A long-over due update

It has been a long time since I have written a post, and I didn't really know how to get back into the swing of things. Sadly, the last time I focused on this blog, was during my last Whole30 and gave any concerted effort to my health.

In short, my roommate at the time up and left, without paying rent and causing my lease to be ended prematurely. It was super stressful and I had to pay two months double rent and find a new apartment in 2 weeks. With the rushed circumstances, I moved into a studio with a very small kitchen and barely any room for my belongings! Although it was located in my community, walking-distance from work, and an affordable apartment in downtown Montreal, it was really hard to live there for the 15 months. On top of it all, my building was treated for bed bugs monthly from September to the end of January, which was also incredibly stressful.

Out of necessity, I became accustomed to eating out and stopped meal-planning since it was nearly impossible to make food at home. I think that I pulled out my slow cooker once, and had to balance it on my stove because there was no counter space. I would still try to eat things that were low dairy, low grains because I could feel my stomach get agitated, and feel my joints and muscles getting sore.

This fall, my schedule changed from 5:30am-2pm, to 3pm-11:30pm which feels like moving time-zones. Sometimes, I worked a combination of opens and closes, or worked in other cafes which had their tole on my stress and sleeping schedules. Plus I moved stores twice, adapting to a new team and new leadership. I also moved apartments, though this has been a mostly-positive experience. Not surprisingly, I have been sick three times and I feel pretty low right now. With all of this, I have continued eating out, stress-eating, and not sleeping well. I'm getting pretty fed-up with always feeling exhausted and congested.

So, I have decided to take the first 15 days of December to do a Whole30-AIP blended diet. I will include honey and eggs, but exclude coffee, nuts, and nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant).

The Plan:

• Braised spicy-ish chicken and vegetables packed from last night's dinner
• Roasted beef and yams, with fresh celery and cucumber
• Eggs/omelette, mushrooms, and steamed greens Saturday and Sunday brunch
• Breakfast soup to make over the weekend
• Paleo haemul pajeon (chives, green onions, mixed seafood, in caseva-coconut flour batter)
• Green tea for caffeine, kombucha for carbonation, ginger-lemon-honey for health
• Snacks: fruit (1-2/day), dark chocolate(?), fried plantains, vegetable chips, kale chips... herein lies my weakness!

I think that this will carry me to Monday-Tuesday. So I need to make something else tomorrow or Sunday to carry me through until Thursday!

My biggest challenge is finding the energy to make food which will give my energy rather than increase my symptoms. And avoiding all of the coffee/pastries at work!  I have found myself eating banana bread without realizing it because it's so readily available.

Personal NSV's from my Whole60

This winter from January 15th to March 14th, I accomplished my first Whole60. This program is designed to help people take control of their nutrition and make the best health choices for themselves. It starts with 30 days of eating nutritionally dense balanced diet, to help create new habits and discover their best. I decided, after a few stints of 30-45 days on the program, to do 60 days in-a-row on this program. It was a huge challenge, but I noticed that my body needed more time to heal than even the 45 days had allowed.

I wrote about my journey in previous posts, but I have not written in a long time. I wish that I was able to bring you along my journey of Whole60 more, but I started to get discouraged and I didn't know what to talk about.

On the website and in testimonies, it has been noted that most people will feel drained and lethargic and moody for the first week or two on Whole30. This is because your body is no longer receiving the sugars and simple carbs it was using for energy. But this is good, because your hormones will re-balanace and your body will start to digest fats for energy (especially the ones stored on your body which you don't need to keep!). When this switch happens, then you have a whole bunch of extra energy and feel like you can conquer the world.

But I have NEVER reached this point! Never. Not once on the 4-5 Whole30-60 stints under my belt. Considering the sacrifice and discipline that it took to get through it, I was really hoping that by day 59 I would have seen something like extra energy. But I didn't. And this was really disappointing to me.

I think that this brings to point how this is about more than just avoiding certain foods. I've been learning how it's about my relationship to foods, my attitude, my lifestyle, and my lack of exercise during this eternal winter (just snowed again this week!).

But despite not seeing a breakthrough in energy and finding this winter to be a big challenge, I have noticed that some of my symptoms coming back, meaning that they had gone away for some time. And this is cause for celebration, and for discovery into what is actually going on in my body. I'm going to call these Non-Scale Victories because I was able to see a measurable breakthrough without needing to focus on my weight alone. Since starting Whole30 last year I have noticed the following, which disappear or lessen when on a Whole30 program:

 

Food Intolerance:

• Wheat products aggravate my asthma and make my throat itchy. I have acute symptoms immediately following ingestion.
• Caffeine makes my heart race even when I'm exhausted and impairs my sleep for hours after ingestion.
• Dairy (including yogourt) makes my stomach churn (but small quantities are sometimes ok).
• Additives, preservatives, vegetable oil gives me digestive problems (like roasted chickens from the store, roasted potatoes, fries, plain chips).
• A handful of almonds makes my throat itchy
• Raw onion, chives, red onion, green onions give me heartburn
• Roasted potatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers have made my tongue itchy and I think that there is a subtle longer-term effect.

Physical:

• I've been staying up way past my bedtime because of all of the sugar and caffeine
• I've been drinking a lot of coffee because of the 'comfort' that it offers and I've been hitting a wall in the afternoon
• I've been bloated, I've gained weight, and I feel puffy since ending Whole60
• I've had trouble sleeping because of indigestion due to over eating
• I've felt so awkward in my own skin that I made a ginger and turmeric tea before going to sleep
• I've had swollen, tender knees for a week now (a problem that I had while off program before).
• My muscles ache and my skin is itchy with rashes (which was decreased while on program).
• I often have a headache during the day.

I have had trouble sleeping through the night for years, and I often wake up twice during the night. Sometimes, depending on my stress-level, I can't fall back to sleep for an hour or more. This has been happening often over the winter, even when on Whole30. I also wasn't sleeping on a regular schedule because of work (at least in part), and I don't have a bed-time routine to help me get ready to sleep. Plus it was winter, meaning that it's often overcast with little sunshine and vitamin D! During the entire 60 days, I was only walking a bit with no other form of exercise, and I had no drive or motivation. I was thinking the whole time that I should start exercising, that I needed to get outside and that I needed to develop a bedtime routine. But I never did. I mean sticking to the Whole60 for that long was enough of a discipline, but I think that these things would have really helped! It's more than just changing what you eat!

Moving forward:

• I need to see a nutritionist about underlying issues
• I need to adopt an AIP paleo diet to avoid all of the problem foods of which I am aware. AIP is very similar to Whole30, except that it eliminates a few more foods which are known to contribute to a leaky gut/autoimmune symptoms.
• I need to develop a bedtime routine (which I have scheduled into my phone)
• Eat dinner just after work, not late in the day.
• Prep for work: work clothes, shoes, lunch, keys and anything I need to bring to work the next day
• Relax: drink an herbal tea, take a bath, brush hair and teeth, and get into pj's
• I need to find more ways to deal with my emotions and to have a healthier relationship with food, entertainment, and my community. 

 So far, I have worked on a bedtime schedule and routine, and incorporated paleo foods into my diet. I will choose this coming Monday as my FIRST DAY of AIP. I need to wrap my head around what I am committing to, but that will be for another post.