Healing My Body With A Week Long Fast

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empty-plate

I’m kicking off the new year with a 7-Day Fasting Challenge as a way to heal my body. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and phasinphoto.

I’m ringing in the New Year with a week-long fast. Crazy? Not really. I’m a believer in fasting and it’s many benefits like: lipolysis, boosting mental capacity, reducing insulin resistance, and resetting your set weight point.

Intermittent fasting helped me rediscover what it feels like to be satiated by stablizing the hormone leptin (the hormone signals the brain that you’re full).

However, the big driver behind this 7-day fast is autophagy – the cellular cleansing process. According to Dr. Jason Fung, autophagy is the “body’s mechanism of getting rid of all the broken down old cell machinery (organelles, proteins and cell membranes).”

Now all cells in our body are programmed to die after a certain number of divisions. That’s apoptosis. Autophagy takes place at the sub-cellular level. Basically only parts of a cell need to be purged and replaced. Dr. Fung compares this to replacing car parts rather than the whole care.

Fasting not only stimulates autophagy (clearing out the bad), but it increases growth hormone so our body can produce new cell parts. Double bonus! Read More

Rebalancing My Hormones Via Diet

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raw-meat

With a focus on improving my micronutrients, I’m making the switch from grain fed to grass-fed meats and pasture raised poultry. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and KEKO64.

Well I’m biting the bullet and making the move to pasture-raised and grass-fed meat free of hormones and antibiotics. I’ve resisted this move for a long time, mostly due to costs. When going low carb it made sense to focus on how to eat healthy and not sweat about breaking the bank.

Cost is still an issue, I realized we can afford the jump in our food bill if we cut back on going out to eat. A pretty good trade-off if you ask me.

Why the change?

I’m just starting to take a look at the micronutrients in my diet. Since I started eating low carb, I’ve focused on the macronutrients – fat, protein and carbs. But now that I’m in menopause, I’m starting to realize that vitamins and minerals play a part in rebalancing my hormones.

Grass-fed meats are more nutritious (higher levels of micronutrients and omega-3) than what I typically buy.

This is the first step towards resetting my hormones. I’m considering a few more dietary changes come 2017 – giving up alcohol and caffeine, limiting cream and cheese and possibly adding a little more fruit. 

I know I’ll never go back to my hormone levels before the surgery. That’s not what I’m aiming for. I’m looking for what works for me at this point in my life.

Coping With My Anxiety-Ridden & Rage-Filled Days

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meditate

My stress levels are astronomical thanks to my raging hormones.  I’m giving mindfulness a shot.
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Stuart Mills.

Over the last few weeks I’ve experienced some serious daily meltdowns. My hormones are raging. I’m stressing over every little thing. Emotionally I’m a mess. And I don’t have a clue what to do about it.

I’ve read about mood swings a woman experiences during menopause. But reading about what to expect is far different from reality.

My oncologist said there was a shot that my symptoms could become debilitating. But I brushed that off. Summer and early fall I experienced mild heat flashes. My mood was upbeat. I thought menopause was a snap.

That all changed in November. Read More

Starting Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

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Pelvic floor muscle

My radiation treatment caused my bladder to leak a little. So I’m starting physical therapy to strengthen my pelvic floor muscles and stop the leak.

Well I had my first physical therapy (PT) session the other day. While my hospital has a pretty good size PT division, there are only 2 therapists who specialize in pelvic floor muscles. Normally I don’t care if a medical pro is male or female, however, in this case I appreciate that both therapists are women. I felt way more comfortable talking about my challenges after radiation treatment and asking very specific questions that I won’t detail here.

I’ve mentioned before that my pelvic floor muscles are more important than ever after my hysterectomy. Thanks to my radiation therapy, strengthening my pelvic muscles has become more urgent. The radiation caused my bladder to leak a little when I sneeze or cough.

Not cool! Read More

Weekly Weigh-In: My Pity Party Is Over!

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oct-1-weight

My 3 month sabbatical from stepping on the scale is over. Thanks to a lot of self-pity and too many sugary desserts, I’m up 10 pounds. Time to kick my LCHF way of eating into high gear.

Sometime during the last few months I made the decision to cut myself some slack and not worry about stepping on the scale. Since I was dealing with my cancer diagnosis, giving up on the idea of getting pregnant, surgery, radiation treatment and recovery, the last thing I needed to focus on was stepping on the scale every week.

