Paleo Granny

Ground beef, GF Italian Sausage,  sweet potatoes and kale, with an egg.

It has been awhile since I posted because something "weird" has been happening to me after over a year on the Paleo diet and I have been trying to figure out where I m going wrong.  Up until about two months ago I was feeling really good - mentally and physically - and now (long story short), I'm not.  I have very little energy, don't feel like cooking or eating, no bike riding even though the weather has been perfect for bike riding in our part of British Columbia and I was really enjoying the riding.  I continue to follow the Paleo diet for 99% of the time (small amount of maple syrup in my morning coffee) and have finally killed the sugar monster.


I have searched all the (many) Paleo blogs/websites that I follow and have seen some bloggers have been experiencing difficulty due to stress and has starting meditating, one blogger is practicing mindfulness by setting reminders for herself to take health breaks, and one blogger in Australia, EatMove Sleep.com, who actually stopped blogging for awhile because she was also feeling off physically and mentally on the Paleo diet after a year, with a lot of the same problems I am having.  She spent a lot of time (and probably money) to figure out that it is stress causing most of her problems.  So, stress.  Everyone has a certain amount of stress in their life, but when it affects your mental and physical health, no matter how good your diet is, you are not going to feel good - and I want to go back to feeling the way I was feeling two months ago.

What to do?  I have mentioned most of these things in past blogs, but I obviously need to remind myself:

1. Eliminate as much stress as possible.  This is the tough one.  I can identify some of the big stressors - finances, work, relationship and family - but what to do about them that won't create more stress.
2. Try to get more sleep.  Another hard one.  I have followed every suggestion I can find (with the exception of the stress elimination - see #1 above!, and Paleo Grandad likes to have the TV in the bedroom, watching late into the night sometimes but he uses headphones so I can't hear it) - dark room (and sleep mask), white noise, comfortable bed, cool room.  My sleep is much better but I never feel rested (there's the stress again).

Crystal Fieldhouse from EatMoveSleep.com recommends this too:

1. Meditation (Tried it - can't do it. My head won't turn off.)
2. Mindfulness - slow down and pay attention to what you are eating and how you feel after eating certain foods.  I have figured out that (besides cane sugar) onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, certain spice, white potatoes and asparagus upset my stomach a lot.  There are probably more foods to eliminate and I am reading up on autoimmune elimination diet again.
3. Journaling foods and the effect they are having on your body.  Warning - I am going to be using my blog for that (after all, it is my blog).
4. Focusing on only one stressor at a time.  Where to start?
5. Talking it out.  That's what friends are for, right?  I am having lunch with my best friend, Kathy, to talk out one issue...she is the best.
6. One of the people who commented on her post recommended a book (love books - can never read too many!), Primal Body Primal Mind bu Nora Gedgaudas.  I have heard of it before but never read it.

The picture at the top of this page is today's breakfast - one of my favourite breakfasts but - my first Journal item - stomach ache and nausea right now (15 minutes after eating).  I think I'm going to have to eliminate eggs again - darn!

Lunch with BF is going to be tricky, as we are going for Dim Sum (a 30+ years tradition).  There are no good choices for lunch in Richmond, but we probably need to find a Paleo-friendlier restaurant.

On the good news side, Sears has finally agreed to replace the defective stove we bought nine months ago - after five months (and five servicemen coming to look and doing nothing), so one stressor gone and I will be able to cook a turkey with crisp skin for Canadian Thanksgiving in October - yay!