Overall, things are going very well. I'm feeling strong and disciplined. This week I had a bit of a setback due to a minor "surgery" and midterms, that made me very tired this week and not want to exercise. However, I am still doing well with my clean Paleo diet. Tomorrow I'm getting back to daily workouts! I take measurements again on Monday, so if I'm lucky, I'll have lost another inch!
I emailed my naturopath doctor earlier this week with some questions that I had. Here are parts of my email to her, and then the important parts of her response:
"Hi Dr. Jenny,
Just wanted to send you a note on my progress and a few questions/concerns. I've just finished 2 weeks of the "detox." A week ago, my weight was at 194lbs. However, this week I've gained weight- 197lbs. I'm attaching the Excel sheet that has my exercise and calorie/carb intake for you to take a look at. I feel like my calorie intake is too low, and that might be causing me to hold onto some fat. This is something that I feel happens when I don't eat enough- what is your opinion on this? Also, my carb intake is slightly higher than it has been due to the high carb content of my breakfast smoothies- about 50 grams. Here's what I put in them: 1 serving kale, 1 serving flaxseed, 1 serving Vital Clear, 1 tsp Turmeric spice, 4-6oz Coconut Milk (unsweetened), about 4-6 of frozen strawberries, and either a half or whole avocado. Sometimes I put raw honey in the smoothies, but not everyday. As for other things I've been eating, I usually have 1oz mixed nuts as a snack, lunch and dinner has been a meat such as pork roast, chicken breast, Trader Joe's uncured beef franks, pork tenderloin, Hormel's uncured bacon, and a variety of vegetables: asparagus, brussel sprouts, bell peppers, cucumber, radishes, steamed broccoli. I'm eating raspberries, strawberries, and bananas on occasion. I'm also drinking bone broth (my 2nd batch is from marrow bones) and half a serving of Kombucha daily (although I may have forgotten a day or two). I've been out in the sun a lot, but only have gotten my torso sunned for about an hour, twice weekly (none so far this week). I'm taking Vitamin D3 supplements ($15 brand I bought at Whole Foods- good enough quality?)
Overall, I'm feeling great. My positive attitude is back, and I'm feeling very disciplined and motivated. No health issues at all, except for yesterday I had a weird cramping/slightly sharp diffuse pain in my right lower abdomen that wrapped around to my back. I was wondering if maybe I ingested some gluten. The only thing I could think of is I had new cashews that are made with peanut or safflower oil, although I'm not sure that would elicit a response in me. It was very minor, but noticeable. I also had an abscess on my back drained this past Saturday, so I've been a bit "queasy" about it and trying not to get the bandage wet, therefore I've not exercised the past five days (but I also have midterms this week, so all of my free time is spent studying).
My question really is regarding the weight gain- is it possible that only a few days of strength training/sand dune climbs/fartlek-type runs, can give me enough muscle mass already to make me gain weight? I know I should never go by the number on the scale, but it really does provide motivation and I can't help but start to question the reasons for weight gain. On the other hand, I have lost 1 inch from my waist (but gained 1/2 inch on my thigh- muscle, I hope).
I have not bought the other products that you suggested, but if there is one you would say is the most "preferred" for me, I'll go ahead and get it. Lastly, what would you say I am being treated for? Leaky gut? Liver dysfunction?"
Her response:
“...In regards to a low calorie intake, you are correct in that a low calorie intake will gain more weight, especially if you are low in saturated fats. Saturated fats have to be high to heal the metabolism to start to lose weight. I don’t have a specific number for you to reach for, but listen to your body. Generally what you typed sounds great for the diet. Good job with implementing so much! Most patients don’t implement as much as you have. Make sure that your getting plenty of veggies, and use the fats to get the calorie content up. I have had a few patients who notice that if they go cold turkey on removing all grains (rice, quiona, etc) that they do retain weight, so watch for that too. Regarding the weight gain: it’s more from water retention from the beer and salt from eating out [from two weeks ago]. Water weight comes and goes fast. Muscle weight will be a more gradual incline. Take a picture of yourself in a swimsuit now, and then again in 4 weeks. You want to compare how you store the weight, which is more important than the scale. You are being treated for both liver congestion and inflammation in the gut that is causing thyroid hormone resistance and weight.”
Here are my latest blog posts:
Day 18 (Fri, June 14):
Still feeling good and motivated. Had a busy day today with school, a student
physical, and studying, so decided to take the day off from workouts. I did walk down to the beach and walked in
the sand a little bit, for about a mile.
That is a bit of a workout because it’s up and down some steep hills and
also walking in sand is somewhat difficult.
I started a new batch of bone broth using marrow bones, that I’m cooking
on low in the crockpot for at least 24 hours.
Hopefully it will gelatinize, and taste good when it’s finished. Overall, things are going well. I’m feeling strong, energetic and
motivated. At my physical in the student
health department, the nurse practitioner mentioned that I was in the
overweight category according to BMI. I
hate the BMI scale, it doesn’t consider muscle vs fat ratio. I told her that I do exercise and I eat a
paleo diet, which she seemed to be ok with, although she did ask me about my
red meat consumption. It is frustrating
that health practitioners don’t agree with paleo because there isn’t any
research on it yet. I’m hoping that as
time goes by, more people who have been living on a paleo diet will report the
great health they’ve received from living this lifestyle, and that it will be
enough to trigger a paleo movement in our society, and get people knowledgeable
about it, and change the way we think about the foods we are eating. It’s the media and pharmaceutical companies
that drive what we eat. We just believe
them without even testing things for ourselves.
