Re: McDougalling for the next 4 weeks
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 6:30 am
Day 15
Today was a busy day. We had some church appointments for our son's christening. To be honest, I am not really a religious person and I was skeptical since I knew the parson would visit us at home. But the whole talk was interesting and positive - I think it will be a nice day in June. She visited us already early in the morning, so no breakfast except coffee for me.
Then we had to do the groceries, visited my in-laws and did some housework. For lunch I had whole wheat pasta with my mixed bean salad and salsa. I think the portion was too big, because afterwards I needed a little nap, lol.
In the evening I was able to catch up my missed Pilates. (42 mins) Afterwards I had the leftovers from the mixed beans with brown rice and steamed broccoli for dinner - yummy! I'm still tracking my foods if possible* for a nutrient point of view. So I can check if I get enough vitamins and adjust if necessary. Yesterday I saw a lack of vitamin c, so I simply added three medium broccoli florets to my dinner and met the daily vitamin c goal from my app. Who knew getting enough vitamins will be that easy?
(* I don't track portions from prepared bowls like bean salad etc. anymore)
A bit of lady talk for the end of the post.
First I wasn't sure if I should write about it but in my opinion it's important for me and maybe for some interested ladies as well. Before I switched to the McDougall plan and even before I tried that Keto thing, my menses was pure horror. Month after month my menstruation was quite heavy and accompanied with headache, cramps and sickness. I was told I need to take the pill to stop the heavy bleeding and so I did. Over years. Nothing changed. So I was given another pill, and another pill, and another pill...and then I got pregnant. Not getting my menses for months was such a relief, lol. After my son was born it took 3 months after my menses was back. Now it was even worse. The bleeding was so heavy I couldn't (and shouldn't !) get up on these days. My doctor told me it is possible to the constantly take the pill and so I tried this. It was planned to take the pill for six months and then get the menses. This also didn't work for me because my body just managed 2,5 months. But this was way better than before so I continued this plan. Every 2,5 months I would get my menses, heavy but not that heavy anymore I couldn't even get up. I thought it's better to have this headache, cramps and feeling of sickness every 2,5 months than every month.
On Keto the whole thing turned out to a nightmare.
My bleeding didn't stop anymore. It wasn't heavy anymore but it simply didn't stop anymore. After having my menses for over a months I went to a doctor. When she asked "When was your last period?" and I replied "Since 1,5 months" she was shocked. I tried on my own the following experiment: If I ate more carbs the bleeding stopped as long as I lowered the carb intake again. I did this several times so I could be sure this is really the problem. So it became normal to plan my days like this: Do I want to lose weight or do I "need" to not have my menses. This sounds so weird but that was my daily routine.
So you can imagine how scared I was to get my menses again during following the McDougall plan. I even took a week of vacation so I didn't have to go to work if it would turn out with heavy bleeding again. Did one of you ever took vacation for menses? Well, I had to consider this for the last past years. And so I waited. Waited for "the worst case scenario" ...and then it didn't happen.
I got my menses, but it was like it never was before in my entire life. No headache, no cramps, no sickness and I WAS ABLE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE. I even went hiking! I even exercised. No restriction of movement was something I could vaguely remember from when the whole thing started at the age of 12. Since I use a menstrual-cup for years now I was able to actually "see" the difference. It's still unbelievable for me. Today is day 4 and it's gone. Over the past years having my menses was usually a 7-10 days nightmare.
I don't know how this McDougall experiment will tun out for my blood levels in the end. But it was already able to improve a life-long impairing issue for me. I have no words for how much I want to thank Dr McDougall for gaining back life quality again.
Today was a busy day. We had some church appointments for our son's christening. To be honest, I am not really a religious person and I was skeptical since I knew the parson would visit us at home. But the whole talk was interesting and positive - I think it will be a nice day in June. She visited us already early in the morning, so no breakfast except coffee for me.
Then we had to do the groceries, visited my in-laws and did some housework. For lunch I had whole wheat pasta with my mixed bean salad and salsa. I think the portion was too big, because afterwards I needed a little nap, lol.
In the evening I was able to catch up my missed Pilates. (42 mins) Afterwards I had the leftovers from the mixed beans with brown rice and steamed broccoli for dinner - yummy! I'm still tracking my foods if possible* for a nutrient point of view. So I can check if I get enough vitamins and adjust if necessary. Yesterday I saw a lack of vitamin c, so I simply added three medium broccoli florets to my dinner and met the daily vitamin c goal from my app. Who knew getting enough vitamins will be that easy?
(* I don't track portions from prepared bowls like bean salad etc. anymore)
A bit of lady talk for the end of the post.
First I wasn't sure if I should write about it but in my opinion it's important for me and maybe for some interested ladies as well. Before I switched to the McDougall plan and even before I tried that Keto thing, my menses was pure horror. Month after month my menstruation was quite heavy and accompanied with headache, cramps and sickness. I was told I need to take the pill to stop the heavy bleeding and so I did. Over years. Nothing changed. So I was given another pill, and another pill, and another pill...and then I got pregnant. Not getting my menses for months was such a relief, lol. After my son was born it took 3 months after my menses was back. Now it was even worse. The bleeding was so heavy I couldn't (and shouldn't !) get up on these days. My doctor told me it is possible to the constantly take the pill and so I tried this. It was planned to take the pill for six months and then get the menses. This also didn't work for me because my body just managed 2,5 months. But this was way better than before so I continued this plan. Every 2,5 months I would get my menses, heavy but not that heavy anymore I couldn't even get up. I thought it's better to have this headache, cramps and feeling of sickness every 2,5 months than every month.
On Keto the whole thing turned out to a nightmare.
My bleeding didn't stop anymore. It wasn't heavy anymore but it simply didn't stop anymore. After having my menses for over a months I went to a doctor. When she asked "When was your last period?" and I replied "Since 1,5 months" she was shocked. I tried on my own the following experiment: If I ate more carbs the bleeding stopped as long as I lowered the carb intake again. I did this several times so I could be sure this is really the problem. So it became normal to plan my days like this: Do I want to lose weight or do I "need" to not have my menses. This sounds so weird but that was my daily routine.
So you can imagine how scared I was to get my menses again during following the McDougall plan. I even took a week of vacation so I didn't have to go to work if it would turn out with heavy bleeding again. Did one of you ever took vacation for menses? Well, I had to consider this for the last past years. And so I waited. Waited for "the worst case scenario" ...and then it didn't happen.
I got my menses, but it was like it never was before in my entire life. No headache, no cramps, no sickness and I WAS ABLE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE. I even went hiking! I even exercised. No restriction of movement was something I could vaguely remember from when the whole thing started at the age of 12. Since I use a menstrual-cup for years now I was able to actually "see" the difference. It's still unbelievable for me. Today is day 4 and it's gone. Over the past years having my menses was usually a 7-10 days nightmare.
I don't know how this McDougall experiment will tun out for my blood levels in the end. But it was already able to improve a life-long impairing issue for me. I have no words for how much I want to thank Dr McDougall for gaining back life quality again.