I can't believe how quickly the last month has flown by. While I should't be, I am constantly surprised by the amount that we can accomplish or that can happen in one short month.
I spent 2 weeks in Scotland (amazing) and enjoyed the time there immensely. Even though the pictures are beautiful, they simply don't do the countryside any justice. Everything is so green, water is literally everywhere - on the hillsides, side of the road and thick in the air. (We had an Airborne tablet sitting on a coffee table and it started dissolving on the table because the humidity there is so high.) But the culture was wonderful to experience, the people were wonderful and welcoming, and the architecture and countryside was more breathtaking than anything I have ever experienced. It was an adventure that I will never forget.
(This is relevant, so bear with me.)
Being in the health and fitness industry, I was anxious to observe the attitude around food and exercise. While Scotland is specked with Starbucks, McDonalds, and KFC (all the rage in Scotland!), there seemed to be a greater focus on smaller companies and local foods, particularly in the Isle of Skye. Which in retrospect makes sense - we see an attitude like that in California in the smaller towns and nearly every town in Scotland is small. It would seem silly not to focus on local foods with weather that appears to make just about anything green grow. I felt spoiled to stay in a bed and breakfast where nearly everything we ate was homemade from local ingredients (I'm talking daily fresh baked bread here, people. Homemade yogurt, home poached pears, and eggs from the chickens down the road. Most. Beautiful. Yolks. Ever.) and even the home was furnished with handmade items from the window coverings, comforter on the bed, placemats, and wall hangings. (Ardtreck Cottage on the Isle of Skye. So worth the trek out to it. Seriously.) But I was also surprised to see a low fat craze in the supermarkets and on TV commercials. Larger cities like Edinburgh and Inverness had larger supermarkets like what we are used to seeing, with a lot of the same products and only a few exceptions. But I noticed something interesting in myself while there. I didn't spend a lot of energy trying to be gluten free - my goal while there was to experience the culture and enjoy the vacation. I ate delicious food at every stop - including haggis and several different pate dishes. Yum! But while I was eating gluten, I wasn't troubled with the normal emotional and gastrointestinal distress that I experienced in the past. It's still somewhat puzzling to me and it's something I have been experimenting with over the last 2 weeks.
I was curious to see if I could handle gluten while at home. Needless to say, the experiment proved that I could not. The first several days I felt fine, but quickly started noticing severe GI distress - abnormal and uncomfortable. I tried sprouted wheat, which has worked well for me in the past, and found that I don't digest it well. At all. Regular gluten-containing items left me feeling sick to my stomach and paying for it later. I can't say that I noticed a brain fog or emotional distress, but being as I was still recovering from jet lag it is hard to say how much was from gluten and how much from jet lag. So far, I have concluded that either it was the lack of stress I experienced while on vacation or the quality of the wheat used in the U.K. (or a combination of the two) that left me able to tolerate gluten while traveling abroad. I can't say that I will be trying that again any time soon, and I have a feeling my recovery from the last 2 weeks will be a long one.
Because adjusting to the time change was so challenging for me, I was unable to conjure up enough energy to exercise outside of the 5 to 7 miles that we walked every day. I tried to get in a quick workout one morning before we got rolling for the day and it was the MOST miserable workout I've ever had. Coming back into our own time zone at home was even more difficult, and it took me over a week to feel like I had the energy to even think about working out. Apparently I don't travel well. Since then, my workouts have not been routine and I still don't feel like I've got a handle on things again. It's easy for me to skip the workout and just rest - something that would have previously had me sitting anxiously on my hands to just pick up some weights and move my body.
Finding balance has been a struggle. While I would like to think that I am the only one that struggles with this, I know I am not. Now that I have come back to the real world (vacation really messes with us doesn't it? Which is perhaps an American thing, because Holiday is a completely different concept in Europe) I don't know where I left off and how to pick it back up again. My food has been a complete disaster. Despite plenty of rest, I've felt tired, unsatisfied with food, and craving things that are SO not good for me - an unusual experience as I am usually craving vegetables, healthy fats and meats. I feel like my hormones are a mess, and I'm certainly paying for it.
