They’re on you like white on rice.
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–You’re lethargic, fatigued. Alot of the time. And you can’t seem to really shake it.
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–You’re generally happy, but somehow your emotions can be all over the place. And its not your normal monthly cycle.
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–You may feel your ambition is but a shadow of your former go-getter self.
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–You may often seem to put off everything, which is normally completely the opposite of your usual style.
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–Your scalp maybe a bit(or a lot) on the flaky side. Maybe a light glitter effect or your average avalanch? Either way, the scalp condition is out of the ordinary, despite the wads of cash you’re dishing out on expso hair products.
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-Maybe your skin is dry.
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-Maybe a little lazy. And Im not talking about the odd lazy day here, Im talking the now almost habitual lazy-maker where everything seems just too much effort, even if its for your own benefit.
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-In fact, sometimes you may just feel down right unproductive. And even though you’re aware of it, and try to push through, the mental exhaustion of that exercise just slows you down again.
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-Some women may sometimes suffer from acute mood swings that werent there before.
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–Constipation seems to be a regular visitor for no apparent reason.
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-Perhaps developed eczema?
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–Some women have even had haemroids develop.
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-Or worse combo ever – icthy butt ontop of your haemroids – laugh now, but Ive heard of a few unfortunate women who’ve had this. Talk about cruel fate.
But yeah, that list, whilst not complete, is pretty much what mom funk is all about. Maybe your’s is not even as bad, but a Coke- Light version of it. Some call it burn out, other’s may label it “Chronic fatigue” or just plain ol’ exhaustion. But ladies and gents, a funk by any other name, is still a funk, and it needs seeing to! Seriously, mom. You need to deal with shizz before it gets out of hand. And you need to do it, stat!!
OH, but wait, you don’t have the energy to do figure it out? Ya, that sounds familiar. True and familiar. Ohhh, the cruel conundrum of it all!
So, in my efforts to offer you some help and maybe save you time of trawling for help, today Im sharing what has helped me in the past. Whilst I may not have suffered from all of those symptoms above, I did have my fair share of it.
My mom funk started right about at the time when my first child, Morgan-Lee, was a year old, and was really showing at about when she was 17 months: I was back at work for a few months and had taken on a massive project – researching until early morning hours, going to every freaking conference and talk about the topic, whilst still delivering at work. Alot of that being done, of course, only when Morgan-Lee slept.
When she was awake, and I was at home, I dedicated every single second to her – enjoying her, being present, doing sensory play, free play, rough play, play play play, and doing all the wonderful self-envisioned things according to my mothering style. Not forgetting to invest in our marriage as well… I mean none of those facets of my life are expendible right?!
Each of those are very key priorities. At first it was challenging but totally doable, but as the pressures mounted, and more was added, I could feel how much thinner I was being spread. So while I was not willing to compromise on anything, soon my body started paying the price…and it became compromised.
I had been to my GP, yes – and he is fantastic- but all he could do was treat the symptoms, and recommend some lifestyle changes. But that’s a pretty broad solution, right? I mean, I knew that too – lifestsyle changes- but I needed specifics. I mean, chances are, when you’re in the thick of mom funk, its not like you’re exactly afforded the luxury of loads of time to really press pause, stop and figure it all out. (even though, we should!)
It was then that a very dear colleague and friend recommended a Bio kinetisist and Naturopath, who has successully helped countless individuals with an array of mystery ills and aches (my colleague included). I felt I had nothing to lose, and besides, I really wanted to kick this thing to the curb. I knew this wasn’t me, and I really wanted to shake it off and get back to the real me. The one with all the energy to match all the ambition in my head. The one my kids and hubby deserve. And get back to doing life, as the real me.
So if you too are suffering from a bit of mom funk, especially the physical ones as well as the fatigue and spinning your wheels, here are a few VERY simple bits of advice and tips that she gave me.(And I explain the logic behind it)
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1. Chew your food very well.
2. Cut out caffiene
3. Take 7 g of Calcium citrate in a glass of water three times a day for three days.
4. Deworm
5. Take a pro-biotic regularly
I know, right, pretty straight forward. I wasn’t kidding about it being simple. Almost like its too simple. Right? Wrong!
Here’s the thing:
1. A typical tihng that moms do is wolf down their food. Yes? We often have so little for anything, that even unconscioulsly we rush whatever we can, and guess what? Chowing is one of the easiest things we can rush. Like 4 chews and swallow.(as opposed to the recommended 26 chews we should be doing) So yay us, we just bought ourselves a few extra minutes in life, whilst actually still “nourishing” ourselves. Go, us! The trouble with this is that we are throwing a spanner in the whole digestive works.
The stomach now has larger pieces to digest, with the inappropriate amount of enzyms and saliva to help break it down (the longer we chew, the more saliva is and digestive “juices” are produced). This makes the stomach work harder than its suppose to, and if this is a regular occurance, we’re often left with poorly digested food forced to travel down our digestive tract. This is turn means that our food stays in our bodies longer than it should, which often leads to fermentation.
