EP073 | Trust Your Body Over Tests: How Inner Confidence Can Guide You Better Than Any Lab Result

Have you ever been told your labs look “fine” while your body screams the opposite?

You might be chasing protocols, swapping supplements, and second-guessing every bite—yet still riding the flare-and-fatigue rollercoaster.

The truth: tests can inform, but your body is your first and most reliable lab. 

In this episode, I show you how to stop outsourcing your power and start decoding your body’s signals with gentle precision—so relief becomes sustainable, not accidental.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING TO THIS PODCAST EPISODE, YOU'LL DISCOVER:

You don’t need to do more—you need to listen better. When you treat your body as a trusted partner, clarity returns, flares soften, and healing becomes doable.

Ready to see exactly where you’re stuck (and what to do next)? 

Grab the free Chronic Healing Scorecard—your 5-minute self-assessment to spot the gaps and build body-trust fast.

OTHER LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Join our free Facebook group: Embrace Your Healing Journey
• Book: The Well-Lived Life by Dr. Gladys McGarey
• Blog: Healing from Within (Substack)
• Learn about the Body Wise Healing™ Framework
• EP071 | Healing From Chronic Illness: My Daughter’s Inspiring Recovery Story
• E068 | When Everything Feels Like a Trigger: The Hidden Key to Immune Calm

Write to me at anindita@aninditarungta.com
— I’d love to hear from you!

Chapters

• 0:02 The Hidden Lab Inside You
• 1:44 A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Healing Secret
• 6:51 When Normal Labs Don’t Match Your Life
• 9:18 Why Protocols Keep You Stuck
• 9:55 The Symptom Whisper Journal
• 16:17 From Weary Warrior to Inner Healer

Transcript

What if I told you that the most powerful lab you will ever have isn't in a hospital? It's already inside you for many women. Test results can often say normal while their body says just the opposite. And in today's episode, we are talking about why trusting your body to guide you is better than any lab result, any perfect lab result, and how that shift can change everything about your healing journey. 

Welcome to Embrace Your Healing Journey, a podcast for women with autoimmune and other chronic conditions to help them navigate their illness without fear of isolation and uncertainty, and find relief from their symptoms. Your body is your guide and ally in healing. If you are ready to embrace this journey with compassion and awareness, then this show is for you. Tune in weekly as I, a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, deliver tips and insights that demystify the healing process, guiding you towards the relief you deserve so that you can feel healthy and happy once more. So if you felt dismissed or ever felt dismissed because your labs came back normal or confused when your body tells a different story. You're not alone in this. Many women have been in this situation, and in this episode, I'll show you. You know how to rebuild your trust with your body. Why? That confidence matters more than any lab report and a simple practice that you can start today to just do that, to rebuild that trust and get the confidence back. But I first I want to start with a passage that I came across, a book that I'm, uh, currently reading. It's it's a beautiful and, uh, super powerful and a book that I highly recommend. 

It's called The Well-Lived Life, a 102 year old doctor. Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Any age. It's by, uh, a very prominent doctor called Doctor Gladys Majerus. Uh, and, uh, before I share the excerpt and she actually was born in India, raised in India, uh, till about, you know, uh, ten, 11 years of age. And then she moved back to the US, where her parents are originally from. Her parents are both were both doctors, and they used to actually treat leprosy patients in India in the 1930s. Right. It's an amazing story. So that even the backstory is so, so interesting and riveting. And what actually caught my attention more than anything else is that when she was on a journey for, you know, on a train journey from Delhi to Bombay, she actually saw Gandhiji. Uh, he was on his, uh, salt march, actually. And that left a huge, uh, you know, impression on her in terms of how love is so powerful in a healing journey and and still to read, uh, you know, the entire book. 

But, I wanted to share an excerpt from some parts that I've, you know, already read. And I think it's a lovely way to start this episode and, you know, just talk about what actually healing is. 

She says.

