(Since some of my videos are not playing in Dtube, I'm uploading to YouTube too until it's fixed. You can watch this one here)
Hey everyone!
As I mentioned in my introduction post, one of my goals here is to publicly document my weight loss.
Why would I ever want to do that? For two main reasons:
- I’m an obligor (i.e. my main motivation comes from outside obligations. Check out this amazing TED talk by Gretchen Rubin). So I figured, what better way to kick my own butt into gear, then knowing people are following and seeing my progress?
- As a fitness and health newbie who keeps trying new things, I figured my successes and failures might help some of my fellow newbies ;)
So, this is my first weightloss journal here, whoo whoo!
I’ve made the commitment for February to not eat gluten. The idea was to see how I’d feel during that month and then deciding whatever to keep up with it or not.
Why?
I’ve been feeling pretty weak and lethargic lately. My feet and palms were ALWAYS freezing, and I can’t remember the last time I was in a room and someone else felt colder than me. Plus, I’ve been trying to lose weight with zero successes for forever.
A friend with some medical background suggested that these complains sound like they might be related to adrenal fatigue.
What would a normal, responsible person do? Go get a blood test, see if there actually IS adrenal fatigue. What did I do? Searched endless videos and articles online about the symptoms and natural treatments for adrenal fatigue.
What I found is that I might indeed have adrenal fatigue (and might not), but on the road to researching it, I found a lot of women’s diet suggestions, through which they changed their health and reversed their adrenal situation. And in their suggestions, one thing stood out- NO GLUTEN.
So naturally, I had to go through the same obsessive researching that I did about adrenal fatigue, about gluten. I won’t go into depth about everything I found now, but I found no reason to keep eating gluten, when it is such a toxic thing to digest. If you guys want me to detail what I learned and list the resources, just let me know and I’ll do it in a separate post.
So I stopped eating gluten for the month as an experiment, and these are the findings:
The Good
- I’m not as tired- I won’t lie guys, I’m a tired person. I like to sleep. But it got to the point where I’ve been crashing really hard after every meal- like, to the point where I can’t keep my eyes open and my mind clear while I’m sitting or standing up. Since I stopped eating gluten, this phenomenon completely stopped! I was (still am) pretty surprised. I did not expect it to happen to quickly, but I can function in a normal level of energy throughout the day.
- I’m not as hungry- I just get hungry much later in the day, and my appetite is just… not as strong. This might be a bad thing for some people, but for someone who tries to lose weight, it’s a definite plus.
The Bad
- Meals didn’t feel as satisfying for the first 2 weeks- I might not have been as hungry, but I also felt kind of unsatisfied after my meals. Feels like I need something more to close the door for my belly’s desires for food. After about 2 weeks though, this feeling disappeared.
- I can't have pasta.
During the last week of February and the beginning of March, we had a holiday and my birthday, and I knew from the start that I would allow myself some cheats. But I ended up eating A LOT of unhealthy stuff guys- I gained back 2 of the 3 kilos I lost in the 3 weeks until then.
I’ve been back to my routine for a week now, and happily, these 2 kilos dropped off in just a few days.
So the gluten free experiment was so successful, I decided to stick with it long term. I just feel lighter and more energized over all, and it’s been pretty good at the weightloss front as well.
What is the general plan for March?
- Eat gluten free and healthy. I also want to watch my portions and desserts (did someone say dark chocolate?) more closely then I have been during February.
- Daily home workouts- I was a member of an amazing CrossFit gym, but the distance and schedule proved to not work well for me. So I’m trying home workouts for March, and might sign up for a closer gym if it doesn’t feel as effective.
I’ll update you guys on how it’s going next week, and until the next post, have a great day!
Ruth
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS