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Journals / Liana's Journal
« on: June 08, 2009, 07:11:23 am »
After reading some of the other journals here, I thought it would be a good idea to start my own.
Up until the summer of 2008 I ate a SAD diet. I ate a lot of dairy and grains, processed deli meat etc, basically lots of crap, even though I thought I was being pretty healthy.
During that summer in 2008 I switched to a vegan diet. For the few months up to that point I gradually went vegetarian, then vegan. For a while I ate a lot of soy crap, thinking it was good for me. Then when I learned about the hormonal effects, I removed all traces of soy from my diet, eating lots of nuts, legumes, and grains for protein. At first I thought I was making myself healthier, but towards the end of this diet I was craving meats all the time. I thought this might be a mineral deficiency, so I tried suppliments of copper, zinc, and iron, which didn't cause any noticeable improvement. I was getting more and more tired, less and less energy. I read about a form of Intermittent Fasting. In order to experience improved energy during the day, I tried it, and liked it. However, I was still eating vegan. Sometimes I would go to a burrito place and get a giant vegan burrito for dinner, it would be the main thing I'd eat during the day. I started to notice my digestive system struggling to process the crap I was cramming in my mouth.
During the winter (around January) I started to include fish eggs and very little dairy.
I had read about Paleo and Raw Paleo eating before I went vegan (not sure why I bypassed it), but I had actually come across this forum, and after reading for a while, I started by eating some raw fish (salmon and tuna) followed later that week by a raw steak. I felt a little wierd, but decided to stick with it. My parents are against it, and whenever I try to eat anything raw they force me to cook it. So after a month of trying to eat raw anyway, they had a big talk with me and I've been searing my beef ever since just to avoid any more confrontations. Whenever I eat fish raw I make sure not to eat it around my parents.
Recently I've had issues with candida. For the past month I've been reading around for solutions. I decided to cut down on carbs, for a couple weeks, only eating one piece of fruit a day, low sugar variety, like berries, grapefruit, lemons, and green apples. For a while my flare ups (yeast infections) became less and less, and I was feeling great until a few weeks ago when a friend offered me some of those peeled baby carrots. After eating two I remembered that most conventional peeled baby carrots are washed in chlorine. This was bad because I need all the good bacteria I can get in order to deal with this candida, and chlorine only kills all the good bacteria. This was extremely frustrating. The plan I had been using, eating 1 low sugar fruit a day wasn't helping anymore, and the flare ups were worse than ever. I decided to cut out all fruit for 2 weeks, and I started eating up to 3 tbsp of coconut oil in the evening. I also started to apply the coconut oil topically, which helped a lot with symptoms. I've been feeling a lot better for the past week, until today when I caved in and ate a kiwi (it was the only fruit around) followed by a pound of raw beef. I started feeling really weak and tired, but still hungry, so I ate 2 oz macadamia nuts, and now I feel better, less lethargic.
Another thing I should mention is that in the past (and sort of recently) I have not dealt with stress well at all. Almost 2 years ago I had some serious depression, and could not figure out why. I was prescribed antidepressants, which I took in low doses for nearly a year. It turns out I was really having problems with anxiety, which wasn't being handled with well. I decided i didn't need the antidepressants anymore, and stopped taking them. I currently have sworn off prescription drugs. I would have heart palpitations if I started thinking negative thoughts. Usually it was all in my head. This concerns me even more because about 2 months ago my grandfather killed himself, and the stuff he had written was about fears which he had made up in his own head, and had made him paranoid and depressed. Recently I had a mild stressful situation which turned out to be fueled by my own fear, which is a big wake up. I've improved over the past couple months though compared to in the past, thanks to being aware of my stress and how my body is reacting to my thought processes, and deciding whether it is worth the stress or not (usually not).
I've read about adrenal exhaustion on here before, and I wonder if that could be a problem that I'm having.
My other problem is that i usually don't eat enough during the day if I strictly follow all raw, so some food has to be seared in order for me to eat enough, because of my family's reaction to raw food. Fortunately, my parents are noticing that it's most likely time that i move out and have my own place to live. I'm really looking forward to that, because at least my boyfriend doesn't mind too much that I eat my meat and fish raw and undercooked (though he has asked that if I ever get food poisoning and start puking my guts out after a raw/seared/undercooked meal that I stop eating raw, I doubt that will ever happen because I only ever feel better on raw meat/fish, I honestly think that fears like that are just cultural, and I wouldn't eat anything that looked, smelled or tasted questionable anyway.)
I've also been doing some off and on Intermittent Fasting, but that usually only means skipping breakfast on some days. On these days it's because I want to get a workout in before eating my first meal of the day, and that's usually around lunch time.
Today was different though, since yesterday I had a sudden shitstorm of stress. I felt pretty tired this morning, but after eating I felt mentally better (clearer) though my muscles are still tired. After I did eat my kiwi and meat, my muscles felt weaker, and I got really tired. I tried napping, but couldn't sleep, so I ate the macadamia nuts like i mentioned earlier and my mental clarity returned. I'm going to give myself a rest from IF for a few days and get some extra rest. I'm hoping this situation is just temporary and should improve tomorrow or in a few days.
