Day 3...

Every July first I go back to the induction portion of Atkins – or at least cut my carb intake way down –until the 15th. It’s something I actually look forward to. I eat all the foods I love and really try to take care of myself. I try to get more sleep, make sure I take my vitamins, and I also make sure to do an at-home spa day at least once. I work out a little harder than I did and get myself back on track. I also find myself cleaning the house more during that time.

This year it was about 2 days of a massive headache. I didn’t think my carb levels were high, but I guess I was wrong. I really dislike taking medicine of any kind, but I was reaching for some OTC headache stuff yesterday. Extra sleep helped. I have had breakfasts of sunny side up eggs, plenty of bacon, steak, mushrooms, salads.

I went to the farmer’s market and got livers!! Yes, you can be disgusted – but I like pate. I will be making a pizza crust tonight for tomorrow. (Recipe from my lovely friend Jamie aka Carbarella at Your Lighter Side) and jalapeno poppers tonight. I plan on making stock, making my own sausage (most commercial sausage has gluten in it so read labels people!!), a low-carb lasagna with eggplant rather than noodles, and some lacto-fermented salsa for later. Those aren't going to be done tonight though.

I read in a magazine (so I don’t know how credible it was) that there was a study that showed people who did 30 seconds of sprints with 4 minutes of rest (and cycled for 4 – 6 times) four days a week lost double the body fat than those who did chronic cardio of (either 30 or 60 minutes) four days a week. I am aware that intervals are always better than sustained activity. I would like to see what the longer rest period does. So, I’m attempting that with kettlebell swings to see how it goes. I picked kettlebell swings because I didn’t want the weather to be a factor in completing the workouts. I can do those in the comfort of my own house. I just started today so I’ll let you know the results in about a month. I’ll also try to find the source so I can read the study and site it with the blog post.

In more exercise news my slow-burn trainer, Wayne, left the gym I was going to. I have mixed feelings about it. I’m glad my contract was over since he was leaving. I’m glad that he’s moving on to do something he wants. I’m sad that I don’t get to see him on Saturdays and work out/talk his ear off. I have a tendency to be overzealous (yes! hard to believe. /sarcasm) with my workouts so I was concerned that I would either stop working out all together – or hurt myself. It went to the more stop working out thing. It was nice to take some time off, but I felt icky. So I started working out again so I could stop feeling icky. That worked. Wayne said he would be offering in home training later this fall, and I will probably take him up on the offer. Until then I’m on my own for a bit.

Otherwise, the house moving/unpacking is still on going. I’ll be done with school in a year… Ok, well, done with the first phase; then on to my masters. I’m trying to simplify things in the house/my life. That’s going to be a slow process because of all the unpacking – both with the house and my personal life. And I’m going out more – and not just with friends or by myself. Yes, gentlemen callers have been taking me in public! I considered starting another blog about my single life and weird experiences that I’ve had. Maybe give advice or something as I go. I’ve always thought I was odd possibly bordering on eccentric, but I can confidently say there are some really strange people out there. I know this because I've had the pleasure of meeting or talking to them. For the most part I’ve decided not to write about it. You know, protect the (not-so) innocent or whatever. You would find it laughably entertaining, I do promise that much. At least I’ve had a good attitude about it and I have yet to take anything (too) personally.

Sometimes I’m not sure how much of my life to share with others on this, or any blog. Eventually I’ll find a nice balance.

Brown Bag lunches

Sometimes I get questions on what I feed Reece. Ever since he was little he's always had the same foods, or similar foods to what I eat. One of his first "whole" foods was actually sauerkraut. As my diet evolves, so does his.  I don't believe in feeding your children "special" foods. I do think that you allow your kid to become a picky eater. He isn't allowed to tell me that he doesn't like something before he tries it. You may have to introduce your kid to a food seven times before they like it. Yes, seven times. Sometimes that means reheating the same food at least twice. Reece is not a picky eater at all. In fact, he can be easily described as a "hearty" eater.

My personal philosophy on kid-rearing is that you need to treat them with respect like you would any other human being. This can be tough; I would like to elaborate on this more in another post.  This does mean that Reece is allowed his own opinion when it comes to food. I respect his opinions. Reece does not care for spicy foods. I love spicy foods. Usually I only cook anything spicy when I'm home alone. However, on occasion I cook something I want that is spicy but it's usually a compromise (and there are some spicy foods he likes).