 Contrary to what the medical establishment believes, doctors don't heal patients. Only patients can heal themselves. As doctors, we apply skills, knowledge and ingenuity to treating our patients. We care deeply about people and we funnel that compassion into our work. This is our sacred role on earth. Yet ultimately, the best doctors know that healing comes from within. 

She goes on to say,

 because although our well-being is related to the challenges we face, it isn't entirely governed by them. Many people live with diseases and even great pain while remaining joyfully connected to their purpose. Others are disease free and still waking and still wake up not wanting to be alive. Health doesn't require us to live in a problem free body, just as happiness doesn't require us to experience a problem free life. Health and happiness are about being so connected to our own life force that we feel we fit into the world around us. True health is about living with the world around us as an engaged, participatory experience. It's about cooperating with the living force within us, our will, our desire to be here and to share our gifts with the world. Our willingness to do so becomes our sense of purpose. And once we have that, our souls can be healthy in any state. 

What a beautiful start to the book. This is one of the first few chapters and what a beautiful start to this episode, right? We can be. Especially where she says that our souls can be healthy in any state. So no matter what you are going through, no matter what health issues you have. There's so, so much that you can do to live a joyful and purposeful life. But you may be facing issues. 

You may be having symptoms, so you might wake up after 9 or 10 hours of sleep and still feel like you've hardly slept at all, or your joints might be aching or your muscles might be sore, even though not really done any workout. Or maybe your skin breaks out into sudden rashes or hives you can't explain. Or maybe your stomach is, you know, completely randomly. So constipation. Suddenly, you know, one week, diarrhea the next week, bloating after every meal. And you can't really pinpoint as to what's going on. And then, of course, there are those unpredictable flares days when your body sees, you know, simply says no, and you have to cancel every plan that you made. The real problem is not that your body is broken and is weak. The problem is that your body is working over time to get your attention. And these symptoms are just messages. So when you what you feel as fatigue, pain, rashes, flare ups, gut chaos is really your body's alarm system saying that something is out of balance. Please help. 

This is not something that you are told. This is not something that we are, you know, trained to. Uh, listen and do something about. But because most women are taught how to chase symptoms, chase the symptoms with pills, with medications, with diets, or even the next fix. . And these only scratch the surface. 

And the deeper issue is immune system dysregulation. It's driven by years of stress, inflammation, toxins and a nervous system that's been in survival mode for so long. And I've talked about this in previous episodes, and I'll share them in the show notes below in the link below. Because what I want you to know is your body is not attacking you. It's protecting you in the only way that it knows how. Right these symptoms are. Its way of trying to get you to do something about it. These symptoms are signals, and until you learn how to listen to them and decode them, you are only scratching the surface. And that's where so many women are stuck. 

So you've because you've probably tried many things to get better. You've done the endless blood tests, hoping the numbers would finally give you the, you know, answers, or finally explain why you feel the way you do. Or maybe you have got on strict elimination diets. Maybe nightshades, gluten, dairy, sometimes all at once. Only to feel discouraged because you don't, you know, see the sustainable results or you've stocked your shelves with supplements. You know, each new bottle, you know, promising you that you will get better energy, better better skin, etc. but again, these don't last. Or maybe you've pushed yourself into workout plans that just, you know, just not sustainable. Or maybe, you know, they actually, you know, backfired and maybe you even cycle through medications like many people do. And don't get me wrong, medications are not evil like medications are often necessary, especially in complex chronic conditions like autoimmune disease, to prevent further damage. 

And as I keep repeatedly telling my clients, and I want to let you know, dear listener, is that it's not either or, it's not either medications and treatments or what I'm talking about today, which is your, you know, figuring out, listening to your body, uh, holistic healing. It's usually a combination of this that works the best. So it's never no medication, no antibiotic, no pills, no doctors. It's usually a combination of that. And while you are getting some relief, symptomatic relief, you have the energy and the wherewithal to actually work on what I'm talking about, which is what is going on underneath, which is immune dysregulation. So maybe you've tried all this. You've tried different medications and they've left you with the new side effects. 