My next mission is to work on achieving balance. While my vacation and time away was an amazing experience I would not trade, it turned out to be a huge setback in my health and fitness goals. I allowed myself to succumb to that setback when I got back home, and now feel that I am paying for it. It's taken a little time, but I feel ready to take this imbalance head on, and work on creating balance once again in my life. (I think my husband will thank me for that.) I've outlined below the steps I am planning on taking to getting myself back in order.
1. Food
I will be returning to a Paleo/Primal diet, rich in vegetables, meats, and healthy fats. This includes avoiding all gluten and grains, including rice and corn until I get my GI issues under control. I plan also on avoiding most dairy, with the exception of yogurt, heavy cream, and butter. I will also be eliminating all highly processed/manufactured fats like canola oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil and sunflower oil. From past experience, I know this works best for my energy, sleep, and mood. I still have a few changes to make in this department to really get it dialed in for optimal performance and mood but I am confident this is the best decision for me. For more information on the Paleo/Primal diet, go to my resources page.
2. Exercise
I have made an exercise schedule and plan for myself. I will not be doing my own programming, but rather following an exercise plan written my someone else with intensity tailored to my current needs. I have a tendency to go too hard too fast and send myself spiraling into adrenal fatigue or physical exhaustion, so I also have to mediate my intensity and work up to a higher intensity slowly. Here is the book I use for my at-home workouts.
3. Sleep
This is SO huge for me. I have not been prioritizing sleep like I should be, and my sleep hygiene has left something to be desired. My goal is to get 8 hours of sleep per night (when possible) and take more care to reduce my blue light exposure close to bed time. I have a set of amber glasses, like these ones to block blue light from my phone, Kindle, and (occasionally) television. If my husband didn't think I was insane I would probably get some larger ones, but for now these work. I also use an orange light in the light on my nightstand to avoid additional blue light exposure. On the not so rare occasion I am on my phone right before bed I make sure to turn on my EasyEyez app to lower the brightness and blue light usage on my android phone. I just discovered one called Twilight for my android I plan on trying (I think it will be a much better option, but will update this another time), and iPhone users can use F.lux for blue light reduction.
4. Supplements
I know that I am dealing with a hormone imbalance, given some symptoms I am experiencing and the way my monthly cycle is charting. (For more on a quick and easy way to track your cycle and fertility, check this website. For more on hormone imbalances, check this website.) My supplement regime, for now, includes a multivitamin, desiccated liver tablets, oil of evening primrose, milk thistle, fermented cod liver oil, and magnesium. I am going to experiment with Brewers Yeast and Maca - I have yet to try them, and cannot speak for their effects. I will also be working to get in more probiotics from food items like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kombucha. These are supplements that I have decided to take for my own hormonal imbalances and am not making any recommendations as to what would or would not work for you. That is a decision for you and your doctor or trusted health professional to make.
5. Have more fun!
I really don't do this enough. And there is definitely something to be said about the role fun and play have in our lives. I notice that I am happier and more content if I let my hair down every now and then and have a good time. Laughter really is wonderful medicine - get it in where you can! My fun takes place with my husband and our entourage of animals - there is always something to laugh about when you have a house full of loving and silly animals. (If you don't have animals at home, I highly recommend going to YouTube and watching animal or baby videos. Even better, baby animal videos! I'm serious. If those don't make you smile, I simply can't help you.) You can also spend time with friends, play games outside (or inside. But I'm a little biased on the spending active time outside thing.), or anything that makes you smile. Yeah, remember that thing called FUN that we used to have all the time as kids? You should go do THAT.
Give a few of these a try. It's hard to say that one is more important than the other (but I can definitely put supplements at the bottom of the priority list) because food, sleep, movement and fun are all integral to a healthy mind, body, and soul. Go back to the simple things that we know work - the nuts and bolts, remember?
What is your number one priority when getting back on track? Post it here or in the comments for this post on Facebook.
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