Category: Health (Thyroid / Iron / Anemia / Auto-Immune)

Hip Surgery Recovery Day 15 – Supplements

I was bored out of my mind this weekend, so I played with some new video editing software. I wanted to link to the different products that I reference with clickable buttons in the video, but couldn’t figure out how to do that. . .

This video is a summary of the supplements and a few dietary changes that I’ve made since breaking my hip for the 2nd time, and being diagnosed with Osteopenia .. at the age of 39!

Links to Products/Companies referenced in Video:
Traughber Nutrition: https://traughbernutrition.com/
Vitamin D+K Drops: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07…
Desiccated Liver Capsules: https://www.perfectsupplements.com/Pr… Fermented Kale Powder: https://www.perfectsupplements.com/Pr… Hydrolyzed Collagen: https://www.perfectsupplements.com/Pr…
Carlson’s Cod Liver Oil: https://www.carlsonlabs.com/cod-liver…
RAWSOME CBD Oil: https://www.getrawsome.com/collection…

TX Chainring Massacre + Broken Hip Days 1-3.

Well, my TX Chainring Massacre race with the A’s was going pretty good. . . . until it wasn’t 🙁

I hung on with the A leaders for a bit, but eventually got popped and settled in with a strong chase group. Kim Petite (Papa John’s Pro Cycling) and Kae Takeshita (Panaracer Pro Cycling) had hung in with the A leaders a bit longer than I had, so I was sitting 3rd for the bulk of the race. The chase group I was with caught Kae with ~20? miles to go, and I was gunning hard for 2nd place, with an anticipated worst case scenario of 3rd. . . . and then, with 5 miles remaining in the 65 mile race, we took a corner a tad hot, and several in my group (myself included) washed out. I remember my exact thought process as my wheels were sliding out from under me. . .

It was a really minor wash out, and I wasn’t even remotely thinking about how much this was going to hurt or about the actual ground impact at all. It was such a minor, run of the mill slide out, that I was already thinking about how quickly I could pop back onto my bike and chase back on before I even hit the ground. As soon as I stopped sliding I went to pop up, and immediately knew something was horribly wrong. I had the exact same searing/shooting/unbearable pain radiating from my left hip that I had experienced back on August 26th when I fractured my Iliac Crest in the sprint finish pileup at the Driveway Series. I knew right away that I’d broken my hip again – there was absolutely zero question in my mind whatsoever. I assumed at the time that I’d re-fractured the same spot, but X-rays later revealed that my original fracture was still 100% fully intact and completely unaffected and in no way contributed to this new injury, which turned out to be a break of my femoral neck.

Back to the actual crash though – as soon as I realized I was fucked and that there was absolutely NO WAY that I was getting back on my bike, I immediately encouraged everyone else that had wiped out along with me and was scrambling to get back onto their bikes to JUST GO. I didn’t want anyone losing position because of me, and I was pretty sure I could drag/hobble myself and my bike to the edge of the road and use my cell to call for help. Two of the guys would have none of it though, and insisted on staying to help me get to the side of the road. In hindsight, I’m really, really glad that they did, because I don’t think there is any way that I could have done it on my own. I was in excruciating pain. Once seated on the side of the road, I called my husband at the start/finish line, and he alerted Kevin (race director), who sent his wife out to pick me up in their truck. The guys that had helped me relocate offered to stay with me until a ride arrived, but there was absolutely nothing further that they could do to help me, so insisted that they finish their race, and after arguing with me for a few minutes, they realized that I was more stubborn and hard-headed then both of them combined, and reluctantly rode away.

I spent ~30 minutes on the side of the road waiting for my ride to arrive, and was trying to do anything possible to keep my mind off the pain or thoughts about my season going down the shitter. . . I was positioned very visibly at a sharp turn in the course, so I took on the role of cheerleader and course guide, yelling to riders who were going to miss the turn, and cheering on those who looked like they could use an encouraging word. I actually had a good bit of fun sitting there in the sun, and was glad for the distraction 🙂

When Jan (Kevin’s wife) arrived with their pickup truck, it was clear that getting into it was going to be quite a production. . . I could barely move, and at this point could put absolutely no weight at all into my left leg, or twist my torso at all without pain so severe that it brought a scream from me that I hope to never hear again. Fortunately, two other guys saw our trouble, and stopped to help load me into the truck. Being unable to twist or move, I ended up riding the ~25 minutes back to the start/finish on bumpy gravel roads in the passenger seat, facing the rear of the truck, with my knees on the edge of the seat, my face plastered against the headrest, and my butt up against the dashboard/windshield. . . I’m sure that we were QUITE the sight!

