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Before I tell you how I feel now, I shall recap how I was feeling before I changed my diet and then lifestyle.
- I don't feel nauseous all the time, this was my main goal I seriously didn't think past this.
- My GI problems are much less, eg bloating, abdominal pain, constipation and other symptoms of IBS
- Sleep has improved in fact sleep is a newly found wonder! I've gone from struggling to get to sleep, tossing and turning and waking up a few times a night to lights out at 9:30pm and next thing I know its 6am. Unreal.
- I am happy and sociable and I feel excited and inspired and creative and living is fun.
- My energy levels are through the roof. You know how you feel when you have a strong coffee, or when you run down a hill and can't stop? I feel like that, but not for just an hour and then crash (if it were caffeine or sugar induced) but feeling like that from 6am til sunset when I mysteriously start to relax and look forward to bedtime again. Of course it's no mystery it just means my circadian rhythms are working. The level of energy is actually quite scary, I am a busy person by nature and usually go go go and then fall into a heap so I suppose I am worried about that happening but so far there has been no heap, just lots of dancing on the table type energy! eek.
- I am more productive, see previous point (!)
- I can think clearly, no brain fog, no lists for everything
- I don't think pointless anxious thoughts anymore (thank god)
- I feel more connected, clear and in tune with everything
- I feel more grounded and present
- I feel hopeful and positive, don't get me wrong, life has challenges and well kids can be highly annoying at times and I can still lose it in that regard but I can move on more quickly and it isn't as overwhelming anymore
- The scales are telling me I am 4.4 kilos lighter which is cool and unexpected as after years of exercising and eating healthy I didn't think I could weigh any less than I did prior to going primal. I am now excited to see what my natural healthy weight will be now that I am feeding my body properly, it's not a concern anymore, I feel like I can trust my body now.
- I don't rub my nose all the time or need to carry a hanky around! During gym workouts I had to always clear my throat, I don't now.
- It's hayfever season and I don't have any symptoms (touch wood)
- That niggle in my right shoulder that I have had for four years and thought was probably down to massaging has mysteriously vanished, I know, there is no real mystery right, there is less inflammation in my body now
- I have passion and I'm excited in a wahoo happy happy joy joy way as already mentioned yes my life is still normal like yours with challenges but it's less roller coaster esque now
- My agonising plantar fasciitis has gone, I can now walk around barefoot and enjoy barefoot walks on the beach again, yay
- I feel more grateful for my kids, man, friends and my life in general
- Everything outside in nature feels amazing, beautiful and wondrous
- My pre menstrual and menstrual symptoms have improved, still room to improve there, in fact did you know that menstruating and menopause should have zero symptoms, that's my goal
- My unexplained regular headaches have gone
- I recover from exercise quicker less aches and pains
- I can relax quicker
- My skin is less dry and people have said I look healthy
- I don't feel the need to slap on foundation any more as my skin looks ok as is
- I don't want to die (handy)
My main symptom of discomfort was nausea. It was debilitating. I didn't ever vomit but I always felt like I might, therefore I was super concerned about going places where I might get stuck in case I needed to escape. I was anxious and having obsessive thoughts. I really tried to bring my mind back by reading positive books like "Feel the fear and do it anyway", but the thoughts were always stronger. I was constipated. My sleep was shit. I was exhausted. Everything was really hard work. I crashed in the afternoon and napped daily for up to 3 hours. I needed caffeine to get me going and that made me totally buzz (then crash) and I craved wine every night. I had abdominal pain, cramps, bloating to the point where I would lie on the couch hold my tummy and cry. (Poor me hey haha). My main objective of the day was to get through it so I could go back to bed, sleep being the only non nauseous place. When I got hungry I got more nauseous so I was snacking all the time and couldn't leave home without a cashews and banana stash. Forget anything creative. My hormones were out of whack which affected my cycle. I had seasonal allergies in the shape of hay fever and also dust allergies and animal allergies. I used to wake up in the night with sneezing fits. I had a lot of headaches and regularly threw nurofen down my neck. I had had a couple of bouts of giardia in the years before. I think I got it all? Pretty sad picture huh?
I actually am surprised I even made it through with kids still alive, a husband still happy to come home to me and friends who want to see me! Worst of all I thought all of this was NORMAL. I thought this is what it feels like to be approaching 40 and being run ragged by two kids! I thought it was a case of mind over matter, affirmations, maybe some more meditation!
Why was this happening to a 'healthy' 38 year old woman who went to the gym five times a week and ate a 'healthy' diet as outlined by the CSIRO?
'Going Primal' was a gradual process and I am still adapting things and improving things now. I started with cutting the alcohol consumption down to no more than three drinks in one night. I did this because I felt hung over a lot, when I still felt hung over without an actual hangover I started to change things even more! I started the 3 drink rule in January 2014 and went gluten free in April 2014. After the initial gluten detox which was a bit nasty I felt WAY better but not cured so I tried the WHOLE30 end of May 2014 to see how I could feel without other potentially irritating foods they were SUGAR, GRAINS, DAIRY, ALCOHOL, LEGUMES. I also started to see a Naturopath at this time who really helped me through. After the WHOLE30 I reintroduced a few things to see how I felt, certain dairy foods felt ok whereas gluten certainly did not. It's really not until you reach your baseline awesomeness that you can fully appreciate how food can affect you. I felt I had turned a corner and left the nausea behind after about the six to eight week mark and since then I have just gone from strength to strength. Recent live blood analysis showed that I am still dealing with a leaky gut and have some hardening of the arteries (thanks to my previous high sugar, seed oil and carb diet). I physically feel like I am 80-90% of the way, with some fine tuning to go. I feel excited to see how much better I can feel after more time on a paleo diet.
Here is where I am now.
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