with intention

[missmary]

It's been a while since I did my last whole30, but I think it is time. My parents are committing to a 21 day sugar detox starting today, and I want to support them. My health has come a long way since I did my first whole30, and that hasn't changed, but I do see some things creeping in that I don't like. I've gained 5lbs since this summer, I've started waking up in the middle of the night, heart pounding. I'm feeling sad more than I like, and anxious...and sometimes a little angry that I have to work SO DARN HARD just to tread water. I'm still motivated to figure it out, and I hope this little bit of additional rigor around how I am eating (and the record of exactly what I ate each day) might help me be able to see patterns and understand how to tweak things moving forward. I am determined not to move backwards. I'm moving forward with intention.

[missmary]

Day 1: Jan 1

 

Ignored the "eat immediately on waking" recommendation and instead got blood drawn at my Dr. (fasted). In a few days I should know if my recent issues (mood/anxiety, sleep disturbance, weight gain) are related to my trial elimination of thyroid meds since September...I'm thinking likely? We are checking CRP and female hormones and vitamin D levels, etc. as well. Covering all bases.

 

wo: rest day*

 

meal #1: 2 HB eggs, palm-size of roasted turkey, raw red bell pepper strips, steamed broccoli. Americano.

EDIT: totally forgot I had a banana also...not my normal but felt I needed it with the blood draw this morning. 

 

meal #2: 3 grass-fed beef hot dogs, sweet potato cubes, mushrooms and power greens (mix of baby greens, kale, etc.), sauteed in ghee and topped with cherry tomatoes and a dollop of homemade mayo**. Glass of 1/2 kombucha (my own pomegranite/blood orange) and 1/2 sparkling water.

 

meal #3: NomNom Paleo's Veal Meatballs (veal, onion, garlic, mashed cauliflower, parsley)*** in Tomato Sauce (garlic, onion, parsley, mushrooms, anchovy, black olives, cooked down in coconut oil then simmered with a jar of whole tomatoes with juice).

 

other: planning on a hot epsom salt bath and some natural calm before bed.

 

*a note on workouts: Max has requested a month of 'off-season' so I won't be lifting too much heavy stuff, instead doing a couple short intense weight workouts, some sprinting/agility and a lot more rest/mobility/corrective exercise/yoga and soft tissue work. I've signed up for weekly massages and I'm trying hard not to panic that "Rest"="Recidivism". trying  .

 

**while the mayo is compliant, I think I eat too much and too often--I'll drop that from my menu as soon as this batch is used up.

 

***for the record, I baked these rather than frying in ghee. Not because I am afraid of fat, but because my ghee is way too precious.

[PamH]

Day 1: Jan 1

 

Ignored the "eat immediately on waking" recommendation and instead got blood drawn at my Dr. (fasted). In a few days I should know if my recent issues (mood/anxiety, sleep disturbance, weight gain) are related to my trial elimination of thyroid meds since September...I'm thinking likely? We are checking CRP and female hormones and vitamin D levels, etc. as well. Covering all bases.

 

meal #1: 2 HB eggs, palm-size of roasted turkey, raw red bell pepper strips, steamed broccoli. Americano.

 

 

workout: rest day. 

 

AND a note on workouts: Max has requested a month of 'off-season' so I won't be lifting too much heavy stuff, instead doing a couple short intense weight workouts, some sprinting/agility and a lot more rest/mobility/corrective exercise/yoga and soft tissue work. I've signed up for weekly massages and I'm trying hard not to panic that "Rest"="Recidivism". trying  .

I had my blood drawn for thyroid (full panel) including CRP and Vitamin D levels.  I also did a salivary 12 hour cortisol which I can already predict is off cycle.  I have never been on any meds so this would be a new development if I were hypothyroid and/or with Hashimoto's. The last time I had my panel run was maybe 2 years ago.  TSH has been creeping up over the years (always within that huge range of normal) yet the other values have been normal.  I just feel, like you, so 'off'.  I wish I didn't focus on it, but those 5 lbs added in 2013 really bother me.   I think the idea of it being so much harder to maintain my fitness level compounded by hormone changes at age 48 are frustrating!

 

I find it hard to incorporate rest days into my work out routine.  I think it is because I feel like I am not in control over my eating quite yet. Still too many days where I eat too much.  Weekly massages sound wonderful.

 

So, I managed to make this about me.  I hope you find some answers and please keep us updated on your bloodwork and what you decide to do from here.  I am curious how others manage similar symptoms as mine.

 

Enjoy  your Whole30!  

