I’m feeling back on track now. With 2 weeks of the Paleo Diet done, I’m starting to feel like I did a year ago when I started changing my diet. My sodium intake has gone way down and I can tell by my hands and feet, in particular. Any kind of puffiness is gone. My rings are off again, and my extremities are cold all the time.
I can feel a change in my upper abdomen. Maybe less puffiness? I’m not sure if it’s because of no grains, no dairy, or a combination of the two. Possibly weight loss, too. You just accept things for so long and think they are normal. I’m not sure if this is a real change or wishful thinking.
The most awesome thing so far was that during my monthly cycle, I experienced NO symptoms (other than the obvious one!) Seriously, none. Not one cramp, twinge, headache, nap… nothing. That in itself was a really huge benefit.
I’m having to remind myself that eating a big ol’ hunk of bread is just not worth it. I’m 14 days into a very strict 30 days, and I really want to make it without breaking down. I’m hoping to see enough changes that I don’t have to convince myself to keep eating like this. I shouldn’t need any convincing at all.
Today, I read a couple of good articles that really spoke to me:
- The Whole30 – Great site to pump you up to try a squeaky clean eating plan for 30 days. You can do it!
- Smoking Candy Cigarettes – Extremely well-written article/rant. Just plain awesome.
And finally, I came across the sad story of Garrett, a 28-year old weight-loss blogger, who lost his life way too early. His blog Stages of Change chronicles his recent years of struggle, despair, recovery, hope, and an unwillingness to give up on believing he would figure his mess out.
I’m trying to get my act together. I need to have serious boundaries like a strict Paleo eating style. I will take a mile if given an inch. I require supervision. I succeed when I have deadlines and rules. When I think in my head, “I can’t eat dairy,” that’s the end of the story. I can’t eat dairy. When I start thinking, “Well, I never had a problem with dairy before I went on this diet, so I could probably eat the ice cream and nothing will happen,” I will most certainly find myself at the bottom of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s trying to lick the bottom, and wondering what flavor I can eat next. I have no idea what my real physiological symptoms of dairy consumption have been, because I just turned off anything that resembled discomfort from eating. When eating is a major source of pleasure, you will endure whatever the consequences are. I am living proof of that, since I’ve ignored weight gain as a consequence of pleasure eating.
Finding healthy alternatives is difficult. I’m still working on that and probably will be for some time to come. Learning to fence was a highlight of this past year, and I took the summer off. Now, I’m out of shape and really want to lose another 30 pounds before I show up to start fencing again.
While I’ve made great strides in my diet these past weeks, I’m still on the starting block with my fitness program. I’m dealing with some personal stress and failure that I need to let go. I’ll be blogging about that this coming week.
