Calorie Countin' Control Freak

Are you one of these?  You know who you are.  You count eeeeevery single calorie...air calories, hot tea calories, half a cracker shared between you and your kid calories?  Don't be ashamed.  I was once one of you, too.  When I first gained my much hated 47 pounds before my Hashi's diagnosis, I was doing EVERYTHING I could to figure out where all this weight was coming from.  I counted calories, sugar, carbs (at one point getting my carbs so low I could barely lift my arms, my less a dumbbell), fat, you name it, I counted it.  If a veered slightly from my calorie counting course, I guilted myself, and subsequently punished myself at the gym with extra spin classes.  And then (drumroll, please) I heard about Paleo from a Hashi's forum I was reading.  Life. Changing.


Here were these people, like, really smart people, advising AGAINST counting calories.  AGAINST steering clear of good fats.  AGAINST being a slave to cardio.  Advising to eat lots of good fats, to take nature walks at leisurely pace, and lift heavy things (which I already loved doing).  Whhaaaaaat?  Completely different than what I had ever done.  I was skeptical.  But, I was more miserable counting those macros than I was skeptical.  So I decided to give it a go.  Best decision ever.  Now, I will say, I still log my macros on MyFitnessPal (find me: RandiDM), but more to keep up with my sugars to balance my blood sugar (diabetes is a biggie in my family) and to make sure I'm getting ENOUGH of all those great things, like Vitamins B, A, C, carbs, and protein.  Since making the mindset switch, I no longer loathe calorie counting (because I don't really).  If I'm eating all whole, natural God-given foods, and not overdoing it on sugar and bad fats, I'll be full and satisfied before I experience a calorie/fat overage.



There is ONE time that I do not watch any of those pesky little macros, and that is when I'm sick (like this week).  My theory on this is simple.  If I'm sick, I'm going to eat and drink whatever makes me get healthier, faster, no matter what the sugar/fat/carb cost.  Now, don't read that as a FREE Bingo space to overindulge in Krispy Kreme donuts and Coca-Cola (can you tell I'm a Southern girl at heart?).  Notice I said things that make me feel healthy again.  While those delicious little pastry wonders once made me feel emotionally satiated, at no point was I ever like, "Gosh, I'm so hungry, let me eat some donuts for lunch" and felt good about my choice.  And I'm pretty sure, knowing what I know now, that my body didn't feel good about it either.  So when I say, I don't limit myself on things that will make me get back to good health, I mean, when the doctor told me today that I was severely dehydrated and needing either an IV or a large Gatorade STAT, I decided to take the Gatorade at 21g of sugar per 12 ounces.  And I've drank two.  And I don't feel guilty.  But I once would have.  And I would have stressed about it, and promised myself that as soon as I could sit my fanny on my Spin bike, I would burn off every single ounce of sugary Gatorade. But now I realize that is sick, also.  When your body needs something, and craves something when you are sick, you shouldn't have to promise to punish yourself later for addressing those needs.  I also ate lots of citrus fruits today, which also probably put me well over my daily sugar intake.  But I needed those vitamins, and that's what my body felt like eating at the time.  The best part is, I'm not worried about it.  And I'm not going to make myself "work it off" later.  I'm going to feed my body what it needs and what I feel like eating, and when this wonderful Georgia pine allergy clears out of here (thank you, Spring), I will be back on the wagon of making sure I'm getting enough of the good things, and not as many of the not-so-good things.  And I'll be back on the Train Train.

Healthy (but not today).  Happy.  Hashi's.