[missmary]

So, I managed to make this about me.  I hope you find some answers and please keep us updated on your bloodwork and what you decide to do from here.  I am curious how others manage similar symptoms as mine.

 

Enjoy  your Whole30!  

 

No worries, I hope my experience can provide some sort of insight that is useful for other people. I will keep you posted. 

 

and thanks!

[missmary]

I was just thinking about all the things I do to set myself up for success with my eating choices, and I thought it might help people who are new to the program. So here's what I did today:

 

-hard boiled a half-dozen eggs

-roasted three sweet potatoes (whole, not peeled, no oil, just stuck on the oven rack)

-steamed a head of broccoli

-sliced up a red bell pepper and a yellow bell pepper

-cooked down a pound of butter for ghee

-when making a recipe for dinner, I cut it in half (I can't stand to have the same thing too many times in a row--rarely cook more than 3 servings at once), and immediately portioned it out for lunch before eating my dinner portion.

 

hmmm, maybe I'll add a little "prep" category to make note of these things.

[GFChris]

Go missmary! Will be cheering you on!

[missmary]

Day 2: Jan 2

 

sleep: slightly better sleep than lately (thank you natural calm), but woke up fearful I'd missed my alarm around 3am. Fell back asleep eventually, up at 5am per usual. -will try pushing bedtime just a little later and see how that goes this evening.

 

meal #1(pre-wo): 1 HB egg, espresso (black)

 

wo: agility cardio/tumbling/sprints

 

meal #2: palm-size of roasted turkey, raw red and orange bell pepper strips, steamed broccoli, (1) hard boiled egg. Coffee, black*

 

meal #3: NomNom Paleo's Veal Meatballs (veal, onion, garlic, mashed cauliflower, parsley) in Tomato Sauce (garlic, onion, parsley, mushrooms, anchovy, black olives, cooked down in coconut oil then simmered with a jar of whole tomatoes with juice).

 

meal #4: 1/2 kombucha (pomegranite / blood orange) and 1/2 sparkling water while cooking, then: grass-fed beef burger, roasted sweet potato, wilted power greens (baby kale/chard/spinach) topped with a cherry tomatoes, the last of the mayo, and a fried egg AND some avocado. hungry.

 

*-will start doing decaf or tea starting at 11am.

[Mamalesa]

Missmary--you are inspiring! Keep it up!

[Physibeth]

Looking forward to following your journey! You are such an inspiration and I know you are only going to do greater things going forward!

[Nadia B]

You are such a rebel, roasting a whole sp, oh my. Good luck with figuring out the sleep (hear hear) and the rest. Looking forward to follow you here 

[missmary]

Day 3: Jan 3

 

sleep: took some natural calm. went to bed around 45 minutes later than usual. woke up pleased that I wasn't in a panic/heart pounding, only to realize it was 1am. 

 

meal #1(pre-wo): 1 HB egg, espresso (black)

 

wo: strength complex, walk+balance practice, sauna, hot tub (the new strength workouts are so short I tack recovery stuff on at the end).

 

meal #2(post-wo): palm-size of roast beef-testing eating the protein part of my breakfast on the walk from the gym to the office.

 

meal #3: raw red and orange bell pepper strips, steamed broccoli, (1) hard boiled egg. Coffee, black

 

meal #4: grass-fed beef burger, roasted sweet potato, wilted power greens (baby kale/chard/spinach) topped with a cherry tomatoes, a fried egg AND some avocado.

 

meal #5: 1/2 kombucha (pomegranite, blood orange)/1/2 sparkling water while I cooked dinner, then: grass-fed beef hot dogs (complaint) bangers and mash style with garlicky mashed parships/cauliflower with power greens, ghee and cherry tomatoes. 

 

-got some of my test results back last night, and I have to say my feelings are very mixed...no CRP or Thyroid Antibodies, which is good, but DHEA and Free T4 are very low (T3 results aren't back yet UPDATE: T3 results are in, lowest ever, lower than even the lowest standard reference range.) and TSH is higher than it has ever been. What does this mean? Well, I think it is pretty clear that I need to be supplementing Thyroid and DHEA (TSH is thyroid stimulating hormone--this shows up when your thyroid doesn't produce enough. My body is trying really hard to make some thyroid hormone happen right now. it shouldn't be this hard.), and that urgent feeling that I needed to workout constantly to prop up my mood and the admittedly minor weight gain and this off-cycle weird cortisol stuff was all real, and a result of the trial elimination of Thyroid and DHEA supplements. duh.