I ask him if he thinks a dish needs something (Spice perhaps? More meat? Less broth? Cheese? A sauce? Butter?). My mom gets a kick out of his descriptions of food because he is so opinionated about it. He has told me that at certain restaurants he's "disappointed" in the food. I work to make his food experience better and I actively explain why certain foods are better for him. He is not to be rude when I cook something he doesn't like. After a meal if he doesn't care for it he simply says, "Mommy, that was ok for tonight but I would prefer if you didn't make it again." That's code for "I ate it, but I wasn't happy about it." I do also hear "I would love if you made that again, Mommy. That was awesome!" (i.e. Alfredo is is fav. right now.)

I don't always have time to make his lunch. I'm getting better about it, though. I like to put little notes in his lunch box to let him know I'm thinking about him too. The lunch and the note combined make for a nourishing meal for his body and his mind. I make a few different lunches for him. I like to rotate them because I don't want him eating the same thing every day. (How boring!) I do ask for feedback. (What did you eat first? What didn't you eat? Were you full? Is there something you would have liked to have?) I always want to know "why" for his answers. I hate the idea of him throwing away something or trading food. 

Ideas for his main course for lunch are:

Awesome Chili

Nacho salad (meat + cheese + sour cream + vegetable chips + lettuce and salsa mixed up)

Tuna salad (mayo + tuna + sardines) <- I would put spices but he doesn't want them

Crab salad (mayo + crab + spices)

Chicken salad – usually with a sliced fruit and crumbled nuts + mayo or dressing

Cheese + Meat, no crackers

Leftover soup

__________________________

Here’s Reece’s favorite lunch:

Grassfed polish sausage (cooked and cut into little disks)

Homemade honey mustard -> really raw honey + deli style grey poupon stirred until mixed thoroughly (in a 1:2 ratio)

The raw honey gives him extra enzymes to boost his immune system and help digestion. Because the grassfed polish sausage is higher in fat + protein he does not have the wild blood sugar swings he would if he only ate honey on it’s own… Plus he’s just dipping it so he’s not eating a ton of honey. He really doesn’t care about the sides as much. Once he sees the polish sausage, he knows he’s in business.

__________________________

The sides change too. But here’s some examples:

I give him at least 1 savory item in his lunch also. Examples of this are:

Cheese (usually raw from the farmer)

Vegetables and dip (not celery though… he dislikes celery)

Vegetable chips (usually with homemade dip)

Spiced nuts

Deviled eggs (although sometimes these are the actual meal if I put enough in there)

A small side salad + dressing (He loves this)

Savory mini doughnuts (I'll write a post about these later)

I've sent him bacon strips too. He likes that. (I do too.)

A few times a week I will give him 1 sweet treat (which is usually not really that sweet). Examples of this are:

Plain yogurt (organic always) + berries and nuts

Sweet almonds

Chocolate milk (from the farmer)

Homemade cookie

Grapes or another (low sugar) fruit

Apple + almond butter

A couple squares of dark chocolate

To drink usually I'll send him water, kefir smoothie, or  raw milk (which he loves). Over the next couple weeks I'm going to try fermenting more foods and sending him those too. He's been battling a more illnesses this year than in past years. It'd be good to boost his immunity now while he's overcoming some illnesses.

You get the idea, hopefully. It's pretty much what we have in the house. I usually make him his favorite lunch on Wednesdays... when I can. I try to make his lunches higher in carbs than I would eat (more vegetables, some fruit, and more dairy), because he doesn’t need to lose weight. He’s not using hormones to grow wide, his hormones are making him grow taller.** I feel he does better if it’s pretty balanced as far as leaning toward a lot of fat and more protein. He tells me he does better in class if he can think clearly. It's hard to concentrate in school (or life) if you're starving.

** I've noticed when he eats more home-cooked foods, gets CLO, and no gluten he grows. He's now up to my clavicle. I'm growing a giant. :D

Endometriosis… the sad tales of a chick in pain

This post is going to border on TMI. Ok, it basically dances all over TMI. I’m hoping that if you know and love, or even slightly like someone with these female issues that this might help you find some answers too.

I don’t know what I was thinking when I was younger. On Father’s Day, the year I was 13, I “became a woman” and started menstruating. I was really excited. That meant that I was growing up. I was almost the last girl in my class (that was a big deal). I didn’t want to get left behind.

The pain

It was exactly around that time that my back started hurting. It was a constant burning, dull, aching pain. I would complain to my parents about how much it hurt. Because my parents listened to me, I got a new bed. I got new bras. They tried everything. By the time I was in high school the pain was unbearable. It was constant, but around my periods it was the worst.

