The Girl in White Tiger Field page 18

[socoolnanny]

Are you drinking enough water. It is needed to flush out your colon, it is needed to transport nutrients around body, your brain is majorly water and if you are dehydrated it will resemble a prune or raisin. A lot of your symptons could be eased with you drinking at least 6 to 8 glasses of water extra, but don't over do it, too much is as bad as too little.
Supplements are a good idea but like your diet it will take many months if not years to see benefit, the benefit comes from inside and will not happen in just a few months. Keep doing what seems right to you and your body, Debra

[Mud Flinger]

Body movement is also important for the bowel to function. If your feet are hurting too much to walk around, try some floor exercises - nothing too rigorous, just simple movements. Do this frequently. If watching TV, get up every commercial and do something. I get lots of little chores done this way. Even if it's just chop some veges to put away for later, these little bits of movement add up. Same thing with drinking water. If you tend to not drink enough, get a couple of sips each time you go by the kitchen or the bath. When you do go to the Dr, ask to get your thyroid checked also as this may explain some of your energy issues. Vit. D3 may help your energy issues as well - I have friends that swear by it and almost everyone who doesn't supp vit D is low - we just aren't in the sun enough and don't eat many sources. Magnesium can be very calming and help the bowel as well. Magnesium Citrate draws water into the bowel - this may help you also. I have a close friend who claims that Magnesium Glycinate is calming, while I don't feel that effect (but I do take it in this form).

You have come so far in eliminating the stuff that you know is harming you. Keep at it. You will find your answers if you don't give up. Your body wants to heal itself - you may not notice it, but I think you are getting stronger every day.

[Byakko]

onalark: I've been considering the need for a stricter elimination diet. I sort of thought that's what I was doing, but obviously with the amount of garlic and onion and consuming other FODMAPS it's not an elimination diet. I heavily considered it but when I went Paleo/Primal I felt like I should just forego it and found it easier to include those foods. I cannot tell if they have an affect on me (rarely does anything have an immediate affect on my system.) Heh. Sort of not looking forward to doing something stricter than I already am, but I'm desperate. Thanks for the link. I've seen it around before but I'll go read it. I feel kind of left out because most people with IBS have diarrhea not constipation so I worry the effects won't be as immediate.

socoolnanny: No. Despite living in a super rural agricultural area, there's not a lot of locally produce items. I can't even find pastured eggs (and I'm lucky I can find grass fed beef, despite it being from Dakota). The most natural yogurt I have close access to is Stoneyfield and here in America, fat is like a dirty word. Everything is about having little or no fat. But I will keep my eye out for those options (even though I hate plain yogurt.) I had considered trying to make kefir but the whole idea is still weird to me.

And yes I do drink water. However I don't know how much of it I need. I sometimes think water has very little to do with the colon. It seems whatever water I drink just gets peed out anyway. I carry around a 16oz bottle and I try to drink about two a day. I also feel it's not good to drink a lot when you're not obviously thirsty.

Mud Flinger: It's true I need to move more and I will try to find exercises that can be done on the floor. I think I didn't rest properly when I did my planks and push ups so my arms feel kind of spent atm.

I really hope it isn't my thyroid...my mom recently was diagnosed with Graves' disease and I hope I won't be sentenced to pills forever. God...I hope I'm not too late with eating better. The whole point was to heal myself as much as I could!

But thanks you guys for the advice...it's a lot to consider.

[Byakko]

S: banana
M1: chicken
S: walnuts
M2: 2 scrambled eggs with sweet potato fries
S: apple

[Byakko]

S: banana
M1: omelet w/ bacon
S: walnuts
M2: chicken leg with sweet potato fries

I honestly was just not very hungry...kind of weirds me out though.

[Byakko]

M1: 2 sausages (not very clean)
S: a bit of banana
S: nuts
S: hotdog
M2: chicken leg with sweet potato fries
S: grapes

Felt pretty bad today. Gassy and nauseous. I didn't feel like eating and thought if I did I'd feel bad, but I felt bad not eating. Really worried.

[Byakko]

S: apple
M1: omelet with bacon
S: walnuts
S: grapes
M2: burger

[Byakko]

I'm not eating enough. I don't know if it's lack of hunger or old habits I can't break.

Anyway...I am playing with the idea of gradually getting rid of FODMAPS and then maybe in the next month, doing an entire elimination diet. Maybe even avoiding bananas (people say they cause constipation but I can't decide if it's a myth.) I had a lot of onions last night and ended up not feeling good so...it's probably something I need to look into.

[Mud Flinger]

Have you weighed or measured yourself lately? I wonder if your body is changing and you don't realize it because it happens slowly and we live with ourselves - ya know? I also notice that you didn't mention onions in your food log. Listing all the sides, etc. may help you later on when you are trying to find trends and such (which is one of the reasons we log food in the first place).
Maybe come up with a scale of 1-10 for your symptoms and rate them each day or even twice a day if you notice that they vary a bit throughout the day. I know my mood has a lot to do with my memory of how I felt. An accurate log of food and feeling as well as activity level and description may help you unravel some of the problems you experience.

[Byakko]

Have you weighed or measured yourself lately? I wonder if your body is changing and you don't realize it because it happens slowly and we live with ourselves - ya know? I also notice that you didn't mention onions in your food log. Listing all the sides, etc. may help you later on when you are trying to find trends and such (which is one of the reasons we log food in the first place).
Maybe come up with a scale of 1-10 for your symptoms and rate them each day or even twice a day if you notice that they vary a bit throughout the day. I know my mood has a lot to do with my memory of how I felt. An accurate log of food and feeling as well as activity level and description may help you unravel some of the problems you experience.

Well I am still hovering around 149. My waist is still around 32" (maybe 32 1/2"). It's been like this since the first week I started so no; no other changes I can see. Truth be told I'm not working out rigorously. I've lacked the energy and I'm in the process of finding exercises that are done on the floor (but ultimately I want to heal my feet.) I try to stretch and do chores and do push up (I took a break because I fatigued my muscles.)

And you're right. I didn't include sides/toppings because I figured it wasn't important/not having an effect on me. As long as those things were Paleo I didn't think I should get specific. My omelets included onions and mushrooms and I'd put onions on my burgers (white onions.) I do think they can cause me to feel bloaty (though not as much as bloat as grains had on me...I seriously think the grains gave me that puffy belly! I have yet to add them back in to see what happens.) It's possible the amount of onions had an effect.

I'll try to be more specific for my own sake. It's tiring to have to keep up with amounts and log it. But I'll work harder at it. Sometimes I just cook up whatever I can to get something to eat, not measuring things or simply eyeing the amount.