Dan's Journal

[DanTheYogi]

Hello Everyone! I have been a member on the forum for a while but was inspired by the conversation between Spiral and Jeff in the Lounge to start my own journal. I’m not sure how often I will be updating it, but I thought it would be a good idea. Hopefully I can do at least weekly.

I suppose I will give a quick introduction, as I don’t think I have done so before. My first name is Daniel, and I’m a 25-year-old male. I have been eating a WFPB for over 2 years, and really started to focus more on McDougall and Novick’s teachings in particular last spring (I was originally inspired by Greger’s Google Talks and his book). I have become very passionate about nutrition and have a long-term goal of going back to school at some point to study it. Of course, it is more than nutrition; I embrace all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. I am an avid meditator and I really love staying physically active. If anything, this is the one area where I stray a little bit from the recommendations around here; I typically get at least an hour of moderate to high intensity exercise every day, and often much more. However, it isn’t all in one session, and it is varied: running, biking, yoga, swimming, resistance training, dancing and basketball are just some of the various activities I enjoy weekly.

I am, by all accounts, in pretty good health. I am injury free and sleep well most nights, and feel well rested and energized throughout the day. I recently had blood work done through the online testing site that Jeff posted about in April, and my numbers were stellar. I don’t remember exact numbers, but my LDL was around 40 and my total cholesterol was under 100. My B12 and vitamin D were both very good. My resting heart rate is typically around 50 and my blood pressure hovers around 95/60. I haven’t been able to weigh myself in a few weeks, but last I checked my BMI was around 20.

Having said all that, it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing, especially of late, which is the main reason I decided to start this journal. I have posted before about my GI issues, and while they are much improved from when they started about a year ago, they still persist. Even today, I have been very gassy and bloated simply from eating a little bit too much homemade hummus.

I really do love the food. I have gone for months at a time being 100% compliant. I could eat the same thing every day, or even every meal, and be perfectly content and happy. That’s what makes the GI issues such a bummer; it really seems to be some of the healthy foods that cause me serious issues, which compounds with my current situation:

I am going through a bit of a career/life change, and recently went from living by myself to living with my Aunt and Uncle. This is temporary; I will be moving home with my parents in about 4 weeks. Regardless, this is the first time I have been living with other since switching to this WOE, and it’s been a bigger struggle than I thought; my Aunt’s family essentially lives off of junk food, and this is no exaggeration. Truth be told, even though I had heard stories about this type of eating all the time on the board, it was hard for me to imagine until I moved in with them. Cookies, ice cream, and poptarts are eaten with free reign from morning to bedtime by the entire family. Processed meat and mayo sandwiches are a staple, as is the white bread they are eaten on. It is both horrifying and eye opening. The house may as well be a pharmacy too; the majority of the family is taking a plethora of pills, including my cousins in their early 20’s. My grandmother lives with them as well, and she is recovering from a car accident from over a year ago. Of course, I’m not sure she’ll ever actually recover living off ensures, JIF Peanut Butter, and cookies and ice cream.

Having said all that, I harbor no ill will towards any of them. I’m very grateful for them allowing me to temporarily stay with them, and am willing to help wherever I can. I even made my grandmother an egg and cheese sandwich the other day. If anything, I just feel very sad at the state of my family’s health. My Aunt has both relapsing polychondritis and rheumatoid arthritis. They are very accommodating and understanding too; I have even talked with my Aunt about how diet could help her, and while she believes me, she says it’s just too hard, and I can empathize with her.

While I am not tempted by animal foods, I cannot say the same about vegan junk, which there is plenty of in the house. Lots of non-dairy ice cream is always in the freezer, and there is usually cereal and things like fig newton’s lying around as well. In the past, I would never keep these things in my house. While I would usually allow myself to eat them on occasion when I was out, those instances were so few and far between that I knew it wasn’t a big deal; I was typically at least 95% compliant, if not 100% most weeks. Plus, I am young and not trying to reverse ill health; I know I have some serious leeway compared to most people. Still, I strive to eat as healthy as possible simply because I just feel so much better when I do.

