Day two — Climbing that wellness hill
Is this hill getting steeper or am I just dreaming?
Disclaimer: This article will discuss diets, calories, weight loss, body measurements, and the struggles and positives around these topics. If you feel this may trigger you, please do not read on. Sending you love.
Following on from my two days ago I’m currently in the very early midst of improving my wellness by getting myself back into a healthy BMI. Sure, I understand that many believe that the ‘BMI’ concept is a fallacy however, I personally feel my health improves when I am lighter.
So, how did I become ‘overweight’.
Over the last four years, we’ve had many miscarriages and pregnancy loss, in general, has been hard on my body, hormones, and emotions. Because I was always considered high risk when pregnant, exercise, heavy lifting and unnecessary walking were out of the question. This, coupled with the need to eat while pregnant to sustain life and being married to someone who can eat and eat and not gain one pound in weight were all contributing factors.
Long story short, my body does not fare well when I imbalance my hormones. It makes me hold onto weight, it makes me want to eat and it makes me tired — hello insulin resistance and PCOS. It’s your old friend Elyse here.
So who is to blame for my obesity?
Well, that would be me for sure. I lost my sense of mindfulness when eating, I lost sight of how many calories were in what foods and portion sizes — pah! what was that? I ate for enjoyment, I ate for wellness and I ate because the hormonal swinging left me feeling nauseous, eating stops that feeling for a small second.
I ate.
And, now I am here.
Diary of events.
7 am Wake up — I realized I still hadn’t charged my Fitbit kicking myself, steps will be counted tomorrow. I woke with a migraine, I literally felt so nauseous all night like my insides had been twisted and there was nothing I could do. As I did yesterday, let’s hydrate this sucker away. Onwards to water.
8:30-midday — I started work at 8:30 as I do every Monday to Friday (from home) and literally started looking at what food was available and its calorie content. I was still feeling utterly nauseous and weak so decided to kick start my morning with more water and a Kenco Latte (84 calories), mostly to see if it’s the food I need or just sugar or substance. I realized it’s sugar as my hunger pains disappeared.
Food-wise, I opted for a 22.5g pack of Fridge Raiders Southern Style chicken bites (37 calories). It sustained me until my husband got home at lunchtime.
Phew, this morning has been a real emotional struggle.
Midday — 3 pm — Today I had no Coca-Cola to sustain those hunger pangs so instead I opened a can of Irn Bru, my nation's favorite drink and one of the only fizzy drinks I really enjoy (other than Lilt). I only just realized that a 330ml can contains 65 calories. So, technically it is an improvement from yesterday as I had a 140 calorie can of mold-tasting Coca-Cola…winning! (65 calories). By 1 pm I was feeling headachy again and hungry so I had another Kenco Latte (84 calories) while working and munched on a pack of Fridge Raiders Slow Roasted chicken bites which are actually so much better tasting than the Southern version (43 calories)
3 pm — 5 pm — I knew I had to eat and that my calorie intake was low so far, so I had a Skinny Whip bar in toffee (96 calories) and later a Skinny Whip bar in mint (97 calories). It would be difficult to eat two or more bars at once because they are super chewy which leaves you feeling fuller for longer. My Irn Bru was also still 3/4 full at this stage so sustained me until dinner.
The boredom at this stage was real.
5 pm — 7 pm — Fridays are exciting, they’re the start of a new unrestricted weekend and, I was feeling bummed. I had no idea what to make for dinner. Everything that we did had left me feeling ‘meh’ and was either fat-laden or carb-laden. I know I needed something that would fill me far more than yesterday's dinner but I was so mentally drained — so we Ubered.
Yes we caved and Ubered but, I still chose items that were within my calorie allowance so still winning. I opted for the Medium fries (337 calories) and the hamburger (250 calories) but I omitted the onions because as much as I adore onions, they do not adore me.
Total calories (My Fitness Pal): 1093 calories. [deficit]
Protein — 30 g [my advisory is around 51–52 g per day]
Carbs — 154 g
Fiber — 12 g
Sugars — 64 g (too high)
Fat — 37 g
Saturated fat — 12 g
Cholesterol — 30mg [from the McDonalds]
Sodium — 840 mg
Vitamin A — 2%
Vitamin C — 3% [from the McDonalds]
Calcium — 2%
Iron — 15% [from the McDonalds]
Dietary facts
This section includes some smaller facts I’ve learned along the way.
The nutrients that protein is packaged along with help to decide whether the food has a positive or negative effect on health. For example, protein from animal sources is packaged with additional fats and nutrients, increasing this and reducing carbohydrates was found to not reduce heart disease risk. Whereas, eating protein from nuts and seeds while reducing carbohydrates did. [source]
Tea, coffee, and water (without sugars) are relatively safe options and were found to not contribute to Diabetes Type 2 risk. [source]
Akkermansia (A.muciniphila) is renowned for its ability to strengthen the intestinal wall as it’s a mucin-degrading bacteria that is symbiotic with the human intestinal flora in healthy patients. Did you know that eating a high-fat diet can decrease your intestinal wall by 46% over 4-weeks? A.muciniphilia can help resolve leaky gut. To replenish your Akkermansia biome studies show that cranberry extracts, Concord grape, or Rhubarb extracts (Da Huang) are promising. [source]
Thoughts
Today was hard because last night was hard, I woke up feeling like it was all just hard. While I was aware my body was hungry, the consistent migraine and tiredness stopped me from knowing what I wanted to eat. All morning I sat and considered my dinner options and when my husband was recommending things, I just felt ‘ick’.
I don’t feel too disheartened though because the beginning of any change is always the most difficult.
I’m pleased I managed to reduce my sugar intake and increase some of my vitamins although the sodium is lower it still needs work — I never add salt to my food so I know this is due to the pre-packaged foods.
Tomorrow we head out for the day walking in Edinburgh. This will be tricky when it comes to food because calories aren’t always listed and, it can pretty much become a guessing game, especially with any liquids I consume and, because the husband likes to eat and drink and make others eat and drink, he’s such an innocent soul.
I suppose I can only learn from trying to work it all out.
Have an amazing weekend everyone — I will catch up with you tomorrow.