Week 2 AIP

Woohoo, Week 2!  A little cheesy, I know.  But that's how excited I am to be through 14 DAYS of dietary restrictions I NEVER thought I would be able to get through.  So, in Week 1, I posted about the good, bad, and ugly of those first seven days (read more about that here).  This week, I'm posting about...(drumroll, please)...ALL GOOD!  That's right, I have no complaints.  No complaints about missing my best friend, coffee.  No complaints about trying to figure out what I could eat (I was pretty sure there was nothing left on the list).  But I do have to tell you how good Week 2 has been. 
To start, I have lost seven pounds.  And while that may not sound like a lot to most people, to us Hashi's folks, it is a TON.  To put it into perspective for you, I went an entire YEAR without losing a pound.  NOT. ONE. POUND.  It has taken me a solid three years to lose 26 pounds.  And that old cliché about blood, sweat, and tears?  It has been all three of those. 
So needless to say, I was psyched about losing seven pounds in two weeks.  I mean, super psyched.  But that little devil sitting on my shoulder makes me not want to be psyched.  But I'm going to be psyched anyway, because that's just how I am. 
So back to Week 2's details:  I have stuck to the AIP to a T.  No cheating, no swaying, no nothing.  I have walked 3-4 days a week, and lifted heavy things (thank you, Mark Sisson) three other days a week.



I have noticed, since being diagnosed with Hashi's, that I cannot do both in one day.  If I walk a few miles one day, I cannot do a lifting session in that same day.  I'll get through the day feeling fabulous, only to wake up the next day feeling HORRENDOUSLY tired and worthless.  So it is all about balance for me, these days.  I have drank a good deal of water, but not as much as I should have, and that is something I'll work on in Week 3.  The most surprising part for me is the not missing anything!  I thought for sure I would still be dressed in black, mourning the loss of my dear, delicious morning friend.  I'm talking about coffee.  Geesh, get your mind out of the gutter. 

If you've started AIP, or are an AIP expert, I would LOVE to hear from you!

Healthy.  Happy.  Hashi's.

Week 1 AIP

Hi Y'all!  I am officially on Day 7 of the Autoimmune Protocol.  And the best news is…I lived!  No, really.  Giving up coffee made me really contemplate if I could get through this.  I have drank coffee every morning since I was sixteen.  I LOVE coffee.  Hot, black, strong coffee, first thing in the morning, on my deck watching the sun come up.  Coffee has evolved into much more than a hot beverage to  me--it is my favorite time of day, and every sip brings back 1,000 memories of my favorite people.  Heck, I even have coffee-scented candles.  So giving up coffee for AIP (since it is a bean, you know) weighed heavy on my heart.  But after my most recent Hashi's spell lasted a never-ending four days, I knew it was time.  Time to stop procrastinating, time to stop contemplating, and time to START HEALING!



I have dabbled in Paleo lifestyle in the past, for a whole three months, actually.  And I enjoyed it and saw some physical and mental results.  BUT I have the willpower of a puppy and cannot stick to anything too long before I get bored.  So one non-Paleo item led to another, and last week I found myself miserable yet again.  Miserable with a migraine, sinus congestion, stomach pains, brain fog, you name it, I had it.  And that's where I arrived at AIP.  Actually, my husband had a little heart-to-heart with me and said, "You know it's time."  And I did.
So about my first week.  I'm not going to lie…the first three days were hard.  And a little of the fourth day was hard, too.  Days 1-3 I had a migraine so bad that it made me long to go back to the good (bad) ole days of Diet Coke and Goody's powders, but I managed to push through.  I could not even THINK of going to the gym to lift, and didn't dare leave my house to take a nice walk (even though the weather was perfect for it).  I think I left work early all three days.  The sofa was my command station, and I barely left it.  But by Day 4, I started to feel good.  Like, REALLY good.  The go-for-a-walk, break-into-a-jog kind of good.  I wasn't really having too hard of a time with the food changes.  I missed my morning coffee, which has since been replaced with hot tea, but I found myself satiated and content.  While my husband had ice cream, I had berries.  While he had coffee, I had hot tea.  And I am lucky in the fact that he has come to enjoy our lifestyle of eating only whole foods.  Otherwise, my willpower monster would rear its ugly head.
On Day 7, TODAY, I have noticed a significant change in the keratosis pilaris ("chicken skin") on the back of my arms; it is no longer surfaced and bumpy, but now faint and smooth.  The first three days, my weight dropped three pounds, but two pounds have reappeared.  I have decided to limit weighing until the end of each week, so I don't drive myself crazy.
So what about you?  What is your AIP story?  Any tips or tricks?