 

I think I always suspected that I brought this low-thyroid issue on myself, that if I was perfect enough in how I ate and how I exercised and rested and lived that it would be able to work on it's own. I would never blame somebody else for their moods or their weight issues or their ill health but for me, I had this standard that I thought I should be able to reach on my own. So, maybe I caused this with my previous high-carb vegetarian/sedentary/high-stress lifestyle and maybe I didn't but as of now I have a health condition and I deserve proper treatment for it. Looking at the numbers, I should be feeling way worse than I do, actually, so I know this lifestyle is helping, it just may not be enough, at least for now, and that is ok.

[Physibeth]

I'm glad you are getting some answers even if they are not necessarily the answers you like/want. Hopefully if you need to go back on meds/supplements it can be at a lower level than before. And it is good to see that your lifestyle changes are making a difference even if not a big a difference as you would like.

[missmary]

Day 4: Jan 4

 

sleep: took some natural calm. went to bed around 60 minutes later than usual. woke up around 2:45 unable to get back to sleep. Ended up spending 10hrs total in bed, but probably 6-7 sleeping. hmm, maybe I should get one of those sleep quality trackers so i'm not guessing about this stuff? Bethany? Nadia? what apps do you use?

 

meal #1: 4 eggs, sweet potato*, broccoli, in ghee with cherry tomatoes. sorry to be so boring! I promise I'm getting groceries today!

 

wo: recovery: corrective exercises, walking, sauna, hot tub (nothing intense enough to deserve a post-WO snack)

 

meal #2: quickest ever salmon salad: can of wild planet salmon, small container of guac from the co-op (compliant), diced red and yellow bell pepper, red onion, black olives

 

meal #3: marinated sea scallops on kale/cabbage salad (see below)

 

-talked to Max about the labs and his response was "Wow...well....that's good to know" and I think he is right    so, instead of me just being weepy for no reason and going to bed at 7 or 8 pm and thinking this was just the way I am and trying not to talk about it/make it into a big deal for anyone but me, etc. now I'm going to treat it and maybe be less weepy and more energetic again. yay! My Dr. couldn't get me in for an office visit until the end of Feburary (seriously?) but agreed to re-up my prescriptions right away. Back on starting today, I hope, then more labs when I see her in a couple months. Other test results trickling in yesterday tell me my female sex hormones are a-ok, and my vitamin D is a bit high (I've been supplementing that A LOT, time to pull back a bit).

 

 

*for anyone wondering, I should mention that my sweet potato portions pretty small. I take 1/4 - 1/2 of an already roasted one from the fridge (depends on how big they are--portion is about 1/2 cup total), peel and cube, then add them to my hot pan with some complaint fat. The right portion for YOU might be a whole one, but this is what works for me.

[Physibeth]

I was using a gadget called Zeo but the company went out of business. I stopped using it a few months ago because I was getting tired of wearing the headband to bed. I like their alarm clock app though and was still using it but then had to get the new phone so trying to figure out what to do about that. I've heard good things about fitbit for sleep tracking. Not as accurate as Zeo because it measures movement at night but not brain activity like the zeo does. I've been thinking about that stuff as I feel like I need to work on sleep purposefully again.

 

Wow high vitamin D! That is actually kind of awesome. It's been a couple of years since I had mine tested and it was teetering on the barely normal side and that was after a summer of running outside 4-5 days a week. Of course that was also before I started eating real food. I really need to find a new (paleo friendly if possible) doctor as I've not been to see one in almost 3 years I think.

[Nadia B]

Hear hear sleep deprived friend I am using an iPhone app - Sleep Cycle. Faily simple to use with lot's of charts. You will like that part, I think Is paleokitty sleeping with you? I mean it might affect the accuracy of data. 

[missmary]

 Is paleokitty sleeping with you? 

Yes, she sleeps with me, and occasionally wakes me up in the night as well...whenever the space heater cycles off, or if she wants me to re-arrange my body position (when it is really cold, she likes to sleep in my armpit or on my stomach under the covers). sweet but annoying.  bad kitty.

 

thanks for the app advice. I do love graphs and charts  I'll take a look.

[natashajulian]

Sleep Cycle is such a fun app. You can add things like "went to bed late," "stressful day," etc to see if it affects your sleep. I highly recommend it.

[missmary]

so, I wanted to write a little about how I modify recipes. A week or so ago I saw this one: http://food52.com/recipes/23059-citrus-ginger-tofu-salad-with-buckwheat-soba-noodles, and it looked so good to me, but I knew there was a lot off plan. Here is how I fixed it.

