How a Metabolism Tracker Helped Me Heal My Hashimoto’s (and My Relationship with Food)
Why Lumen is one of my favorite tools after inflammation healing—and how it can help you too.
Let me start with this: when I was in the thick of my Hashimoto’s symptoms - bloated, exhausted, inflamed, and feeling like a stranger in my own body - the last thing I needed was another app or device that told me I was “doing it wrong.” I didn’t need more guilt or more metrics.
But after I started calming my inflammation, healing my gut, and learning what foods actually worked for my body, I hit a new phase of my journey: rebuilding my metabolism.
And that’s where Lumen came in.
What Is Lumen?
Lumen is a handheld metabolism tracker that uses your breath to tell you whether you’re burning carbs or fat for energy. That’s it. No blood pricks, no stress. Just breathe into it in the morning (and optionally throughout the day) and it gives you real-time insight into how your metabolism is functioning.
But for me, it became so much more than that.
How I Used Lumen in My Hashimoto’s Journey
After working through the core of my gut + inflammation protocol, I knew I had stabilized a lot of what was broken. But I still had lingering questions like:
Why was I still gaining weight after doing “all the right things”?
Why did I feel starving some days and totally fine others?
Why did one workout energize me and another leave me wiped for 3 days?
Lumen helped me finally get answers - without obsessively tracking calories or macros.
What Lumen Taught Me About Healing (Not Just Weight Loss)
💡 It taught me when my body was actually stressed.
If I didn’t sleep well, didn’t drink enough water, or had a super emotional day? Lumen picked it up. My readings would show I wasn’t switching efficiently between carbs and fat - because my body was stressed, not broken.
💡 It showed me how workouts were affecting my recovery.
Instead of guessing whether I was “overdoing it,” I could see if my body was stuck in carb-burning mode the next day. It helped me adjust my movement to support recovery - not fight against it.
💡 It let me stop villainizing food.
This was a big one. With Hashimoto’s, we’re constantly told to eliminate, restrict, and fear food. But Lumen helped me understand that fueling well (and intentionally) was what my body needed. Not fewer calories. Not more restriction. Better strategy.
💡 It helped me support my metabolism intentionally.
Your metabolism is not just about what you eat. It’s about how and when you eat, your sleep quality, your hydration, your stress levels, and your gut health. Lumen made those connections easier to see in real time.
Can Lumen Help During the Healing Phase Too?
Yes. 1000%. In fact, I wish I had it earlier.
Here’s why: most women with Hashimoto’s think they have a “broken metabolism,” but what’s really happening is a body stuck in chronic stress, inflammation, and gut dysfunction. Lumen doesn’t “fix” that - but it helps you see what your body is doing before and after you begin healing.
You can use it to:
Track how anti-inflammatory meals shift your metabolism over time
See how removing certain foods affects your fuel usage
Monitor how stress management and sleep start improving your body's efficiency
Feel more in control, less confused, and way less stressed
My Bottom Line?
Lumen gave me data without the drama.
It gave me a tool to see what was working - and the permission to fuel my body like someone who is healing, not dieting.
If you’re past the chaos stage of inflammation and ready to support your metabolism intentionally…or even if you’re still in the early healing phase but want to stop second-guessing everything—you can check out the same tool I use here (use code SarahRuth for a discount).
You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to understand your body—and support it accordingly.
For personalized guidance on your wellness journey, feel free to grab my gut healing guide or complete my free assessment to get a more in-depth look into what you need to do to heal your gut. I also offer 1:1 guidance to help you thrive in your hashimotos journey. Together, we can create a plan tailored to your unique needs and health goals.