So, almost three years ago now (March 16, 2016) I severely cleaned up my diet and started losing weight. I lost 90 pounds and felt GREAT for the most part. Just a month or so before Wes died I started lifting weights so that I would be strong enough to lift him when he needed me to. I got inspired to join the gym the day I was struggling to lift his wheelchair in and out of the back of the car. So I did that.
And then he died and I have kept right on going to the gym. I re-gained 20 pounds, and much of that is muscle...much but not quite all, I don't think. I'm pretty solid and I am OK with that. And for the first time in my adult life my weight is stable. STABLE. As in: I eat at will with good eating habits, and I don't gain weight.
Many of my good habits from the active weight loss phase have stayed with me. I wont' bore you...it's all common sense stuff.
But it is definitely time to tighten things up again because I AM IN PHYSICAL PAIN AGAIN.
Ugh.
In 2004 I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and then when my thyroid started getting treated in 2011 I started getting better, and when I massively cleaned up my diet (no more bread/flour based foods or sugar or alcohol) my pain levels went way down and I lost weight, got fit and active etc.
I'm still sugar free, unless you count the all-fruit juice sweetened super sweet jelly I like to put on my ...."I never eat bread, except that I totally started having the occasional gluten free sandwich and then I developed an awesome recipe for grain free bread made with buckwheat flour and tapioca starch...and BREAAAAAAADDDDDDD. yummo"....BREAD.
So that happened.
Oh, and did I mention that I took up another sport during this past year, too?...kayaking (nothing dangerous, just flat level-1 hard core paddling kayaking...no rapids...just long haul cardio exercise out in nature, which I LOVE.
And it totally didn't hurt that each time I went out on the water that was about a 1200 calorie burn on top of my normal daily metabolism stuff.
So what's it called when you eat extra and then exercise extra to compensate for it? it might just be...normal. BUT...
Considering that this is what I did in High School years with actual binges, I would say I have been dancing a little too close to the line of exercise bulimia. Maybe not hard core...but tending in that direction.
So basically the weather has changed (never a good thing), I have been eating bread and starchy things and darn it, it's so attractive and easy and yummy...but my pain has come back.
My knees hurt. My elbows itch. My scalp itches. I have random fibro pains and my lower back is sore again. Hives happen. Body not good.
And I'm like....no thank you. (Well, actually the version of this sentence in my head is a bit less polite, but whatever.)
So now I get to be even stricter with the food thing, because I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW it makes a difference in pain levels.
It's time to go full-on anti-inflammatory diet. Just in time for the holidays yay (rolls eyeballs).
I HOPE I feel better in a few weeks. I HOPE the pain goes back down. The BIGGEST changes I will need to make is of course getting off bread again (which has been a recent anomaly so that won't really be a hard thing at all) and giving up my stevia/erythritol blend sweetener (which will likely be very very hard)
. If I am going to do this thing, I will do it right. I also need to tighten up the types of fats I use, and ditch the smart balance margarine in favor of plain coconut oil. My food allergies have an impact on the breadth of food variety available to me, but it's totally do-able.
Hopefully in a few weeks I can write about how much better I feel.
I also need to change up my workout ,but that is the subject of another blog post. Here is a link to another blog post about the same diet I will be going on. I had a very encouraging chat with Charli about it yesterday.
And then he died and I have kept right on going to the gym. I re-gained 20 pounds, and much of that is muscle...much but not quite all, I don't think. I'm pretty solid and I am OK with that. And for the first time in my adult life my weight is stable. STABLE. As in: I eat at will with good eating habits, and I don't gain weight.
Many of my good habits from the active weight loss phase have stayed with me. I wont' bore you...it's all common sense stuff.
But it is definitely time to tighten things up again because I AM IN PHYSICAL PAIN AGAIN.
Ugh.
In 2004 I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and then when my thyroid started getting treated in 2011 I started getting better, and when I massively cleaned up my diet (no more bread/flour based foods or sugar or alcohol) my pain levels went way down and I lost weight, got fit and active etc.
I'm still sugar free, unless you count the all-fruit juice sweetened super sweet jelly I like to put on my ...."I never eat bread, except that I totally started having the occasional gluten free sandwich and then I developed an awesome recipe for grain free bread made with buckwheat flour and tapioca starch...and BREAAAAAAADDDDDDD. yummo"....BREAD.
 |
| Danger Bread...grain free, but that doesn't matter to my body. |
So that happened.
Oh, and did I mention that I took up another sport during this past year, too?...kayaking (nothing dangerous, just flat level-1 hard core paddling kayaking...no rapids...just long haul cardio exercise out in nature, which I LOVE.
And it totally didn't hurt that each time I went out on the water that was about a 1200 calorie burn on top of my normal daily metabolism stuff.
 |
Oh look, the tippy tip of my boat. That's the Dix River just above Herrington Lake. I'm missing this....but right now it is just too cold. |
So what's it called when you eat extra and then exercise extra to compensate for it? it might just be...normal. BUT...
Considering that this is what I did in High School years with actual binges, I would say I have been dancing a little too close to the line of exercise bulimia. Maybe not hard core...but tending in that direction.
So basically the weather has changed (never a good thing), I have been eating bread and starchy things and darn it, it's so attractive and easy and yummy...but my pain has come back.
My knees hurt. My elbows itch. My scalp itches. I have random fibro pains and my lower back is sore again. Hives happen. Body not good.
And I'm like....no thank you. (Well, actually the version of this sentence in my head is a bit less polite, but whatever.)
So now I get to be even stricter with the food thing, because I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW it makes a difference in pain levels.
It's time to go full-on anti-inflammatory diet. Just in time for the holidays yay (rolls eyeballs).
I HOPE I feel better in a few weeks. I HOPE the pain goes back down. The BIGGEST changes I will need to make is of course getting off bread again (which has been a recent anomaly so that won't really be a hard thing at all) and giving up my stevia/erythritol blend sweetener (which will likely be very very hard)
 |
| Wild Rose Hips at Veterans Park where I have been going on short hikes lately. Edible. Ate some. |
Hopefully in a few weeks I can write about how much better I feel.
I also need to change up my workout ,but that is the subject of another blog post. Here is a link to another blog post about the same diet I will be going on. I had a very encouraging chat with Charli about it yesterday.
 |
| This is what inflammation looks like. This was a couple of weeks ago, when I had dairy exposure from sheep's milk cheese that I used to be able to eat but no more, so it was particularly bad (hives)....but even without the dairy I have this going on low key and I HATES IT!!!!!! |
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| I am River Rat |
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