Hey there all of my beautiful interweb friends. I’m sure some of you may be wondering where I’ve been the last few months. Off and on here, that’s for sure! That’s because of several reasons. Both personally and professionally.  Some of which we’ve talked about on the blog. But I’d like to talk to you today about one that’s a little more personal. If you’ve struggled with weight loss (of any kind!) throughout your journey in this life (for whatever reason!), this may be just the post for you.

Habitually Unbalanced

Let’s start from the beginning. January of 2023 held some major setbacks in a lot of manners of my life, but mostly through my own self-growth and self-care routines. I wasn’t spending the much needed time that we all should be on the parts of life that really matter, (as in, taking care of me, myself and I), and my body started showing signs that it needed a well-deserved break. A break physically helped immensely, but as time droned on, I came to the realization that my mental health needed a nice refresher as well. So, I started taking better and better care just a little bit at a time of all these different aspects of this beautiful life. Today, almost 1.5 years later, I’ve crossed a bunch of boundaries, resolved a lot of personal disputes, and crushed multiple goals in both my physical and mental health. However, one agonizing thing has remained a burden, my weight.  

Health is More Than a Visual Test

You see, I would be what they call “in good shape” from the outside. The unfortunate thing is that I am and forever have been one of those persons that consistently felt I:

1. “…could do better.”
2. “…could use some toning.”
3. “…could try harder and just focus.”
4. “…could eat less and move more.”
5. “…could just NOT EVER do what felt good.”

This got to be super annoying over time and I came to feeling like nothing I did was going to get to my “dream body.” I have a feeling a lot of people go through this particular journey, but as a woman, I think I can speak for the half of the population that feels it’s much harder going through hormone changes and body changes and all of the wonderful things that come with becoming a woman in your thirties. I basically gave up after hitting extreme burnout and put on even more weight for another period of time, which was super upsetting given that I have always been a highly active and energetic person that’s played sports all year round and ate healthy most of my twenties….”healthy.” Or so I thought. What pushed me onto this new road that I’m currently on was because of a few factors, but mainly being concerned about my health. Something I never thought would be an issue for an “active” person such as myself. Related: What Are Your Pillars? Mental, Physical, Emotional Health Foundations

Finding Out What Was “Wrong”

Throughout the time since last January, I talked about several new journeys and how this blog got its start. What I didn’t talk about however was how I had chronic side pain that would just NOT go away. It would be there randomly during a work shift so stabbing that I would go to the bathroom just to sit on the floor and wait it out. It would come and go on walks with my dog, runs with my husband, and slow me down in BJJ since I was concerned “something had to be wrong with me” that it wasn’t going away. I think a lot of things in life make us feel as if we have things “wrong with us,” when in fact, it’s simply a more common problem that most of us just never heard about. This is what happened. I went through countless abdominal scans with ultrasounds and MRIs, including this one that vibrated on my liver. It was super weird. And my arms went numb from holding them above my head for an hour. But I digress, it was more mentally challenging than anything as I waited months and months to find ANYTHING about what the issue may or may not be.

After another appointment early this spring, I found that it was nothing too serious, but that I have a few things to be aware of now that these scans were done.

1. I have multiple small cysts on my liver, (mostly benign hemangiomas)…THAT ARE LIKELY CAUSED BY BIRTH CONTROL PILLS AND “NOT A BIG DEAL” BECAUSE THEY’RE FOUND MOST COMMONLY AMONG YOUNG WOMEN….like, what??
2. I have one benign larger cyst that is considered safe but needs checked in the future just to be certain.
3. I have “Stage 2” or “Grade 2” NAFLD: aka, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
   1.  “A condition in which excess fat builds up in your liver. This buildup of fat is not caused by heavy alcohol use.”

So, that’s annoying, right? Learn More: NAFLD

If You Are Ever Concerned, See Your Doctor

When I received this information, I was super frustrated for one thing. Not just because cysts from birth control are so damn common that it’s considered “normal,”. But also because I was certain there was just no way I had extra fat stored in my liver. I was “active” and “healthy!” After this, I did some research and realized that it is a pretty common thing to find out. Which frankly, is kind of sad. It also is really not cool that if for some reason you don’t find this out in an earlier stage, that it can go on to turn into cirrhosis of the liver, which is irreversible. IRREVERSIBLE, my friends! Luckily, mine is still in the reversible stage, which I highly intend to report to you along the way on how this journey is and has been going. If you’re going through anything similar, we’ve got this! I’m asking you to be my accountability partner and to stay tuned throughout this new cycle of my life. I’ve made some changes thus far, but I still have a long way to go. Most of the changes have slowly been made with my physical and mental health, but a lot of changes in the department of nutrition are still in the making. If you’re interested in keeping up with this all, be sure to subscribe to stay in the know. I’ll be posting what I’m eating or not eating, how I’m exercising and what new hobbies or activities I’ve picked up to continue working on myself. I’m hopeful that I’m able to help at least one other person out there with their transition into a better lifestyle and feel really, really good about themselves, once and for all. Thank you for reading.  

Thank you for reading today’s post The Road Less Traveled: My Journey To Healthy Part 1

I want to thank all my readers and supporters who have traveled with me on my journey so far including today’s post about my health journey with cysts caused by birth control.  I truly hope this post can help someone.  Have you experienced something similar?  Let us know.  

Health Issues?  Suspect Cysts Caused by Birth Control

If you suspect you have birth control caused cysts or any other health issue, see your doctor immediately!