We made it back to the Start/Finish, and Jan Bennet, Kevin, Jan, and my hubby Jamie helped get me moved from the truck to the floor of our van. This was also quite the production, and took about an hour with no shortage of dirty words and screams slipping from my lips in the process . . . once settled in the van, Jamie and I decided that we’d drive the ~3.5 hours back to Austin, and go to an ER close to home. As I mentioned, I was positive that my hip was broken, and assumed that I’d likely be required to stay overnight (although I was really hoping that I’d escape surgery again).

The 3 hour ride from Valley View to Georgetown was one of the most painful 3 hours of my life so far. EVERY bump in the road, change in momentum, or sway of the van caused me to shift my body weight, resulting in another surge of excruciating pain. By the time we got to Georgetown, Jamie made the executive decision to go ahead and call uncle for me rather than drive the additional ~45 minutes to Austin. We checked into St. David’s Georgetown, where they took X-rays, started an IV with pain meds (OH THANK GOD), and determined that I had a displaced fracture of the Femoral Neck that would require surgery. They recommended that I be transferred by EMS to St. David’s Round Rock so that Dr. Laverty (one of the best surgeons/hip specialists in Austin) could perform my surgery the next morning.

Upon arriving at St. David’s RR, Dr. Laverty reviewed my X-rays and discussed my options with me. He said that there were 3 ways this could go: 1) A Hip Replacement 2) A hip repair with Open Reduction Surgery 3) A hip repair with Closed Reduction Surgery. He explained that a hip replacement was not a viable option for someone of my age and activity level, because the metal of the ball would wear my socket out, and I would likely require 4-5 more hip replacements throughout my life, which is obviously not an option. He then explained that he was going to attempt to repair the break with a closed reduction surgery, which would include a ~3 inch incision, and screwing the femur back to the ball joint so that it could heal, but he also said that it was likely that he’d have to make a bigger incision and cut through some muscles and tendons in an Open Reduction Surgery in order to make the necessary repairs. Obviously, recovery time after a Closed Reduction Surgery is much less than required after an Open Reduction Surgery, so we were all keeping our fingers crossed that it could be repaired via Closed Reduction, but also well aware that this wasn’t very likely.

Surgery was performed Sunday morning around 10am, and I woke up around Noon to the WONDERFUL news that he was able to complete the surgery with a Closed Reduction! 🙂

Rather than re-type all of the details of my first 3 days (spent in the hospital), I’ve embedded my FB updates from this time period below.

BEMER Mat Testing!

http://thefrequencyofwellness.weebly.com/custhome.html

I posted some teasers on my live Insta Stories last week about the BEMER Mat testing that I was doing, & promised a summary & Review to follow, so here it is!

If you missed the teasers, I performed a test where I completed a specific workout with 5 x 3 min max effort intervals. I did the workout before having used the BEMER mat, and then repeated it again a few days later immediately after a BEMER Mat session. The results speak for themselves (see chart below).

If you want more info, or to schedule a Demo for yourself, reach out to Sherri Kirklin  (she can assist with setting you up with a BEMER Rep/Demo nationwide!)

I could see this having a profound impact on my ability to recovery between rides/races, and enabling me to up my Ultra training volume without riding myself into the ground! 

My Plan for Speedy Collarbone Healing (Nutrition, Supplementation, & Training)

Well, I haven’t blogged in FOREVER, but I’ve been scouring the internet for the last several weeks looking for supplements to promote bone regrowth, exercises that can be done with a broken collarbone, quick and easy Paleo Meal recipes that I could fix with 1 arm, and various other odds and ends related to my most recent collarbone break and recovery efforts.

