but then
AGAIN!

What's going on here? What have I been up to since my most popular blog entry on August 19th? Let me tell you.

First of all though, thank you all so much for your comments on my WeightWatchers post. I loved the supportive messages and the not so supportive messages, too. I think it's important to discuss this stuff. And I do want to say that during my many stints with WW, I did learn some things. And some of what I learned have been helpful for me on the Whole30. I think the biggest thing that I got from WW is that first success with losing 68 pounds. Yes, there were problems with how I did it and how I couldn't have maintained it, BUT I still remember how I felt when I lost that weight. I remember feeling light and energetic and also like I had found the body that I was meant to be in. I would stop at mirrors and look at my legs and think, are those my legs? I had a shopping spree in taxless Portland and I remember trying on pair after pair of jeans ecstatically, because everything fit and everything looked good. In Portland I had wogged a marathon and went on to hike the next two days. Whoa! I was so fit! So I carry those feelings and memories with me as my goal feeling for eating "clean" after my "Whole60" is complete. I still have more to say about my body on WW vs. Whole30, but I'm going to save it for another post.

So, on my first Whole30, weeks 3 & 4, particularly 4, were more difficult for me. I did continue to have more energy than my pre-Whole30 self, but I started getting more migraines (some caused by hormonal changes) and at times I felt that my energy and good feelings were declining. For sure my stress was up and I wasn't getting enough sleep during week 3, but I realized, too, that toward the end of week 3 into week 4, I got lazy on the food prep and planning and started eating mainly beef for my protein. And during week 4, I upped my Bulldog workouts to 3 times per week. I felt fatigued off and on and I got migraines after each workout. Something was wrong. I started to feel disappointed, but deep down, I knew that it wasn't due to the Whole30 food. Melissa at Whole9 recommended that I take a week off from Bulldog and rest. She and Gio (coach at Bulldog) also told me to log everything --eating, sleeping, exercise, energy levels. So that's what this week has been.

I felt quite a lot of resistance to giving up Bulldog this week. I was just getting back into it! Gio had told me "Welcome back!" and I had replied, "It's good to be back." And then, what? I stop going? But I had to remind myself that it's only one week. Why do I have to be so all or nothing? For some reason my brain immediately jumps to saying, "So, it's time to quit Bulldog; well, Body, I told you this day would come." Sometimes I really get on my own nerves! Just to show my brain what's what, I wrote a big Bulldog across the week of September 5th.

And I got some groceries and stopped with the beef for a few days. Lo and behold, my energy levels went back to my earlier Whole30 days -- almost immediately. And my migraines did decrease this week as well. I still felt some fatigue and that is still a little bit of a mystery. I feel it usually in the morning when I get up. It could be a side effect of my preventative migraine medication that I take nightly (although it's an extremely low dose) or possibly my migraine abortive medication, although I have experienced it when I haven't taken any. I'm getting some vitamin D3 to try, since I know that fatigue can be a symptom of low D levels and I did test on the lower side last year. I'm not too concerned since the fatigue tends to wear off as I move around more and start waking up. Maybe some early morning stretching would help. I'll just play around with it and see what helps.

I completed my first Whole30 on August 30th. I posted my results on Facebook, but let me officially report them here, too:

I'm down 10 pounds (without even trying and with no cravings except for one time when I smelled freshly baked bread and had an almost pornographic image flash in my head of me eating buttered toast)

I frequently sleep through the night (for the first time ever in my life as far as I can remember)

Energy levels through the roof and the energy is consistent (no dips at 3 pm and 6 pm); husband still retreating to mancave periodically to recover from too much talking when I get home in the evening.

Reduced frequency and intensity of migraines (after years of trying almost every med, herbs, supplements, acupuncture, and physical therapy)

I'm learning to cook and I find it relaxing and rewarding as something I do for myself (cooking more has been a long-time wish of mine)

Weird eczema/psoriasis patch on my hand is finally healing after a year of treating it

I am also learning to "hear" my body. This is not easy -- and I always thought that I was pretty in tune with it; now I see that sometimes my brain tricks me.

With my first Whole30 complete, I thought carefully about my next step. I read the Whole9 materials for what to do after the Whole30, but I really feel that I need to give this a little more time. Even 3 months after my surgery, I still feel like I am recovering. And after years and years of increasing my junk food intake and also taking way too much relpax (yes, technically abusive levels, so much that my neurologist is "very concerned") for my migraines, I think I have more healing to do. For sure I have more weight to lose, but that will continue on even after my second Whole30 is over. I'm still learning about how this way of eating interacts with what I need to do during the day (including workouts and teaching). I also know that this way of eating doesn't cure everything. There are still things that I need to work on outside of my eating plan -- stress reduction, for example. Also, regarding my Bulldog migraines, although the workouts do sometimes seem to trigger a migraine, it's not the workout itself, but my tendency to hunch up, especially when I am trying to run or when I'm getting tired during a workout. I'm a Crossfitting Quasidmodo!

This hunchiness brings on a tension headache about an hour or two after my workout. That, in turn, triggers a migraine. I need to work on strengthening my postural muscles and I need to be mindful (no matter what I'm doing) of my tendency to hunch. For awhile, the migraines might just have to happen as I work on this -- and I am okay with that.

Most of all, I am excited to be on this new path of healthiness that feels so right to me. I have hope, when a month ago I felt desperate for relief and depressed at the thought of accepting that I would have to be tired and in pain for many years to come. Now I actually have more than hope -- I have success, the best positive feedback ever for maintaining this lifestyle change!

Stay tuned for more reports as I build in workouts and more meditation among other things! If you are trying to eat "paleo" or if you are considering the Whole30, let me know! And if you have migraines, I would really like to hear about how you handle them in your life.