Health Experiment Numero Uno

I am going to do this for 6 weeks (in the strictest sense, but really its for life). Starting 3 days ago.

I know, I should have posted this before I started it, but I didn't have time what with cleaning my apartment for check-out (I am moving to Seattle. YAY! I will post about that at some point.)

So let me just say, I feel like crap right now. Why? Because sugar is a drug and when you eat really awful things (I hate tons of crap before I started this thing, kind of like a death-sentenced man's last meal mentality, which only made it harder on myself and I knew it... sigh), followed by really healthy things, your body begins a detox process. I don't know why (I will research it and let you know), but detoxing feels really BAD. People describe various symptoms: stuffy nose, headache, flu-like feelings, fatigue, diziness, etc. The biggest one for me is a headache. I also feel a bit dizzy. Oh, and angry at the world.

Going off sugar alone feels bad because you go through withdrawals. The first two days have been the worst.  Yesterday I hated everyone, especially the nice and happy people. And no one can tell me that sugar is not a drug because I craved it like a banshee yesterday. Thankfully, today I feel emotionally better, but I still have a headache.

So what am I doing to feel so wonderful? Let me detail it for you:

Health Experiment Numero Uno

Diet -

• Eliminate gluten
• Eliminate sugar
• Avoid processed foods as much as possible (my shopping cart selection shouldn't have any food labels...)
• Eat more veggies (this deserves its own post. A confession post, because... I don't like veggies. gasp.)
• Eat plenty of raw, fresh fruit
• Eat quality protein in every meal (grass fed/clean meats, fish, eggs, yogurt, beans, legumes, quinoa, and chia. Mostly plant sources and fish)
• Eat gluten free whole grains (the only ones I know how to cook and quinoa and rice, so this one needs some experimenting...)
• Include healthy fats - olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts, seeds
• Drink at least 67.5 oz of water throughout the day (body weight in pounds divided by two = ounces of water you need), probably more since I live in dryville and I work out.
• Take a high quality fish oil supplement, at least  (I take Xtend Life brand fish oil. I have done hours of my own research on the best fish oil supplement.)

Misc - 

• Exercise at least 4 times per week - alternating cardio and strength training. Always stretch after.
• Sleep at least 8 hours each night and go to bed before midnight (preferably by 10:30)
• Body brush every day (this sounds odd to those of you who have never heard of it, I bet. Check it out... Benefits of the Body Brush)

And that's it. This is really a hodge-podge of all the health books/articles I have read over the last couple of years. If you have a question about any of it, let me know and I will explain myself.

I will update every few days on how I feel and changes that I notice, emotionally and physically. I will also take before and after pictures of my face because I think that you can see all the differences in someone's health there.

Now, I must go make raw brownies. Again. For sanity.

Update - January 29, 2013

Okay, so I only made it two weeks. One of our vendors at work took us to Tucanos Brazilian Grill and though I resisted gluten, I caved when they brought the dessert tray around. As I used to work there, I know the merits of their creme brulee, and suddenly I heard myself saying, "Emily, wanna share one with me?" and in my head, I was rationalizing like an expert. I would only have a couple of bites. Combined with all the fats I just ate, the sugar will really not do much to my blood sugar, right?

Well, the floodgates opened and I have since fallen back into gluten as well. I am such an all or nothing kind of person, that I fall into this trap a lot. I have since rationalized that with still being in the process of moving, I will have to start this diet up again once I get settled in Seattle.

However, I would like to record here some of the things I noticed during the two weeks I was sugar and gluten free:

I felt much more stable, emotionally. My crazy spells of extreme irritability were nearly non-existent. I also felt a lot less restless (which I didn't know was such a constant until I didn't feel it as much anymore). I noticed a general feeling of, how can I describe it... fluidity in my body as well. My joints didn't ache and I just felt less inflamed.

I lost the craving for sugar almost entirely for the first week, until sugar didn't actually appeal to me. However, during the second week, the cravings came back and I am not sure why. I think I was consuming large amounts of fruit as a subconscious way to fill my emotional eating needs and that must have thrown things off. Fruits can still cause blood sugar extremes if eaten in excess and without other foods that slow absorption. I will have to watch this next time.

I have actually decided to try an elimination diet experiment next time that does a better job of "resetting" the body and illuminating those things that the body is having an immune reaction to. I will post about that once I have settled in Seattle.

Body, be my friend...please...

"Okay, Kathryn. That is it. No more eating crap. It's time to commit to a diet of mostly celery. And you will love it. Or else."

