This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help.
The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, be sure that your equipment is well-maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and fitness. The exercise and dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your doctor. As with all exercise and dietary programs, you should get your doctor’s approval before beginning.
Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher.
Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.
© 2017 by Tasneem Bhatia, MD
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.
Note: The page numbers listed below refer to the print edition of this book.
Photo credits: Mitch Mandel/Rodale Images (pages 260 bottom and 272 bottom); Thom MacDonald/Rodale Images (page 272 top); Matt Rainey/Rodale Images (page 273 bottom); Photodisk (page 307); and Beth Bischoff (all remaining image)
Illustration credits: 123RF (page 41) and Peter Hermes Furian/123RF (page 43)
Book design by Christina Gaugler
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.
ISBN 978–1–62336–858–6 hardcover
ISBN 978–1–62336–859–3 e-book
We inspire health, healing, happiness, and love in the world.
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To the original Super Woman—my mom—and a super woman to be—my daughter, Rania. Thank you, Mom; you have created a legacy that you may not still understand. Rania, I cannot wait to see what you will do—you picked the title of this book and you make me laugh and feel so very proud every day.
INTRODUCTION
Part I: Activate Your Inner Super Powers
Part II: Your 3-Week Super Woman Rx
Part III: Fortify Your Super Power Arsenal
RESOURCES
REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BEEP . . . BEEP . . . BEEP!
That cannot be my alarm. I swear I just went to bed.
The clock says 5 a.m., so that’s a yes, and once I’ve opened my eyes, the race is on.
Remember the first Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve? In one scene, Superman flies around the earth so fast that he is able to reverse its orbit and turn back time to save Lois Lane. My mornings have a similar race-around-the-earth feel to them. Thankfully, what looks like a complete flurry is really a finely tuned morning routine that meets my needs and sends my family—and me—out the door energized and happy. Here’s how it goes.
I carefully crawl out of bed and navigate the obstacle course that is my bedroom (often, I have nighttime visitors: my 8-year-old son Kubby and my daughter, Rania, 9, plus the stuffed animal family that comes with them). Once I’m safely in the hallway, I stumble downstairs (this takes 30 seconds) and boil water in the kettle for my must-have morning tea (2 to 3 minutes). While that’s happening, I decide if it’s a food prep or a workout day (I alternate). Based on my decision, I either throw on my workout clothes or pull out the cutting board, knife, veggies, and fruit and do some extra-healthy-food prep work to keep my family—and myself—stocked for easy grab-and-go noshing (5 minutes)—but first, my precious tea. It’s my own concoction made from a regular Lipton black tea bag steeped with cinnamon sticks, raw ginger, and cardamom (the additions help my digestive system). I’d love to sip my morning drink luxuriously with my feet propped up—ha!—but on a work and school day that’s just a fantasy. Instead, I guzzle tea from the hot mug and head to our exercise room for 30 to 40 minutes. My workouts consist of a variety of exercises—from cardio on our elliptical or spin bike to strength training, Pilates, and/or yoga. I switch it up according to my energy levels, with 10 minutes or so of meditation tacked on at the end. If it’s a food prep day, I’ll spend my time washing and cutting fruits and veggies, packing lunches and snacks for all of us, and prepping for dinner. If there’s any time left, I’ll get in a few yoga poses, or at least seek a few minutes of peace by reading a page from one of my favorite inspirational books, meditating, journaling, or praying.
By six o’clock, the second alarm goes off (this one’s in my head). It’s time to wake the kids, get breakfast on the table, shower, dress, check homework, sign sports or field-trip forms, resolve Girl Scout issues, leave lists for the after-school nanny, deal with my daughter’s hair drama, find any missing clothing and/or shoes, get the kids out the door for school, and send a very grumpy non-morning-person husband off to work.
By now it is around seven. I eat my breakfast, usually a green power smoothie with added protein (see recipes), and take my supplements—omega-3s, a B-complex, collagen, evening primrose oil, and a small dose of thyroid hormone. I check my calendar for the day, answer work e-mails, make a to-do list, jump in the car and fight Atlanta traffic for 20 to 30 minutes, and make it to work to see you. My days are filled with many women just like you and me who strive to manage and balance all the moving pieces of our lives like plate-spinning Chinese acrobats.
Phew.
And that’s just the first couple hours of the day.
Here’s the thing: While my morning routine might sound like a recipe for boiling over, a formula for a meltdown, or an invitation to a nervous breakdown—it’s anything but.
I wake up energized and happy, I arrive at work full of passion and excitement, and I come home at night feeling content and fulfilled. I love my life, and I thrive each and every day!
