I'm back!

I'm back (I hope).  It's been too long. I got off track (love you Paleo Grandad, but no more chocolate, please) and I was prescribed some medication for stomach problems that added to a 25 lb. weight gain (in less than two months), serious bloating and swelling of my legs and feet and to feeling depressed again.  When I'm happy, I blog.  When I'm depressed, it's all I can do to get out of bed and go to work...and then there's work.

I'm off the stomach medicine now (immediately dropped 5 lbs. - like the next day) and am desperate to get back on track so I can get back the energy and the enthusiasm I had before I got derailed.  Most of all, I need to lose the 20 lbs. I just gained, plus another 30 more that I have been carrying around for years. 

How to do that?  No matter how closely I followed my Paleo diet, I never got below the initial 12 lb. weight loss when I first started.  Thousands of other Paleo dieters dropped pounds easily on Paleo, why can't I?  I got youngest son onto Paleo and he lost weight (and has kept it off) and looks terrific - why can't I?

I have read everything I can find on blogs, websites and books, but there are too many reasons I can't lose weight - how to pinpoint the cause(s)?  (I did find out that there are a lot of people who don't lose weight on a Paleo diet, but you won't find too much about that on Paleo blogs or websites - telling people that doesn't make money - right?).

I am an avid follower of The Paleo Mom and have her book The Paleo Approach.  This is not your typical Paleo diet book - this is the science behind the Paleo diet - highly technical in some parts, but full of information.  A major cause could be autoimmune disease - 20-30% of healthy people are potentially already in very early stages of autoimmune disease, according to The Paleo Approach. 

Any of these symptoms can be associated with the early stages of autoimmune disease:

• Allergies (me)
• Anxiety and depression (me)
• Blood pressure changes (usually low)
• Digestive problems (me - for years)
• Extreme fatigue (me - for years)
• Gallbladder disease
• Low blood sugar (me)
• Malaise (generally feeling unwell) (me)
• Memory problems (me)
• Migraines
• Muscle or joint pains (me)
• PMS (me - 20+ years ago, but me)
• Rashes and other skin problems (me - eczema)
• Recurrent headaches
• Resistant to weight loss (ME)
• Sleep disturbances (me)
• Susceptibility to infections)
• Swollen glands
• Thyroid problems
• Unexplained weight changes (me)
• Yeast infections (me)

I could have a leaky gut too, but how to know?  The Paleo Mom came up with help in the form of a Consulting Group consisting of nutrition coaches, health coaches and a functional medicine coach.  You choose one based on what they do and how much you want to pay and book an appointment.  I chose Mickey Trescott, NTP because I have followed her blog, she is in the same time zone and her charges were reasonable.  You can start with a free 10-minute telephone call to see if it is something you want to pursue and, if you decide to go on, the appointments are done by telephone, Skype and on-line.

So far, I've had to complete a couple of in-depth questionnaires (Do you have outside thigh pain?  I do, and I am looking forward to finding out why she asks that question!)  I also have to provide Mickey with a 3-day food log before we have a one-hour Skype meeting on June 18th.

As soon as I stopped taking the stomach medications, the depression lifted quite a bit, and I didn't want to wait anymore to get back on track so I bought Mickey's book The Autoimmune Protocol, read it from cover to cover (great book) and got started.  She actually provides a 4-week menu plan that has you cooking once and eating 3-4 times before you have to cook again - works for me.

One thing that is off the table :) on an autoimmune diet are eggs, so what do you eat for breakfast?  Mickey has the answer for that.  Today's breakfast:  two Three-Herb ground beef patties, two pieces of sugar-free bacon, 1 cup of sautéed bok choy, 1/4 cup of sauerkraut and half a small avocado.  It tasted good and was filling.  I also made enough breakfast protein to last two weeks.