Well folks, in the interest of total transparency and #keepinitreal, I have a confession to make. I have not been eating well for many months now. In fact… I’ve even been eating a lot of… junk food. And fast food… and… cookies… Oh dear, the cookies…
Sugar and white flour (and all forms of wheat and gluten) managed to party crash my happy WAPF diet sometime back in November, and it has spiraled out of control until my health has come to a screaming train wreck of a collapse in the last couple of weeks.
I first noticed that even though I wasn’t gaining any weight, I seemed to be… swelling. My jeans didn’t fit, my shoes didn’t fit, heck, I couldn’t even fit my wedding rings on anymore! All of the progress I had made with the petrochemical weight loss protocol seemed to be flying out the window as my belly got poochier and my clothes got tighter. Mind you, I still wasn’t getting heavier. Just… bigger.
Then came the fibromyalgia flare up. I awoke one night at 1 AM screaming in pain. It was like I was being electrocuted. The nerve pain of a fibro flare up is unlike any other, and definitely worse than childbirth. I was able to manage with oils, but still had to resort to a couple ibuprofen (which in conjunction with the oils detoxed quickly.)
Achiness, fatigue, mental fogginess, and a sudden tendency towards despondency were beginning to alarm me. And the CHARLIE HORSES! Every night such charlie horses, despite lots of magnesium. The fact that I have been drinking 4-6 ounces of NingXia Red everyday, and all of the oils and supplements I was taking was NOT jiving with the symptoms I was experiencing.
And then, YESTERDAY. My family and I went with my mother-in-law to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. I was loving it so much! They are beautiful, and I totally plan to go back. But on the walk up to the overlook, I started getting tired. Then dizzy… and then my vision started blurring… and pretty soon.. I thought I was going to pass out.
At one point, bending over to move DJ for the sling into a stroller, I nearly collapsed.
I had had a good breakfast, and had been drinking plenty of fluids, so I had no idea what was going on. Besides the vertigo and weakness, I didn’t feel sick, like the flu or anything. So we went to get some food, even though I didn’t really feel hungry. I figured it could be low blood sugar. I ate a hamburger and immediately felt a bit better. Till I walked to the car again. And then I was worse. Matt drove us home, and I went straight to bed. For the rest of the day, I could not stand, and was having a lot of… worrisome thoughts.
I oiled up, drank NingXia, and asked some friends for prayer. My friend Carrie came back immediately saying I needed to go on a gluten fast.
And everything clicked.
Of course. I was doing everything “right” EXCEPT my diet! It still wasn’t even bad for a SAD (Standard American Diet.) I mean… I still wasn’t drinking soda or eating anything with high fructose corn syrup or other chemically nastiness. Nor was I over eating. But I was still eating wrong for me. And certainly not to my Nourishing Traditions standards.
You see, way back after my third miscarriage, I had blood tests run and discovered that I had almost all of the markers for gluten intolerance. The only one I did not test positive for was the one for full blown celiacs disease.
My body does not tolerate gluten well. Maybe one day, if my gut is strong enough, and I am very careful to choose ONLY older grains that have been properly prepared, I might be able to have a delicious crusty baguette again.
But that day is truly a long way off. I want my health. I can’t even say “back” because… I’ve really never had it since I was a child! So, bye bye gluten. It was fun for a time, but now I’m writing blog posts from bed because I can’t get up without falling over.
Today is a new day though. No gluten, Day 1! I also started taking OmegaGize (Young Living’s essential oil infused fish oil supplement) and MultiGreens, (YL’s eo infused greens supplement.) On top of the NingXia Red I consume daily, as well as my other oily pursuits, I am going into serious detox mode, applying all of the Raindrop oils to my feet, and I’m going to take some detox baths. I am very interested to see where I will be in a month or so. And then I will start the PetroChemical Weight Loss protocol again and see if I can lose any more inches, as well as pounds this time.
Diet-wise, it’s back to bone broths, ferments, pastured meats, wholesome fats, fresh organic veggies, and very limited grains. I may wind up eliminating them altogether, but I want to take things one step at a time. And sugar? Buh-bye. It’s been (not) nice knowin’ ya.
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With my own health issues of the past year I haven’t been doing as well as I’d like to either. It’s a new day though, first day of the rest of your life and everything! Take care of yourself.
Thanks Soli! It’s so easy to beat oneself up as being a hypocrite sometimes– “I’m a real foods blogger! …eating a Sonic hot dog…”
But indeed i is a new day, and I have the knowledge and the skills to get back to doing what I know I should!
And with a wonderful real foods community, we have the support of one another, amen?
I gave up a lot of food I used to love back in October. I feel sooo much better and more me, if you know what I mean. I cannot even contemplate eating like before and I am not even slightly tempted, ( so far ). Processed sugar is like a drug for me and I have to be wary! I am not gluten intolerant but I suspect the quality of the gluten I eat does affect me so I am sticking to organic and naturally sour dough bread I make myself on occasion. Cheese is I think a small treat, I have noticed I had it three times one weekend and I woke up Monday with a very stuffed up nose which has not happened for ages. Just eating right for your body is the way to go!
I totally hear ya! Way to go on kicking those cravings! The truth is I’ve been eating the NT/WAP way since about 2008, so this departure was pretty major! Time to climb back on the horse…
Thanks for commenting!