Learning To Listen To My Body

I’m learning to listen to my body, both for my mental health AND my physical health: Quietly altering things when I feel it’s right for me. This is huge for me! Slowly, I’m learning that I don’t have to be all-or-nothing. 

“This diet doesn’t quite work? Full stop! Throw it out!”

That used to be me, my thoughts. Now, I’m doing what’s right for me and I know it’s right for me because I’m taking the time to listen. I listen quietly to how my body is responding to changes- without judgment and slowlyyyy…over a period of time. 

The only thing I’m throwing out, full stop, is my impatience and absoluteness. 

I used to worry about what other people thought, constantly and without question. Would they consider me a failure? Now, when I catch myself doing this, I immediately follow that with, ‘Who can know what’s right for my body, except me?’ I let it go after I ask myself that and take a quiet moment to listen. More important questions consume me. Questions like: how is my body feeling now, how did I respond to that food, am I getting enough sleep and am I taking breaks for myself? 

After this self-reflection, I realized that I need to take a step back from Wahl’s Paleo Plus. Wahl’s Paleo will be a better fit, but I will make my own exceptions to it, and add in some of The Gut Makeover rules. 

What Works For Me:

Wahl’s Paleo Plus is made by a doctor, Dr Terry Wahls, with MS and she used it to help her fight her autoimmune disease. My belief is that your body has to work harder when it is fighting something that extreme, thus using the extra fat and calories. I started it to fix my gut villi and fight leaky gut, so I don’t think my body was using that food as efficiently. Although I was losing weight and had more energy in the morning, I also felt flushed and moody after eating. When I thought about it, I was reacting badly to some of the food choices and I didn’t when I was doing the Gut Makeover, leading me to believe I can step back from the Plus part of the diet. 

Creating a balance that suits you is SO important. Bodies are complex and different. Our lifestyles are different, energy levels vary, and types of work require different calorie levels. I think we need to acknowledge and adjust to that. 

I think the Wahl’s Paleo Plus is too intense for me and makes me miserable, on a physical AND emotional level. But- a step back from that is Wahl’s Paleo and that sounds very doable.

The Gut Makeover and Wahl’s Paleo are very similar. While doing the Gut Makeover, I felt amazing! Once I had done the 4 weeks suggested, I acted like I had “graduated”. I got lazy and complacent, stopped eating a wide variety of veggies, added in more processed foods, and felt it wasn’t worth it anymore, because I couldn’t feel the benefits. 

Now, I want to get rid of the extremes. Ready to do something more sustainable, I feel confident to create my own diet guidelines. Brown rice doesn’t bother me, so I’m adding that back in. Eggs irritate me if I eat them too often, as do oats, so I will add those back in occasionally, but very rarely. Greens will be a priority, as well as pure forms of protein. Starchy veggies and carb-high fruits (especially apples) seem to hurt my gut so those will be a treat, but not off limits.

I’m also starting to wonder if there is something in processed food that gives me the visual aura migraines! It’s untested, but the one day that I ate three processed foods, I had my first one since six months ago, which I found interesting. I’ll let you know!

See? Learning! No concrete guidelines, but I can share them once I’ve cracked the code. If you feel you have a similar gut issue or lifestyle, you can try it and then make it work for you, with whatever tweaks are necessary. 

My goal now is to eat food that fuels me, while trying tweaks and adjustments I feel will benefit me. One new food per week will give me the time to see if it agrees with me. I sit and listen to my body in a very real way. I take the time to sit in silence and close my eyes, mentally doing a scan of how I feel- a sort of meditation, really. 

I will keep you updated but I feel good about the changes so far! I’m less moody and have energy. Hopefully, I can learn to not beat myself up if I cheat once in awhile- a constant reminder I’m not “perfect”, *sigh*. (Haha).

I can only hope that I can keep up this confidence and my health keeps improving. And how are you doing???

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