I’ve spent four months getting my health on track. Actually, that’s not accurate; I’ve spent years trying and just figured out what works for me four months ago. My hair is now growing again, I’ve lost weight without trying, and I am so healthy that one of my doctors no longer thinks I have a chronic illness I with which I was diagnosed previously.
But I could do better. A lot better. See, after I received my diagnosis, I went about reading everything I could about research on reversing or stopping the progression of the illness, and I found several promising, long-term studies out of Australia. I went about determining how to track macros and what macro combination is right for me, and then began tracking. I learned I wasn’t eating much in terms of protein before–as in no protein at all–and I was eating too much fat–waaaaay too much–due to this “good fats are healthyI” craze that’s struck the nation. And the studies I read demonstrated that reducing fat intake so that it was a modest, lower fat diet would improve the condition. Other things shown to improve the chronic illness: no dairy and no sugar.
So things are going better (see aforementioned hair!) but I’ve been falling off the wagon a bit with the sugar and fat thing. When I don’t eat sugar, I really don’t want to eat it after a bit. And so I have an ambitious goal: no processed sugar for a year. Okay, 30 days at first, but then a year. This means no high fructose corn syrup or similar, no fake sugars, and no cane sugars processed in any way. Honey and maple syrup are okay on special occasions and in small quantities, but even then I want to avoid it if possible.
Over holiday break I’ve made myself practice yoga 45 minutes+/day (except on the day I was trying not to vomit courtesy of some 24 hour bug the exchange student brought home) and within the week I’ve been amazed at the progress in my flexibility and thus my sleep. I need to keep that up, too.
Finally, I’m working on reducing waste and smallering. There’s more to say on this, but that’s a different post.
It’s important to note that none of this is due to New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, these decisions are an evolution in my thinking based on what I’ve been trying to accomplish for a few years. I want to be the healthiest version of my possible, and if that means dedicating some daily time to me physical health and cutting out things that only serve to make me sick (I mean, my stomach physically hurts when I eat sugar! I don’t know why I do it ever!), then I think these are things I need to which I need to commit.
Now, for accountability…
SF= Sugar-free; GF= Gluten-free
Today’s food:
B: Leftover SF/GF cornbread, mashed potatoes, crockpot turkey
L: Protein-option chicken burger with onions & fries
D: Two bites of GF homemade pizza; lunch was still weighing me down
S: 2.5 cups of home brewed coffee with SF soy milk; GF bread; grown-up hot cacao with SF soy milk & 4 drops/Stevia
Waste-Free Options
*Purchased locally brewed coffee in reusable glass jars
Do Better
*Seriously, fries? What was I thinking? Not my best day eating.
*Totally forgot my reusable bags today. I left the produce out of the produce bags (sweet potatoes & a couple onions) but I need to remember this.
*Tomorrow I’m traveling a bit, and I will bring my reusable bags and some homemade salad dressing and soy milk so that I can eat out without messing up the sugar-free and less-waste goals. Baby steps, though I’m hoping to make better progress.
The Bird's Song 