That leads to the crux of my current issue: feeling good in the present. While I am not so much worried about my long-term health, I get so frustrated with the GI issues, and the worst part is that they seem to be caused by healthy foods. While it is at times a bit of mystery to me why I have symptoms, it seems to me that for the most part it typically comes down to eating too a high a volume of very high fiber, unprocessed foods. For example, the other day I ate a fair amount of carrots with homemade no oil hummus; I had 4 big carrot sticks chopped up, and ate all 4, dipping them in hummus the whole way. Afterwards, I was extremely bloated and gassy the rest of the day. On the other hand, a few nights ago I ate 2.5 pints of vegan ice cream. Not my proudest moment for sure, but the truth is I felt MUCH better after eating the ice cream than I did the hummus and carrots. How messed up is that?! And this is a recurring theme; processed foods like white rice and white bread, and just dry grains in general like cereal and whole grain bread, as well as high fat foods like nuts, do not cause the issues that healthier foods like beans, veggies, fruits and intact grains can cause me.

I wish it was just one particular food or food group, but it simply doesn’t seem to be the case. I have experimented so much with this, and there really isn’t any food that I can’t tolerate in isolation. The truth is, meal timing and volume of food really seem to be the 2 biggest factors, which really sucks. I would rather give up any number of foods than have to be concerned about when I last ate or how much I’m about to eat. Here’s how it typically works: I can eat pretty much anything when I wake up. It has typically been at least 12 hours since I last ate at that point, and my stomach is empty. I can eat a really big meal at this point and be fine too; however, the bigger the meal, the longer I usually need to wait to eat again, or I have issues. While these issues aren’t especially terrible and debilitating, being gassy just sucks, especially when I want to be around other people.

However, this doesn’t seem to be as true with more processed foods. I have experimented with shifting more toward dry grains, nuts and other processed foods, and my stomach typically feels better. However, I know this isn’t sustainable. I start to rely too heavily on the more calorie dense stuff and gain weight; I simply can’t stay away from a jar of peanut butter or dry grain products! So even though I feel better in the short term eating more calorie dense foods, I know it can’t work long term.

I think this is one of the biggest reasons I have struggled with the processed junk since moving in with my family. It would be one thing if I had no GI issues eating straight McDougall; however, when I’m tired of feeling bloated and gassy, it is too easy to just eat the stuff that I know won’t bug me. One thing this experience has given me is the ability to empathize with others over the difficulty of following this diet; it really seemed so easy to me when I was living by myself. Now I truly understand why people with families and other hard social situations can struggle so much.

I want to mention at this point the biggest implication of all this on me since I started having GI issues a year ago, and that's the mental aspect. I now fret so much about how much food I'm eating or when the last time I ate was, which is the exact opposite of allowing natural hunger cues to dictate my eating patterns, and it is really debilitating sometimes. I will have thoughts like, "hmmm, I'm kind of hungry, but I only ate 4 hours ago, and it was a pretty big meal. Should I eat a snack and risk being gassy? Maybe I should wait a few more hours just to be safe." This is just one example. The amount of time I spend thinking about meal timing and amount of food I should eat is definitely not healthy. Truth be told, I don't have a solution to this yet, but I figured I would throw it out there.

Anyhow, I think that covers my current situation. Today was a pretty good day. I ate quite a bit of fruit this morning, and have had 3 sweet potatoes, some hummus, and some white rice with fruit. Something I have been meaning to experiment more with is white rice. I have always eaten brown rice at home. However, I do wonder if I would be able to tolerate more veggies if I switched to white. I also see white rice as something I’m much less likely to binge on than nut butters or dry grains, so I think it’s worth a shot. Otherwise, I will stick to my staples of sweet potatoes and oatmeal; these do seem to be the least likely starches to cause me issues.