A very abbreviated history:

  • June 13, 2013 – I broke my left collarbone in a Crit, and surgery was required to repair it. I was religious about sticking to strict Paleo Protocol during my recovery, and came back very quickly, and stronger than ever. 
    • Surgery was June 28th (~ 2 weeks after break)
    • I was on the trainer 1 week post-op.
    • I was back on the road 3.5 weeks post-op with no restrictions other than no racing yet.
    • I returned to racing 7 weeks Post Op
  • February 16th, 2014 – I was in a really bad accident during a Road Race, and re-broke my left collarbone at the end of the existing plate. This time, I had a compound break (they actually scraped road paint off the exposed end of the bone. . . ewwwww). . . and I had a pretty severe concussion. I was life-flighted  from the accident site to the nearest Trauma Center, and emergency surgery was performed. I was in the hospital for several days due to the high risk of infection. This break was MUCH worse than the first, and recovery was slow and painful. I got depressed and let’s just say that I did NOT stick to my Paleo Protocol (pretty much as far from it as I could get after a while) My sugar demon reared it’s ugly head and I now joke about the fact that the “Ben & Jerry’s Diet” is apparently NOT conducive to bone healing. . I tried to justify it by the fact that I was getting my calcium in. . but c’mon. . I wasn’t fooling anyone!
    • Emergency Surgery was February 17th
    • It took 4 weeks this time before I was back on the trainer, and then it was sporadic at best
    • I was back on the road at 6 weeks, but limited to solo rides because bone wasn’t fully fused
    • I was not cleared for group riding until 11 WEEKS post Op, and even then, my bone wasn’t fully fused, and I was instructed to be careful
    • I am now 16 weeks Post-Op, and the bone still isn’t fully fused, and they are worried that it may become a Non-Union
  • May 24th, 2014 – I hit a huge pothole on a group ride in Austin, took a spill and broke my right collarbone. 
    • Surgery was June 6th (~2 weeks after break)
    • A follow-up apt 1 week Post-Op showed that it’s lined up nicely and already knitting, but the left side is STILL not fully fused.
SO, this is what’s led me to begin all of this internet research. Since the 3rd break, I’ve been really careful about what I’ve been eating for the most part, with only 1-2 small splurges, but after the most recent appointment on Monday where I was informed that they are concerned about a Non-Union of the Left Collarbone, I am officially on an All-Out Mission to heal BOTH sides once and for all. 
I’m blogging my plan and progress in the hopes that it may help someone else out there whose trying to promote healing as quickly as possible from a collarbone break, while staying active and preventing loss of fitness.
THE PLAN (effective TODAY, June 18th, 2014 until both collarbones are fully fused):

Nutrition/Supplementation

  • Cutting out Caffeine (OMG kill me now. . coffee, I will miss you!)
  • Cutting out all alcoholic beverages (not really an issue – I rarely drink)
  • Daily cup of home-made Bone Broth (from grass-fed cows)
  • Going back to STRICT Paleo 
    • Whole30 started this morning
    • Emphasis on LOTS of leafy green veg & healthy fats, and moderate amounts of fruit & high quality protein (Organic, Free-Range Eggs, Grass Fed Beef, Pastured Chicken, Wild Fish) 
    • Will be keeping caloric intake up to support bone healing
  • Supplementing w/ Calcium + D3
  • Supplementing w/ Cissus Quadrangularis
Also doing more research on a Comfrey Ointment and possibly supplementing w/ Glucosamine Chondroitin. Verdict is still out on these, but I’ll be updating.
“Other”
  • Get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep every single night (preferably closer to 9)
  • Using a Bone Simulator 20 minutes each side, 2 x per day, as prescribed by my Orthopedic Surgeon
Exercise
  • Bodyweight Leg & Core Workouts started 1.5 weeks post-op
    • Bulgarian Squats
    • Air Squats
    • Pistols (attempted – probably have to work my way back up to these!)
    • Bridges (increased difficulty by elevating feet on bench)
    • Hollow Holds (arms at side)
    • Flutter Kicks/Hello Dollys
    • Will add to this list as I come up w/ more 🙂
    • Here’s a 30 second excerpt from my 1st workout – felt AMAZING to work up a sweat again!
  • Stationary Trainer starting 2 weeks Post-Op
    • My Cycling coach will doing my programming and easing me back into it 
  • Back on the Road – pending clearance from Ortho Surgeon – based on speed of bone healing – Hoping for 4 weeks post-op though . . around July 4th!
1st Break – AFTER Pain Meds. . . 
2nd Break . . Not in good Shape. . .
3rd, Current Break

Thyroid Update

I’ve had several people ask me how I became aware that I had problems with my Thyroid. In short, there were several “warning signs” that I should have noticed (Fatigue, Muscle Weakness, Difficulty Concentrating, Cognition Problems), but the thing that really clued me in was the golf-ball sized knot on my neck. The picture above is not me, but the girl’s neck looks very similar to the way that mine did.