I’m often asked how I do it all—with two young children, a husband who works full time, my own full-time practice, my work teaching residents at Emory University, and a host of other roles. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that I must be some sort of super woman, but I know that I’m no different than any other woman. So how do I do it? I’ve discovered and harnessed an amazing source of super powers inside myself—super powers available to you, too. All of us have caches of dormant powers just waiting for the right mixture of activating practices, strategies, and ingredients—all tailored to us!
So why haven’t you heard of these real-life super powers?
Modern society demands that we be super women but doesn’t bother to show us how to tap the necessary super human powers we need to meet all of life’s obligations and responsibilities. We’re expected to simultaneously juggle careers, children, and family; to have a social life and maintain our households, budget, and cars; to handle schoolwork and arrange for after-school activities; to cook healthy meals, pack nutritious lunches (remember, no peanut butter), and have sparkling clean refrigerators full of healthy food; to find time to exercise; and to be slim, beautiful, stress free, and smiling at all times. Did I mention that we’re also supposed to look like we’re 25 even when we’re more than a few years north of that?
And yet, we’re surprised when we break down, blow up, freak out, fall into a fog or a funk, suffer from back and neck pain, gain weight, can’t get pregnant, or get diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. When things get bad enough, we march off to the doctor, where we’re poked and prodded and prescribed medications to manage and control—but not to truly solve and heal—our health woes. Some of us will try herbal therapies we’ve read about, go on a yoga retreat, or commit to sitting on a cushion and saying “om” for 30 minutes a day. Or maybe we’ll try yet another diet—vegan or vegetarian, a juice fast, or the next trendy paleo plan—or sign up for a gym membership, only to fail to use it within weeks of swearing “this time is going to be different!”
The reason that the majority of health solutions fail is that they are given as a blanket prescription (take drug X for your high blood pressure, a paleo diet is best to lose weight, and so on). Plus, these methods just aim to manage your symptoms or your disease without getting to the root of what is causing the high blood pressure or the weight gain in you personally, with all your individual traits, genetics, quirks, and strengths. Nope, it’s just “follow this diet and lose weight,” “follow that exercise plan and get fit,” “take this medication to sleep better,” and so on. These solutions assume that we are all alike, and that we just need to manage our symptoms or conditions. Most health professionals offer remedies without ever stopping to inquire, “Who are you?” and “What’s the actual source of the root cause of the problems here?”
Most diets, health plans, fitness programs, beauty regimens, and mood makeovers—even the best out there—offer one answer, one plan, one diet, and one workout. Even those that claim to look at diet from your unique hormonal, genetic, or personality type usually end up offering only one plan. And the rare book that does offer individualized plans such as blood type diets only takes into account one factor—blood type—instead of all the valuable indicators from a wide variety of medical disciplines from around the world and across the span of thousands of years. I learned the hard way that following a standard plan, designed for the average woman, just won’t cut it. I know from many years of experience with countless women that each and every one of you is as unique as your fingerprint, as distinct as your DNA, and as complex as Egyptian hieroglyphics. For you, me, and all women looking for a better way, the status quo just won’t cut it.
Enter Super Woman Rx: This is the definitive guide to health and wellbeing for women specifically because it’s a design for living that is anything but one-size-fits-all. It is personalized, tailored and created for you—it is the ultimate biohack of your health. (Biohack is a term first coined to describe the do-it-yourself biology increasingly taking place among small groups to explore and study life and living organisms.) We will use the term to describe your own small but powerful do-it-yourself study of you.
In the chapters to come, you’ll investigate and identify (biohack) your own unique chemistry, energy drains, and imbalances, and you’ll use your findings to discover your individual Power Type. You’ll continue to biohack your own chemistry and characteristics by using a specific prescriptive and predictive plan based on you. You’ll pinpoint exactly what needs addressing and you’ll transform your health and your life so that you’ll wake up enthusiastic, invigorated, and inspired to live. By the end of this book you’ll be jumping out of bed and into your day. Biohacking your own health is how you tap into your source of power, energy, and spark!
Mainstream solutions don’t work, because you are about as mainstream as your closet—or shoes. While I would love to be 6 feet tall, that’s never going to be a reality. Instead, I focus on and embrace the uniqueness that is me, and because I do, I thrive in my life. You will too!