Not sure if I have gained weight in the past few weeks; I don’t have access to a scale. Even with my activity level though, I almost certainly have. I have been eating quite a bit of junk. I’m not fretting about it though; I really do love eating healthy and know that when push comes to shove, I can be strict with myself.

This ended up being a lot longer than anticipated, so if you read all the way through, thanks for your time! I’m honestly not sure how often I will be updating this, if at all, but felt compelled to share about my current situation and will continue to look to the forums whenever I need a solid reminder of why I’m living this lifestyle.

[Drew_ab]

Thanks for deciding to start a journal Dan. I look forward to reading it. I enjoyed the thought you've put into your initial post which makes me optimistic that your subsequent posts will be equally detailed. It's always fascinating to see what other WFPB eaters are ruminating about. Health certainly is determined in large part by food, but movement, meditation, and other factors do contribute as well. It looks like you've got an excellent handle there. I'm also glad to hear that you were able to come to this WOE without experiencing pain. I've observed that a health crisis, death of a family member, or other negative events are often far more powerful motivators for change than just stumbling across a captivating Youtube video and jumping in. Your notes about your families eating is interesting but sadly common as you mentioned. I find that whenever I travel and spend a long duration of time (5-7 days) with people in an intimate fashion I am often shocked at how bad most people eat. It really does go to show that the human body wants so badly to be healthy and it can actually tolerate a heck of a lot of abuse before major problems arise (though sadly we are seeing major problems arise with children younger and younger these days). Your attitude of service and gratitude towards your family is admirable. I'm not sure what to say about the GI issues but I do know that Jeff Novick is working with a number of clients on this issue. The elimination diet has helped some people in this area. I get the feeling that there is something beyond what we know here - for example, perhaps we are developing leaky guts do to all of the glyphosate on non-organic produce, perhaps some important strains of bacteria are no longer present due to antibiotic use, or perhaps something else entirely is at play. At any rate, good luck journalling! This looks like a good one to follow.

[DanTheYogi]

Thanks for deciding to start a journal Dan. I look forward to reading it. I enjoyed the thought you've put into your initial post which makes me optimistic that your subsequent posts will be equally detailed. It's always fascinating to see what other WFPB eaters are ruminating about. Health certainly is determined in large part by food, but movement, meditation, and other factors do contribute as well. It looks like you've got an excellent handle there. I'm also glad to hear that you were able to come to this WOE without experiencing pain. I've observed that a health crisis, death of a family member, or other negative events are often far more powerful motivators for change than just stumbling across a captivating Youtube video and jumping in. Your notes about your families eating is interesting but sadly common as you mentioned. I find that whenever I travel and spend a long duration of time (5-7 days) with people in an intimate fashion I am often shocked at how bad most people eat. It really does go to show that the human body wants so badly to be healthy and it can actually tolerate a heck of a lot of abuse before major problems arise (though sadly we are seeing major problems arise with children younger and younger these days). Your attitude of service and gratitude towards your family is admirable. I'm not sure what to say about the GI issues but I do know that Jeff Novick is working with a number of clients on this issue. The elimination diet has helped some people in this area. I get the feeling that there is something beyond what we know here - for example, perhaps we are developing leaky guts do to all of the glyphosate on non-organic produce, perhaps some important strains of bacteria are no longer present due to antibiotic use, or perhaps something else entirely is at play. At any rate, good luck journalling! This looks like a good one to follow.

Drew, thank you for the thoughts! I really do appreciate them. I read them sometime ago, but never responded until now. As I said, I am quite sporadic when it comes to journaling in general, and I figured this journal would be no exception.

So, I have moved again, this time for an indefinite amount of time. I am back home with mom and dad, as well as 3 of my 4 siblings. Putting the food aside for a moment, it hasn't been all bad. It has been really nice being around my siblings regularly for the first time in years. There are other issues with my family, namely my parents, but I knew what to expect and was prepared in regards to them. Any who, those issues are mostly unrelated to diet so I will leave them out of this discussion.

