Don’t Make Yourself Sick

My wife invited me to go to a family get together and the thought of leaving the house was unbearable.

I was apathetic, depressed and full of guilt.

Guilty of not being the man that I thought I needed to be.

I couldn’t explain what was wrong with me.

My rational mind had no where to put this experience I was having.

I was working out, eating well, training my mind, it just didn’t make sense.

The next day I made an appointment with a functional health doctor in Colombia where I was living at the time.

I told her that I had never experienced anything like this before and knew there had to be something wrong with me.

At first glance at my blood work she didn’t see anything wrong.

Deep down I knew there had to be more to the story.

She immediately put me on 8 different supplements to try and solve my issues.

📍A couple months later I moved back to the United States and still wasn’t experiencing any relief. I felt guilty about not being my usual self, but kept pressing forward.

I figured I might as well go to the doctor here in the States to see if they can uncover what the issue was.

As soon as the blood results were back it was obvious.

I had an underactive thyroid. Hypothyroidism.

Common symptoms that I was personally experiencing included:

1. Extreme Fatigue

2. Decreased mental sharpness

3. Feelings of depression

Within two weeks of being on the medication I was a new man. All symptoms subsided and I was on top of the world feeling better than ever.

Why do I share this story?

To point to something most of us don’t consider when making lifestyle choices.

Many of us understand that we receive genes from our parents that lead to us having blue eyes, a certain height or skin pigment.

We also hear about how cancer, heart disease and many other physical and emotional ailments can be linked to our genes, but that seems abstract.

Why do some people turn those genes on and others don’t?

One word. Epigenetics.

Those disease genes don’t need to turn on.

They can stay dormant your entire life if you make the right lifestyle choices.

I had to learn this the hard way.

The 5 years leading up to my Hypothyroidism presenting itself I had been pushing my body extremely hard. Basically overdosing on stress.

I was intermittent fasting, drinking too much coffee, overloading myself with work, not sleeping enough and not speaking my truth.

My Mom and brother both of Hypothyroidism.

That right there is the perfect formula for turning on Hypothyroidism in the same way that doing the same behaviors as I did plus overeating, overdosing sugar and not exercising can lead to heart disease.

👉 The important thing to recognize is that we do not need to be a victim to our inherited genetics in the same way that we do not need to be a victim to our inherited programming.

Yes, cancer, heart disease, [insert physical ailment] may be in your genetic code, but if you are conscious about your choices and lifestyle you don’t need to turn those genes on.

To put this into action think about the diseases your ancestors have had.

Then ask yourself am I living in a way that could turn the genes for this on?

It’s never too late to own your health through your focus and choices.

What is one bad habit you can give up and one good habit you can take on?

Step into the version of yourself that side steps disease like nobody’s business. You don’t need to be a victim.

If this was a helpful reminder like this article and share it with a friend.

All the best,

Brandon