The Cranky Cookie's 1st Whole30 - Starting 01/09/17

[crankycookie]

My Whole30 will start January 9, 2017. This is my second attempt at Whole30. The first time I tried, back in 2012, my health went to chaos. I don't even feel like listing it all here. But mainly, my hormones were severely out of whack from stress (adrenal fatigue and low progesterone) and my digestive system became very inflamed (IBS, gastritis, and my gallbladder had to be removed). Oh, and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I spent 8 months with chronic ear infections and subsequently took every antibiotic known to man before finding out from a naturopath that I had developed an intolerance to nuts. On and on with one thing after another. There's more, but that's enough to give you an idea of the nightmare rollercoaster I was on. At my worst, I was homebound and could barely do 5 minutes of qigong because my muscles were so trashed and I was so exhausted and sick. (I'm doing *much* better now).

Finally, because everything I put into my mouth made me sick, I became convinced that vegan was the way and jumped straight into low carb high fat (LCHF) vegan. So many people were telling me it would heal literally everything in the universe, I decided I had to try it. My jeans haven't fit me since. I consistently gained 1-3 pounds each week. At one point, I tried counting calories. Still gained. I tried raw vegan, but after nearly starving to death and still gaining 6 pounds in two weeks, I gave that up. After all was said and done, in the 8 months I spent as a HCLF vegan, I gained 50 pounds. When my morning fasting blood sugar crept up to 100 mg/dl and stayed there, I added meat back. Now, I can go 4-6 hours without eating and my fasting blood sugars are lower, though I have fallen back into some bad eating habits since my digestion has improved.

After 4 years, I'm finally ready to attempt another Whole30 to see if I can heal further and, honestly, get some of this extra weight off.