I’ve discovered a Power, or rather, Powers—the Five Power Types, to be exact. The beauty of the diverse background and training I’ve been fortunate enough to obtain is that I know and can share a reliable way to predict a plan for your health and your life that is truly healing and empowering. I’m a medical doctor, a certified nutritionist, acupuncturist, yoga teacher, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, functional medicine doctor, and an integrative and holistic physician. Whether you are in your early twenties or settled into retirement, by taking the time to dig down deep to discover your core, your roots, your unique Power Type, Super Woman Rx provides a method that will dictate and guide you through every health and life decision, so you will thrive in your life. When you follow the steps in this book you will connect all the dots in your health history that will then show you the exact sort of intervention, nutritional changes, herbal support, exercises, mental and spiritual practices, and household habits you need to unlock your own super powers.
And yes, all of this has taught me how to restore balance in myself, my family, and friends, but even more importantly, this knowledge allows me to fulfill my lifetime dream of helping my patients and all of you realize and be your highest, most POWERFUL selves. This is a vantage point from which you can contribute to your relationships, your work, and your families. All this by identifying your ONE Power Type to start unleashing your super powers! This is the recipe for creating super women out of all of us!
Today, I’m happy, healthy, energetic, and full of inspiration and enthusiasm. I have clear skin, luxurious hair, and I’m a healthy and fit weight. The biggest difference is that I now wake up ready and excited to take on the day—I feel like Super Woman!
It wasn’t always that way.
In 2001, I had arrived—or so I thought. I’d accomplished my lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. After completing medical school and my residency, I had become a pediatrician and then an emergency medicine physician. I was still unsure of my footing, still trying financially to establish myself, and I was still single and navigating the world of relationships and dating, but I was also at the beginning of my dream career and my future looked bright. I should have been walking on air. Instead, I felt like I was stuck in deep mud. I was 28 years old.
While I loved treating patients, I was chronically stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. I’d gained 10 extra pounds that wouldn’t budge despite long, intense, and frequent exercise sessions. My PMS was fierce and my periods were irregular. My face was covered in cystic acne, my joints were always achy, and my once long and thick hair was coming out in clumps. I’d open my eyes in the morning and immediately squeeze them shut again. I dreaded the day ahead. I’d shuffle to the bathroom and shower in the dark to avoid looking at myself. I was miserable. To get through the demands of the day, I gulped down multiple cups of coffee, even though they never seemed to clear up my foggy head.
I wanted my mojo back. I mean, who wants to feel hormonally imbalanced and be bald and overweight at any age, let alone 28?
Since I was an emergency room doctor who believed in the medical system, I started trying to solve my issues by going to doctor after doctor to figure out how to get back to feeling like my younger, more energetic, healthy self. But after countless visits with general practitioners, as well as specialists, I still didn’t get the answers I was looking for; instead, I’d be sent off for yet more lab work or another appointment, or prescribed an ever-growing list of medications to help manage my symptoms. Each physician suggested more tests and then invariably offered more drugs to manage and control the myriad of symptoms I was struggling with—and nothing worked.
My turning point came the day I crashed my car.
I had just started another new prescription, this time prescribed by a world-renowned specialist who told me that it was my only chance of avoiding total baldness by the time I turned 30! The side effects caused by the drug included dizziness and a drop in blood pressure (I naturally run low BP numbers to begin with), but I was so frazzled and desperate to fix my unresolved health issues that I didn’t read the side effect label on the medicine—I just blindly trusted this doctor and his reputation. The next day I was driving to work when I got really dizzy and almost passed out. I swerved, briefly lost control of my car, and hit the sidewalk. Thankfully, only my car was hurt, but that was my wake-up call. In that moment, I realized I had to figure out a better way to get healthy. There had to be a different way—I was done!
That was my moment of clarity. I was entirely fed up and frustrated. I knew that the conventional medicine in which I’d been trained had failed me. I realized that the mainstream medical paradigm needed a makeover, and so did I. So I went back to my roots.
I started digging deeper into alternative options for health and healing. I studied, harder than ever before, looking into nutrition and the relationships between food as medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, Ayurveda, and more. My mother had always been a believer in the healing power of nutrition, and so I started there. I went back to several traditional Ayurvedic (Indian health) recipes from my childhood. I continued my own personal nutritional investigation and developed my diet as I went. I was so energized by my new eating plan that I took it to the next level and studied and became a certified nutrition specialist, decided to go gluten free, and then to remove dairy from my diet. My face started to clear up. I researched supplements and matched them to my nutritional deficiencies and symptoms—a link I only became aware of after studying holistic medicine. I started taking B vitamins and omega-3s. After a month, my hair stopped falling out. I started investigating how stress affects health; I learned to meditate and started doing yoga again. I stopped feeling miserable, my energy soared, and I slept soundly. From then on, I was on fire. I had healed myself and I wanted more!
