Hey folks, we had another birthday at our house this week! My little sweetie pie 6 year old is now 7. 🙁 🙁 🙁
I seriously cannot believe he is so old. In my mind, he is still 3 or 4.
Oh, and he told me he didn’t want a cake, but instead wanted to get my very favorite donuts in the whole world, Dunford Donuts!!! Dun, dun, dun. My 9 year old also wanted them for his birthday a couple weeks ago.
Gah! It’s absolutely killing me.
I decided to eat a few donuts over a span of a couple days. I can’t decide if I regret it or not. It did cause me to get a little off track this week though. I didn’t eat terribly, but I just wasn’t as committed as I usually am.
Anyhoo, I’m grateful the birthdays are over at our house for a while. However, my daughter reminded me that the dog’s birthday is next week. She told me I should make him cupcakes.
I’m like…..”Ummmmm, no.”
K, so the birthday boy wanted to go to a movie with the fam, so we went to see the Lego Batman movie. I can’t say it was my favorite movie, but it was cute.
We recently discovered that a theater near us has “Luxury Lounger” seating (it’s at Jordan Landing for you local folk!), so we decided to go there to make it a little more fun! Oh, and the prices are pretty comparable to our regular (non reclining seating) theater. Awesome.
The kids thought it was very cool. It was such a fun night!
********************
Well folks, for the most part I’ve still be following my “modified version” of the Chris and Heidi Powell’s Extreme Transformation diet. I really like it because it just makes sense to me. I love that it’s based on good, clean food (of course) and I love that it includes carb cycling (some high carb days and some low carb days.)
To me it’s just a great all-around healthy lifestyle plan. I would recommend it to anyone.
However, I read another book this week that made me stop and think. Hmmmm.
Side note: Just so y’all know….I’m the type of person that looooooves to learn. I’m curious about everything and I crave knowledge.
- When I’m in the car, I listen to talk radio or the news instead of music.
- When I surf the web, I love to read informative articles, read up on the latest news or just look up interesting facts about history or “real life” stuff.
- I’ve always loved Jeopardy.
- I love documentaries.
- The only game I ever really play on my phone is Trivia Crack.
- I love Wikipedia.
- I often look things up on Wikipedia that I learn about on Trivia Crack so I can learn more about it.
- Aaaaand I’ve always loved self help books.
I love to check out self help books at the library and read about other people’s ideas and research. I always try to read each book with an open mind. I’ve read plenty of books that just don’t sit well with me and that I just don’t agree with and I’ve read plenty of books that have completely changed different aspects of my life!
With that being said, I just finished reading Alan Christianson’s Adrenal Reset Diet book yesterday…
It was fascinating to me!
I’ve told you guys many times over the past year or so that I think my hormones are “off” a bit. I know several people who have had severe adrenal fatigue and I don’t think I have that, but I do think my adrenal glands are tired. I think my cortisol levels are a little skiwampus. I can just tell that my body is kind of in a weird spot and not working optimally.
In the Adrenal Reset Diet book, Dr. Christianson talks about the different levels of adrenal fatigue. The first level he calls “stressed.” The next level he calls “Wired, but Tired.” The last level he calls, “Crashed.” I definitely related to the “Wired, but Tired” stage.
The good thing is that the first and second levels can be reversed fairly quickly (within days to a couple weeks.) The third “Crashed” stage can also be reversed, but it can take a few months. I learned that I do not want to get to that “Crashed” stage. It sounds a little scary. Soooo, I’m going to try to listen to my body and take care of my body so I can get my body working well again!
FYI, I’m not your typical “stressed” type of person. I definitely feel anxious or stressed out some days, but I’m usually happy….almost joyful most days. I love productivity and working hard. I love being busy. I love people. I feel full of gratitude every single day. For the most part, I love my life.
Buuuuuut, I’m a huge busy body who hardly rests. As y’all know, I have six kids ranging in age from 2 to 18. I love them all, but this motherhood gig pretty much kicks my butt. I don’t take a lot of time to relax. I think I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I don’t get enough sleep most nights. I stay up late with the teenagers and then get woken up in the night by the two year old. Oy.
There ya go. That’s my problem. I have entirely too much goin’ on and I try to cram too much into my life.
