Releasing my inner siren - ErinF page

[ErinF]

My journey up to this point.

Hot dogs were a staple in our house growing up. We often ate things out of a box or a bag and when my mom could afford it, we ate fast food. My mom worked several jobs so I don't blame her for going the easy route with food, but the easy route is never the healthy route. Just before starting high school I started developing allergies to fruits and vegetables. First it was bananas, then tomatoes and bell peppers, next came melons and by the time I was 16 I had so many fruits and vegetables on the CANNOT EAT list that I became very dependant on grains. Later this allergy would be diagnosed as Oral Allergy Syndrome. I became very lethargic in high school and wasn't able to make it through most classes without falling asleep. My mood changed from happy and alive to tired, sluggish, and grumpy. I had a major inability to focus on anything and started getting migraines almost weekly. Because the changes were so gradual I never realized something was wrong and just decided I was never going to be one of those people that had a lot of energy. I was steadily gaining weight despite my efforts to stay thin, I decided the best way to deal with this was to stop eating altogether. I spent about 6 months eating almost nothing and the end result of that was a weak, tired, shakey and sickly thin girl. I weighed 100 pounds and still felt like I was hugely fat and gross.

Fast forward to 2003, I married my best friend and immediately began birth control. I rapidly gained weight and being a petite 5'3, every pound I gained showed up in an exaggerated way. I looked bloated, unhealthy and unhappy. My weight went from 115 to 150, and despite hours spent at the gym and some crazy fad dieting I couldn't lose weight. My hormones were all over the place and by this time I had been tested for thyroid problems, diabetes and arthritis. I was only 19, diabetes and arthritis at 19?!?! My blood work showed I was healthy and within normal ranges, but I certainly didn't feel normal. I knew I wasn't healthy and I hated it. It was this point that I started to give up. I wasn't able to eat healthy because of my Oral Allergy Syndrome and no amount of exercise was lowering that number on the scale.

In 2007 my husband and I wanted to start our family so I went off the birth control. We spent months trying to conceive with no success at all. After talking to a fertility specialist it was decided I should go on a fertility med and just a few months after that I was pregnant. Pregnancy was crazy, I was so tired that most days I didn't get out of bed at all. I developed severe back and shoulder pain at about 4 months and wasn't able to exercise or do much more than sit up in bed. This being my first pregnancy I really had no idea what was going on. My hormones were crazy and I de-stressed with food. A LOT of food. I went from 148 pounds to 199 pounds on delivery day. I started exercising almost immediately and was able to lose 40 pounds. After my son was born I had a full blood panel drawn and was diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance and was put on a high dose of metformin. 5 months after my first son was born I found myself pregnant again. I wanted my kids to be close in age, but wasn't planning on having them THIS close. I spent the second pregnancy much like the first, in bed and in a lot of pain. My weight climbed back up and at delivery I was 180 lbs.

I managed to get my weight down to 167 pounds, but then I hit a wall. I did everything to get my weight down, but no matter what I did the # on the scale would only lower temporarily. I started running and doing aerobis everyday and I hated every minute of it. I wanted to spend time doing things I enjoyed! I started falling into a depression and decided to go to the doctor for help. Another blood panel was drawn and the results scared me. My cholesterol and tryglicerides were high and I need to go on yet another medication. That was it! I've had it with medications and feeling tired all the time. I was sick of being depressed over my weight. This time I was going to find out what was wrong with me. I knew I was doing something wrong with my diet so I spent the next week glued to the internet trying to find anything that could help me. I'm still not sure how I happened on a gluten free forum, but thats where this journey started. I immediately went off gluten and started getting my energy back, but I still felt a little sluggish and I knew there was something more I could do to feel even better. I came across a link to this site in someone's forum signature and the rest is history. I started dropping weight immediately and my body fat percent, which has been hovering at 36%, has started to lower also.

I'm finally excited about a "diet" and can't believe how amazing I feel! I have a long way to go before I hit my goal, but I know with this diet and proper exercise I can get there!

[ErinF]

Today is my 1 week mark, I started the primal lifestyle and 163 pounds and today I weighed in at 159. I can't believe I'm in the 150's!! I'm not at 100% primal yet, because of my carb flu from going gluten free; I've decided to go slow with the remaining carbs and increase my protein intake. I'm still feeling hungry most of the day, but from the advice I've gotten from members of this forum, I've decided it's from not eating enough fat. It's hard to retrain my brain to go from low-fat to eat as much fat as I want.

So far I'm trying to stay under 1600 calories. I'm trying to eat less than 100 grams of carbs, and despite what I originally thought, it's been really easy! I'm experiencing carb flu, but am finally feeling some relief from that. I have been dealing with some cramping, but it actually feels like the pain is coming from my kidneys so I'll need to research that. All in all my mood has improved and my energy levels feel more stable.

My next weight loss goal is to reach 149, my ending weight loss goal is to be within a healthy weight range for my age/height, which should be around 120.

[ErinF]

I'm finding it easier to stay on the Primal type diet as the days go by. It's awesome to finally be able to eat a normal size meal and feel completely satisfied and full. I'm finding it hard to eat the amount of protein suggested and hopefully I can figure out a way to fix that. Right now I'm adding in a whey protein shake every day, but there has to be an easier way to get it in. I don't really like to eat a lot of meat so getting in all my protein through meat is challenging. I either need to find a type of meat that I'm good with eating every day or continue with my protein shakes.

I'm finally feeling like my carb flu is gone. I still have slight foggy brain, but overall I feel healthy and have enough energy to make it through the day without needing a nap. I'm still having a really hard time eating all this fat, I can't help but think my body is just storing it all up and I'm going to start gaining insane amounts of weight. So far this hasn't happened and the number on the scale has steadily gone down.

One of the harder things for me to give up is my alcohol. I don't drink a lot, but I LOVE my Coke and Brandy. I usually have one every weekend along with a nightly glass of wine during the week. My sister was visiting from out of town over the weekend and I drank way more than I should have and it's showing. I'm completely bloated and feel so gross. I've decided that I'm going to completely shut off my alcohol intake for a while and see if the weight drops off any faster. I know I've read an article about alcohol and weight gain.

[ErinF]

I think I must be going crazy.

I woke up with boundless energy and even after cleaning the house, dancing with the kids, and running around like a mad woman; I still have tons of energy. This is awesome!

[Griffin]

Keep up the great work - Welcome to the Tribe!

[ErinF]

Thanks!

I bought the 21 day transformation book and am reading it now. I'll be starting that on Monday like Mark suggests. I did my fitness evaluation and have started my workouts twice a week. I actually took some time to play outside with my kids this morning and I loved it. I can't believe how much I miss running around outside in the sun. It was fun to chase the dog while making my toddler laugh. And the best part is I wasn't totally wiped out afterward like I used to be.

[ErinF]

Today is day 1 of the 21 day transformation. I've been doing the primal thing for a few weeks so it was an easy decision to start the challenge. The best part is I finally got my husband on board to do this 21 day thing with me!!! I know he's going to love it! Here's my journal entry for the day:

Kitchen/Pantry Purge
-hardest part: it was hard to separate the food that I eat and the food my toddler/baby eat. I'm not taking them Primal until they're older and because of that I had to keep some of their food. I had a little bit of a sad moment when I realized my dark chocolate squares had /gasp vegetable oil in them and a slight case of the grumpies when I threw them in the trash.
-best part: the space in my pantry is amazing. I can actually see what I have in stock now! Before it was like a high fructose and grain filled jungle.

Re-Stock Preparation:
-primal shopping resources: Trader Joe's, BJ's, Costco

Increase daily movement"
1. walk dog nightly
2. play hide/seek with the kids during the day
3. walk to the mailbox each afternoon with the kids/dog
4. dancing lessons (I seriously have no skills at all in this area).
5. doing a quick 10-15 min aerobic routine after I put the kids down for a nap

Today's movement endeavors
1. I played chase the dog in the backyard wit my son
2. I'm going to chase my son around the house before his nap to get him tired
3. We'll be going on a nightly walk tonight with the dog for 30-45 minutes

[Hedonist]

Welcome Erin! I'm happy that primal is going so well for you! Grok on!

[ErinF]

I haven't been feeling well lately, maybe I'm still dealing with the carb flu? Either way, eating eggs in the morning upsets my stomach for at least an hour, sometimes more. I have noticed that waiting a few hours before eating in the am doesn't give me a stomach ache. Maybe I should keep doing that?

I'm still on schedule with my 21 days, I decided to not post my journal entries on here, I'd rather write them down than type them out.

Per several forum members suggestions I've stopped using my scale so I have no idea if I've lost any weight lately. I've been working out more and I can see that the fat on my arms is slowly being replaced with muscle. I'm also starting to not fit into most of my clothes which is awesome, but at the same time it's a little frusterating since I don't really have the money to replace them right now. LOL Good thing I have a sewing maching, if only I knew how to use it!

[ErinF]

I've been following the dietary guidelines within the Primal Blueprint for a few weeks now and I LOVE IT!! I'm still dropping weight steadily and my body is looking a lot thinner. I've been obsessed with the # on the scale going down and have been weighing myself every single morning. I'm thinking my slight obsession with the scale is probably not a good thing and instead of focusing on the amoung of weight I'm losing I need to redirect my attention to the amount of body fat I have.

I recently read an article about a girl that lifts weights. I'm not talking about lifting small weights for that "lean" look, I'm talking about lifting uber heavy weights like the ones you see those massive muscles at the gym doing. I've always thought lifting weights like that would make you a giant ball of muscles, with everything bulging and just gross, but this chick looked amazing. She had the body I want and have wanted since I knew women could attain muscles. I am going to look like this girl, just give me two years and my tummy tuck and I'll get there!

I do a weekly weigh in and this is where I'm at so far; my current weight is 155. I'm down 5 pounds from when I started the full on Primal diet and down 8 pounds from when I started eating gluten free. My body fat % as of yesterday is 36% yikes!!! That actually makes me want to scream and cry. My new goal is to get that # down as fast as possible and as low as possible. I'll have a small party when it drops below 20% into the healthy range. That may not be until I get my tummy tuck, but I'm hoping it's before then.