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Sometimes a Little Change Can Make a BIG Difference

February 19, 2013 in 2013, Sarah's Personal AI Struggles

(created as a guest post for The 21-Day Sugar Detox Blog)

21DSD_CoverDid I just call the 21-Day Sugar Detox a “little change”?  I guess I did.  I realize that it’s not a little change for most people tackling 3 weeks of no-sugar eating.  But going into this, I was already following the paleo autoimmune protocol, eating very few starchy vegetables and almost no paleo treats.  I didn’t feel like my eating was out of control and I didn’t feel like sugar cravings were controlling me.  That being said, I was completely in the habit of grabbing a piece of fruit (or two) any time I felt like a little something sweet.  I didn’t limit fruit consumption or the types of fruit I ate.  So, maybe I was in a little denial about having a sugar problem—because 5 or 6 pieces of fruit per day adds up to quite a bit of sugar!  I had known for a while that I was going to have to test what effect this large amount of fruit per day was having on my body and, in particular, my autoimmune disease.  The 21 Day Sugar Detox was the perfect experiment.

If you had talked to me during the first week, I would have privately told you that nothing had changed.  My skin was doing some funny things, but it wasn’t better.  My energy level was about the same.  My sleep was about the same.  I wasn’t having headaches or carb flu type symptoms, so it didn’t feel like change was around the corner.  I was feeling some resentment that I couldn’t just eat those delicious berries or grapes that my kids were eating.  And it felt like I was depriving myself for nothing.

And then week two came.  I lost a couple of pounds.  Bloating that I didn’t even realize was there went away.  My skin completely cleared.  I started to notice differences in the skin lesions from my autoimmune disease.  My sleep seemed deeper.  I had more energy during the day.  My brain seemed to be working faster.  I seemed more productive.  And it just kept going into week three.  I lost a few more pounds.  My clothes started fitting way better (probably more because I wasn’t bloated anymore rather than weight changes, but I’ll still take it!).  My skin lesions looked better than they had in months.  I felt like everything was coming together.  I was seeing dramatic improvement in my health.  I felt great.

And then it hit me.  What all this amazingness actually meant.  I did have a problem with sugar.  Sure, I was choosing vitamin-rich whole food sources of sugar, but I was in a cycle of craving, feeding the craving, then craving more.  I am healthier when I eat less fruit and more vegetables.  Dang.  That first week I kept telling myself was that the upside was I wouldn’t have to change anything when I was done with this whole detox thing.  Now, I know that I need to be more moderate with my fruit intake.

So, what now?  I have relaxed some, but really most days look pretty much like how I ate on the 21-Day Sugar Detox.  I’m working on some autoimmune protocol-friendly dessert and treat recipes for my book and notice that on days when I have that extra dessert, I don’t feel very well (for the rest of that day and the next plus then I crave more sugar).  I’m looking forward to having these recipes done so there won’t be so many tempting sweet foods in my house, because I really do think these need to be much more occasional treats than how I was eating before.  I’m already planning on doing another 21-Day Sugar Detox when the recipes for the book are done.

So, what are great recipes that are both AIP-friendly and 21-Day Sugar Detox-friendly?  Actually, most AIP-friendly recipes are automatically 21-Day Sugar Detox-friendly and a quick browse through the AIP Recipe Section of my blog will provide you with lots of great options.  And of course, there will be over 100 new recipes in my book.  During my detox, I greatly enjoyed eating Egg-Free, Tomato-Free (Hidden Liver) Paleo Meatloaf (made with the suggested AIP-modifications in the recipe and made without the molasses).  I also enjoyed Lemon-Dill Poached Salmon and Greek-Inspired Slow-Roasted Leg of Lamb.

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Happy New Year! My Resolutions, Some Reflections, and Some Changes…

December 31, 2012 in 2012

Happy New Year!  I hope you are all having a marvelous holiday season, filled with fun, family, friends, relaxation and joy!