 

Citrus Ginger Salad w/Marinated Scallops

 

Scallops

• 2T Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
• 2T Coconut Aminos
• 2T Olive Oil
• 1t grated ginger
• 1 small garlic clove
• 2t toasted sesame oil (I reduced this quantity because toasted sesame oil has such a strong flavor, 2T seemed wrong)
• Fresh sea scallops (the big kind)

 

Salad

• red cabbage
• kale
• carrots (2 smallish ones)
• red onion (added this)
• broccoli (skipped this. not because it is off plan, but it didn't seem like it needed it. weird texture combo IMO)
• basil
• cilantro
• wakame (sea vegetable, I used about 1/4 cup)

 

Dressing

Instead of saving marinade as suggested, I made a second batch of this, adding a few things

• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• juice and zest of one lime
• 2T Coconut Aminos
• 2T Olive Oil
• 1t grated ginger
• 1 small garlic clove
• 2t toasted sesame oil
• 2T ume plum vinegar (because Ume Plum! also those seasoned rice vinegars often have sugar)
• if I was making this again, I would have added some Fish Sauce too (Red Boat is compliant)-2t or so.

 

Preparation

Put wakame in a small bowl and add water to cover. While that soaks, remove the stems from the kale and slice the leaves into ribbons. Add that to a large bowl with thinly sliced cabbage, red onion, and carrot (smallest julienne), just keep adding more of each until it seems balanced--no measured quantities really, just lots of veg. pour dressing over and massage with your hands until the kale and cabbage is wilted and soft. Add basil (chiffonade), minced cilantro, drained wakame and toss.

 

Once that is done, set it aside and begin the scallops. You want them to rest in the marinade for a short time only (I did 6 minutes), or they will get tough. Once that time is up, sear them in a hot pan for 2-3 minutes each side. I put the lid on for the last minute or two. Make a bed of salad on your plate, top with the scallops and a sprinkling of sesame seeds (if you remember. I didn't and it was still good)

 

I only had enough scallops for one meal, but the salad will be good with other protein on top in the next day or two. If you compare, you'll see i just left out the soba noodles (and the maple syrup), but if you wanted something noodly, you could add some julienned cucumber or zucchini. In the case of zucchini, I would first julienne, then salt, wait a bit, squeeze out excess moisture then cook briefly in a hot pan before tossing with the rest of the salad.

[missmary]

Day 5: Jan 5

 

sleep: took some natural calm. went to bed a little earlier than planned after giving up on a really boring netflix movie. Slept fitfully, woke up around 2am, but didn't look at the clock because my phone now lives under the corner of my sheet  . Sleep tracker says I touched deep REM sleep for a brief shining moment early in the night, never again.  this will be fun though: DATA!

 

meal #1: 4 eggs, scrambled in ghee with chicken livers, mushrooms and onions. side of cherry tomatoes.  some of my home-fermented sriracha on top. espresso.

 

wo: fun*: levers, inversions

 

meal #2 (postWO): piece of gourmet grassfed jerky, glass of kombucha (1/2 of a GTs citrus).

 

meal #3: skillet roasted chicken thigh (I use Tom Denham's method-no sprouts included this time. http://www.wholelifeeating.com/2012/01/skillet-roasted-chicken-thighs-and-brussels-sprouts/) served over the kale salad from last night, with some fish sauce and a big spoon of Nom Nom Paleo's Coconut/Pineapple Cauliflower "rice" stirred in.

 

meal #4: glass of kombucha while cooking (1/2 of a GTs citrus) then: well fed eggplant strata, subbing lamb for pork, eating what's left after portioning out two generous lunches. topped with an egg to stretch it a bit.

 

prep: made some sweet tea for a new batch of kombucha, added fruit and fruit juice to a finished batch for second ferment, made a 1/2 recipe of eggplant strata (from well fed, subbed lamb for the pork) to have for lunches, ditto on coconut/pineapple cauliflower rice, roasted some chicken thighs, steamed some broccoli, cut up some bell peppers per usual.

 

Day two of meds, feeling a little better, I think, or at least optimistic. I'm sure it is too early for much impact but it seems good so far. UPDATE: I think they must be helping some, since today was a marathon of busy-ness and activity and energy compared to lately. Got lots done, although somewhat stir crazy inside for most of the day. -9 degrees right now. -13 or worse in store for tomorrow.

