ED Day 1

Just to clarify, this is not day 1 of my erectile dysfunction.  I’m just betting that by week 2 I will be too lazy to type Elimination Diet every day so I’m shortening it now:)

I’m going to start off these posts letting you guys know exactly what I ate and then follow-up with how I felt.

Breakfast

6 oz. turkey cooked in coconut oil (enough to cover the pan)

1/2 cup cooked organic spinach (cooked in extra-virgin olive oil)

Topped with 1 Tbsp garlic-infused olive oil, green part only of green onions, and Salt & Pepper

Lunch

5 oz. wild canned salmon mixed with sautéed carrots, chives, green onions, parsley and salt & pepper

1/2 cup carrot puree- steamed carrots blended with coconut oil and cinnamon

2 medium zucchini cooked in homemade ghee with fresh basil

Dinner

5 oz. pastured pork shoulder cooked in the slow cooker with organic green beans and organic carrots

1 Tbsp of homemade ghee/garlic olive oil blend with parsley

OK…so that was the food.  I had no snacks and nothing to drink except water. The food was a little boring but it certainly wasn’t bad.   Which is good, because I will probably be eating about the same thing for the rest of the 3-4 weeks.  I’m sure the blog is going to be about as boring as my diet, but hang in there with me.  I am hoping that using this protocol will lead to some serious healing and answer all those questions I have about which foods I actually can and can’t eat.

Now let’s talk about how I felt.  I felt like sh*@!!  I don’t know that it had much to do with the food.  As a matter of fact, I think it had very little to do with the food.  It was the first day of my lady cycle and I have been having migraines on that day for the past 6 months.  Yesterday was no exception.  Add to that that our AC went out on Friday and I live in Memphis, TN where the heat index is 110 in August and you have a pretty miserable scenario:(  Let’s tack on the fact that my hair started falling out in mini clumps yesterday and you can see why I felt like sh*@!  I know the migraines and hair loss are related to my female hormones because they follow a very predictable pattern.  I am hoping that the ED will help with this, but I will just have to keep monitoring it and let you know how it plays out.  If I don’t have a migraine on the first day of my next cycle, I will be relatively sure that this diet has a lot to do with it.  Crossing my fingers!

As for digestive symptoms, they were mild. Still had a my normal mild degree of bloating that I always have.  I also had some mild acid reflux at bedtime.  But, I was never hungry and the cravings were pretty mild considering it coincided with my period.  Stay tuned for Day 2:)

Daily Log

Weight- 123.6  A small loss, but I’ll take it:))

Sleep- I am having some issues with this so I feel the need to see if I can decipher what is going on here.  I’ve had off and on issues since my daughter was born, but then they became severe last December.  I started some supplements for it and they helped.  Even after I came off the supplements I was still doing pretty well.  However, since our trip to Florida I have been struggling a little more to get to sleep.  Last night I could hear my heart beating pretty hard in my ears and that kept me awake for a while.  I try not to look at the clock because I tend to get a little obsessed, but if I had to guess, I would say I fell asleep sometime around 1am (even though I turned the light out at 10:45) and got up when my 4 year old came in at 6:47am.  Not enough for this mama!

Exercise- 30 mins on rebounder, 10 mins yoga, and 75 weighted squats, 75 push-ups (girl kind-I wasn’t feelin’ it this morning), 75 Bent-over Rows w/sandbag, 30 Bicycle Abs

Food-

Breakfast-1 slice fresh pineapple, 1 egg scrambled with 2tsps coconut oil and 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup soup-  My husband made this incredible soup for the kids last night, but he put rice in it.  He left me out a serving before adding the rice and I didn’t feel like eating it last night (bad tummy) so I had soup for breakfast.  Very paleo;))

Lunch- Had lunch with a dear girlfriend. We ate at Rafferty’s because she is obsessed with all things carbs and wanted my croissant.  I had a small Frisco salad- lettuce, tomato, cheese, artichoke, egg, potato sticks, vinaigrette

Note- About 2 hours after lunch- felt pretty nauseated

Snack- 1/2 cup organic raspberries, handful of marcona almonds, 2 oz Dubliner cheese

Note- Nausea went away after I ate, but came back again about 2 hours later???  Also pain in mid-back? Oh wait, seriously as I was writing this I just “let one fly” and my back is completely better (ok, it was more than 1).  Man, gas can hurt like a mutha!

Dinner- slice of pineapple, protein shake (same one I always make)

It is 6:56 pm and I am calling it a night.  Putting my daughter to bed early and I am snuggling up with my Netflix and some Downton Abbey!  I just started that show last weekend.  I am only on episode 3, but I am loving it!  My husband and I love us some British period pieces!  Plus, my health coach said I needed more rest and relaxation so I think this qualifies.  Talk to you guys tomorrow.

Daily Log

Exercise- Bodyrock has introduced a new work out on Tuesdays (and since I work a day behind that is today) and it is for beginners.  I am not a beginner so I went back and did one of my favorite Bodyrock workouts and then tacked on the Bodyrock Lite beginner workout at the end.  So that ended up being 24 mins of weighted intervals and jumping rope, 15 bicycle abs, 15 abs on stability ball and 100 sandbag swings (sandbag has 14 pounds in it).  Then I did 30 minutes on the rebounder.