I have greatly enjoyed my week off, although it has flown by with me accomplishing very few of the things I wanted to do over the past week.  I did get to sleep in one day, made it to one yoga class, and I did get to go see a movie (like a real movie in an actual movie theater!).  My days were mostly taken up with the bustle of the season–lots of cooking (and eating!), opening presents, overstimulated children, visiting with my mom, and shopping.  But, also my oldest daughter is currently quite ill, which has meant the last couple of days were taken up with a doctor’s appointment, runs to the drugstore, surviving on very disrupted sleep, finding things for a bored sick kid to do, and tons of extra cuddles (she’s getting better though! phew!).

Do I feel recharged?  A little.  But not completely.  If I was a battery, the red light would still be on on the charger and you’d be starting to wonder if I can even hold a full charge any more.  I can.  Just leave me plugged in a little longer…

But, even if I don’t feel particularly rested or energetic, I do feel really jazzed about some upcoming projects and ideas for the blog for the New Year.

This past week has given me the opportunity to spend some time reflecting.  Reflection comes naturally to me this time of year.  I am a resolution-setter (and very typically, I really do follow through with my resolutions too).  I don’t limit resolution-making to New Year’s, but I do have a habit of saving the most challenging resolutions for January.  So, as I contemplate my priorities for 2013, I have been thinking quite a bit both about my accomplishments over the past year but also my plans moving forward.

My blog has grown dramatically over the last year.  I feel so grateful to all of you for reading, sharing and connecting with me.  I am greatly looking forward to continuing with informative and impactful posts.  I love being able to answer your individual questions.   My skills in the kitchen have improved substantially over the past year, as I get more and more comfortable with paleo ingredients.  I have some awesome ideas for exciting new recipes to try out.  At the beginning of last year, I was so nervous to be a guest on Low-Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore.  Now I co-host a podcast, which I love, both for the time I get to spend with Matt and Stacy from www.PaleoParents.com but also for the ability to reach and help so many.  I’ve been doing guest posts and interviews galore and will be a guest on the Balanced Bites Podcast for a special autoimmune protocol-themed show in late January.  I gave a rockin’ awesome seminar at 4.0 Martial Arts in Sandy Springs (was that seriously only a week and a half ago?) and have plans for more seminars.  Oh yeah, and the new huge project that I’m going to tell you all about in about three weeks.   Whenever I stop to think about what my little blog has turned into in 14 months, I am blown away by how crazy awesome this all is!

All of this started in my spare time while my kids were napping and in the evenings after they go to bed.  But over the last few months, the time commitment has increased dramatically (and my youngest gave up naps, dangit).  I seem to have slowly made the transition from full-time stay-at-home mom to full-time working mom (but without the paycheck to go with it).  And trying to do and be everything for everyone has started to impact my health.   It’s time for me to start evaluating the best uses of my time and sort out my priorities.

When I started my blog, I never imagined I would ever have to choose what I spent my time on.  It’s amazing to me and I consider this dilemma a privilege. Thank you!!!

Don’t be afraid!  I am not stopping!  Blogging has become part of my identity.  I love it.  I love researching topics, writing, drawing, sharing.  I love developing and sharing recipes and hearing about your successes with them.  I love connecting with you all through blog comments, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  And my blog will continue to be and will always be completely open and free (ugh, unless you are viewing my blog with IE and then there’s a compatibility problem that I would totally fix that if I had any idea how to do so).  But, I do need to scale back to free up time for my growing list of other endeavors.

I’m going to scale back one post per week (from 6 to 5 posts per week).  Even just posting one less post per week is going to free up 6-8 hours of my time for my other projects, and for making sure that sleep, exercise and spending time with my kids remains a priority.  My plan is to try this for a few weeks and then reevaluate to see if I need to scale back more (fingers crossed that this will give me enough time to work on my other projects!).

