Wednesday, November 7, 2012

I Feel Good

I feel good.

In fact, better than I've felt in years.

And I'd like to tell you about it.

A chronic neck/shoulder issue has bothered me for years. I've had some issue with it for at least eight years. A little physical therapy made a minor dent in the pain. More recently, I'd been seeing a chiropractor for regular adjustments. But the underlying cause never seemed to get any better - in fact, I had no real clue what the underlying cause might be. When I began to notice a lack of muscle strength and some other issues on my left side, I decided to seek out some additional info. On top of the shoulder stuff, I just didn't feel good. I felt a lot older than I should. I didn't feel healthy.

I visited a chiropractic neurologist, hoping for some answers.

I got answers.

I'll spare you all the details, but the first few weeks of treatment involved more neurological application than chiropractic care. No surgery, no "therapy" - just an approach that dealt with the core neurological responses over all. There were exercises I could do at home - and I did.

It worked.

After a few weeks of initial treatment, it was obvious that the doctor had found and addressed the problem in my neck and shoulder. Along the way, he'd asked for information to do a complete physical assessment; not just a complete blood workup, but also a long - and I mean LONG - questionnaire. I answered questions about my eating and sleeping habits, gastrointestinal issues, stressors, cravings, and more.

He took all the information I gave him, from my brain and from my blood, and he sat me down to ask if I wanted to take the next step.

I'll spare you the details, but the next step involves addressing any issues I might have with food that easily causes inflammation. In order to determine that, I stopped eating those foods.

And that is how I find myself, about 18 days later, 10 pounds lighter and feeling good. Better than I've felt in years. I will confess that my meals are somewhat boring, but it is absolutely worth the trade off. After 25 days total, I'll reintroduce foods one by one to determine which ones might be a problem. Then I'll know how to manage my eating habits in order to continue feeling so good.

Here's what I don't have: achy joints, fatigue, brain fog, bloating, "delicate gastrointestinal issues", headache, stiff muscles, depression and more.

Here's what I don't eat: red meat, bread, dairy, eggs, orange juice, coffee, chips, processed foods, sugar, wheat, soy, corn and more.

Here's what I do eat: fish, chicken, veggies, beans, bananas, applesauce, almonds, walnuts, oatmeal, water and not much more. Like I said, it's boring.

But that's okay.

I feel good. All across the board. And I am SO grateful.

(I'm not going to get all preachy about this, but I'm serious: if you are feeling that something is just "not right" and you're around my age, don't settle. Think about what you're eating. It might be as simple as that. And seriously - I cannot believe how much better I feel!)

3 comments:

annie said...

I believe you! I know how much better I felt when I was eating right. I wasn't cutting out the things you've cut out but I was eating less and eating healthier. I need to get back on that wagon!

Unknown said...

You do realize that you're essentially moving to a Primal diet. Seriously.

I know just how great you feel.

Anonymous said...

Way to go, Beth! Keep us updated. I went mostly paleo for a bit (not nearly as strictly though), and found it to be both enlightening and beneficial, as well as challenging.

I think so many health problems stem from diet, but so few are willing to dig in to the roots. It's always encouraging to see someone go for it!
-Jonathan