One Day

I didn’t forget! My computer has been in the shop since Friday, and it’s basically a new beast. Seriously, they replaced basically everything, so that’s been fun. As for me, I’ve changed basically everything as well! You know how they say “God works in mysterious ways”? I mean, usually people say it to describe off a bad situation which is terrible, but in my case it happened last week. I was getting aggravated that not only was the scale not going down again, it was creeping up! On my last nerve, I just start scrolling through Facebook determined not to think about it any more until later when I saw just what I needed to see on one of those silly clickbait articles. I usually ignore them, but this time, I felt like I needed to read it. “What does your belly say about you?”, and you know what? I’ve talked a lot about listening to your body, but sometimes you can know things but not put two and two together until much later. According to the article, I have what’s known as stress belly. “When your stress and cortisol levels are high, the body actually resists weight loss.”

I’ve known that I deal with bad stress and have all my life. And I knew that stress caused cortisol levels to go through the roof. What I didn’t know, and was prompted to research, was what addiction of mine stressed my body. That addiction is caffein, more specifically coffee. As you know, I love coffee. Like food-gasm love coffee. But I’m now almost a week without the real stuff, supplementing decaf on those mornings when I just want that warm, comforting mug. I had terrible withdrawals the first few days (headaches were the worst), and still need a nap after work every now and then, but I’m getting myself off it. And not only the coffee, but what I was using for my bulletproof coffee in the mornings as well.

Food-gasm

As I’ve said a few times, I am really really intolerant to coconut. Like, it makes water pool around my heart and I get severe shooting pain from my chest, up my neck, into my jaw. It is really really bad, and I want to die when it happens. Now, MCT oil is a blend of coconut and palm fats that many people have said don’t effect people with allergies due to the lack of proteins in it. And it was true, I wasn’t having the pain! But after having it every morning for two weeks, and watching the scale creep up, I’m convinced that it still causes inflammation in my body, because I still have an intolerance.

So it’s back to square one. I’m figuring out what to do for breakfast now, but my turkey wraps and sautéed red pepper fries are still going strong as a lunch option. I even found this awesome box of edamame pasta which is high protein, low fat, and I smother it with homemade alfredo sauce to help get my fats for the day. I’m back down about a pound and a half, but have two more until I am back to where I was before the inflammation. So, here we go again!

I had really hoped to have found a plan that worked for me by now, but I feel like I’m really close. Had blood work done on Monday, and praying something shows! Until then, feeling out my food options, and taking ashwagandha and magnesium before bed.

It’s a Plan

Do you ever have the ‘shower thoughts’ like, “If I could go back in time and talk to myself, what would I tell me?”? I think about that from time to time, and thanks to facebook’s new-ish feature ‘on this day’, I almost facepalm sometimes. Today it’s due to a status from my freshman year of college. I had no idea then about complex carbs and how they so terribly affected my body. Apparently on this day, six years ago, I thought it was fun that I could get a whole box of breadsticks and brownies to snack on through the night with an extra meal swipe I had that was about to expire. Breadsticks and brownies. Pretty sure this was from when I had given up eating meat and cheese in an effort to be a loose vegan for health reasons (yeah, health… it was a sad attempt). When I started that path, I had nothing but good intentions, but sadly I became a processed food ‘vegan’. Pastas and breads and popcorn *shudders* oh my. But everything I have done to myself over this past decade of trying to get healthy has taught me lessons, whether that be a painful or enlightening experience.

So today, though I weigh more than I did then (really, thanks to the poorly educated choices I made at that time), I know better now, and that’s worth something. So even when I go to Target with my pretty, skinny friend who picks up small everything, and I catch my reflection in the glass and feel like a slob, I know that I am making a change for the better, and one day soon, I may be able to pick up smalls too. Okay, not really… I have boobs that would never let me into a small, but hey, I’m good with a medium! And not just that, but my insides with be healthy because I spent the time to listen to what my body had to say to me, and I’m doing it early in life. Tomorrow I turn 25, and I’ve learned more about myself, my body, and healthy lifestyle choices in those short years, than many people care to learn in their entire lives.

And speaking of healthy lifestyle, I found a new (well, new to me) supplement line. It’s sold at Sephora, and they’re called Hum Nutrition. I went ahead and got the 21 Day Cleanse since it’s already prepackaged for being on the go, and is a natural way to cleanse and help digestion. In any case, I never mind trying new supplements. Aside from that, I refigured my eating plan that had been working for me, but was a bitch to prepare. So now I’ve got a bulletproof coffee to drink on my way to work for breakfast (10 oz fresh coffee, 1 scoop collagen, 1 tbs MCT oil. and 2 Tbs cream), a turkey wrap for lunch (3 oz honey roasted turkey, one slice havarti cheese, 1 tbs mayo, mustard, and a hand full of spinach on a low carb wrap), and for dinner, Bacon Wrapped Beef Stuffed Onions with two slices of applewood smoked bacon and almond flour instead of bread crumbs. It’s quite amazing.

Now I get blood work done Monday and only time will tell about everything, but I have a good feeling again. I think I’m on the right path, it’s just sticking with it that becomes the hard part. So have a great day, and I’ll see you again next week!