Making sure I keep balance in my life is my number one New Year’s Resolution this year.  I’m not sure if an earlier bedtime is realistic for me right now, so I’m tweaking my supplements (mainly adding some adrenal support supplements) and am going to reduce my consumption of green and black tea (with my adrenal glands in mind).  I am going to try to find more short time commitments for exercise on a daily basis (since at best I seem to be making it to only two yoga classes each week and only two good walks per week), which means simply finding small chunks of time to add things like a few sun salutes, or some push-ups, burpees, and/or lunges scattered throughout my day.  I am also going to commit to doing at least 5 minutes of mindful meditation every day.

I have one more BIG resolution.  I am going to do a modified 21-Day Sugar Detox starting tomorrow (Wednesday’s post will be dedicated to talking about why, what and how).   I am excited to be joining the biggest group of 21-Day Sugar Detoxers ever this year and will be the featured blogger for January on The 21-Day Sugar Detox Blog (woot!).  I will be sharing my experiences through the next three weeks here on the blog and also on my Facebook page, the 21-Day Sugar Detox Facebook page and Twitter.  If you are interested in learning more about the 21-Day Sugar Detox, click here.

I hope that you understand my need to scale back on the number of posts I produce each week.  I really just need to free up time for my other endeavors that doesn’t take away from things I need to do to stay healthy (like exercise, sleep, and enjoy life).  I figure I wouldn’t be very inspirational, if I didn’t practice what I preach.  Plus, I feel that most of you appreciate quality over quantity, if you have to choose between them.  But, I really see this change as being positive.  What started as “just” a blog has become so much more.  And I don’t mean more in terms of actual projects or time commitment (although that’s true too)… I mean more.  More important, more meaningful,  more fulfilling.  And that makes me so excited for 2013!  Happy New Year!

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A Hernia Has a Silver Lining

December 6, 2011 in 2011

My husband seems pretty game to try any of the new paleo recipes that I am trying or developing from scratch.  But until recently, he has been helping himself to plenty of non-paleo foods as well.  In the last two weeks, he has started to choose paleo options much more frequently.  There are two great reasons for this.  First, I have been very successful with paleofying some of his staples, like muffins and granola.  But more importantly, he gave himself a hernia.

Getting a hernia is not a good thing, even though approximately 27% of men will get one at some point in their lives.  A hernia is where a little tear or separation in the abdominal muscles allows a small loop of intestine or bowel to bulge through under the skin.  In the worst cases, which are thankfully very rare, that loop of intestine can have its blood supply cut off, which leads to massive, life-threatening infection.  Hernia repair is a simple procedure, with a low incidence of complications…and my husband’s hernia repair is scheduled for Thursday.

How did he get a hernia?  We think he tore the muscle just by leaning over to reach some food at a picnic.  Yeah, embarrassing, right?  It would be a much better story if he got a hernia while lifting a car off of a small child pinned underneath.  It would have even been a better story if he was lifting a small child off of a car.  But, I digress.  About a week after the initial tear, my husband decided to run on a treadmill while our oldest daughter was at her swimming lesson (I had been harping on him to get more exercise.  I was hoping that he would do some lifting, since that provides the best health benefits for low time commitments, but I was so happy that he had decided to do something, that I didn’t say anything.).  It seems as though he shook some intestine out while running.

 Funnily enough, this hernia seems to have highlighted a need for positive change in my husband’s life.  Although it may not be true, he believes that it would not have happened if he had been in better overall health, and had better core strength and flexibility.  He is starting to brainstorm how he might be able to incorporate more exercise into his week after he gets the go ahead from his surgeon.  He is also making way more completely paleo food choices and reminding me that he is planning on switching to full paleo (What? When did you make this decision? Awesome, of course, but I’m pretty sure I would have remembered if you had told me this before).  He even asked me to make him some easy paleo foods to grab for breakfasts this week!  My jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

So a hernia has a silver lining.  Much like my continued health problems led me to try Paleolithic Nutrition, my husband is starting to realize that he will be healthier after committing to a paleo diet, prioritizing sleep, and incorporating more exercise into his life.  Yippee!

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