I’m definitely learning the hard way that I have to take time for myself. I can’t do everything. I have to rest. I have to get adequate sleep. I have to let things slide. It’s been a very good thing for me to learn!
Anyway….there are A LOT of different “diet books” out there. There’s so much conflicting information on the internet. It can be very overwhelming. I’ve learned that all of the good, credible “diet plan books” out there are pretty much just different variations of clean eating, regular exercise, adequate sleep and stress relief.
It all comes down to good ol’ fashioned diet, exercise and taking care of your body….consistently.
It is vital to take time time de-stress and relax every single day. Oh and SLEEP too!! I think women are a little bit high-strung in general and mothers especially have soooooo many demands placed on them. It’s so hard to find the balance and figure out how to juggle it all!
I’ve been doing a better job of chillin’ and taking care of my body, but I know it needs to be a long-term thing and not just a quick fix.
Anyway, I don’t want to go on and on, but I just thought I’d share a few interesting things I learned from the Adrenal Reset Diet.
- The “magic number” for sleep is 7 1/2 hours. I’ve heard this before. He said some people need more sleep than this, but almost everyone needs at least 7 1/2 hours to function optimally.
- Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates a lot of things in the body including metabolism, blood sugar, immune response and it helps the body respond to stress.
- Most people have higher cortisol in the morning (gives you energy) and then it slowly lowers throughout the day (lets you sleep.) People who have adrenal issues have low cortisol in the morning and then higher cortisol at night. It creates a vicious cycle of being tired all day and then not being able to sleep soundly at night. It also causes the body to be in a state of stress and inflammation. It causes the body to gain weight, store excess fat and can cause depression, anxiety and all kinds of scary issues!
- Dr. Christianson recommends starting the day with a low carb breakfast, a little bit higher carb lunch and then a dinner with healthy carbs. That is completely backward from everything I’ve ever read and everything I’ve been doing! He actually said this is the “best” way for everyone to eat, not just those with adrenal issues, because it helps to support the natural rhythm of cortisol and helps to control the blood sugar.
- Super weird, but it totally made sense as I read the reasoning behind it.
- Dr. Christianson said to think about starting the day with a protein shake with one serving of carbs (fruit, raw oats, etc.) for breakfast, a salad with two servings of carbs (beans, fruit, brown rice, etc.) for lunch and then a stir-fry type meal for dinner with three servings of carbs (quinoa, brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc.)
- The book also said that three solid meals throughout the day are usually enough and just what the body needs. He said the concept of snacking between meals has really only been a “thing” the past few decades. He said nowadays we’ve been taught to think that something bad will happen to our bodies if we go too long without eating (the whole eat several small meals throughout the day concept so the body doesn’t go into survival mode thing.)
- That made a lot of sense to me. I’ve found it’s much easier for me to eat 3 or 4 meals a day. It’s just much simpler and is much easier as far as planning and preparing goes.
- He also recommended a slew of supplements, some of which I’m already taking (vitamin D, fish oil and magnesium.) He recommended different supplements depending of the level of adrenal fatigue you’re in. Some of these supplements were totally wacko things that I’ve never heard of. That part of the book was a little overwhelming and I’m not sure all of those supplements are even necessary, but it’s interesting to read about nonetheless.
- The book also talked about ways to improve sleep, how to reduce stress and different ways to exercise. It also included a bunch of recipes; some were weird, but some looked great.
This book was fascinating to me because it kind of spelled out to me why I might have gained some weight and why the usual things that help me lose weight haven’t been working. It was also fascinating to read about how the body works and how all the body systems are supposed to work together to support and help each other.
Even though I really enjoyed the ideas in this book, I realize it’s just one man’s ideas and opinions. Yes, his ideas and opinions are based on sound research, knowledge and education, but I’ve definitely learned to take everything I read with a grain of salt.
I’m a firm believer that what works for one person, might not work for another and vice versa. I think the key to long-term health is to be very familiar with your own body. Know what foods work with your body and what doesn’t. Experiment with different diet ideas and exercise plans until you find something that works for you and that you can commit to long-term.
Anyway, I am going to try out some of these ideas in my own life and see if they help me. I’m going to try the low carb in the morning thing and slowly add more carbs throughout the day. I’m going to continue to commit to getting my sleep and taking time to chill.
I’m hoping to see and feel some great results.