And through it all, you're probably wondering in frustration, I am doing everything right. So why am I still stuck? See, here's the thing. None of these things are wrong. It's not that any of what you have attempted is wrong. They can all help in some way, but the reason that they haven't worked is because you're constantly looking outside of yourself for all the answers. So till you are able to look within for those answers, till you are able to be guided by your own body. And that's exactly what I do with my clients. We are within the body wise healing framework that I use in all you know, in my coaching programs. It's very hard to know what is the right step, right, what is going to work and what is not going to work. Because each of us are, you know, different individuals. It's called bio individuality. 

 So everything that you do has to be customized for you. And this is the reason that most people actually don't get well or even stable. So they may get better, uh, you know, temporarily because they're taking in some supplements or some, you know, some medications. As I said, they can have side effects, but they don't. They're not able to sustain that. They're not able to sustain the workout. They're not able to sustain the lifestyle because it's not really customized for them. And that's that's actually a problem. And that keeps them stuck in what I call a disease merry go round. So what I want you to do is something radically different and radically simple.

Here's and it's a simple practice that you can start today. I'm calling it the Symptom Whisperer Journal. Whisper journal. It's a five minute daily practice. And there are three things that I want you to do. 

Number one, write down one signal that your body gave you today so it can be a headache. It can be bloating. It can be digestion, fatigue, or even maybe a burst of energy. It can be a good, uh, you know, good, uh, sort of symptom as well. So that is number one. 

Number two is note what was happening around it. Any new foods that you were eating but you stressed by eating certain foods but you short on sleep? Or were you finally taking that nap because you were feeling so tired? So you have to just notice that and write it down. 

And number three, ask yourself why? What might my body be asking for right now? So these are the three steps for the symptom. Whisper Journal number one. Write down one signal your body gave you today. Number two, note what was happening around it. Number three what might I body be asking for right now? So just answer these questions and just do it for a week and notice any underlying patterns. And you will see that often you will get answers that you've probably not even got from your lab results. 

And this is this is when you start rebuilding trust in your body, the confidence that you get from finally being able to connect the dots because your body has been telling you all along, but you refuse to listen, or you probably didn't know how to listen. They'll give you a huge boost of confidence, right? And it's it's this is very important. This is where the healing journey actually starts and one thing builds on another. So instead of having a vicious cycle where you are doing the same things and you know, you are stuck in repeat and you don't know how to get out of that cycle, you actually get into a virtuous cycle because once you start seeing a few improvements, then you start doing a few other things, then you see a few more improvements, then you. So it's a it's a beautiful, virtuous cycle.

 And here's why it is so important. Because every time you ignore a signal, your body has to shout louder the next time. So, you know, small whispers as we call them in functional medicine, like, uh, you know, fatigue and afternoon slump. Uh, you know, some skin rashes can actually turn into full blown flares. And I have faced this personally a few times in my life. And, you know, sometimes I need a reminder that I remember this was way back in 2019. 2016. Actually, this was a few years after my daughter went through a full blown crisis, uh, you know, health crisis. And it was very, very challenging time. 

Many years of severe stress for me as a primary caregiver. And I've talked about it in my earlier episode, in fact, the previous episode is about my daughter's journey, and I'll share that in the show notes if you want to hear it from her. And to cut a long story short, uh, because of those years of, you know, uh, and sleepless nights and struggles, uh, as a mother, as a caregiver, I suddenly started developing this unexplained skin rashes.