This releases all sorts of goody-gats into your system which them puts the liver under strain. And if this remains as a chronic issue that you body and your liver have to deal with, eventually your immune system starts taking a knock.
Not only that, but now with all the fermentation in your body, your acidity levels rise. And high acidity levels give wonderfully fertile breeding grounds for all the viruses and bugs to wreak havoc on your system.
What you want is a more alkaline level in your body – diseases and bugs cannot exist in an environment that is alkaline. And by disease, I also mean things like cancer, etc. There are plenty of things that tend to put our body into a state of acidity, like a highly stressful lifestyle, I am merely pointing out ONE means here.
So the first thing to get your system back on track, wrt digestion, is start the process right , and chew your food, just like your mommy told you to : )
2. Cutting out the caffiene goes hand in hand with the acidity levels mentioned in point one. As much as this magical, beautiful elixir keeps many a mom going, even despite the fact that you’re pretty sure you should be somewhere dank, face down in a pool of your own sad tired tears, it’s just not good for you. At least not in the long run. Sure 2 to 3 cups a day is no biggy at all (according to the experts), but any more and you could run into some serious problems. However, if you’re already sitting with an acidity issue, then you’re actually going to watch your intake even more.
In fact, it was recommend to me to cut out all caffeine completely to assist my nuetralising efforts. However, when you have a large scale and high profile projects to deliver on, whilst still keeping a happy home and family together, often operating at all sorts of hours, dropping the coffee sometimes doesn’t even seem like an option. Lest of course I wish to look like droopy dog, while I try invainly to focus on the actual discussion going down at the boardroom table. Or perhaps, if I want my kids to really witness how an adult tantrum can go down..yes, then Id say sure, zero coffee for me please! Lets to the dark side, fast!
So I compromised: instead of the 3 to 4 cups I was having in a day, I brought it down to 1 to 2 cups – depending on how much sleep was had the night before. One in the morning, and one when I got home. Of course if you could cut it our completely, you’d be like in the Charlie Sheen league of winning!
3.Calcium citrate is key to helping neutralise your body’s ph levels at a dramatical rate. However, I found it reallyhard to source it, instead, one pharmacy assistant helped me to product that contained calcium citrate, and had the same effects – A.Vogel’s Alkalizing Salts. Ive always heard my Dad speak of his alkalzing salts and how amazing they were, but never understood their function till that day I was handed the box. This powdered substance does just what it’s name sake says.
Its key however to not take it with coffee or on a full stomach. And be sure to apply this logic vice versa – no coffee or acid causing substances soon after consuming it. And be sure to add much more water to your usual intake. I was at 4 litres whilst using this alkalzing salt.
4. Deworm yourself. And your family. Apparently, as I was told, we’re suppose to all be deworming at least once a year. (not just our pets, yo!) Often, unbeknownst to us, these blighters live in our gut and steal all the nutrients from the good food we so carefully chose to nourish ourselves with. This of course may leave one depleated of one’s own vital vitamin stores, often resulting in fatigue, etc. So best we get rid of them! STAT!
5. Probiotics– not just for tummy bug times, folks! Just generally good for everyone, and to help improve our immune system.
All of the above advice was aimed at the physical, however it is important to note that your mind and body are interlinked. So when the one is off kilter, it naturally has an effect on the other. Not forgetting that the physiological effect of one’s state of health on hormones, and of hormones on one’s emotional state.
I followed the advice, and after a mere three days…THREE days, guys!…my symptoms had disappeared. Just going to show, that one’s body WILL respond if you treat it well…Now, keeping it up, is the trick!
If you would like to connect with Anne Devlyn (the same Bio Kinetisist and Naturopath that was recommended to me) then this is what you need to know:
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– Tel: 083 443 429 76
– Based in Souther Suburbs
– You can call her, however, she is almost constantly seeing patients, therefore, sms is the recommended channel of contact.
– Do not be put off if you don’t have success getting a hold of her the first time. Keep at it. (I’m so glad I did!)
And in case you’re wondering, she is not the type to milk you for your cash. She wants to help. I only saw her once, and told me as such, that I need not come back to her. I have all that I need to get back onto the path, its just a matter of being disciplined to follow through on it all. (Isnt that true of everything?) It was an hour well invested in my health and future.
I am not a medical professional, and am merely sharing the sound and good advice that was given to me by a professional. It honestly made a big difference to me when my energy and health was truly starting to flag, and so I would like to pay it forward by sharing it with you. Cause every mom needs a bit of a helping hand sometime.
In case you’re wondering how well it worked: I felt so energised and rebooted post the few dietary adjustments, that we decided to go for baby number two, and BOOM!
Here’s to your health, momma! x
Please note: Mom funk is one thing, but clinical depression is another. It is always advisable to seek professional medical assistance if you feel caught in the grips of depression (post-partum or otherwise) (See symptoms here, if unsure.)
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