I don't know how many times I have said that to myself. Maybe not word for word. I probably substituted kale for celery sometimes. The point is: harsh restriction. No more fun. Ever. Rabbit diet.

Pretty much every January, me and I have a chat about this. And then every Monday from then on. All year. I have even written up a pledge to my new diet and signed it. I thought about signing it in blood once, but I figured that would be going too far. Plus, I am sure it still wouldn't have worked.

Its amazing the crazy-intense pep talks and preparations we conjure up in an attempt to insure that we will stick to our goals THIS time, just to get to the end of that very same day and wolf down a half dozen Krispy Kremes with little more than a whispered, "I PROMISE I will start tomorrow" to ourselves.

What have I learned from these countless attempts to finally "eat healthy?" Will power is NOT enough. And the more we bully ourselves, the harder it gets. So what the heck do we do?!

When we are trying to stop over-eating, stop eating crap, or stick to an exercise regime, we begin to see our bodies as the ultimate enemy. It's truly an exhausting battle. And how sad to hate a part of ourselves with such venom!

I have learned that if we are to be successful at any kind of self-change, we have got to be MORE kind and understanding to ourselves, not less. Stop telling yourself that you are some kind of strange creature for loving Ben and Jerry more than your husband (of course this is not true, but when we are in the grip of cravings, it sure seems that way). You have to know WHY you love sugar and carbs. They cause an elevated level of serotonin, the brain chemical responsible for making us feel happy and content. Stop punishing yourself for wanting to feel good. Once we accept ourselves, it is much easier to make a change. Its the same at work. We work harder for a boss who respects us.

I have learned that our bodies are truly our best friends when it comes to making a healthy change. We just have to understand how they work. We have to understand what our intense cravings mean, how we misread them, and how to deliver exactly what our bodies need instead. When we work with our body's natural processes and needs, we can achieve balanced, beautiful health. With that comes weight loss, balanced moods, more energy, and especially peace with ourselves and with food.

I have stubbed my toe on the tip of the ice berg of the importance of insulin and blood sugar (bad metaphor, perhaps. What am I doing in iceberg frequented waters, and why am I swimming feet first? Lets just go with it for now...). I have learned that when I eat a meal devoid of protein and healthy fats (like my go-to green smoothie I used to drink for breakfast every morning. I will post about it and put a link here later), my blood sugar spikes and then falls and I feel like crap. Beneath the crappy feeling, my body is desperately trying to regulate the amount of sugar in my blood. It pumps out insulin. Insulin signals my body to store the excess glucose in my blood as fat. The high level of insulin in my blood also signals my body that it has LOW blood sugar, so within a couple of hours, I get insane cravings for sugar and carbs. And the cycle continues.

Recently I read a book entitled "Potatoes, Not Prozac." I didn't even finish it. I read like one chapter. I have not done my homework on this book, but the basic premise rang so true to me that I immediately made a change in my diet. The book basically preaches the importance of protein/carbohydrate pairing to regulate the absorption of sugar into the blood-stream. I started adding protein to every meal, especially to my breakfast and it was amazing how much more stable I felt. And full. I could go hours without cravings.

I have also learned that I am gluten intolerant, as are many, many Americans, they just don't know it. I could go into depth about why (GMO wheat, run-away leaky guts, etc), but that will have to be for another post. Gluten intolerance has been linked to depression, so I have a special interest in this. Up to now, I couldn't have contemplated a world without wheat, but its amazing how motivating information can be. I also find that when I avoid processed foods, gluten kind of just eliminates itself from my diet anyway.

So! I am going to jump into a new diet experiment with both feet starting NOW. I had to get past the holidays, for there was no hope for avoiding sugar during the season and of joy and fudge.

For several years, I have been slowly cutting out sugar and refined and processed foods from my life. However, I still give in and indulge in mounds of crap when I have a bad day, go out with friends, or just feel like treating myself. My favorite "crap foods" are El Monterey Taquitos (I hate a whole bag after a break-up once... that is like 2000 calories, folks. Don't judge.), The Pizza Factory breadsticks, and Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. I just wanted to list those here so that you can refer back to it when you are reading my other posts in the future where I am praising kale and crap and you can remember that I am a normal person...

My plan is to eliminate sugar and gluten. Its not quite that simple, but if I fail at all the other components, I WILL stick with those ones at least.

I will detail my whole diet plan in a new post because this one got ridiculously long about 500 words ago.