Sometimes you don't realize how bad you feel until you feel better.
That's my story. I went looking for a solution for one thing and found out the problem was something completely different. That's how I found Paleo.
(Side note: I'm a little hesitant to talk about my story in the context of losing weight because I think that there is too much focus being skinny or having an ideal body. I know that not everyone has weight to lose and that it isn't even a very good metric to measure health. However, in the interest of being real I'm going to talk about it. I also want to point out that my reason for wanting to lose weight has very little to do with the way I look and EVERYTHING to do with the way I feel. If I were at my "ideal weight" right now and still felt the same way, I would still be saying the same things. So if you are reading this and thinking that you are perfectly happy with how much you weigh, think of this in the context of how you feel).
I'm not sure how exactly I stumbled across Paleo (it might have been on Dooce's blog, which then got my wheels turning). The more I looked into it the more stories I found about how it changed people's lives. The best part was there was not counting anything. You just ate.
When I first started eating Paleo, I struggled a little. At the very beginning I didn't notice a lot of difference in the way I felt. I also had to fight the urge to replace non-paleo foods with "paleoified" treats on a regular basis. Then just last year I did a Whole30 and things finally started to turn around. It was at that point that I started to feel better and then realized how awful I had felt before! If something hurts continuously you stop noticing it until it just becomes the normal. Then when it goes away (and potentially comes back again) you realize what you've been dealing with.
That was me. I can't exactly explain how I felt bad or how I felt better, but I definitely noticed a difference. I also started to lose a few pounds, which after not being able to do get the scale do to anything but go up was a big deal. It actually goes against "the rules" to weigh yourself on a Whole30, but I like breaking the rules!
Fast forward almost a year later and I feel worse than I did when I did my first Whole30. Part of the issue is that I found out I have mono...which doesn't help anything. Fortunately, I found a strength training program that has helped me get that aspect of my health back on track (PiYo!) since years of endurance training has left me tired and relatively weak (I can run 10 miles but I sure can't do a plank for more than 15 seconds). No, I'm not giving up on running, but I am happy to have found something that I like almost as much to balance it out with. It also provides a good alternative for exercise on days when I'm exhausted. It doesn't take much to muster up the willpower to do a 25-35 minute workout.
I also am happy to have Shakeology in my life. It has helped me crave fewer sweets and it has helped me stop feeling hungry all morning long. I've figured out that I need a majority of my calories in the morning but I need to spread them out over a few hours or I'm starving by lunch time. Most days I can go without an afternoon snack, but I'm almost always starving shortly after I get up and then starving again after I eat my breakfast. Shakeology has helped fix that. If I drink it first thing in the morning, then eat my eggs, and then have a snack of some kind of veggie between 6am and 10am I'm usually good to go until lunch. That is a HUGE shift in the way I was eating before. I have tried everything from a giant serving of oatmeal to eggs, bacon, and veggies every morning. None of it has worked as well as Shakeology and snacks.
I did my second round of Whole30 in June, I didn't finish all 30 days, but it the three weeks I ate according to plan did more for me than months of trying other things. I lost almost 10 lbs in those three weeks, which didn't look like much on the outside, but it felt like a whole lot more than that on the inside.
What am I trying to say here? Well, if you are someone who feels like you've tried everything and not gotten the results that you want...I totally understand. I've been there. I'm still there. At one point not too long ago I was hoping that I had a chronic disease that was making me feel so terrible and sluggish, because at least that would provide an explanation. I sort of got that answer (mono), but it unfortunately also came with the knowledge that there is nothing that can be done to fix it. What kind of person actually wishes for a chronic disease?!?
I want you to know that you're not alone and we can figure this out together. We can provide each other with support and accountability to get the work done when it needs to get done and we can take comfort in knowing that we understand the frustration of feeling exhausted and like we want to quit. I want you to come on this journey with me. Sure you could do it alone and I could do it in a less public manner, but what good would that do? Why should you have to reinvent the wheel and figure this all out on your own? You've probably wasted enough times on things that don't work.
If you are interested in working with me, you can check out this page. It explains what I do and how you can work with me! If you have questions please feel free to leave me a comment or shoot me an email!