As the knot began to grow, it started to hurt, and I knew I had to get it checked out. Long story short, My blood tests showed that my TSH #’s were so low that they barely registered (0.02), an ultrasound verified the existance of several large nodules, a Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy ruled out cancer (thank goodness!), and I underwent Radioactive Iodine Therapy to “kill” the nodules.

The hope was that the majority of the iodine would be “sucked up” by the nodule which was in overdrive mode, and that it would leave my Thyroid alone, but I was told that it was possible that my thyroid would absorb some of it, and as a result, it would reduce the ability of my Thyroid to function properly. Unfortunately, it appears as though this is what happened.

Fast Forward 6 months and I have gone from having “Hyperthyroidism” to having “Hypothyroidism”. This has NOT been a fun roller coaster ride! It has significantly affected:

  • My emotions – think crazy mood swings and unexplainable sobbing episodes for no discernable reason whatsoever
  • My ability to concentrate –I feel like a teenager who desperately needs a ritalin prescription much of the time
  • My cognition – I feel just plain dumb a lot of the time lately – I’m having a hard time absorbing new information, and this is NOT like me at all – I’m usually a pretty smart cookie – really!
  • My Athletic Performance – My strength and endurance have both decreased significantly over the last several months, at an even faster rate than they were decreasing when I was “Hyper”
  • My Energy Levels – Some days it takes everything I have just to get out of bed, even after 8-9 hours of sleep. It doesn’t make any logical sense and it’s been very frustrating!

Apparently, that little teeny tiny butterfly-shaped organ controls just about EVERYTHING. . . who knew!?!

Sooo, when my Doc called me on Monday to tell me that my most recent blood tests showed
that my TSH levels have risen to 4.8 and I was officially “Hypo”, I was not at all suprised, and actually rather relieved to have a firm scientific reason for the way I had been feeling (You mean I’m not really going crazy – that’s GREAT news!).

According to some scales, a TSH level of 4.8 is just barely outside of the normal range, but by the way I’ve been feeling, I could tell that something was waaayyyy off. Thank goodness, I have a great Endocronologist who confirmed that we should be trying to get my TSH levels down below 3, and preferably in the 1-2 range, and a friend of mine who has been through a similar situation assured me that the symptoms that I’ve been experiencing are perfectly normal for someone w/ my TSH levels. (More affirmation that I’m not really going crazy is always a good thing!! – THANK YOU – you know who you are)

So I started a Syntroid dose on Monday and have hopes that I will soon notice a difference. We’ll be checking my TSH levels monthly and adjusting my dosage accordingly until we’ve got me in the TSH “sweet spot” 🙂 I’m already starting to notice little differences – my ability to concentrate seems to have improved dramatically already, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I’ll take every little improvement I can get!

Starting Over after “IT”

Many of you out there in the “Internet Realm” who follow my blog don’t know me personally, so I feel that it’s necessary to give a bit of background before diving into the “heart” of this post.

Background

I started CrossFit about 3 years ago, and progressed on about an “average” level. I was instantly addicted due to the constant improvement across a wide range of movements, and I aspired to one day reach the “Competition” level. I’ve been competitive and athletic my entire life, so this gave me a new outlet for my competitive spirit to fly free.

I started Weightlifting (in addition to CF) about 2 years ago, and quickly fell in love with it. I’m very flexible and this gave me an advantage in movements like the Snatch. I made “okay” progress over the next year and a half. Nothing spectacular, but steady and consistent progress – so I was happy and content.

My strengths are Weightlifting (Single Reps w/ recovery in between – very different from most CF Weightlifting Conditioning WODS) and lengthy-but-light-weight-MetCons, while my weaknesses are gymnastics movements and lifting heavy weights for more than 1 or 2 reps. (I can lift MUCH more for 1 – 2 reps, or if given time to recover between reps than I can if I were asked to lift a weight multiple times without rest.)

