AIP Paleo - Day 2

Brittany Bowman
Aug 12, 2016
4 min read

Aloha!

I have to say after yesterdays issues, I will be much more cautious today. I really cannot afford to feel fatigued, foggy & have my belly ache all of the time. I woke up this morning still feeling drained but alert. The thing about feeling drained is you feel you do not want to do anything. It isn't being lazy. I am a highly motivated person with a lot of things I want to do so being lazy isn't one of my qualities. I do not know how to explain it just right. For me, it feels like I have been up for 2 days and just finished running a marathon. I guess feeling spent is a good way to put it. It was too a point I did not even want to get up to make my shake. I just didn't want to move.

I am so fortunate to have such a loving husband who understands. He made our shakes today. They were delicious. You know, it was exactly what I needed. Once I finished my morning ShakeO, I got the energy boost I needed. It was night and day, like someone flipped a switch. It just illustrated for me why I am choosing to continue using Shakeology during my AIP diet despite having ingredients in the "no-go" list.

With my renewed energy, I was able to go to work and visit with everyone more alert than I have been in awhile. I went to the office, visited with a few clients & was on my way to Vons to pick up dinner. I have to tell you, I will never go to another Supermarket to pick up produce. Growers Direct is my little gem of a produce market. They are 1/2 the cost, if not more, than any Supermarket I have been to. For example, I buy kiwis for my Acai bowls. Vons wants 2 for $1. Growers Direct is $0.39. Kind of seems like a no brainer huh? I could go on about Growers Direct for days! If you are in the costa mesa area, or even if you aren't, if you know what you want for the week, go here. They are off of 17th st. & Superior on the corner. Can't miss 'em!

For lunch, I made a rotisserie chicken salad with avocado-coconut dressing. It was delicious! I have a thing for putting together salads. It's like an art form to me. The different colors and ingredients melding together to make a mouthwatering explosion of flavor! It's a gift. lol. Anyways, it was a baby bear kind of salad - not too heavy, not too light, just right. Jason loved it, especially because it has an avocado base for the dressing. He says it is like guacamole in a dressing. If there were any fatigue I was feeling from earlier, this salad completely cleared it up. It is amazing how giving your body just the right amount of nutrients helps it to run better.

Despite all of the energy & clear thinking, I did still have stomach issues today. The thing with the Paleo diet is it is clearing a lot of the bad foods we have put into our bodies. It is cleaning out and restructuring the way our bodies process food. One thing many of those with an autoimmune disease has is called Candida overgrowth. Everyone has candida - it is basically the healthy yeast in our gut which helps us to digest food regularly. Typically our gut bacteria keeps it in check, but when it doesn't your body will go haywire. When the yeast levels begin to increase to more than they should, that is where problems begin to arise - such as developing an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto Thyroiditis, digestive upset, chronic fatigue, etc. From all the research I have been reading, it takes awhile to get these levels back to normal and stay there. Everyone is different but I read it can take anywhere from 3 months to a year. When you start a diet to get the candida under control, your body experiences what is called "die-off". Die off refers to the yeast overgrowth that isn't being fed anymore, so it is dying off and exiting your body. It is at this stage most people will feel the worst, almost to the point of quitting. It is only suppose to last 3-7 days. I have only been on this path for 2 days so cannot really say if what I am feeling is die off, but I am definitely feeling everything more amplified than usual. it is just something to keep in mind if you are planning on following this path to healing.

For dinner, I had a few left over chicken patties I made yesterday. We had more but Jason has been eating them for breakfast & as a snack. I also included the rest of the rotisserie chicken salad with the avo-coco dressing & 2 pcs. of bacon the family had made. They had BLT's & I was so jealous! BLT's are by far my favorite sandwich. Let me tell you, it is torture seeing something you love but cannot have. It's like the cans of Dr. Pepper I am seeing in the fridge. My old self and my new self are battling. I can feel myself reach for the can of DP but it is like a force field is blocking it. Who needs soda anyways? There is a purpose to depriving myself of all my favorites, I just need to keep my eye on that purpose.

I'd say, despite feeling a little fatigued and bloated today, it was a much better day than yesterday. By far. I can feel a difference already just these past 2 days. I am excited to see how I feel and where this lifestyle will take me within the next few weeks. You know I will keep y'all posted. Until then,

Mahalo!