At this point, I was a certified nutritionist. I registered for training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture and became a licensed acupuncturist and TCM practitioner. I studied Ayurvedic practices and learned more about this ancient system of medicine. Finally, I became certified as an integrative and holistic medicine doctor, after completing a fellowship with Dr. Andrew Weil, and opened my own practice. Along the way I authored two highly successful books, The 21-Day Belly Fix and What Doctors Eat, and now I’m excited to expand my scope with this comprehensive prescriptive plan for women’s health.
Today, I’m a physician and a woman who has found superior health, happiness, and vitality for myself and for my family, friends, and more than 10,000 patients because I stepped outside of the conventional medical box. I expanded my medical training and viewpoint to include the best from the entire world’s health and healing disciplines—conventional, complementary, alternative, and holistic—including nutrition, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Ayurvedic treatments, and more.
At 45, I’m far busier than I used to be. I continue to run my own practice, CentreSpring MD—formerly the Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine—where I see more than 160 patients a month. The center has grown from a two-person/two-room operation (when I started it was just my sister-in-law and me) to a practice with 14 patient rooms, four doctors and four nurse practitioners, and two locations, not to mention a large staff and a jam-packed schedule. We’re expanding the practice again as this book goes to press because we can’t keep up with the hundreds of new patients who keep coming through the door each month looking for better options for their health, and because we know that our approach to medicine yields lasting results. I’m also an associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine, I travel and speak all over the world several times a year, I appear on television once or twice a month as a health expert, and I have a beautiful family (Kubby, Rania, and my husband, Vik).
As I said, I’m no different than any other woman. I can get tired, I can overdo it, and I can still get sick—I’m not super human. But because I know how to use the powerful clues my body gives me, I do have access to potent super powers that help me to accomplish more while staying balanced, healthy, and happy. Thankfully, that means that I usually sidestep the pitfalls of fatigue, stress, depression, illness, and more while keeping up with an incredibly busy life. This power is available to you, too. My own path has taught me a lot about moving through the different stages of life as a woman—through my free and single twenties; my family-starting, career-solidifying thirties; and now my forties, where I’m the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been. I’ve seen the power of the Super Woman Rx transform countless women from all different decades and phases of life, from late teens to late eighties and every age in between.
You won’t find a one-size-fits-all plan here. You will discover that you fit into one of five distinct and individualized Power Types.
Hold on.
Five Types?
I realize that I just finished telling you how unique you are, and I still hold to that, but at the same time, I have found that there are five key patterns or types of women who benefit from unique recommendations. When you determine your Power Type (in Chapter 3), you’ll choose the one 3-Week Power Plan that is tailored to your unique blueprint. Your plan will guide you as to how to eat, exercise, socialize, meditate, and care for your body to achieve the results you seek. You will understand how your chemistry is connected to your life and the decisions you make along the way. These plans are based on the five general types of women I meet in my practice again and again—the five amazing kinds of super women I meet every day.
As you follow your 3-Week Power Plan, you’ll see and feel your unique super powers awakening. You’ll slim down and tone up effortlessly, look and feel younger and be full of energy, and feel happier and more relaxed than ever before. Regardless of your age and wellness status, you will learn how to consider and evaluate every nuance and aspect of your health, personality, and body type to determine the best plan for your Power Type.
The Super Woman Rx is the ultimate women’s resource guide for health and well-being—the ultimate biohack of your health. You are your own best healer and keeper of your own unique super powers. This book is designed to show you a better way to connect the dots to find the best diet, the best exercise and mind and body tools, and the best beauty regimen for you.
Here’s a quick look at how the book is organized.
Part I: I’ll start off in Chapter 1 by covering the background you need to know to understand the situation most women find themselves stuck in—overwhelmed and burned out. In Chapter 2, you’ll dive right in with the Mojo Meter, a test that will show you where you are out of balance in your life right now. In Chapter 3, you’ll determine which Super Woman Power Type you are—what makes you uniquely you. Chapter 4 will educate you on the tools every super woman needs to thrive in our super demanding world. Here you’ll learn all about the background, healing practices, and transformative power of the many tools and disciplines we will be blending. This is your reference guide, a place you can return to as you move through the Super Woman Rx for your basic explanation of the principles and philosophies from which we will pull.
Part II: Here is where we get into the meat of your 3-Week Power Plan. In these next five chapters, you’ll find detailed information about your unique Power Type, and you will begin an individualized 3-Week Power Plan customized to meet your needs.
Part III: In this section, I’ll take you to the next level and provide all the extra ingredients—recipes, exercises, mind-body strategies, and your super beauty regimen—to round out your Power Plan and reclaim your super powers.