Weight- 124 pounds (so that’s a loss which is great, but I have to see if it stays that way.  My funky thyroid is making that difficult.) I did talk to my health coach and we have a plan in place to treat it.  Sometime this week I plan to share  all the supplements I am currently taking and what they are for.  I know you are all on pins and needles for that info:))

Food- Paleo Challenge Ongoing- No grains, no peanut butter, no sugar- So far so good

Breakfast- leftover sweet potato hash, 1 slice honeydew, 1 slice fresh pineapple

Lunch- same old Greek salad only no artichokes

Snack- 1/2 large orange, handful of baked root vegetable chips

Dinner-Last Minute Frittata- had a rehearsal at church so threw this together quickly-  leftover chicken (I roasted 2 organic chickens on Monday night), 8 eggs, asparagus, sundried tomatoes, heart of palm, scallions, onions, garlic, coconut oil, Dubliner cheese-cut it into 8 pieces and I had one piece and a 1/2 cup of roasted cauliflower- It was pretty yummy- the kids even ate it:))

Other info- I have had a headache since about 6pm and some cramping in my back and abdomen:(

Daily Log

I got some blood work results this morning.  Everything was normal except my thyroid tests.  My doc said I was mildly hypothyroid and that she wanted me to start Synthroid.  I politely said “No” and that I would get back to her.  She is accustomed to my rejecting medications.  I do this all the time:))  I am not sure what I am going to do to address it yet.  Hopefully I can get in touch with my health coach and get some advice.  I am not surprised by these results.  I had already planned on addressing my “weight issue” in today’s post.  I put weight issue in quotes because at 125.6 pounds I realize that I am not truly overweight.  However, I have put on about 13 pounds over the last 6-9 months.  To put it in perspective, I weighed 122 pounds when I came home from the hospital after having my daughter. so 125.6 is pretty high for me.  I am not a big person.  I am 5’2” tall with a small/medium frame.

Exericse- New Bodyrock workout- 30 minutes High Intensity Weighted Intervals, 15 minutes of inner/outer thigh & butt lifts/squeezes, 15 reps of 8 different weighted exercises with sandbag, 10 mins yoga

My sandbag is currently 14 pounds

Breakfast- sweet potato hash, 2 scrambled eggs (little butter, little coconut oil), 1 slice honeydew

Lunch- Greek salad (same as yesterday except I added chia seeds) Just a note- I was incredibly bloated after lunch.  Like 6 months pregnant looking kind of bloated:(  Not sure what to make of that since I ate the same thing yesterday with no problem.

Snack- 7 roasted veggie chips w/2tbsps. pimento cheese with jalapenos

Dinner- protein shake- 5oz. almond/coconut milk, chia seeds, goji berries, 1/2 cup organic wild blueberries, 1 scoop pea protein – had to work a seminar tonight, so had to be quick

Diet, Exercise, Sleep Log- First Draft

So I’m not really sure how I’m going to do this going forward, but I want to start making notes about my food, exercise, and sleep because my health coach really wants that info.  Also, I want to be able to look back and see what is going on so I can find a maintenance program that keeps me at optimum health.  Let me preface that I am on vacation in Florida right now, so keep that in mind before you judge all the wine, cheese and ice cream too harshly!  It is not my “normal” diet.  Just for reminder- my goal last week was to lose the grains and this week to ditch the peanut butter.  Yesterday was a “active rest day” for me so I didn’t do any hard core working out.  I did go for an interval run about 8:00a.m.  I walked on the beach for 5 mins and then did 27 mins of intervals- 2mins sprint 1 min walk.  Tougher than it sounds in the sand.  Later in the day I took a couple of walks on the beach- first one about 20 mins. & next one only about 15, but I was carrying my 15 pound nephew the whole time!  My arms were aching!  I also did about 5 mins of yoga stretching.

Food- Breakfast- protein shake with 6oz. almond milk, 1 cup organic frozen blueberries, 1 scoop pea protein, 1tsp maca powder, 2 tsps. chia seeds, 1 tbsp goji berries.  1/2 cup fresh pineapple

Lunch-1 sliced tomato, 1 cup baby spinach leaves, 1/4 cup pimiento cheese, 1/4 cup chicken salad, 1tbsp homemade blue cheese dressing

Snack- 4oz. unsweetened cranberry juice with 1 tsp D-Mannose powder (had a bladder infection a couple of weeks ago and I’m still doing a little maintenance on that) 2oz. of 70%cocoa chocolate w/maca

Dinner- 1 cup roasted broccoli w/ olive oil, 2 steamed shrimp, 3 roasted asparagus with swiss cheese, 1 cup organic yukon gold potatoes (boiled, but then smashed and pan fried in olive oil, butter and garlic-diet disaster, but so freakin’ good!) 4oz. pinot noir

Water-10 8oz glasses

Sleep-about 7 hours

So while certainly not perfect- I did meet my goal of no grains and no peanut butter:))

It’s never too late to start

So, I’ve been on this journey to find my healthiest self for more than 2 years now. I wish I had started this journaling process at the beginning, but it’s never too late, right?   It wasn’t until 2 days ago when my health coach asked me to start keeping a food, exercise and sleep log that I had the idea for keeping some sort of journal for this process.  It certainly makes sense.  I have asked myself numerous times, “What was I doing right during those times that I felt so great?”  I am hoping by starting this blog I will have evidence down the road of where I am succeeding in fueling my body and where I am taking wrong turns.  I know in the past I have taken the same wrong turns over and over leading me in a vicious circle and I don’t want to go pack there and make those same mistakes.  Ultimately, this blog is for me.  I want a record of this journey to look back and see God’s grace and blessings along what initially seemed to be a hopeless path.  I also hope that He will use my journey to help someone else who may be facing what appears to be a hopeless health diagnosis.  I hope my successes and failures can be used to further another’s  journey.  God has been so good at putting the right people and tools in my life at just the right moment and I know he can use this blog to uplift someone else at just the right moment.  During my next post I will give some details of my health history so hang on because it has been a really bumpy ride!