Okay, now for the “meat and potatoes” of this post –

Up until about 8 months ago, I was making steady progress and thriving both mentally and physically on the consistent improvement in most areas. Then “IT” Happened.

“IT” will be different for everyone, but in all cases it’s something that happens in your life that sets you back (a little or sometimes a LOT), and you have little to no control over whatever this thing may be.

The “IT” in my life was thyroid problems. My energy levels started to fall, I could no longer go as long or as hard, and some days it took everything I had just to get out of bed. Then, my strength started to decrease, and that was the last straw for me – I marched my butt to the Dr. to find out what in the heck was going on. The diagnosis was an Autonomically functioning Thyroid Nodule. I had a “hyper-thyroid” condition, and the options to fix it were to nuke the nodule w/ radiation or have surgery to remove the nodule along with (at least) half of my thyroid. I opted for the “nuke it” option because there was a better chance that my thyroid would recover long-term and that I wouldn’t have to go on Synthroid. I was warned that when they “nuked” the nodule, it would likely also affect my thyroid function for several months, up to a year, and that I would probably become “Hypo” until my thyroid regulated itself. If it failed to regulate itself in an acceptable amount of time, I would have to go on medication to get my Thyroid levels where they needed to be. Sooo, at the end of August, I had my Thyroid “nuked”.

Since then, my performance in the gym has continued to decline, but at an even faster rate. I now officially have “hypo-thyroidism”, and my levels are getting worse every month (not better).

Initially, I kept a positive attitude. I knew that this was a temporary setback, and as soon as I got “IT” straightened out, everything would return to normal. I suffered through discouraging workout after discouraging workout, but did my best to keep plugging away.

Over the last two months, however, my workout frequency has decreased significantly more. It got so hard (mentally!) to drag myself to the gym when I was no longer seeing steady progress, but was instead seeing a steady decline in my performance and strength. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to throw myself down on the floor and have a temper tantrum. I just wanted to feel better and perform better, and get back to where I was. I felt like I was being forcibly pushed backwards in time to the level I was at when I first started CrossFit and Weightlifting. And I had worked SO HARD for the progress that it was really hard to see it ripped away by “IT”.

Every workout, I would compare my results to my previous PR’s (set before “IT” happened), and got more and more discouraged – because numbers just don’t lie – I was getting worse, not better. My Fran is much slower, I can’t string even half the pullups together that I used to be able to, I can’t Snatch or C&J my max anymore for even 1 rep, I get winded and have to rest after just a few thrusters or box jumps or burpees.

In addition to all of this, I had FINALLY conquered the HUGE milestones of HS Pushups (off of an abmat) and RX Ring Dips prior to “IT”. These are things that I had struggled with and worked on religiously for months and months to get, and was overjoyed when I finally “got” them. I realized about a month ago that I can no longer do either movement. And trust me, it’s NOT for lack of giving it everything I had just to try to get 1 single solitary rep. I just am THAT much weaker.

So for the last two months, I’ve gradually been getting more and more discouraged and it’s been harder and harder to force myself to workout because I’m fighting with my own head. I’ll tell myself that “I feel GREAT today, and I’m going to kick this workout’s butt!” and then 5 minutes into it I realize that I have no energy at all left, and I finish it, look up my previous time, and realize that I got nowhere close to kicking that workout’s butt, regardless of my good intentions.

I FINALLY realized just today that I’ve been my own worst enemy. I’ve been de-moralizing myself and setting myself up for failure by comparing my Current Performance/Strength Level to my Performance/Strength Level from before “IT”. I’m basically comparing apples to oranges, whether I want to admit it or not. I am NOT the same athlete that I was 6 months ago, through no fault of my own – but I need to accept that, re-assess where I am NOW, and try to improve from my current position. That means setting new goals, focusing on the here and now, and forgetting about what I may or may not have been capable of 6 months ago.

What brought on this realization? I was reminded of the Serenity Prayer:

“God, Grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change, COURAGE to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference.”

The realization of what I had been doing hit me like a lightning bolt. I need to trust that I will never be burdened with more than I’ve been given the ability to handle, and know that everything really does happen for a reason, even if I never figure out just what that reason is.

So I am going to do my best to simply accept that I am where I am in terms of strength and conditioning, and there is absolutely nothing that I can do to change where I am right now at this moment. It’s out of my hands.