Throughout the book you’ll see testimonies from real super women who have followed the 3-Week Power Plans and have felt the results of fantastically superior super powers in their lives!
I guard my health like the precious and rare jewel it is. I’ve learned the hard way that when I let me slip from top priority, this super woman quickly finds herself feeling as drained as Superman when exposed to kryptonite, and all my super powers disappear in a flash. I’m here to show you how to find and activate your super powers, to get your mojo back, and to live the super woman life you were meant to live.
Your health is rightfully yours. Are you ready to take it back?
Let’s do this!
Are you a Gypsy Girl, a Boss Lady, a Savvy Chick, an Earth Mama, or a Nightingale? In the next four chapters, you will identify your unique Power Type.
Think back for a moment to a time when you felt and looked alive. Picture your life—before long workdays, jam-packed schedules, kiddie or teen craziness, family drama, husbands or boyfriends or partners, pets, noisy neighbors, needy parents—go beyond all that to a time when you felt invincible—on top of the world—alive! Maybe it’s that moment where you put on your favorite dress and it fit perfectly (go get ’em), or when a “good hair day” was a frequent occurrence, and you were actually happy with your selfies or your Polaroids or your Canon 360s. Or maybe it was when you could go to the gym without feeling self-conscious about your body, or any time you felt truly free and happy—think back to when you were your own super hero.
Too long ago to remember? Not sure what I am talking about? We cannot let that happen. You will feel this way again, and this book will give you the recipes, the secrets, and the formula to live an empowered and impassioned life. But that starts by learning more about you, by finding your type—your Power Type—a blend of your medical needs, personality, and unique values.
Read on for the formula that will give you energy, vitality, beauty, and inner peace—leading you to your natural and divinely inspired inner, given gifts.
Chapter 1 starts you off by explaining the problem plaguing today’s super women (that’s all of us!). Chapter 2 introduces a self-assessment test that will help you establish a baseline for where you’re at in regard to energy and balance. In Chapter 3 you’ll get down to work by identifying your Power Type, and in Chapters 4 and 5, we’ll go in-depth into the nuances and healing practices that identify, heal, and amplify your Power Type.
We are supposed to do it all—and do it well—or so we think.
Modern womanhood means maintaining the demands of multiple roles: businesswoman, employee, mother, spouse, daughter, sister, homemaker, breadwinner, caretaker, chore and homework supervisor, family taxi driver, meal planner, or some mixture of these and more. And whatever roles we fill, we’re supposed to perform them looking eternally youthful, serene, and happy. We are expected to be super women, and we manage, but it comes at a cost. Women today show increased rates of anxiety, depression, chronic stress and fatigue, migraines, heart disease, strokes, and infertility. Consider these findings.
Women experience twice the rate of depression that men do, regardless of race or ethnic background. Researchers suspect that many factors unique to women’s lives play a role in developing depression, including genetics, hormones, abuse and oppression, and interpersonal, psychological, and personality characteristics.
From their teen years until around age 50, women are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety as men, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
While men and women report similar levels of stress, women are more likely to report that their stress levels are increasing and much more likely than men to report negative emotional and physical symptoms of stress, such as headaches, feeling like crying, and having indigestion, according to a 2010 survey of more than 1,600 men and women.
Women are two to four times more likely to be diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome than men. Women are also more likely to experience difficulty falling and staying asleep (63 percent versus 54 percent of men), to experience pain at night (58 percent versus 48 percent), and to experience fatigue during the day, according to a National Sleep Foundation poll.
According to the Migraine Research Foundation, women make up 28 million of the more than 38 million reported sufferers of this severe health condition. Women’s migraines also occur more often, last longer, and are more severe than men’s.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women, with 90 percent of women having one or more heart disease risk factors.
Each year 55,000 more US women than men have a stroke, according to the National Stroke Association, and women’s recovery rates after stroke lag those of men.
Nearly 11 percent of women in the United States (more than six million) experience infertility issues, according to the National Survey of Family Health (data are for 2006 to 2010).
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), also known as Stein-Leventhal syndrome, is one of the most common hormonal endocrine disorders in women. Five to 10 percent of women of childbearing age are affected by PCOS. But this statistic is grossly underestimated, with many more going undiagnosed.
Juggling all these different roles lends itself to a unique array of health problems that we didn’t face before in our history as women. Given the multitasking demands and multiple challenges of modern life—e-mails, cell phone calls and texts, lists, more lists, housework—something has got to give. All of this results in sacrifices in other areas of our lives—it creates dis-ease on many fronts, psychologically, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Think back to what you know of your own family history. My grandmother didn’t work outside the home and did not have much of an education, my mother-in-law gave up her career as a physician in India to raise her family, and my mother—the first super woman I knew—was determined to finish her education despite being married off at 19. She worked 18-hour days, 7 days a week to see her three daughters turn into their own versions of her super woman self. The bottom line is this: Women have many more choices and options today, but we also have to meet multiple demands and handle more responsibilities. As amazing as our opportunities are, we often forget one very important variable—our health!
