*** This blog is not to be prescriptive nor give you advice, merely to show you my way of navigating true health in a jungle of advice and pharmaceutical pressure. Please do your own research, ask your own specialists or contact those I have used if you wish to find out more about your personal condition and symptoms. To your very best health. ***
I’m not sure there’s a huge lot to talk about this week.
I’ve moved away from the liver cleansing, parasite busting vegan diet of the last month and am now on my modified blood group O plan with some tweaks following my food intolerance testing.
To the outside eye it’s quite limiting.
Actually, to me it’s quite limiting too, but I have settled into it fairly easily.
I decided early on to ease back on the meat consumption a little, so each day I am trying to have a veggie meal, a fish meal and a meat meal. It doesn’t always work this way. It can depend on what’s in the fridge that needs eating, but that’s the plan.
Breakfast is more likely to be the veggie meal although I have discovered just how lovely a mango, avocado and bacon salad is for breakfast. Very, in case you are wondering! I discovered this towards then end of this week. I was on my way home after REV5 training, needed some diesel and knew that the fridge was pretty much bare. So I picked up bacon at the garage. No weekend sarnies for me, just a massive pile of greenery with the avo, mango and bacon on top. It was damn fine.
I have also created a coconut version. You know the little packs of fresh coconut chunks you can get in the shops? Well they are satisfying a need for something that’s crunchy and not leafy. However they also make a fabulous addition to a salad as the ‘main bit’ and I’ve been getting through those at a rate.
To give you a good idea of what my meals look like:
Rocket – lettuce – spinach – purple kale – avocado – spring onion – celery. Sometimes fennel and courgette or beetroot.
On the side some fish or meat (pork or lamb or turkey) a sweet potato or coconut chunks.
Some fruit like an apple or mango or kiwi.
Doused in olive oil and salt.
It’s piled high and it’s become my new normal. So apart from being tormented by the smell of freshly ground coffee beans when Dale makes a cup, I am doing OK on it.
But how do I feel?
The same as I have for a while, no change at all.
And this is despite the fact that I’ve been not taking my Thyroxine medication all week as the last batch from the pharmacist was a brand which contained lactose. And for those of you new to the party, I have fairly recently been advised to avoid it as I have an intolerance and it’s causing a rise in the antibodies which attack the thyroid.
Isn’t that just super? The medicine that’s supposed to help, is hindering, probably worsening the condition and the hoops to jump through to get lactose free medication are many. It would appear that there’s no way that my paper prescription can specify a specific brand or that I need lactose free. Every time I need to replace my medication I need to tell the pharmacist that I need the lactose free ones and she has to order them in specially. Just another reason why I want to improve my situation to a point where I can come off it completely. Save them money and save me time.
So I’ve been off it for a week as I’m waiting to speak to the prescribing nurse at the surgery to ask her to add that I am lactose free to my notes. It’s taken a long time to get to this point. In this time do I feel any different? Nope.
I am open-minded on this but wondering if the lactose medication was stifling any improvements in how I felt (cold hands and feet, losing hair, constipation, low energy, low moods, poor sleep etc) and maybe a new version will start to improve some of these issues.
- Sleep is better but not great. Still waking up a lot, but not getting up crazy early like I was.
- Digestion is improved but only because I am taking specific supplements to help me. Adding meat back in has definitely slowed that side of things down.
- Feet still get very cold despite all this high heat.
- 11 weeks no coffee! That’s something of a record. There have been times when I have so nearly convinced myself that one won’t hurt. But I managed to stay on the straight and narrow!
- Started walking again to complement the REV5. Want to get back to Fit Camp when I can get my sleep in order.
- Have concocted a couple of exciting and scary goals for the business and personally. Hoping this will keep my energy up and focus narrow.
- Tried buttonhole kale for the first time. It’s purple and green and finds it way into nearly every meal at the moment, I love how colourful it can make my pile of greenery and it has a nice taste. That’s got to be doing me good!
- Not weighed myself for a few weeks now, it’s not important, but I am interested in my body composition so will do that next week.
That’s kind of it.
I feel a thyroid fraud right now. Hoping that the end of this 12 week blood group O eating will allow me the luxury of seeing what my antibody readings are about a year since I last did them now that I have made a load of changes to my diet and exercise.
10 weeks to go 🙂