Paleo/Caveman Diet with Hashimoto's Twist: ONE YEAR!!

It's been exactly one year on the Paleo/Cavewoman Diet with a Hashimoto's Twist. How is it going?

Easier. It gets easier. At first I was hungry all the time. Not really hungry, just not satisfied with anything I was eating. I realized I really don't like vegetables and not being accustomed to eating meat, changing my diet was definitely an adjustment. Initially I was gorging on anything I could eat, but that didn't even help. I tweaked favorite recipes in hopes of satiety. Eventually, I stopped worrying and thinking about what I was eating, what I couldn't eat, and what I really wanted to eat. I started followed my instincts while attempting to follow the basic rules with a few tweaks.

What I eat consistently now : fish, beef, chicken, eggs, most vegetables, most fruits, nuts, and olive oil. All foods are organic and as healthy and wholesome as possible.

Blood Sugar.  In the beginning for the first three or four months, I kept crashing. I'd never experienced utter weakness from not eating before so this was new. If I didn't eat something every two hours or sometimes every hour, my head would start spinning and I could hardly walk. Some simple snack didn't work - I needed protein or a full meal, but even then I didn't feel satisfied. It was like I couldn't eat enough. Looking back, I think it was partly due to the overall dietary adjustment. Eating gluten and grains regularly would have kept my blood sugar elevated consistently. Cutting them out must have been a shock. OR it was the high-glycemic fruits causing too much blood sugar elevation and then a drop? I didn't realize eating bananas and dried fruits, drinking fresh-squeezed fruit juices might have been contributing to it. Once I stopped these foods regularly, I was fine, but these foods kept me from wanting sugar and sweeteners so it did get me through the initial adjustment.

Discombobulation.  After three months, I'd become unsettled and anxious about once every two weeks. I'd start pacing the kitchen, feeling really antsy, strangely anxious, like something wasn't right, all food became unappealing, and nothing sounded good but I was starving. I tried various foods in hopes they would do the trick, but nothing worked. I found eating rice is the key. All the discombobulation goes away. I feel great. I become calm. I have no idea why although it might again have something to do with blood sugar or something in my diet that's missing and rice has it. I don't eat rice all the time, maybe once every two weeks, and not nearly as often as I did before starting the diet which was almost daily. I have not experienced any side effects with rice.

Cheating. Well, maybe it got easier because I just learned how to cheat effectively? I've never been able to eat the same things over and over again without feeling crazy. Adding cheat eats helps. Here are my confessions:

Every now and then I eat green peas. I know! You are thinking peas are healthy! I think so, too, but they are legumes and not on the Hashimoto's part of the diet because of the way they affect blood sugar when digested. I eat them because they are easy and when I run out of food and can't get to a store right away, there the peas sit in my freezer. I am thankful they are there. Without peas, I might lose all willpower and go for the really bad stuff. I experience no reactions that I am aware of.

Every now and then I drink tea with agave syrup or eat something with some kind of sweetener. Bad! This has been just in the last couple months so I'm trying to rein it in. Maybe because of the cold weather change? I also eat dates and raisins every now and then.

Canola oil mayonnaise. I'm trying to get away from it. I did just read a book on a diet that highly recommends canola oil, but I'm not convinced. It's made from corn which is grown with an abundance of chemicals. I love mayo, and my brand of choice is without soybeans and all the garbage. Still, it is processed so it's cheating. I do have a recipe for Duck Egg Mayonnaise, that is just olive oil, lemon juice, salt and duck eggs, but I don't know anyone with duck eggs. Someday I'll try it.
   
About once a month I have some kind of shellfish: oysters or prawns. Again, I just need something different to eat.

Yogurt is another treat I eat on occasion. I buy the Organic Nancy's Whole Milk Yogurt. No sweeteners in it like some of her other flavors. I mix shredded apples or blueberries in it.

I've never cheated with gluten other than the few tablespoons of an ice cream sample that may or may not have had gluten as a hidden ingredient. Gluten scares me. I have also never cheated with chocolate. Chocolate is evil and is gluten's evil twin. No coffee or anything typically considered junk food like candy bars, soda pop, etc., and I haven't gone to a restaurant in over a year, happy to say.

I guess I should call this "The Cheating Diet". But it's working...

Supplements. I do have a method to my madness regarding some of these cheats. I don't do supplements. Vitamin/mineral supplements are usually synthetic, processed bits of fake nutrients and incredibly unnatural. They usually make me sick and I react badly to most herbal supplements as well. I am supported by a few authors who believe those with autoimmune diseases should not take supplements. Dr. Datis Kharrazian believes supplements are a necessary form of healing and should be taken to support the Paleo/Hashimoto's diet.  This is HIS diet. Obviously I disagree, but this puts me in a difficult position if the diet is supposed to work only with the addition of supplements. I get my nutrients through clean, wholesome, natural foods.  I justify eating yogurt as a digestive aid instead of the probiotics recommended, and oysters are really high in minerals, zinc in particular which is good for detoxification. Green peas? What is healthier than green peas? Loaded with nutrients.  Natural minerals assist in detoxification which is important due to my chemical sensitivity. I guess I should call this the Paleo/Hashimoto's/MCS diet.

OK, I can rationalize anything, but I've never had any reaction to my cheats. If I did, I would cease to indulge immediately. I even had something with real sugar in it about a month ago and had no reaction whatsoever although I kinda wish I had so it wouldn't make me feel so confident about cheating!

Blood Labs.  Last Spring my blood labs had all improved which gave me great hope.

Energy/Fatigue.  I haven't had any bouts of exhaustion since January when I just had one or two. I still get tired from time to time, usually 2pm - 5pm, but not nearly as bad as it was last year. In fact, I overworked myself this summer and had to take some time off to recuperate. This is a good sign. During the winter before starting this diet I didn't have much fatigue at all so I'm hoping to have more energy this winter than ever before!

Weight Loss.  Ah ha! Several people have emailed me or commented on their struggle with weight loss. We have all desperately wondered WHY we aren't losing weight especially with all the sacrifice. I am happy to say I finally am! I don't have a bathroom scale, but I can fit into pants I haven't been able to wear for about three years. In fact three years ago I couldn't get them on let alone button them up! They are now loose and comfortable.

Here are my thoughts on this. Initially I was gorging on anything I could eat desperate for satiety, mostly high fat foods, foods that would normally be filling: coconut milk, nuts, nut butters, and high-glycemic fruits. In January I went through a whole case of coconut milk! A doctor recommended pistachios because their good fat content is high and they are very healthy in terms of vitamins and minerals. He didn't mentioned they were exceptionally FATTENING, too. I still eat them along with pecans, Brazil nuts, and sometimes cashews, but now limited. I just got tired of nuts. I stopped eating bananas when I found out their glycemic rating was high and reduced my intake of high-glycemic dried fruits. Then I stopped eating almond butter when I found cockroach anatomy in one of the containers. I was eating A LOT of almond butter. Almonds are really good for you, but I draw the line at vermin body parts. I think giving up the almond butter did the trick. I also have decreased my portions of meat and fish. Again, I was eating a lot of anything that would fill me up. I don't seem to need as much anymore.

Some books say it takes two years for a person to see the changes in health and energy. It's been a year. I'm still not optimum, but I think I'm half way there!