A UK study in 2013 made headlines globally, with its evidence that women were better multitaskers than men. What the research didn’t cover was that taking on the multiple roles of mother, career woman, wife, etc., takes a toll—not to mention stressing over meeting the ridiculous, unrealistic demands of feminine perfection, of being “beautiful.” Women have to work twice as hard to get half as much, and all the duties and demands drain our energy, health, and happiness. According to a 2013 Mayo Clinic survey, women are more likely to suffer from skin disorders, osteoarthritis and joint issues, back problems, lung diseases, anxiety and depression, headaches and migraines, asthma, thyroid issues, and anemia than their male counterparts. The average American woman today weighs 166.2 pounds and is 5 feet 4 inches tall, which gives her a BMI of 28.5 (25 to 29 is considered overweight, while a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese). Finally, consider that it used to be men who were more likely to suffer from heart disease; today women have taken the lead in deadly heart attacks.
I hear similar stories from hundreds of women every month who come to me complaining of all of the above mentioned ailments and more—all of it boiling down to feeling overwhelmed but with no place to cut back. Woman after woman tells me how she’s failed to find solutions to her health even after numerous appointments with multiple doctors and specialists, trials on prescription medications that come with too many side effects, and dozens of tests that yielded no answers at all. The fact is that we women are in trouble. We want and deserve it all, but our health and our relationships are suffering. Most of us want or need to have both a career and a family life, but even for those who decide or need to do one thing at a time (stay home or focus on career), today’s pressures are just as overwhelming.
Let’s take moms. Have you called a stay-at-home mom lately? If you have, I’m willing to wager that she wasn’t at home when she answered. It’s more likely that she was taxiing kids to or from after-school activities, assisting in the classroom, coaching soccer or leading a Girl Scout troop, and on and on. And if she was home, it’s a sure bet that she was busy doing some sort of work: cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, putting away groceries, supervising homework, putting a bandage on a boo-boo, and/or paying the bills. She sure wasn’t lounging around the pool, popping bonbons into her mouth. Mom-ing is a full-time job all on its own.
Alternatively, the women who are the CEOs, stockbrokers, and business owners—a different set of pressure points—are usually either the breadwinners for their families or have sacrificed the pursuit of a family as they pursued a career. Many of my CEO friends feel anxiety and urgency to keep up with their male counterparts at the table and put in as many or more hours to prove themselves. They hop on planes, manage meetings, build teams, and watch the bottom line, afraid of—almost panicked at—the idea of taking a moment to slow down to nurture their energy and their spirits.
And then there are the women who do both—they have children and/or parents to care for and they run companies, lobby for world peace, and sign up as room mom, troop leader, or PTA president year after year.
It’s too much, and we don’t have the powers to keep it all up all the time. I know I didn’t. It’s trying to juggle too many different roles and please too many people that burns us out, fries our brains, and destroys our health. Yes, you might bring home the bacon, but you also are probably getting fried to a crisp.
I found my super powers, I restored my health and well-being, and I found my purpose and my gifts. I’ve helped countless women do the same and understand that it is all related—that by learning your chemistry and finding your type, you will also find your own super powers. You cannot broker world peace, run a business, or look amazing without understanding this formula. In this book, I make sure these super powers are available to you too!
Most diets, weight loss plans, even health regimens tend to be one-size-fits-all, but you are a unique individual who requires a customized plan to fit your specific Power Type. Nowhere is this one-size-fits-all mentality more obvious than when looking at the popular diets on the market. Most weight loss plans are generic—trying to appeal to the “average” woman and making claims that they will work for all women. Sure, a lot of diet programs tweak the amount of calories allowed based on your height, age, and weight goal—but they don’t go far enough. You and I are far from average—you are amazing and capable, and you also have a unique makeup that deserves an equally individualized plan to improve your health and happiness. That’s what you’re about to learn. There are a few diet books out there that recognize and address the need for different plans for different types of individuals. Eat Right 4 Your Type, The GenoType Diet, and The Diet Cure, for example, attempt to offer a somewhat customized program for different individuals, but these diets still only focus on one sort of “typing,” such as blood type, genetic history, or common hormones while ignoring so many other factors, including Eastern medicine typing, body clues, laboratory values, and emotional makeup.