 

*as part of the new programming, Max wants me to spend a day or two just doing whatever I feel like doing, having some fun at the gym. As someone who has followed specific programming every day for a couple years now, this is hard for me, but fun was achieved this am, including for the first time ever: single-arm handstand, both sides (against the wall of course).   There is something amazing about the feeling you get when you tuck your free arm up against your body and hang out there on just one hand. really cool.

[Physibeth]

Look how strong you are girl! So awesome!

 

I'm a little confused about the sleep data. My understanding is that REM and deep sleep are different. When I was tracking I very rarely hit deep sleep for more than an hour and almost always it was in the early portion of the night which is quite normal from what I've read. I did find that when I went to bed earlier I got more deep sleep. The goal (as I understand it) is to spend at least half your night in REM sleep. My tracker would distinguish between awake, light sleep, REM sleep, and deep sleep.

[missmary]

My understanding is that REM and deep sleep are different. 

 Ah ha, this is interesting, and I did mis-write that one. My tracker has no REM category (presumably because it can't track brain activity). What I should have said above was "deep sleep"...I must have had some REM sleep because I can remember dreaming rather vividly at one point, but probably the tracking info will be more valuble when I have several nights that I can compare and contrast.

[Physibeth]

 Ah ha, this is interesting, and I did mis-write that one. My tracker has no REM catagory (presumably because it can't track brain activity). What I should have said above was "deep sleep"...I mustive had some REM sleep because I can remember dreaming rather vividly at one point, but probably the tracking info will be more valuble when I have several nights that I can compare and contrast.

 

That is interesting. How does the data look? That particular app seems to be iPhone only and I'm an Android user. A bunch of my friends got fitbits for Christmas so I may consider that as an option in the future. I don't know if I can handle the one that goes on your wrist though. I generally despise having things on my wrists.

[missmary]

http://lifehacker.com/5993271/most-popular-sleep-tracking-gadget-or-app-sleep-cycle

 

The photo at the top of this article is what you get, basically. There are more charts and stuff to compare various data-points, but they only work with mutiple days of data.

[missmary]

Day 6: Jan 6

 

sleep: no natural calm, but a hot epsom salt bath and a good hour away from screens before climbing into bed. Best sleep in many days, smooth graph on the sleep tracker, although it woke me at 4:38am. I guess when your latest limit is 5am, that's what you get (it wakes you within 1/2 hour of your limit if you start to stir in bed).

 

meal#1 (preWO): HB egg, espresso

 

wo: Strength Complex. Instead of adding on recovery, I'm using my extra time to go to work early and get some stuff done. yay?

 

meal #2: palm of roast beef, red and yellow bell pepper strips, steamed broccoli, roasted sweet potato cubes, HB egg. 2/3 decaf americano (black) my treat for surviving -23 degrees on the wait for the bus this morning

 

meal #3: well fed eggplant strata, lamb instead of pork (added some lamb liver puree to the egg mix. can't taste it at all)

 

meal #4: nom nom paleo's coconut/pineapple/cauliflower rice, reheated in a bit of ghee with spinach, mushrooms, shrimp, roasted chicken thigh mixed in. cherry tomatoes. sparkling water to drink, while gazing longingly at my kombucha which is not ready yet.

 

prep: hard boiled 6 eggs. made two servings of dinner, and packed one up to eat tomorrow night when I know I will be in a rush.

 

So...will you guys hate me if I resolve all my issues before week 1 is up? Feeling really good. So much better. Thank you science 

[missmary]

Day 7: Jan 7

 

sleep: natural calm before bed. slept well for about half the night, then startled awake with low-grade headache and dry mouth. got up for a glass of water and slept fitfully until awakened at 4:59am.

 

meal#1 (preWO): HB egg, espresso

 

wo: agility cardio/tumbling/sprints. AWESOME workout. Much better than the last time I did this one. Tried to tack on some 1-arm handstands afterwards. failed. I'll get it again. recovery: massage tonight. 

 

meal #2: palm of roast turkey, red and yellow bell pepper strips, steamed broccoli, (2)HB eggs. coffee (black)

 

meal #3: well fed eggplant strata, lamb instead of pork, lamb liver added

 

meal #4: changed my mind about dinner: will do grass-fed beef hot dogs, sweet potato cubes, spinach, cherry tomatoes and a fried egg and save the cauli rice/chicken thigh/shrimp, etc. for lunch on Wednesday.

 

prep: assembled basalmic beef shortribs (Practical Paleo) while cooking dinner, chucked that in the fridge. hopefully I remember to pull it out and turn on the slowcooker before I leave in the morning...