Up until the summer of 2008 I ate a SAD diet. I ate a lot of dairy and grains, processed deli meat etc, basically lots of crap, even though I thought I was being pretty healthy.
During that summer in 2008 I switched to a vegan diet. For the few months up to that point I gradually went vegetarian, then vegan. For a while I ate a lot of soy crap, thinking it was good for me. Then when I learned about the hormonal effects, I removed all traces of soy from my diet, eating lots of nuts, legumes, and grains for protein. At first I thought I was making myself healthier, but towards the end of this diet I was craving meats all the time. I thought this might be a mineral deficiency, so I tried suppliments of copper, zinc, and iron, which didn't cause any noticeable improvement. I was getting more and more tired, less and less energy. I read about a form of Intermittent Fasting. In order to experience improved energy during the day, I tried it, and liked it. However, I was still eating vegan. Sometimes I would go to a burrito place and get a giant vegan burrito for dinner, it would be the main thing I'd eat during the day. I started to notice my digestive system struggling to process the crap I was cramming in my mouth.
During the winter (around January) I started to include fish eggs and very little dairy.
I had read about Paleo and Raw Paleo eating before I went vegan (not sure why I bypassed it), but I had actually come across this forum, and after reading for a while, I started by eating some raw fish (salmon and tuna) followed later that week by a raw steak. I felt a little wierd, but decided to stick with it. My parents are against it, and whenever I try to eat anything raw they force me to cook it. So after a month of trying to eat raw anyway, they had a big talk with me and I've been searing my beef ever since just to avoid any more confrontations. Whenever I eat fish raw I make sure not to eat it around my parents.
Recently I've had issues with candida. For the past month I've been reading around for solutions. I decided to cut down on carbs, for a couple weeks, only eating one piece of fruit a day, low sugar variety, like berries, grapefruit, lemons, and green apples. For a while my flare ups (yeast infections) became less and less, and I was feeling great until a few weeks ago when a friend offered me some of those peeled baby carrots. After eating two I remembered that most conventional peeled baby carrots are washed in chlorine. This was bad because I need all the good bacteria I can get in order to deal with this candida, and chlorine only kills all the good bacteria. This was extremely frustrating. The plan I had been using, eating 1 low sugar fruit a day wasn't helping anymore, and the flare ups were worse than ever. I decided to cut out all fruit for 2 weeks, and I started eating up to 3 tbsp of coconut oil in the evening. I also started to apply the coconut oil topically, which helped a lot with symptoms. I've been feeling a lot better for the past week, until today when I caved in and ate a kiwi (it was the only fruit around) followed by a pound of raw beef. I started feeling really weak and tired, but still hungry, so I ate 2 oz macadamia nuts, and now I feel better, less lethargic.
Another thing I should mention is that in the past (and sort of recently) I have not dealt with stress well at all. Almost 2 years ago I had some serious depression, and could not figure out why. I was prescribed antidepressants, which I took in low doses for nearly a year. It turns out I was really having problems with anxiety, which wasn't being handled with well. I decided i didn't need the antidepressants anymore, and stopped taking them. I currently have sworn off prescription drugs. I would have heart palpitations if I started thinking negative thoughts. Usually it was all in my head. This concerns me even more because about 2 months ago my grandfather killed himself, and the stuff he had written was about fears which he had made up in his own head, and had made him paranoid and depressed. Recently I had a mild stressful situation which turned out to be fueled by my own fear, which is a big wake up. I've improved over the past couple months though compared to in the past, thanks to being aware of my stress and how my body is reacting to my thought processes, and deciding whether it is worth the stress or not (usually not).
I've read about adrenal exhaustion on here before, and I wonder if that could be a problem that I'm having.
My other problem is that i usually don't eat enough during the day if I strictly follow all raw, so some food has to be seared in order for me to eat enough, because of my family's reaction to raw food. Fortunately, my parents are noticing that it's most likely time that i move out and have my own place to live. I'm really looking forward to that, because at least my boyfriend doesn't mind too much that I eat my meat and fish raw and undercooked (though he has asked that if I ever get food poisoning and start puking my guts out after a raw/seared/undercooked meal that I stop eating raw, I doubt that will ever happen because I only ever feel better on raw meat/fish, I honestly think that fears like that are just cultural, and I wouldn't eat anything that looked, smelled or tasted questionable anyway.)
I've also been doing some off and on Intermittent Fasting, but that usually only means skipping breakfast on some days. On these days it's because I want to get a workout in before eating my first meal of the day, and that's usually around lunch time.
Today was different though, since yesterday I had a sudden shitstorm of stress. I felt pretty tired this morning, but after eating I felt mentally better (clearer) though my muscles are still tired. After I did eat my kiwi and meat, my muscles felt weaker, and I got really tired. I tried napping, but couldn't sleep, so I ate the macadamia nuts like i mentioned earlier and my mental clarity returned. I'm going to give myself a rest from IF for a few days and get some extra rest. I'm hoping this situation is just temporary and should improve tomorrow or in a few days.