Whole30 Days 8 thru 11 — Zip! Blah… Zip! Blah… Zip!

Deborah’s back yard two summers ago after construction and planting.

Boundless energy! Clear headedness. A happy spirit. That pretty much sums up my day yesterday, Day 10 of my second Whole30 nutritional reset. It was glorious! I cleaned the house, tackled some get-paid-for work, returned the new microwave that wouldn’t work, bought a new microwave to replace it, and just moved through the day with steady, strong energy, going from task to task with ease. No slumps. No blahs. It felt SO wonderful!

Today? Not so much. I’m sleepy and not motivated. And I think it’s because, in my great mood yesterday, I overindulged on fruit and now that sugar lull is pulling me down. Zip! (yesterday’s energy) Blah…(today’s lull) Zip! Blah…

But yesterday, power-packed yesterday, reminded me of how I felt two summers ago when I completely re-landscaped our back yard. I built this garden wall, hauled (by hand and wheelbarrow) a couple of tons of topsoil (yes, a couple of tons), hauled and placed 160 concrete bricks, dug up and replanted 60 plants, planted 35 new plants (including huge bushes), and added solar lights. It was about eight weeks of steady, muscle-straining work, plus shopping for supplies, plus a s*#t-load of shoveling. I was overweight (still am), but I felt strong. It was great, tiring, exhausting, exhilarating, creative, hot work and I long to be in shape enough this summer to do more of it.

Since that summer two years ago, I’ve had setbacks: a knee injury and surgery, a foot injury, a back injury, lots of pain, and ongoing physical therapy. I feel like I’m coming to the end of it. As the PT continues to rehab my body and strengthen my posture, and as my Whole30 journey continues to reduce my inflammation and make me more and more of a fat-burning machine, I can sense the energy returning. Sometimes it’s here for an hour or two (Zip!). Sometimes for a whole day. Sometimes it’s non-existent (Blah…).

Sweet days like yesterday keep me going. They make me hopeful. Encouraged. Light-at-the-end-of-a-long-tunnel

Can’t wait to garden again. I feel the energy coming on!

optimistic. My physical pain is nearly gone for good. I look forward to the day when I’ll be able to do simple physical activities again, like take my dogs for walks and weed my beautiful garden. I find myself thinking about summer hikes, bicycle rides, even getting my basement and attic cleaned and organized. It’s been so long since I’ve considered doing any of these things that they seem almost as if they’re dreams.

Louie and Opie

I can’t wait for the time when my energy pattern is no longer Zip! Blah… Zip! Blah… but is Zip! Zip! Zip!

How do you handle your energy lags? How do you use the times when energy abounds? How do you pace yourself? I’d love to hear from you.

Whole30 Day 7 — Out of the box detox

The only dahlia I’ve grown successfully. It’s kinda gorgeous. DJW

When I made the decision four months ago to do Whole30 and then go Paleo for good, I had no idea that trying to add back some of my favorite foods would cause me joint pain, inflammation, headaches, and what-not. It makes me wonder what else those foods were doing to me.

Plus I’m suffering from spring fever, thus the photo of the dahlia. But I digress.

Yesterday, I was not only half nuts with anxiety and mood swings, but the joint pain in my hands and fingers was nearly unbearable, even after taking pain meds. All because I ate white potatoes.

I think now that the restaurant must have used some oils I haven’t been eating, or something that, along with the potatoes, caused joint inflammation. But I’m not sure. I should have asked the waitress before I ordered, but I didn’t even think of it. Next time, I will.

Today — a Monday, and Mondays are crazy busy for me because I’m a writer for an online magazine and I do most of my interviews on Mondays, so I’m using my hands to type (a lot) as my sources talk — the pain has been almost as bad as it was yesterday. I’m really, really ready for it to be gone. It’s just sapping me of energy. And the Aleve makes me puff up like a marshmallow, especially in my face, so I’m ready for that to go away, too. (Not my face; the puffiness.)

But the mood swings are almost gone (I was short tempered with The Hub tonight, but that was more pain-related than wacked-out-moods related), and the anxiety and depression are gone. Which is definitely wonderful! A day of sunshine and blue sky, both rarities in winter in Michigan, were huge boosts for my disposition.

