Overwhelmed x10 page

[yestolife]

Quick intro:

I'm a 44 yr old male who has been trying the PB for several weeks now and it has shown immediate positive results (far less anxiety, surprising energy throughout the day, slightly clearer thinking etc) and I am confident that this is the dietary route I have been searching for for decades.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I have been poisoning myself for so long in so many ways it is becoming overwhelming trying to address the seemingly endless dietary issues I continue to face.

I am a recently sober alcoholic (6 months) and I was amazed at poorly I still felt without alcohol in my system. Of course, like most alkies I am a smoker and coffee drinker from hell so this accounts for some of it but I eventually found that I was "doing" sugar like I did booze: one chocolate bar was literally setting off a binge which I have never experienced before, often putting back 4 bars plus pop and an entire tub of ice cream and was getting hangovers from it. This is what led me to this dietary change. I have now been free from sugar, pop, grains, processed food for the last few weeks.

However, it appears that I am either detoxing OR still sensitive to many other food items and I keep finding food forums that compound the confusion. What the fuck do I eat other than grass fed meat and veggies?

I have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia which I suspect is dietary in nature and suspect I have leaky gut which appears to be both a cause and effect of my former lifestyle.

So, today is the end of coffee and milk (which have been ripping my guts up) and cigarettes are next but I feel on the verge of going nuts primarily because much of this is educated guess work. I am not financially able to pursue the types of tests that would confirm leaky gut etc so it will need to be done via forums like these.

Whew. Thanks to anyone who read this diatribe and I imagine I am not alone in my confidence in this lifestyle change AND the chronic anger/confusion about what continues to make me feel like crap.

Anyhow, greetings from Canada.

[dragonmamma]

What's wrong with meat and veggies?

There are tons of threads here talking about what to eat, and lots of recipes.

Right now...go fix yourself a giant omelette stuffed with meat, guacamole and mushrooms, and/or salsa, scallions, spinach, chopped veggies, etc). Have a sweet potato on the side with some blobs of butter on it.

[slowcooker]

Welcome.. make sure you are cooking extra meat (sausages, hamburgers etc..,) so that when you get hungry, you'll have good stuff available. I find it's when I get sudden hunger that I'm more likely to eat crap. Stick to it, it sounds like this is going to help you a lot.

[Patrick]

Welcome, fellow Canuck!

I hear ya on being overwhelmed. I'll definitely echo what slowcooker said in that you should have lots of grab-and-go ready foods handy. Nuts and seeds are good, but so is jerky (most butcher shops make their own), bacon strips you've already cooked up and put in the fridge, celery (this rocks because it takes a helluva lot of chewing so it fills up time as well, which lets you figure out if you're actually hungry or just eating out of habit or habit replacement), boiled eggs, chicken drumsticks (cooked up and in the fridge, waiting). Lots of options!

Something else you can do if you feel stress levels rising as a result of a sudden onset of craving (for anything) is to do lunges down your hallway. At the end, drop and do 5-8 pushups. Do lunges back up the hallway. Do 5-8 pushups. Sometimes a bit of burst physical activity, or using up some of that nervous/stress energy, brings me back down to where I need to be.

Also, nothing beats a simple walk. Just wander around the neighbourhood or through a local park. Fresh air does wonders.

[kitana]

And please, please don't forget to play!!! You need it as badly as you need to improve your diet. A healthy body needs a healthy mind, and yours sounds waaaay stressed.

Welcome!

[MightyAl]

Just sit back and relax. You have been abusing your body for years and years so you can't expect things to resolve themselves overnight. Your body will be literally detoxing for the next year or so from what I understand. So I would say that you are still flushing those toxins out of your body and they will keep affecting you. Just my 2 cents YMMV.

[Grizz]

yestolife,

I have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia which I suspect is dietary in nature and suspect I have leaky gut which appears to be both a cause and effect of my former lifestyle.

For your Fibromyalgia,
To make a long story short, Fibromyalgia can be DEADLY! We lost a good friend to this disease. Don't let the doctors cripple your immune system! Your Immune System got screwed up from a severe Vitamin D3 deficiency. IMO, I think it is a worthwhile bet to start taking 10,000 IU of Vitamin D3 Gelltabs daily ASAP. Then test your blood level in 2 to 3 months for optimum blood level of 60 to 70 ng/ml and adjust dosage as required. Each 1,000 IU of Vitamin D3 will change your blood level by 10 ng/ml.
http://www.naturalnews.com/z028357_v...eficiency.html
If this doesn't resolve your problem, then doctors & their nasty drugs may be your only hope. Please do let me know if D3 helps you. I need the feedback because I know someone in our church suffering from this.

For your Smoking,
I also suffered from smoking, drinking, grains & sugars addictions. Smoking was absolutely the toughest thing EVER to quit. There is a book that many people swear was the secret to quitting tobacco. Alan Carr book,"The Easy Way to Quit Smoking"
http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum...850#post237850
Also see this link for some great help.
http://whyquit.com/

For your diet:
Focus on fish, meats, chicken, veggies, fruits, nuts, eggs, natural oils like Coconut, Olive.
Absolutely no bread, grains, oatmeal, legumes, corn, sugars, soda pop, hydrogenated oils.
Trust me, there is so much to eat you will not go hungry.

I know what you are going through, buddy. Been there, Done That... ALL OF IT! Contact me offline if you want. All of this CAN be done. I am living proof that this can be done.

YOU HAVE A LOT OF FRIENDS HERE. PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO TALK TO US!

For your grain & Sugar addictions, more on Vitamin D3. . . .
Please see my research Reports below for more help,
Grizz

[john_e_turner_ii]

Because being an alcoholic is associated with addictive personality, try to find a way to become addicted to eating right and exercise. Even if you overdo it, the negative effects will be minimal. I also recommend http://zenhabits.net/, a great website about simplifying your life. It has helped me find perspective and appreciate the smaller things.

[IvyBlue]

I work with many, many alcoholics both practicing and in recovery and NOT ONE of the sober people does not have an incredible, noticeable sweet tooth going. It's one day at a time brother, and I would also say one thing at a time. I would hate to see an alcohol relapse from trying to kick sugar. I would work on the cigarettes next and then the diet/exercise or the other way around. Not to discourage you, you're already doing the hardest thing, but you are admittedly overwhelmedx10 and I wish nothing but the best for those on your path.

[eisenreich]

Getting back to your question: "What the F do I eat?" -- there are a lot of quality primal/paleo food blogs out there with countless new recipes to try. Start googling around, primal food / recipes / blogs, and you'll be surprised by the variety of meal ideas already out there. Mark Sisson also has a cookbook available on Amazon-