Of course that meant I probably wasn’t as diligent with my diet as I should have been. Oh, sure, I always cooked low carb, high fat foods. But we ate out a lot and I wasn’t my diligent self. And more often than not I’d order desserts — something I never do.

I fell into the old habit of rewarding myself with food.

But I wasn’t really rewarding myself. I was feeling sorry for my lot in life. I justified those tasty sweets with the idea that it was “OK to live a little … I have cancer, after all.”

Ugh!

I really felt the wrath of my bad eating decisions. And I don’t mean the 10 pounds I put on. Read More

Genetic Test Results Are In

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My genetics test came back negative for Lynch syndrome and a host of other cancer risks.

My oncologist’s concern that I have Lynch Syndrome were for naught. My hospital’s genetics lab called to give me the awesome news. YAY!!! Of course, what doctors know about genes is limited as this is a new area of research. But for now I’m in the clear.

Why You Should Eat Real Foods
Since I’m not genetically at a higher risk for cancer in my breasts, brain, and digestive and reproductive systems, it’s clear that something external triggered my uterine cancer.

My money is on the recommended American diet (high carb, low-fat). Read More

Radiation Treatments Are Over…Now What?

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apr 15 before after

My efforts to regain my health are paying off big time. But what comes next?

After finishing my radiation treatments last Friday, my husband and mother promptly took me out for a little celebration lunch that put an early end to my Whole 30 Challenge.

Disappointed? Nope.

Actually I completely forgot about the Whole 30. Clearly I wasn’t mentally ready to take on a challenge. With my treatments coming to an end, for the first time since mid-June I actually started giving serious thought to my future. Read More

Feeling Sorry For Yourself & Fasting Don’t Mix

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water 1

My cucumber water was no match for my stomach. There just wasn’t enough water to keep hunger at bay.

Well my scheduled 3-day fast went up in smoke. Once again I was super tired after my radiation treatment. I planned to take an hour nap then start on my chores (you know, keep busy so I don’t think about my rumbling stomach). Turns out I couldn’t nap. And when I tried to get up, I had no energy. So I lay in bed for a couple of hours  listening to my stomach get louder and louder.

There wasn’t enough water, bone broth or tea in my house to quell my hunger.

I broke down and ate a hard-boiled egg.

Yes I technically broke the fast with that egg, but the amount of food was so small compared to a normal day. I thought if I could hold out until the next morning I can kick my fast into high gear.

I chased the egg with 24 ounces of water. But my tummy persisted. Rather than spend the rest of the day staying close to the bathroom, I admitted defeat and ate dinner.  Read More

Fasting Fest This Weekend

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frozen custard

This is what freaking out over your first radiation treatment leads to!

I planned to do a 5-day fast this week but chickened out at the last minute. Tuesday was my first radiation treatment and I was a bit too freaked out to try fasting. So I opted for some frozen custard instead.

Peanut Butter Brownie & Chocolate, to be specific.

A glorious LARGE one, to be even more specific.

Yes, I needed comfort food (told you I freaked out). No shame in that.

Thankfully, the freak out was for naught. The painless treatment lasted a total of 5 minutes. As for side effects, the only thing I experienced was some major fatigue. I did some serious napping for two days. Of course, I’m assuming it was the radiation. It could have been a carb coma from the big ass frozen custard. Read More

Be Happy, It’s Saturday!

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coffee-owls

I woke up actually feeling like Espresso Owl. Why? I finally had my first awesome night’s sleep in about a week.

I feel like a weight’s been lifted. My doctor gave me the all clear to start working out again.  My healing is moving along nicely. I just have a few sutures that haven’t dissolved yet.

While I still need to take it easy, I can resume my training for a 10k and start lifting weights. Heck I’m even allowed to go swimming or take a bath.

I haven’t done anything for 7 weeks. Ugh! I’m so happy I’ve made a habit out of being active. I just can’t sit still anymore. It won’t be difficult to get back into the swing of things. The hard part will be the slow and gentle pace. My inclination is to go as hard or fast as possible. Not too bright. Last thing I want is an injury or screwing up my still healing abdominal area. I must be the turtle, not the hare.

But this weekend I’m focused on food prep, making meals for the week and a special project with the husband (minds out of the gutter!).  I’m spending part of this beautiful morning gearing up to run the gauntlet that is Saturday grocery shopping. May my Espresso Owl energy stay with me.

Which morning owl are you?