Opie and Louie loved the sunshine today, in the middle of a Michigan winter, no less! The sun was good for us all!

I drank a ton of water today to try to flush out whatever is afflicting my hands. I wanted to really load up on fresh veggies today, too, but instead I ended up eating a couple more fruit than usual because my hands ached too badly to prepare the veggies. But, given that, I think I did pretty well getting the train back on the Whole30 track.

When you’ve had issues with food-related pain, depression, etc., what helped you the most? Did you do anything special to get rid of the symptoms? What? Did you try the foods again later, and, if so, did you have the same reaction?

Whole30 Days 6 and 7 — White potatoes and The Blues

Me in 2009. Apparently I’m playing the blues!

It took me several hours today to figure out what had gone wrong. I white-knuckled it through church — my anxiety got worse and worse as the service went on, and it had nothing to do with what was being said or the people or anything. I started out with basically no anxiety, but by the time I was 45 minutes into the service, it was all I could do to mentally glue myself to the pew and not bolt for the hills or the nearest snow bank! I just kept thinking what is wrong with me, what is wrong with me? 

I left church, went to the drug store and then to the hardware store, and by the time I got home an hour later I was not only into full-fledged, unexplainable, crazy-in-the-head anxiety, I was on the slippery slope to Bluesville.

To make it worse, when I woke up that morning, my fingers were so stiff and painful (they are sometimes, especially if I’ve been typing a lot, and I typed a LOT yesterday) that I couldn’t even pinch the blanket enough to pull it up to my shoulders. I was finally able to bend them, but every knuckle had twinges of pain and then ached. They ached all day and still do, 10 hours later as I type this. After carrying in my bags from the stores, they really hurt and I struggled to unzip my boots and change my clothes. Aleve time!

And then I figured it out.

The Hub and I had gone out for dinner last night with some longtime friends. We went to a new place near us that has a fabulous farm-to-fork menu. I knew we could eat Paleo there, and with a little work I could eat Whole30, too. Except I didn’t.

My meal came — the most fabulous pork belly I’ve ever had — and it was on top of a root veggie hash. The hash had white potatoes in it. I saw them there, looking delicious and enticing. I’m not supposed to have white potatoes on Whole30 because they cause glycemic spikes and cause inflammation. But I’ve had white potatoes occasionally on the Paleo diet and have had few side effects. And I was crazy hungry, and talking, and laughing, and having a great I’m-not-thinking-about-taking-care-of-myself time, AND I had, apparently, left my brain in the car. So I ate those lovely white potatoes. Scarfed them down quick like a bunny.

And they tasted sooooo good! But man, they must have done a number on my blood sugar. I know that would have been an immediate reaction, and I didn’t notice anything then, but I sure suffered the effects today. It was an eye-opener for sure.

But The Hub pointed out the most eye-opening part of it: I used to feel this bad every day when I was eating not only white potatoes, but candy, donuts, pastries, bread-bread-bread, bagels, cake, Twinkies, croissants, donuts, candy, cookies, and candy. I was depressed all the time, high-anxiety and mood swings all the time, and extremely fatigues with aches and pains in all my joints back when all those foods that I haven’t had for months were not only part of my regular diet, they WERE my regular diet.

So. Okay. I can handle one day of it. I sure can. Not a big deal at all.

I’m finally coming out of my funk. I see Bluesville in my rear-view mirror. I’m sitting here hoping it’s nearly time for the timed-release Aleve to kick in so my hands stop hurting. I’ve done nothing all day after I got home but brush my dogs and watch the Swedish version of Wallander with the English subtitles. The Hub wanted me to get out and go for a drive to enjoy one of the rare Michigan winter days that actually had some sunshine, but I sat in the living room and let the sunlight pour in on me through the picture window, instead. Kind of a wasted day, but hey, it’s only one day. And I know what’s wrong. And I have fixed it by being Whole30 all day. It’s really not a big deal.

A few minutes ago I put some supper in the oven. I’m getting a spring back in my step and I know I’ll be okay tomorrow.

So tell me, have you had similar experiences with white potatoes? Do they drive up your anxiety? Do they drive you straight to Bluesville at high speed? Do your joints ache after you eat them, and what do you do to relieve the inflammation? I’d like to hear your story. Thanks for reading mine.