It's always that way. The day you decide to go sugar free, you stop at Krispy Kreme after your run to cash in your gift certificate for 12 original glazed doughnuts still warm in the box. My 16 year daughter in the passenger seat, also a runner says, "Let's eat one right now" in the car on the way home. I tell her I am starting my anti inflammatory diet today and I can't eat sugar. It barely took 1-2 sentances to convince me that it would be ok to have a little sugar. After all, everything in moderation right? Ugh.
Breakfast: 1 krispy creme donut in the car, scrounge in the fridge at home for anti inflammtory additions to my 190 calories of pure sugar and came up with 3/4 cup fresh berries and 5 boiled shrimp. Bizzare, insane perhaps but salvaged from the first bite of the first day of the new change.
Lunch: The internet has loads and loads of recipes, thoughts, and lists of what is and isn't anti inflammatory. I'm a perfectionist and this is going to try my patience. I found a recipe for a chick pea budda bowl and went cabinet surfing for something similar. I came up with pinto beans spiced with chili pepper and tumeric, collard greens, diced fresh tomato and garnished with a tablespoon of crushed peanuts. I still feel a little insane, but I am determined and I will eat it, like it or not! It actually was pretty tasty - I'd eat it again. I have a lot of left over beans and greens and could meal prep a few lunchs for work next week. I have read in the past a good way to put together a meal: a green, a bean and a grain. That's actually why I bought that can of collard greens 6 months ago...
I'm going to have to ease my way into a perfect diet. Step 1 - cut sugar (donuts), processed food (chips) and eat more anti inflammatory foods (tomatoes, veggies, dark colored fruits, salmon). I also intend to cut dairy (there goes pizza). As I research more, I will decide on just how strict I need to be with grains, gluten and legumes. For now, it's no brainer baby steps. No more Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Practice What You Preach
I started this blog with the intention of helping others.
I strongly believe in natural wellness, and that generally, most medications we use are necessary only because modern humans don't diligently take good care of ourselves. Somewhere, we forgot that proper fuel and habits impact the performance of the suits we live in. I take my car to the car wash. I fill it with proper fuel - regardless of gas prices. I have the oil changed, the brakes checked, the tires changed. While I've never totaled up the cost, I would venture to guess I spend more money on caring for my vehicle than I do for my body.
Over the past couple of years, my body has started to change. I thought it was menopause, and geared my health efforts on restoring hormone balance. I sleep like it's my religion: 8 hrs regularly. I exercise regularly: 5-6 days a week including cardio and strength training. I try to manage stress load, work on good relationships, take time to meditate and decompress. Where I fail, is diet. Sure, I am maintaining a healthy weight, but I am 45 years old and still eat pizza, ice cream, chips, and candy; like I'm a teenager.
So back to the body changes: I am a lifelong runner. For the past 25 years, I have regularly run 5-6 days a week and for many years averaged 40 - 50 miles a week. Our family went through a traumatic life event that turned my life upside down. My children's father died, and I suddenly became a single mother of three teenagers. Every mother lives for her kids, but suddenly I was all they had. The weight of that responsibility was intense. What if I lost my job? What if I couldn't do all the things they still needed? Who would pick up the pieces if I failed? I worked full time, I was driving 100 miles a day to get them to respective schools and myself to work. This drastically impacted my running. I strung together running 20-mile weeks as best I could, but I would come home every day and just crash.
Time heals all wounds, and within a couple of years, we had a rhythm going. My oldest started driving, the 100-mile daily driving trips were over. I had more TIME to run! The problem was, I couldn't make a comeback. I was always breaking. At first, I thought it was just stress and deconditioning. I added in strength training, I trained very carefully. But still, I was not performing anywhere close to the level I used to. You could blame age - but my same-aged peers were still moving along while I was left behind unable to keep up, still frequently getting injured. Next, I thought it was menopause - hormones wreaking havoc on my cardiovascular system, muscles, joints, and bones. So, I started taking hormone replacement therapy. Now my hormones are in check, but STILL, I am piling up injury after injury and now new injuries are coming even before old ones heal. I am in chronic pain. It's depressing and taking every ounce of passion and drive to keep fighting to do what I love. Almost 2 years into this chronic pain situation, I begin to wonder if something more is wrong with me than stress or hormones, or aging. Maybe I have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or some autoimmune issue that is generating all this chronic inflammation? Maybe it's stress, but has my life really been that much more stressful than everyone around me? I find that hard to believe.