And while I won’t be able to change my performance & strength levels overnight, or return them instantaneously to where they used to be, I do have the ability to change my the way that I look at the situation, my focus, and my goals.

So over the next month, I am going to update my “Current 1RM” and all of my performance measurement metrics so that they reflect where I am right now. I will no longer refer to any of my previous benchmarks in my training logs or on my website because that was the past, and this is the present, and I need to stop dwelling on the past if I ever want to be able to move forward.

Going forward, I will measure my progress against these current numbers, rather than where I was when I was at my “peak” 6 months ago. I hope that this shift in the way that I look at things will help me to be less discouraged at the end of my workouts, and to appreciate that I still have the ability to do the things that I love, even if I may not be able to (presently) do them as well as I used to. And that’s okay with me!

So if you have recently faced a setback as a result of an “IT” in your life, it may help if you stop dwelling on the past, re-evaluate where you are in the present, and make goals & plans for the future based on your current situation. Whatever the “IT” is in your life that may have sidelined or de-railed you – You can overcome it if you are able to stop focusing on how things were before “IT”, accept how things are now, and move forward from your current position.

I’ll end this post with one of my favorite quotes:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude,
to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the
education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than
what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,
giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The
remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will
embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact
that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only
thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I
am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.
And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.” ~Charles R.
Swindoll

And now, after that HEAVY post, here’s a little something to make you Smile before you leave! (Cause who doesn’t love cute puppies?!?)

What a difference a day makes!

Wow – it really is amazing to me how much things can “turn around” within a single day!

I’ve had a few really rough days with super duper low energy/motivation levels, & insane cravings, but today I feel like I’m on top of the world. . . I’m hoping that this means that I have FINALLY turned that corner and that the worst is behind me for this Whole30. Only time will tell, but I’m going to ride this energy high for as long as it lasts!
I got up this morning, got my Fran on, and it’s been onwards and upwards ever since. Granted I didn’t even get close to PR’ing my Fran, but that’s okay. I’m just happy I was finally able to drag my booty out of bed and to the gym for a morning workout!
I think that increasing my FAT intake yesterday really helped, and although the results were not instantaneous, it seems that after a good night’s sleep they are finally showing themselves. I’m trying to take in a little more fat today to see if it continutes to help with my energy. . . . We’ll See.
Here’s a quick collage to my love of HEALTHY FAT and all of it’s energy-providing goodness:
Adding to my GREAT mood is the excitement I feel over attending the Foundations of Nutrition Workshop and the Trainer’s Workshop this weekend in Houston! AND if that weren’t enough, I’m finally going to get the chance to meet Whole9’s Mellisa & Dallas, and Melissa “Melicious” Joulwan (whose recipes I would SURELY DIE without!) in person **happy dance**

AAANND I’m going to get to shop at WHOLE FOODS while in Houston this weekend – does life get any better than that?

Ever just have one of those days?


**Illustration by Clay Sneller**

Meh.

Ugh.

Siiiggghhhh.

Ever have one of those days? Well excuse me for just a moment while I throw a really brief pity party. . .

I’m usually a REALLY upbeat, optomistic, look-on-the-bright-side, pick-a-friend-up kind of person. You’ll rarely see me without a smile on my face. But every now and then, I just have one of those days . . .or weeks. . . . !

I am tired & grumpy, have absolutely zero energy, and am craving the hell out of every single sugary abomination known to man. I have only worked out one time this week because my energy levels have been soooo low, and the lack of exercise makes me feel even worse!

I KNOW that I will pull through this shortly. I KNOW that it’s just my thyroid levels screwing with me combined with turning the “strict” dial up on my food choices – but MAN – something has got to give!

Having no energy combined with being tired and grumpy is bad enough – but when you add to that the intense cravings that I’m fighting off at every turn, I swear I’m a walking Mood Swing!

So now it’s time to turn on my Optomism switch! What do I need to do to fix this funk?

I’m drinking lots of water and eating extra fat (to help with the cravings), getting to bed super early and making sure I get a minumum of 8 hours of sleep a night (even if that means that I miss a workout. . .), and trying to convince my neurotic Type A brain that missing a few workouts while trying to get my sleep/clean eating habits/meal timing back on track is not going to kill me.

