I gave up my FitBit and my recent functional appointment

So much has happened not only today but in the last week (-ish)!

Just today alone - I was able to sleep in until 7!  Woot!  I did wake up a few times but made myself fall back to sleep because I so needed it.

I made a "regular" breakfast of maple bacon sausage, broccoli and avocado.  On days I am off I am eating a "normal" meal, which is my protein mix and yogurt, sometimes I do avocado mixed in and coconut butter.  I know I shouldn't need to apply "" but I figured these to be emphasized since what is normal to me is not what is normal to others.

I had my Skype appointment with Dr. Allen.  Immediately he stated how tired I sounded.  True that!  I worked 4 days straight and that normally doesn't fly well for me.  Plus Labor day was super busy.  My lab work is worse than ever!  My liver values are back up again, my thyroid is all over the place, my cholesterol is up and do you want to know why?!  Nope, my diet is pretty damn good despite the few chocolate chips I eat once a week.  STRESS!

I like to think this is how I am on the inside and on the outside I am completely fooling myself.  Stress has been the one component I just can't keep in check.  It's suspected that I am in adrenal fatigue.  I'm guessing stage 3, but could be 2....

BUT, I am committed to meditation and talking with a health coach.  I figure I need to learn what it takes to be able to help others and I can't do that unless I help myself.  Makes sense right?!  So I am going to talk with Stephanie after I get my labs done.  Dr. Allen told me that she has hashi's and had adrenal fatigue (there was something else too that I forgot) and she got them under control.  I know it can take a long time to manage it, but it didn't take me overnight to get here either.  I have also spent money on supplements that didn't make my numbers budge because I didn't have stress managed.

As I write this I have made the commitment to meditate daily.  I have done it twice today, for 15 minutes each.  Easy enough.  I went on Youtube and search for 15 minute meditation and boom done!  I opted for just music.  I want to avoid any guided meditation and once I get into the grove I will drop the music and just sit and be still like I use to do.

I did some baking for work and was then told I was over on hours.... so I need to manage that time a little better.  I went to the gym and half way through I just wasn't feeling it at all.  I was feeling week and tiring quickly, so I chose to stop and headed to the store to pick up a few items.  But, prior to that I sent an email about a class I was going to be teaching and informed her that due to my health that I just cannot teach it.  As soon as I sent it I felt immediately better.  I know I probably shouldn't have taken the class on.  I know it's only one hour, plus drive time, of my life.  It was causing a huge amount of stress, but that I could feel and had the dread I didn't want to do it.

I came home and finished up a few things and made an easy dinner - prepared chicken kabobs that I just needed to cook and extra veggies.  We had to stop at the store after that and then home for more meditation.

I'm feeling better already.  Which brings me to the other point of this post.  I've dropped my Fitbit for a while.  I was being super obsessive about it.  I was listening to Jason Sieb on the AltShift podcast and him and Erica were talking about getting rid of the tracker for awhile once you already know how many steps you get in.  I can say I don't get enough at times on my days off but I more than make up for it when I am working.  For now it is put away.  I'm sure I will put it back on again, but not for awhile.

I think I am going to leave this for now.... maybe next will be about carbs.  I'm finding I want all the chips all the time (avocado oil chips, fyi).

What did my protocol look like then and now

I can't give out too much information about my particular protocol but I can give you some kind of clue as to what my version of AIP looked like for a few months of starting my protocol.

First, my decision to seek out a functional medicine doctor was the best choice I made.  I had come to a point in my life that seemed to be hopeless (how I felt mentally and physically).  It also came at the loss of a job that I truly loved.  At the time I couldn't pin point what was happening.  I felt stupid.  I was reading but couldn't grasp anything that I had just read.  I would read a number thinking it was right but one little thing was off.  I was devastated.  I thought I was making great food choices because we were eating deli every day and I would eat paleo.  I mean how bad can lunch meat, mayo and vegetables be?!  Well, the deli meat is what destroyed my brain and my physical well being.  January was rough.  I was out of a job, I had horrible brain fog and felt ill daily.  I would start the day off feeling okay and would just progressively get worse as the day went.

Don't be sad though!  I look at everything in life as a place were I need to be at that particular moment.  Everything happens for a reason.  A series of events whether they are good or bad always lead us to where we are suppose to be.  Life is a journey and we need to pay attention at the series laid out before us.

So, I seemed out 2 functional medicine doctors.  I met with them both and chose Dr. Brett Allen.  Not only was he more reasonable, but I also didn't have to drive 45 minutes away to sit in a office.  My appointments were in the comfort of my own home via Skype.  How convenient and comforting that when your appointment was scheduled it was kept!

After my initial phone conversation with him, I scheduled the remaining blood tests I needed - which wasn't much for me since I had ordered a bunch of tests in January.  I also received a food allergy panel.  For this the phlebotomist came to my home.  The rest of the labs I went down the street from my house to Quest.  So convenient!  Are you seeing a pattern here?!  Great care and it was easy!

I should mention that while I was waiting for my results and speaking to him again I jumped into AIP - textbook style.  I eliminated everything except for coffee.

My results came back and I had a severe candida overgrowth, leaky gut etc.  The first four weeks of the protocol were of course strict, but then each week I was able to introduce new foods.  I have to mention the food intolerances since they are not true allergies.  Eggs, dairy, bananas are the top 3 I want to mention.  My scores were 1 & 2.  Since they still scored it is advised that I keep them in my rotation but only eat them a maximum of 3 times per week.  I have mentioned before that when I do go over board that my face breaks out.  I don't have a problem with nuts, BUT that being said that if I do eat them more than 3 times per week my face shows it.  It's the only thing that I try to do once per week and sometimes twice since I am baking and recipe testing and everything has almonds in them.

Now I am quite comfortable as to where my breaking points with certain foods are, so to speak.  Right now I'm staying clear of fruits - but mostly bananas.  I could eat them everyday!  Zero dairy now too.  Which reminds me, I came across cauliflower cheese and OMG what a life changer!  I have omitted the nutritional yeast and garlic from the recipe but it is awesome!  It shreds and melts. Awesome!!  

Here is a few meals I have put together recently.

I made mention to my friend Kari that my food is not very pretty, so I will be working on that.  But this was the cauliflower cheese on the side with ground turkey and a mix of cauliflower and spinach topped with a fried egg and hot sauce.  Not AIP for all, but my own reintroductions.

Tonight I made cassava flour tortilla's from Urban Poser.  I need to work on these more.  I ended up combining dough balls so I could make larger tortillas.  So I got 4 large and 2 small tortillas.  I ate one of the small ones plain to test it out - so good!  I would have hoped to get them thinner but they kept ripping on me.  A work in progress.  On this tortilla I had lime cauliflower rice, shredded purple cabbage and carrots and hiding under that is a piece of salmon.  I was so filled from this meal.  It was nice.  I ate better today then what I have been.  Usually at work I am doing so much I don't feel like it much so I typically will have a bar.  They usually have nuts so I try to avoid them, but they are easy when I am busy.  But when I get home I eat all night since I feel so hungry.

So there it is so far.  Always a work in progress and always try to define what works best for me.  Everyone is different and my AIP is not everyone else's AIP.