I’ve read books, personal stories, and many articles. I was at first a skeptic, too, but now I’m a
big believer. My blood test results will
prove my case for paleo.
Day 20 (Sun, June 17):
Today I spent studying for my midterms this week, and I
also had to go back to urgent care to have my wound re-packed. This has put me in somewhat of a
predictament. I have to keep re-packing
the wound for maybe two weeks, and I am not supposed to get the bandage
wet. Therefore, I guess I need to avoid
getting sweaty, because I have to be careful taking showers, as to not get the
bandage wet. So I’m not sure what to
do. I want to exercise, but I’m afraid
of getting sweaty. This wound has me
really freaked out, because I get queasy/scared easily. I have to have my roommate re-do the dressing
for me everyday. L On the other
hand, I have 3 midterms this week and a lot of studying to do, so maybe it is
best if I stick to some easy exercises where I won’t get sweaty- like a short
walk or just some low-intensity strength training. As for diet, today I didn’t eat enough. I did make pork tenderloin, which I had for
lunch. I also made another batch of bone
broth. I’m making one more batch with
the bones that I have had in the crockpot since Friday. My first batch is in the refrigerator and
turned into gelatin- which I believe means it’s full of bone goodness!
Week 4
Day 23 (Wed, June 19):
Well the past few days have been a little stressful
(comparatively speaking, since I’m not one to normally feel stressed). I have my wound on my mind, as well as the
fact that I’ve not been able to exercise in four days. I also have midterms this week, so I’ve been
busy studying and preparing for them. I
noticed that I gained a few pounds this week.
I’m hoping it is because I gained some muscle weight due to my strength
training that I started doing again last week, although it seems too soon to
see results that quickly. I did lose an
inch from my waist, but I gained half an inch from my thigh. The numbers on the scale aren’t important;
it’s inches/how my clothes fit, that really matter. I need to always keep this in mind. I decided to email my naturopath with my
current concerns and questions, so hopefully she’ll be able to provide some
answers for me. I asked her if my
calorie intake was too low, and if she thought that that could be hindering me
from weight loss. I also got my
bloodwork results in the mail, but unfortunately she did not test my
cholesterol. I was really curious to see
my numbers! I guess I will have to wait
until my next visit with her in 4 weeks and have her test it then.
Day 25 (Fri, June 21):
Well I’m glad this week is over. I’m feeling a bit upset with myself that I
haven’t exercised in a week, though. I
could have at least done a short run or some lifting, but I didn’t. My wound is now looking very good. The doctor
said it closed up very quickly, so I was really happy to hear that. Now I can relax and not worry about it
anymore!
Last night I fell asleep at 7pm and didn’t get up until
6:30am the next morning. Today I ended up
taking a nap this afternoon instead of going for a run. I guess this week really mentally wore me
out. I emailed my naturopath doctor with
some questions that I had about how
things were going, here are some of the important points to note in her
response: “...In regards to a low calorie intake, you are correct in that a low
calorie intake will gain more weight, especially if you are low in saturated
fats. Saturated fats have to be high to heal the metabolism to start to lose
weight. I don’t have a specific number for you to reach for, but listen
to your body. Generally what you typed
sounds great for the diet. Good job with implementing so much! Most patients
don’t implement as much as you have. Make sure that your getting plenty of
veggies, and use the fats to get the calorie content up. I have had a few patients who notice that if
they go cold turkey on removing all grains (rice, quiona, etc) that they do retain
weight, so watch for that too. Regarding
the weight gain: it’s more from water retention from the beer and salt from
eating out [from two weeks ago]. Water weight comes and goes fast. Muscle
weight will be a more gradual incline. Take a picture of yourself in a swimsuit
now, and then again in 4 weeks. You want to compare how you store the weight,
which is more important than the scale.
You are being treated for both liver congestion and inflammation in the
gut that is causing thyroid hormone resistance and weight.”
I had mentioned to her that although I lost some weight
the first week, I had gained a few pounds in the second week. I guess this was because the beer and bad
food that I had eaten a couple weeks before that had started to show their effects
on the body. That goes along with the
idea that I’ve always noticed of things taking a few weeks to “show up”. I also asked her if my calorie intake was too
low, and if that could possibly cause me to hold onto my fat storage. I guess she is saying that I do need to try
to get more calories in, in the form of saturated fats. That’s something a regular doctor would never
tell you! I’m not sure why she says when she mentioned the thyroid resistance,
because she said that all of my thyroid hormones look fine. I am emailing her back in regards to that.
Today
I also decided to buy some of the herbs that she recommended- probiotics,
turmeric extract, milk thistle, and resveratrol. I found them all for good prices at Whole
Foods, so hopefully they will be effective enough for me. Back to workouts
tomorrow!!
On a side note, I got my bloodwork results mailed to me. I was really disappointed to see that she didn't test my cholesterol and blood lipid levels. Those are the levels that I'm really curious about, to see if they are high or not due to my paleo diet!! I will just have her test them when I get bloodwork done again at the end of the 8 weeks. I am hoping they are great, so I can share with everyone that a diet of butter, saturated fat, red meat, and egg yolks do NOT raise your cholesterol and put you at risk for heart diseases!! I want to be one of the success stories that I read about on Marks Daily Apple!
:o)
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