The last time I wrote to Cathe, or the Cathe Nation, I guess, I was so excited. I had finally stopped relying on exercise as my ‘drug’, I guess. I felt I had really left my exercise bulimia behind. I fell in love, we moved in together, and my life seemed normal. Thanks to Cathe, I knew what I wanted to do—train other strong women. I became a personal trainer, cycling instructor, group fitness instructor, Pilates instructor and yoga instructor. Wow! From classroom teacher to fitness instructor, I was on the path that I knew was right for me.
Then I decided to pursue another degree in health and wellness. I wanted a Master’s degree to go with my certifications, so that I could really help people reach their goals. My first class was in nutrition, so that I could add ‘Nutrition Specialist’ to my qualifications. I know that eating right is a big part of reaching your fitness goals. I’ve been a vegan for almost three years now, and while it’s sometimes a struggle to get all the protein I need in, giving up sugar and dairy really helped me.
During my class, I came across a scenario. What if you’re training a woman and no matter what you do, no matter how else her body changes, that skinfold test of her upper arms just doesn’t budge? The text said this was a sign of estrogen dominance, a hormone imbalance. I literally stopped reading and just stared at the text.
For years, I’ve lifted. I found Cathe three years ago, and was so excited. I’d always lifted weights, but never with a good ‘plan’. I’d once invested in a trainer, and while she helped me at the gym, I still didn’t feel as if I was doing all I could. Then I finally found DVDs where the instructor both encouraged and expected women to lift heavy! Yes! All the past DVDs I’d used had the instructor with tiny pink weights…and I felt like I was wasting my time.
But in all my time of lifting, of going through STS twice, lifting heavier and heavier weights with good form, of going through P90x…my triceps would not tone! I have those flabby upper arms (that Denise Austen used to call ‘Hi Helens’ and I’ve never been able to get that phrase out of my head). Nothing helps, and they have always been an embarrassment. As a trainer and instructor, I felt like those in class and my clients looked at me like, “Yeah, sure…listen to her…she can’t even tone her own arms!”
Finally, though, maybe I had a reason…and if there is a reason for it, there had to be a solution. As I read on, I recalled that nearly two years ago my aesthetician told me she was sure I had too much estrogen. I was telling her how crazy my new birth control, Yaz, was making me. I had unbelievably crazy mood swings, horrible pain, and they were increasing my migraines. She said she thought that they were probably increasing my estrogen and putting my hormones out of whack. However, I didn’t know what to do besides stop taking them.
Now, though, armed with all the information I now have on estrogen dominance (believe me, I can write a book—and maybe I will!), I know that my years of birth control pills (starting in college) and my poor eating habits in my twenties (too many carbs, too many sweets) most likely did this to me. There is hope; there is a hormone replacement therapy for me, someday. Without insurance it’s too costly, but believe me, just knowing that there is a reason my body is like this…that it’s not my fault, is a weight off my shoulders. Because even though I felt like things were getting better, that yay, I’m not an exercise bulimic anymore…part of me was berating myself. I looked at pictures of my at my brother’s wedding and I thought, wow, my body looks good, except for my triceps. What a fatty I am! I need to workout more…and with my better half now in Afghanistan and a lot of time on my hands, I almost fell right back into that scary cycle…but armed with the inform ation on this condition, and knowing it’s not just me, has given me something to focus on.
I hope to help other women with this problem, and hopefully if they come to me for training they will see they aren’t the only ones either! I will never do to them what my trainer did to me years ago—telling me she had no idea what to do about my arms, and that she ‘Gives up.’ Nope! As a strong Cathelete, I know that it’s the journey that matters, and I’m still on my way