I’m on Day 6 of my Whole102, and I know that this is the “rough patch” – especially considering the fact that I really overdid the sugar on New Year’s Eve. . . meaning that there’s even more crap trying to clear out of my system then usual. So I’m going to “Suck it up, Buttercup”, Push onward and upward, and hopefully be back to my normal up-beat sane self that’s not plagued by sugar demons w/in the next day or so 🙂

You may be asking yourself WHY I’m sharing this pity party with the world – well I guess it’s because I want those who follow my blog to see that I struggle too! If every single one of my posts were about sunshine and rainbows and puppydogs (Paleo is Great! CrossFit is Great! Weightlifting ROCKS!. . . I got a PR! . . . you get the point), it would be a little bit unrealistic. If I’m going to maintain an open an honest blog, I figured I should probably be sharing the “down’s”, few and far between as they are, as well as all of the “UP’S” that go along with a Whole30 stint, CrossFit Workouts, etc!

So what do YOU do to pick yourself up out of a funk? I know we all have them from time to time – I’m open to any and all suggestions!

Whole30 Week 1 Summary


GF Steak, Crispy Roasted Brussel Sprouts, and Homemade Paleo Ketchup – YUM!
Yesterday marked the end of week 1, and so far things are going. . . okay.

I have to admit that I had some CRAZY cravings in the first week but I was able to ignore them and am still going strong. Reflecting back, I definitely ate a bit more fruit than I really should have in the first week, so I am going to be more mindful of my fruit intake this week. I didn’t go hog-wild or anything but I can definitely think of 4 or 5 instances where I was craving the hell out of some sugar and reached for a piece of fruit to quiet the craving – not a good habit to get into if I want to put my Sugar Demons back to bed!

I have made some uber delicious meals this week though 🙂

  • Paleo Veggie stuffed Meatloaf with a Balsamic Glaze & Grilled Broccoli w/ Garlic Olive Oil
  • Nitrate/Sugar Free/Organic Chicken Sausage and Sweet Peppers and Onions over a bed of baby Spinach, topped w/ homemade guacamole
  • Grilled GF NY Strip with Crispy Roasted Brussel Sprouts & homemade Paleo Ketchup
  • Lots of salads for lunch chock full of colorful veggies, Avocados, HB Eggs, Pistachios with Wild Tuna or Sardines or Chicken
  • Delicious GF Beef Stew with Brussel Sprouts and lots of other veggies (was really good when I was sick!)
  • Curry Chicken and Cabbage
  • Breakfasts have been Poached Eggs over Broccoli Slaw w/ Avocados & Sometimes the addition of blueberries and walnuts (YUM!)

I bought a bag of bing cherries mid-week and those things were like candy! They were juicy and delicious but I don’t think I’ll be buying any more for a few weeks because I did tend to “crack out” on them a bit when I was craving sugar.

I also bought a few small tangerines and these were really juicy and delicious too, but I was able to “control myself” much better with these. I think I’ll buy 4 this week and make them last.

Yesterday was my first day back to CrossFit after being out for vacation and then being sick as a dog for 2 weeks with the flu – I got my booty handed to me on a silver platter! I hurt EVERYWHERE today! But it’s that “good hurt” that just reminds me that I’m doing something right 🙂

My energy levels are still way off and at this point I don’t know whether to contribute it to the after-effects of the Flu, my Thyroid, or the adjustment back to Paleo. I really don’t think it has so much to do w/ my adjustment back to Paleo because I only went “off-course” for about a week and a half. I’ve got to get back in to get my Thyroid levels measured again. The last time I had them checked right before vacation they were continuing in the wrong direction, and the doc told me that she’d have to put me on Thyroid meds if they continued that way, so I’ve been dragging my feet a little with the followup. . . .but I think it’s time to get myself in there!

So to summarize – all in all it was an “okay” first week. I stuck to the plan 100%, and prepared lots of yummy foods, but fought my fair share of cravings and also was sick the first half of the week. I hope that next week goes a little more smoothly as a result of my returning to the gym, and no longer being sick.

Don’t Worry. . .Be HAPPY!

SMILE!

It really is that simple.

