I’ve been going for blood work for the past two years to find out why I had such a lack of energy, why I’m always cold, why I was randomly fainting. After an EKG he took my blood pressure laying down 100/60… he had me sit up it dropped to 90/50. He laughed & said you should be asleep right now (seriously?) I was not anemic, I did not have diabetes & my heart was fine. End result, I need more sodium in my diet & I had a slight Vitamin D deficiency… um ok whatever you say.
I explained to him my current issue & how bad it's finally gotten (just looking at me, my body looked swollen). Also how I still have -100 energy no matter how much sleep I got. He asked what my diet consisted of;
- I exercised regularly
- drink water
- 1-2 cups of black coffee a day (I cut out sugar & milk in my coffee a year prior)
- 1 serving of fruit a day
- two - three servings of veggies at least
- Wheat breads or multi-grain
- Whole wheat pasta
- Lean cuisines for lunch mostly
- Splurges; coke zero, mountain dew, key lime sparkling water, pizza, chips, skittles etc.
But I really didn't see my diet as too bad & neither did my Doctor. He looked at me dumbfounded & said, “You shouldn't be having these issues! That doesn't make sense!” You have a doctor tell you that... I'm paying you to find out what's wrong with me pal, not to tell me what I've already realized isn't normal. He immediately started me on a 10 day cleanse to restart my system. I was told to remove things from my diet like gluten & dairy to see if it helped & eventually reintroduce it. If my system got all out of whack again, there is my problem. I'd try anything to feel better seriously. Even if it consisted of a lot of trial & error on my part.
No Gluten, Soy or Processed Food for You
Midway through my cleanse & feeling a bit better I started doing research on different food allergies & steps I could take to improve my body's function. I was tired of feeling like garbage for so long & wanted answers.
- My searches came up with gluten intolerance. Out of all the symptoms, I showed more then half on the list! Solution One: Bye Bye Gluten.
(Update 9/24/12: Digging a little deeper into gluten intolerance information, I have recently come to find I show many symptoms of Celiac Disease as well. So I will be going back to my Doctor)
LINKS:
Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
Celiac Disease Symptoms
- Solution Two: I remembered my parents telling me when I was a baby I had a lot of problems with soy based formulas; causing a lot of stomach issues. I would sometimes eat Veggie Burgers & use to drink soy milk as healthy options. I cut those out three years ago, but reading labels carefully now to make sure there is no soy.
- Solution Three: I decided to just cut out as much dairy as possible. I replaced soy milk with unsweetened almond milk. Cheese is a tough one for me, I love cheese. But I have done very well in eating it in moderation & have also found a very good Almond Cheese replacement.
Last I came across this book...
Eat Clean Diet: Recharged!
It totally changed my life! Solution Four: cut out all processed foods. I highly recommend this book if your interested in clean eating.Tosca Reno is amazing! It teaches you what your body truly needs & how to feed it for natural energy & function, something processed food severely lacks... I refer to it as "toxic" food. It's simple for me; If it can go bad I eat it, if it doesn't I stay away.
I was dependent on processed food for the convenience. I had crazy schedules & I was just too lazy to make stuff all the time, I'll admit it. & lets face it, in our society we all look for the quick fix meals/snacks & its so much easier to just eat shit all the time then cooking for hours.
With in three months of changing my diet I had more energy; better than it's ever been in my life, my skin looked fantastic, my muscles got leaner & lost 19lbs (127-108). Most important I was no longer depressed, felt so much better in my mind & felt better about myself... confident! All from picking better options for my body.
Treat your body good, & it will be good to you in return.
(Update 9/26/12: I have been back on the diet for 2 weeks & I feel so much better! The past 5 months have been hell & I was so miserable. I don't like feeling the way I did so I'm glad to be getting back on track! I need to stick to it to stay healthy in mind & body! NO EXCUSES!)