Conventional Western medicine focuses on the management and control of symptoms and disease, not on finding a true solution to the underlying problem. There is value in conventional mainstream medicine—but alone, it is a broken system. I don’t want you to have the same frustrating experience I had 15 years ago. There is a better way! The best health care is a blend of several of the best and most valuable healing practices from around the globe, ancient and modern, from the East and the West—and it’s all truly within your reach. You’ve already started by reading this book!
READY?
Keep reading to begin reclaiming your super powers.
Have you lost it? Has your mojo gone missing or your spark gone dark?
I know you can get IT—your mojo—back. You will go back to lighting up a room, warming a space, and spreading your vibrancy through everything you touch. I see it all the time. In fact, my favorite moments in practice are when I get to see the light come back on in a woman’s eyes, when her face glows and she transforms from dim and dull to bright and full. I could not have asked for a better job. It’s my purpose and my passion—getting you back to you.
When I first meet a new patient at my practice, CentreSpring MD, I spend a few hours on her care. That might seem like a lot, especially since the average doctor’s visit runs all of 10 minutes, but I think getting to know you is crucial. I want you to think in the same way. This chapter is your new-patient appointment in print form. Don’t worry—it won’t take you as long as it takes me since you already know you!
Your mojo is your spark or your energy, verve, joyfulness, vigor, inspiration, enthusiasm, passion, inner light, divine goddess. Whatever you want to call IT, you want IT working in tip-top shape. Think back again to a day you felt truly happy and beautiful. Well, that was just a mini dose of mojo—I’m going to show you how to turn that fleeting feeling into Super Energy and make it last every moment of every day!
The sort of mojo I’m talking about tapping into is your source of a true zest for life, or the get-up-and-go type of energy that gets you excited to experience all the blessings and opportunities in the hours ahead. That energy begins with your health and with the realization that you have to periodically check in with yourself to understand where you are on the spectrum of health and happiness. A mantra here or there can help, a vitamin B12 shot may get you through the week, but to get and keep all of your inner super powers fully and optimally charged at all times, you have to be able to put all the pieces of you together. That means knowing how to do an inner self-analysis of where you are right at this very moment. That’s just what the Mojo Meter does: It’s your check-in, checkup, and your way to check out where you are at this period of time in your life. Instead of searching on Dr. Google, you can use your knowledge of yourself (you are the expert) to take the following test to get a balanced and objective picture of you (this is how you begin to biohack your health). By checking everything from your energy levels to the quality of your mood, the condition of your hair and skin, and even your periods (yes, we’re going to talk about that and more), you’ll be able to see where you need a little help, a stronger nudge, or a full-on intervention. This test will help you to know whether you need a rest, a boost, or a complete overhaul.
It’s time to dive in and take your pulse. Answer the following questions True or False based on how you’d rate the last few months of your life. Don’t overthink it; just go with the first instinctive response that pops up. Go with the answer that comes to you within the first 10 seconds after reading the question. Answering this way will give you a vivid snapshot of your energy level and health right now. You’ll use this baseline to know where to go next. And you’ll return and retake this test as you move through your 3-Week Power Plan and beyond.
1. | I look forward to waking up every morning. |
2. | I get dressed easily in the morning. |
3. | I have clothes that I love and feel confident wearing. |
4. | I eat breakfast at home, before checking e-mails. |
5. | I assemble and plan my food for the day. |
6. | I have shiny, healthy hair. |
7. | I have clear, smooth skin. |
8. | I am within 5 pounds in either direction of my ideal weight. |
9. | I have strong nails. |
10. | I am content with my figure and appearance. |
11. | I have boundless energy throughout the day. |
12. | I have good focus and concentration. |
13. | I feel mentally sharp. |
14. | I don’t lose my words or forget things. |
15. | I look forward to going to work. |
16. | I look forward to coming home. |
17. | I am free of pain. |
18. | I have regular and consistent menstrual cycles. |
19. | I am actively in an intimate relationship. |
20. | I have found my life partner. |
21. | I have a strong, supportive family. |
22. | I am surrounded by community. |
23. | I have found a way to connect to my spirit. |
24. | I love where I live. |
25. | I suffer from frequent headaches. |
26. | I have interrupted sleep more than three nights per week. |
27. | I am battling hair loss. |
28. | I have acne and/or eczema. |
29. | I have unexplained weight gain. |
30. | I am unhappy with my weight. |
31. | I am unhappy with my figure. |
32. | I dread having to dress or enter my closet. |
33. | I hesitate to turn on lights in the bathroom. |
34. | I hesitate to get on the scale. |
35. | I have frequent indigestion. |
36. | I have irregular periods. |
37. | I have had a chronic illness or disease in the last 5 years. |
38. | I have terrible PMS or perimenopausal/menopausal symptoms. |
39. | I have chronic pain. |
40. | I have joint swelling or joint pain. |
41. | I am in a difficult or disjointed relationship. |
42. | I am estranged from family or lack family. |
43. | I do not have a companion. |
44. | I hate my job. |
45. | I detest the career I have chosen. |
46. | I am seeking a life change and not sure how to get there. |
47. | I crash through the day and it is difficult to sustain my energy. |
48. | I have crying episodes. |
49. | I have poor motivation. |
50. | I find it difficult to concentrate. |
51. | I suffer from overthinking/mind racing. |
52. | I do not maintain connection to my spirit. |
Add up the True answers as follows:
For questions in Part A, numbers 1 to 24, every True answer = 1. Add them all up (you will have a positive number).