******************
Well I also wanted to share with y’all that I’ve started running again! Yay! It’s been a long time (I’m thinkin’ like a year!) since I’ve been a regular runner. Kev and I are going to be running a relay race on June 2-3 (Ragnar Wasatch Back), so I figured I better get training.
I’ve been on several runs the past couple weeks and I’ve been loving it. It’s been so so nice to be outside and I love listening to music on my runs. Running is not only a physical workout for me, but definitely an emotional and mental one as well. Love it.
My first run was kind of rough though. I only ran three miles and I felt strong energy-wise and cardiovascularly, but I felt so many aches and pains in my feet, ankles, shins and hips.
It reminded me that running is definitely a sport that you have to work up to. You have to condition and train the body to get used to it…..slowly.
I’ve been on several 3-4 mile runs since then and today I went on a 5 1/2 mile run. Woot! My body is slowly, but surely starting to feel stronger and it’s been nice to slowly ramp up the miles again.
It was quite cold and rainy all morning today. Once it stopped raining and the sun started to peak out again, I decided to get out there and ruuuuuun!
I took my sweet puppy Jim with me for the first little bit, but he is a psycho runner (he’s afraid of cars and just randomly decides to sit down sometimes and will not budge!) so I took him back home.
The weather was perfect. I love the fresh air after a rain and I could smell the flowers and grass. It was the perfect spring run. By the end of my run, my jacket and ear cover thing were off!
I also went on a run with Kev the other night. He has to go slow because his knee (ACL surgery) is still in recovery mode, but it was so fun to go with him.
I also went on a run with my dog and baby a couple days ago and loved it!
Jimmer really wanted to come, so I found him the perfect spot…
He fit perfectly in that basket in the jogger. I know he looks a little sad in that picture, but he was in HEAVEN! He hung his head out the side of the basket (just like a dog hanging his head out the window of a car) throughout the whole run and loved it.
When we got home, baby was sacked out…
While I was running, I realized that my jogger pushing days are almost over! 🙁 It made me kind of sad. I started running about 9 years ago and my last 4 kids have all been on runs in the jogger with me. They have all loved it.
I have to say that I much prefer to run without the jogger (it’s definitely easier!), but I sure love being able to exercise with my kids.
It was so cute, a couple of nights ago my baby came up to me and I could tell he was tired and ready for bed. He said, “I want to go for a run.” Too cute. I love that it’s relaxing to him.
Well, this next week is spring break for my kiddos and I’m so happy ’bout it. I’m looking forward to sleeping a little more, spring cleaning and just doing some fun things as a family. I don’t think we’ll be able to go anywhere too exciting because it’s tax season for Kev at work (he’s a financial consultant guy) and it’s a tough time for him to leave. It will be a fun week though!
Well, I seriously have so many more things I could share, but I think this post is already long enough! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend! xoxo
There are so so many health and diet books out there and I get overwhelmed. I try my best to just keep things simple, but it can be hard. A good book can really explain why you’re feeling a certain why and I’ve read great things about magnesium.
Glad you’re enjoying the nice weather.
I get overwhelmed too!! It’s so frustrating that there is so much conflicting information out there. I just try to learn as much as I can about all of the different ideas out there so I can just figure out what works best for me!
Adrenal fatigue is no joke! I try to moderate my coffee intake for many reasons, but mostly to give my adrenals a rest from the stress boost caffeine gives me. I struggle with the strict dietary changes, but take each day as it comes. Adrenal fatigue is a common side effect to autoimmune diseases and mine kicks my butt at times! I just try to be mindful of my body and listen to it best I can. Thanks for sharing your experience so far. As always, sugar is the devil for this. HAHA.
I didn’t know adrenal fatigue was a common side effect of autoimmune diseases. No fun. 🙁 I think if you have an autoimmune disease, you should just be able to catch a break and be immune from all the other crap out there. I hate that sugar is the devil!! Gah. I can’t live with it and I can’t live without it….forever!
Right!? It’s like HIT ME WHILE IM DOWN. Hahaa.
Like you I love learning. I have been listening to lots of health and medical podcasts while I walk and I find them so interesting. I also just bought another medical book on your thyroids effect on your body. Gald to see I am not the only one like this.
I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only one too! I just love reading and learning all about the body, how it works and all the health and fitness stuff. Loooooove it!