And I remember going for a holiday. It was  2016. August was my birthday. And having a glass of wine and the, you know, I sort of broke out into rashes, highest levels, etcetera. But I will not get into that. But the point is that, you know, it's my legs and my hands. And I actually went on a short break as well, and I was fortunately, I was in Europe. I was wearing covered, you know, I was covering my arms and legs because it was cold for me. But at the same time, there were skin rashes because I was constantly itchy.  And I there was nothing true, really. There was nothing new. One thing that had happened except the fact that my body was, you know, sort of letting me know that there was something that I needed to pay attention. And again, because of my training, when I came back, I started paying attention to that. I cut out on mine, etc., for a while. Uh, you know, it's it's a social. I'm a social drinker, but I do indulge from time to time. Coffee is another one. So I cut out some of these things. I made sure that I was in bed at 930 every night. There are very few exceptions, so I did this for about three to I can't remember, but it's about about 3 to 6 months for sure. And that's what sort of, you know, brought me back. 

 That was it. I mean, I really didn't have to do much because, uh, you know, I listened to those whispers. So that was one example where I did. And the second example is a few years ago where I did not listen to those whispers and I was traveling and I was ignoring my sciatica pain. And I've talked about it earlier, so I'm not getting into the details here, but, you know, I sort of ignored it. And by the time I went to the doctors, they suggested surgery. And it was a very, very painful recovery because I had to do intense rehab. So that was another example of where I did not listen to the whispers till it became a scream. So then I was in intense pain for three months, had to go through, you know, 32 sessions of physiotherapy to start feeling, you know, relief, pain relief.

 So, those are two extreme examples I can give you. But the point is that when you start paying attention, something shifts. You realize your body is not predictable. It's not unpredictable. It's actually consistent. It's trying to protect you. And this is why it's been, you know, sort of sharing some of these symptoms with you. And this is what brings relief, not another supplement, not waiting for months for a specialist to tell you what you already feel. You know what you feel. And as I said, it's not about, you know, not visiting a doctor, not getting a diagnosis, not being on a treatment or taking medications, usually a combination. But you need to also do this. You need to also tune in to your body, because that is when you will actually know what your body needs full, you know, in real time. 

And that's the difference between staying stuck in, again, what I call a disease Merry-Go-Round, where you keep going round and round in circles, which is a vicious cycle, or moving into healing with clarity and confidence. And that's the difference. And that's exactly, again, as I mentioned, that this is what I teach in my coaching programs. I have a six month coaching program called Body Wise Transformation Journey.

 It's a deep dive into and, you know, 100% customized and, uh, very work very closely together. And the other one is a three month program called really From Within, where we start on this, we lay the foundation of healing, uh, and in both the programs, you know, uh, it's based on the body wise healing framework, which is exactly what I was just talking about. It's, you know, it's when you stop outsourcing every answer and start decoding your body's signal, and you finally have a roadmap that actually works for you. And this is exactly how my clients move from being a very warrior to becoming what I call them, an inner healer. And that's exactly what I want for you. 

So I hope that this episode has given you a different and a new way and a more effective way of thinking about lab results, about lab tests and, you know, understanding why you need to tune into your body and be guided by it. And this is the body wise wrap up. Uh, you know, based on what we covered today. 

Number one, your body signals are not random. They are your first and most reliable lab test. Uh, tests and protocols can help, but they can't really replace your inner confidence. Number two, a number three is healing begins when you see symptoms and feedback and not failure. And a number for trusting your body creates clarity. Calm in a way that no result can ever provide. Number five. The more you practice tuning in, the faster you can move from feeling stuck in flare cycles to feeling empowered in your healing. 

So if today's episode resonated with you, I want you to take the next step and see exactly where you are stuck. And this is the reason I created the Chronic Healing Scorecard so you can. This is a five minute self-assessment scorecard where you can figure out, you know, where is it that your you know, that you need some help, where is that gap. 

And you will spot the five most common gaps that women, you know who are stuck in the flare and fatigue cycle phase. You can discover what you're already doing right and you will get personalized healing score and so that you know what to do next. So it's completely free. And it's the best place to start building the confidence in your body again. 

So you can grab it right now at aninditarungta.com/scorecard. Because healing is not about doing more. It's about finally trusting your body's wisdom.