First, some really good news: my GI issues seem to be completely resolved! A few weeks ago, I went an ashram located not to far from where I just moved from, and they happened to offer water-only fasting as part of their retreat regime. While it would be great to do a medically supervised fast under the docs at TNH, I figured a fast in a secluded area without the stressors of every day life and surrounded by monks/nuns experienced with fasting would be the next best thing. So I decided to go for it. It wasn't a long fast either - a little over 5 days. However, it seems that may have done the trick and might have actually healed whatever was going on with my gut. Ever since I got back, I have been able to eat whatever foods I want, in whatever portions I want, without any pain or constipation. Certainly, consuming too much of some foods still causes gas, but that's to be expected! And, my bowel movements are as healthy as they have been in over a year - I am going at least four times a day, all very quick and painless.

It's been about a year since things got really serious with my gut, so it is quite a relief that the issues finely seem to be completely resolved. However, things aren't quite as they were a year ago in regards to my diet - my gut issues really did a number on me mentally, and there is still a lot of work ahead to get back to where I was before the gut issues. I still think way too much about planning my diet out in my head throughout the day. Also, overeating has become a real issues for me, when I can't ever remember having the issue in the past before the gut issues - I am having a much harder time gauging my satiety signals, and I often find myself eating for entertainment, which inevitably leads to overeating. I have gained a solid 10 pounds in the past 3 months or so. Granted, this still leaves me in the healthy weight range, but I prefer being as lean as possible.

I just posted this in the lounge, but I think I am just now truly coming to terms with the fact that there are some foods I can no longer eat small amounts of. I just got done eating 6 bowls of cold cereal. I don't even feel bad is the thing - they were relatively healthy cereals, but still no doubt a massive overconsumption of calories. This really makes me sad too. I can remember, before my gut issues, I could safely keep avocado, nut butters, and bread in the house, and eat moderate amounts of them without even thinking about "more, more, more" each time I ate them. I could eat a single piece of toast with almond butter in the morning and be satisfied! Now, that seems like a fairy tale. I am not sure how exactly my gut issues got me to this point, but I know they played a part. The mental struggle with my diet was non-existent until my GI issues. Then I started worrying about what foods I was eating, how much I was eating, meal timing, etc. Somehow, eventually, it snowballed into the position I'm in now, which is, at times, feeling like I have a mental health issue in regards to food.

Despite all this, I'm not too incredibly stressed about it all. For one, the foods I'm binging on aren't pure junk - their only unhealthy insofar as they lead to me gaining weight, which is definitely mitigated by my higher activity levels. Having said that, I am actually pretty confident I can recommit to eating only healthy foods, like a more strict MWL-type plan. I have done so before when I put my mind to it. It becomes an "all-or-nothing" thing for me. I just have to acknowledge that I can't eat "just a little bit" of the trigger foods in the house, like the cereal. It is much easier if I just avoid it completely. It becomes a trap when I tell myself "just one bowl" and it turns into 4 or more. Tomorrow, I plan on writing out a 30 day calendar that I will keep in plain site, and committing to a MWL-style diet for the next 30 days (the only small exceptions will be things I know aren't issues for me, like raisins in my oatmeal, or more than 2 servings of fruit a day).

The one thing that does worry me slightly, is the mental aspect. I would like to get back to not thinking so much about food. It's not like I don't do other things too - I keep myself fairly busy. And yet the thoughts persist. At this point, I think the best course of action is to get to a point of not over-consuming for a good amount of time, and then reassessing where I'm at.

[Idgie]

Dan, I can't guarantee it will happen for you, but after 6 weeks of making no exceptions on my diet (it was McD at first, then MWL), I stopped obsessing about food, because to be honest, with fewer choices comes less to obsess about. I know that I will probably be having sweet potatoes, soup, or salad almost any time I eat, so there's really not that much to think about. Plus, there's none of that weird thing where you have to be hungry but you're not "allowed" to eat, because you can eat any time you're hungry. For me, that took away a lot of the diet rebellion I have always lived with.