This is where I find myself today 2/29/2020. I have had some initial lab testing that raised an eyebrow at lupus. I have a strong family history of autoimmune disease, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis on both sides of my family. The next step will be to see a rheumatologist. The next step after that will be to start taking immunosuppressive drugs. The thought of that goes against everything I believe in. I believe that fresh air, peace, diet, exercise, and a good night's sleep cure most diseases. I have witnessed this firsthand over and over in my practice. Patients have bariatric surgery, they lose 50 - 75 - 100lbs and their medications start dropping off: no more hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, depression.
I am putting the brakes on this freight train, and before I dive any further into what is wrong, I'm going to focus on what I can do right. For the next 3 months, I intend to overhaul my diet and eat like my life depends on it. It kinda does. Running is that important to me. Living without chronic pain is too.
Over the past couple of years, my body has started to change. I thought it was menopause, and geared my health efforts on restoring hormone balance. I sleep like it's my religion: 8 hrs regularly. I exercise regularly: 5-6 days a week including cardio and strength training. I try to manage stress load, work on good relationships, take time to meditate and decompress. Where I fail, is diet. Sure, I am maintaining a healthy weight, but I am 45 years old and still eat pizza, ice cream, chips, and candy; like I'm a teenager.
So back to the body changes: I am a lifelong runner. For the past 25 years, I have regularly run 5-6 days a week and for many years averaged 40 - 50 miles a week. Our family went through a traumatic life event that turned my life upside down. My children's father died, and I suddenly became a single mother of three teenagers. Every mother lives for her kids, but suddenly I was all they had. The weight of that responsibility was intense. What if I lost my job? What if I couldn't do all the things they still needed? Who would pick up the pieces if I failed? I worked full time, I was driving 100 miles a day to get them to respective schools and myself to work. This drastically impacted my running. I strung together running 20-mile weeks as best I could, but I would come home every day and just crash.
Time heals all wounds, and within a couple of years, we had a rhythm going. My oldest started driving, the 100-mile daily driving trips were over. I had more TIME to run! The problem was, I couldn't make a comeback. I was always breaking. At first, I thought it was just stress and deconditioning. I added in strength training, I trained very carefully. But still, I was not performing anywhere close to the level I used to. You could blame age - but my same-aged peers were still moving along while I was left behind unable to keep up, still frequently getting injured. Next, I thought it was menopause - hormones wreaking havoc on my cardiovascular system, muscles, joints, and bones. So, I started taking hormone replacement therapy. Now my hormones are in check, but STILL, I am piling up injury after injury and now new injuries are coming even before old ones heal. I am in chronic pain. It's depressing and taking every ounce of passion and drive to keep fighting to do what I love. Almost 2 years into this chronic pain situation, I begin to wonder if something more is wrong with me than stress or hormones, or aging. Maybe I have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or some autoimmune issue that is generating all this chronic inflammation? Maybe it's stress, but has my life really been that much more stressful than everyone around me? I find that hard to believe.
This is where I find myself today 2/29/2020. I have had some initial lab testing that raised an eyebrow at lupus. I have a strong family history of autoimmune disease, including lupus and rheumatoid arthritis on both sides of my family. The next step will be to see a rheumatologist. The next step after that will be to start taking immunosuppressive drugs. The thought of that goes against everything I believe in. I believe that fresh air, peace, diet, exercise, and a good night's sleep cure most diseases. I have witnessed this firsthand over and over in my practice. Patients have bariatric surgery, they lose 50 - 75 - 100lbs and their medications start dropping off: no more hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, depression.
I am putting the brakes on this freight train, and before I dive any further into what is wrong, I'm going to focus on what I can do right. For the next 3 months, I intend to overhaul my diet and eat like my life depends on it. It kinda does. Running is that important to me. Living without chronic pain is too.
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