For questions in Part B, numbers 25 to 52, each True answer = -1. Add them all up (you will have a negative number).
Now add Part A and Part B together. The equation will look like this: A + (-B) or A—B (since B will be a negative number).
19 to 24: Congratulations! Your mojo is at a max right now, so go for it. Find that dream job, start your family, or launch a fund for world peace. Whatever your vision, you are in a good place to embrace it. Just don’t get overconfident. Appreciate where you are now, and use the Super Woman Rx to reinforce and stabilize your already healthy and happy life. This is a reference book for your entire life, and you can still take it to the next level. Plus, life will still happen. Chances are, you will hit speed bumps when you are not at your peak, challenges that will require you to ramp up your defenses, or transitions that need addressing. Continue on with the next chapters to help you reinforce your motivation to keep on doing the right things for you, and to shed some light to how you can do even better. Plan on retaking the Mojo Meter every 4 months.
7 to 18: Caution, slippery slopes ahead. It’s time to do a bit of digging. You are starting to lose your edge and could use some leveling and balancing out. Your score indicates that you are seeing early warning signs that the life you are living and the way you’re taking care of yourself may not really maximize your energy and your super powers. It’s time to get started. Over the next chapters, you’ll learn how to pinpoint exactly what your unique Super Woman needs to thrive. While your mojo shows many strong areas, there are regions that need improvement. In the next chapter you’ll be able to pinpoint your unique type and know how to specifically address the energy areas that need a boost.
1 to 6: Repairs and restoration required. Proceed with caution. Your score indicates that you’re out of touch with your super powers and need a tune-up. You need to stop and check in, or you will soon be checked out. Your health is drained on more than one front; let’s work to get you back on track. The Super Woman Rx will empower you to get on the right eating, exercise, and mental health plan to get back into balance and operating at your optimal level of health and happiness. Read on.
-27 to 0: Major overhauling needed! Halt! Stop what you are doing and read this book! Your mojo is in trouble. You are checked out, disconnected, and divided from yourself. It’s time to get started on some major rehab work. You are obviously in the middle of some spiritual, physical, mental, or emotional crisis. In the next chapter you’ll learn how to begin assembling your team of health interventionists and supporters: your family members, friends, doctors, counselors, and so on.
It’s time to take action. You now know where you stand. This will help you to move forward clearly and consciously, with the motivation, desire, and hunger you need to tap into your super powers. There is no happy without healthy, and no passion without chemistry, so let’s get your mojo back—claim IT and own IT. How? First you have to find your unique fingerprint—your Power Type and the formula that will super charge your mojo.
Ready to find your Power Type? Read on!
Gypsy? Boss Lady? Savvy Chick? Earch Mama? Or Nightingale? Which one are you? Are you just one of these types, or a blend of a few? What exactly is a Power Type?
Welcome to the Power Type Test. This assessment will help you determine your unique characteristics, personality, strengths, and weaknesses and will help you to establish the type of Super Woman Rx plan you’ll benefit from most.
Paleo, gluten or lactose free, vegan or vegetarian? Pre- or postmenopausal? Sedentary, active, or athletic? Underweight, normal, or overweight?—who are you?
Some of these labels are choices, some are not. Regardless, they recognize that individuals vary and that any given person will thrive with one diet or activity over another.
Still, there are so many other factors and layers to take into consideration above and beyond just a person’s diet or quantity of exercise. Narrowing down health and well-being into so few categories would be like trying to build a house by just looking at the best paint colors and plumbing—what about the foundation, electric wiring, lighting, insulation, and so on?
I am fortunate to meet countless women every week in my practice. I see some similarities among my patients, and many differences. Each woman has a story, a unique fingerprint and mission. Let’s take a look.