Diagnosis

By the time I was in 10^th grade, after the doctor trying everything (ulcers, IBS, etc.) I was diagnosed with endometriosis. It’s an autoimmune disease where the lining of your uterus does not 1. grow in the proper places 2. the signals from your body have it “bleed” into improper places in your body instead of out of you 3. can cause damage to your fertility if not treated properly. (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Endometriosis)

Treatment

That year I had surgery (exploratory pelvic laparoscopy) where they removed a cup of blood and 4 “growths.” They then proceeded to put me on birth control pills to regulate my hormones. That did not work completely. I took pills so I didn’t have a period for a year. Immediately after high school I had break through bleeding for 2 months. Straight. I was worried. This was a reoccurring issue for another year. The Army gave me injections to induce menopause. The explanation was so things would “dry up.” I am the only woman I know that knows what menopause will feel like before it happens.

A month after the injections wore off, I got pregnant. This was a surprise to everyone. I had been told my chances of having a child were slim to none and none was winning.

In the past 8 years I have lived almost pain-free.

Things that did not help:

I read a book about endometriosis that talked about ending my love with dairy products, especially cheese. That was very difficult to do – and did not help.

The same book suggested I eat less meat. Also, not very helpful. As soon as I started focusing my eating more towards a vegetarian diet I was in a lot of pain. Also on that same note – soy exacerbated the problem immensely.

I have not noticed a difference with more exercise in my life. The book and websites said that I should strive to get “enough” daily exercise. Large amounts of exercise only made me more tired and unable to cope with the pain.

Acetaminophen, OTC pain relievers – I still hate taking them. They did nothing to dull the pain and always upset my stomach.

Birth Control pills – I think that on top of a high-carb/low-fat diet, they forced my hormones to fluctuate wildly.

Things that have helped:

Having a baby. Seriously. Pregnancy was admittedly rough. I was very sick. I think I would eat differently and take better care of myself (relax more) to make it easier if I had to do it all over again. I don't recommend this if you're not ready yet, of course.

Breastfeeding also prolonged the lack of pain. I breastfed my son for 18 months.

I have a copper IUD. No extra hormones messing with my natural ones.

The biggest difference: CHANGING MY DIET TO LOW CARB!!! I am virtually pain-free today. Atkins worked miracles for my endometriosis. I don’t lose weight during my period, which is normal. (I did call the Atkins’ hotline and ask about that.) But, I still lose inches, and I don’t hurt. I eat cheese too!  I eat a lot of meat, eggs and tons of fat during my period because I need the vitamins. Also, my cycle was about 21 days when I was heavier. It’s now 25 after almost 2 years of low carb. I definitely think the difference is my diet. I do not eat legumes anymore either. That also improved the pain cycle.

PMS symptoms

I do occasionally have breast tenderness. That actually makes up a large amount of surface area on me (no matter what my size), which makes for uncomfortable times. I started taking iodine after hearing Jimmy Moore’s podcast (http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/%E2%80%98livin%E2%80%99-la-vida-low-carb-show%E2%80%99-episode-283-dr-jorge-flechas-says-iodine-deficiency-is-a-real-health-crisis/5801) concerning iodine. I read a lot of information about it before adding it. That one pill helped a lot of other pain issues I had too. (I used to have deep in the bone/tissue pain in my arms and legs. I don’t anymore with the iodine.) There is no pain prior to my period. Another thing that helped was taking high vitamin butter + fermented cod liver oil. I’ve noticed that it reduces the inflammation and gives me more energy.

I used to be very cranky and, um, not-nice prior to my period. (And since it’s a short cycle, that would make me a bad person to be around.) My moods are very even now that I’ve changed my diet to low-carb. I do feel more run down during that time and hungry, but I feel that’s my body’s way of telling me to slow down and focus on taking care of myself.

Something I’m trying:

After reading these two articles on the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website (http://www.westonaprice.org/womens-health/641-wise-choices-healthy-bodies.html and http://www.westonaprice.org/womens-health/637-treating-heavy-bleeding-and-fibroids.html) , I’m taking a double dose of cod liver oil (see above) during this period. I would like to see if it improves the heavier bleeding and cuts my period days down. I am also hoping that it will make my cycle longer. I am not sure that the oil I take now is high enough in Vitamin A to sufficiently do this. I may have to try it with another higher vitamin cod liver oil. I’ve noticed a lot of the health issues I have could possibly be attributed to low vitamin A. We’ll see how I do. I’ll keep you posted. 