I’m a glass-half-full kind of girl, as anyone that knows me personally can confirm 🙂

I make a concious effort to go through life looking at the positive side of things. I can’t control what happened in the past, so I try not to dwell on it. Don’t get me wrong – I take into consideration past mistakes and learn what I can from them – but then I move on. The same goes for the future. If I policed every single move that I made because I was worried about it may affect my future, I’d be a stressed out mess! I make responsible adult decisions but I also do my best to live in the moment and enjoy the heck out of life while I can.

If you’re having a particularly bad day, analyze the things that are bringing you down – see if you can find one potential positive outcome for each of those negative things. And then focus on bringing about the most positive that you can from the “bad” situations. You’d be amazed at how much smoother the ride through life is when you choose to look at it with rose-tinted glasses 🙂

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” ~Albert Einstein

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” ~Unknown

“Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are – completely; the good and the bad – and make changes as YOU see fit – not because you think someone else wants you to be different.” ~Stacey Charter

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” ~Frederick Keonig

“A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.” ~Hough Downs

I was going through some old pictures, and noticed that I really tend to have a perpetual smile. It takes a lot to bring me down – here’s a brief slideshow of me from Newborn to present – and you’ll see that I have a big fat Joker-like grin in 99% of the pictures – I used to hate that grin and think that it made me look goofy – but as I’ve “grown up” I’ve learned to appreciate it as something that makes me unique 🙂

(Oh, and hopefully you’ll get a laugh from the many different crazy hairstyles and colors that I’ve tried over the years as well . . . HAHA!)

Excuses, Excuses!

Today is Day 3 of my Whole30 and I’ve got to say that the first three days has NOT been easy. My brain has come up with all kinds of crazy excuses to eat “just one bite of this or that”. I feel like I’ve been one huge craving monster for 3 days straight. . .I know it gets better, and this knowledge will help pull me through to the “smooth sailing” part. . . but I have to say this is BRUTAL!

For the record – I’m still sick as a dog. I’ve got the flu that just will NOT GO AWAY! I have never been this sick for this long before in my entire life (well, other than when I had mono in high school . . .). The tricky thing about this particular strain of the flu is that I’ll start feeling better and see a light at the end of the tunnel. . . then I’ll get up and start becoming a bit more active and BOOM it comes back with a vengance.

Anyway – yesterday I woke up with horrible, horrible nausea. I couldn’t even fathom eating anything. I think that it was probably my body’s reaction to the Tussionex that the Dr. prescribed to help w/ my cough/chest congestion. It has some Codein in it, and since I usually won’t even take IbuProfin my body tends to react a little more strongly than typical to any kind of medication. . .

After I visited the porcelain god a few times all I wanted to do was eat a nice warm bowl of Cambell’s chicken noodle soup and some saltine crackers. The thought of anything else sent me running for the bathroom again, but for some reason saltine crackers just sounded sooo good to me. I started rationalizing again and saying to myself “You’re sick – you have to eat something and if saltine crackers are all you can keep down, then you should eat saltine crackers“. . . but I managed to talk myself down from the ledge with some frozen grapes. Frozen grapes actually worked out really well b/c I could suck on them a little bit and then they were very soothing to my sore throat 🙂

I love my hubby, and he’s only looking out for my best interest of course, but he has said several times “You should really wait until your not sick to go back on that diet“. My reply every time has been “Honey – I’m not going back on any diet. I’m just choosing to only feed my body the whole, nutritious foods that it needs to heal itself. Saltine Crackers have absolutely no nutritious value and will not do anything to help me heal any faster.” And of course he supports my decision, but I still see him shaking his head every now and then as I go on another coughing jag!

I think the fact that I haven’t been able to work out in nearly 2 weeks is just compounding things – you know how when you work out, it kindof makes you WANT to eat healthy because you don’t want to undo all of the hard work in the gym with a Snickers Bar? Well, absent that post-workout healthy eating urge, my cravings seem to be a bit worse.

Okay, I’m done throwing my little pity party now! The good news is that I am on Day 3 and going strong. I have made up my mind that nothing is going to “throw me off the wagon”, and hey, I can’t stay sick forever right?!?!? The end to this funk is just around the corner, and I can only imagine how good feeling “healthy” will feel after having been in the sicko trenches for 2 weeks 🙂

I’ll leave you with this little cartoon, which I found particularly funny given the time of year, and my current health