__________ Update: 29 November 2010_____________

The cod liver oil helped some. I think the extra sleep I got for the month also helped. I cut the days down by 2 and added an extra 2 days to my cycle. That's actually super awesome and I am very pleased. Then I went more paleo (-any grains, -dairy) for the last couple days and felt even better. No matter what you read about endometriosis and diet, it's no different than other auto-immune diseases. You basically need optimum nutrition to function optimally. 

___________Update: 20 January 2011 ______________
Gluten free was definitely the way to go. When you have one autoimmune disease its easy to get another one. That's something you actually have to watch for... A strange rash on my hands appears when I eat gluten, so I've cold-turkey ended that. Now it really upsets my stomach if I eat gluten. My hands tend to be part of my livelihood (typing) so I can't just ignore them. Also, my cycle is now officially 27 days long. The extra cod liver oil might have corrected something internally. I only took it for that month. I'm really glad I did that. I've noticed now that I do not eat gluten I am not feeling bloated days before my period. I am sure I am still retaining water. Actually, I used to hold on to up to 10 lbs every cycle before low carb - and now it's exact every time. 3 lbs. That's it. Now I don't need "fat pants" ever. I still eat eggs and dairy (ugh! so addicted to those things!) and I'm starting to add more fermented foods and organ meats to my lists of foods to eat. It's an evolving menu plan.

Normal day of eating...

First post... here we go.

I had a lot of questions concerning what I eat in a normal day. The problem with that is the definition of "normal" and what that means in my life. I don't have normal days. I am super busy and I consider myself somewhat of a modern forager. I look through my kitchen and my environment for food. When I said I eat up to 70 - 80% fat it was after looking through my fitday journal (which I'm not very consistent with entering things).

My breakfasts usually consists of 3 eggs scrambled with shredded cheese and some spices. Oh and at least a tbsp of butter. Sometimes I put leftover meat and veggies in there to change it up. (I've also put leftover meat dip in there too. yum!) I like that because I can take it to work in a container and heat it in the microwave. I also like leftovers for breakfast. For a while I would take hard boiled eggs to work with (cold) bacon. After seeing me do that for a week straight, my co-worker commented that I was going to die. That made me laugh.

If we're going out to eat for lunch (which happens way more than I would like) I always check the menu online and decide before we go what I'll have. For fast food I'll usually have a bacon cheeseburger minus the bun. In the cafeteria I just have meat (like roasted chicken) and something like broccoli with butter or a side salad with ranch. I've also made a huge chef salad. If I bring lunch it's simple like leftovers, or a tuna salad (with added sardines and extra mayo) with veggies to scoop it out (no need for utensils!).

I really like to cook so it's different every time with dinner. One of my favorite dinners that I can think of would be the one I made in honor of the swine flu "epidemic." We had pork chops that were rolled in crushed pork rinds and pan fried in lard. That had a side of either green beans, garlic and mushrooms or broccoli. Usually I cook vegetables (and sometimes meat) in a 1:1 ratio of butter and coconut oil. Anytime something calls for breadcrumbs or crushed crackers I use pork rinds. I like stirfry, one dish meals, and I like to makeover recipes that I see in magazines. When we eat at home for dinner everyone eats low-carb - including Derek and my son.

Everyone drinks tons of water. We have a pitcher out on the counter of filtered water. I used to drink 1 diet pop a week as a treat, but I've given that up. It was making me crave sweets.


Standard snacks in our house are pepperoni and string cheese, deviled eggs, olives, or dip and vegetables. I also like macadamia nuts. I've made some jalapeno poppers I really love. If I want dessert I go for warmed up cream cheese mixed with some flavoring (like white chocolate). I also really like to make no-bake cheesecake. (I am guilty of having a piece of that for breakfast once in a while! Shhh! I know that's not the best behavior for someone on a "diet!") :)

I don't know if that all equals out to 70 - 80% (I didn't run it through fitday). I usually don't need a snack and I don't always eat dessert (once or twice a week maybe?). My biggest meal is dinner. On the days I'm ravenous I load up on the fat as much as I can. I try to make 1 casserole a week, and at least one snack. That usually allows for leftovers and snacks. I love my slow-cooker and all of my recipe books. This really is an easy way to live, because it fits even with busy schedules.