It’s time for me to come clean on the reality of my life. Three of the last four years have been overfull for me. I began teaching at a private school in the fall of 2012 teaching 4 lab sciences for which I had to collect or create curriculum. I also had to inventory the equipment and supplies that were in my room; reorganize the chemical storage area to a compliant state; create a chemical inventory; be the janitor of my classroom with a lab that had to be upgraded for safety measures; while attending college to learn Physics so I could turn around and teach it. I also had to become comfortable teaching Chemistry along with chemical handling and disposal processes. I worked 80 hours per week for the duration of the year. I continued doing massage work and my work as a CFO with our corporation. Top it off with completing my Masters in Education that year. I was squeezing in rides when I could in hopes of managing the stress. The following school year was a bit better doing 60 hour weeks by teaching only 3 subjects which created more open time in my life. I was able to ride more which brought me to my last blog entry where I talked about how I wasn’t feeling so fantastic and had increased my carbs with good results.
That entry was in June 2014. In July before leaving on vacation, I had a hair analysis done. When we returned from our vacation I found out I was in moderate adrenal fatigue and all the summer riding was adding stress to my body that was making my situation worse! Just when I thought I was doing great! Life-change was now required! I was swept into a new job teaching at a public high school shortly after our vacation. My world went crazy with this very sudden change, but my new job provided much relief in the way of overall work requirements and my weeks sank to 45-50 hours. This greatly reduced my stress load. From the results of my hair analysis I was instructed to stop heavy exercise, change back to a carb based diet and given a supplement and activity schedule to follow. I made some of the changes that were reasonable for my life. I experimented with how much exercise I could do and still feel normal rather than feeling like I had the flu the next morning. The supplements and dietary changes left me feeling worse than I’ve ever felt long past any adjustment or detox phase. I spent a great deal of time figuring out what I COULD do rather than what I COULDN’T do. This helped my emotional and mental condition in this situation. It is hard to just stop doing things you enjoy that have become a part of your life. Long story short, this break from activity and diet change caused a 10 lb. weight gain! Right back to where I was before ketosis. Determined to heal up rather than worrying about my weight, my New Year’s mantra became: Do less and sleep more. I found I had to take rides to clear my system now and again, so I did ride. In the late Spring, I was wondering if taking amino acids and body builder supplements might be of help to grow new muscle and provide some of the missing pieces from a long period of high stress. I also returned to my high fat diet after my massage therapist told me I had moved backward two years in progress being on a carb-based diet again. Where I am at now? It's summer break for me and I have spent these first 6 weeks doing heavy duty yard work and landscaping in our yard and reorganizing our home. This has proved hugely rewarding and helped me regain my clarity of mind. I did not realize how much the undone work was actually impacting me mentally and emotionally. I have ridden my bike once and did some yoga. I am feeling really strong now. The body builder supplements idea is paying off. My head is clear and my life feels sorted. I am feeling rested and free! Or rather, I feel like my old self again. I feel ready to return to a little more regimented physical activity schedule. My adrenal state was described like a car stuck in the mud spinning its wheels going nowhere. I really did feel that way in so many ways I did not realize, so getting my home in order has created a complete switch in my inner self. I had my best blood numbers of my adult life in May and I plan to have my adrenals evaluated again very soon. I’m still running 10 pounds up, but I’m not worried because I’m confident that in time it’s going to slip off as my body continues to heal. The hardest part of the healing process is that it is a process and can take longer than we want it to, but I’m convinced its worth the wait! Here’s to health!
0 Comments
It's time for another update. This will be the 3rd one in about 4 years years. For those of you who think that eating fat will make your cholesterol go through the roof, mine is lower still than when I started. In 2013 my total cholesterol was 233, with a 94 HDL-C attributing to the majority. Anything above 40 mg/dL is considered a good number, but above 59 is a life-extending force, with positive insulating effects. In May '15 these numbers were very encouraging. My triglycerides were up from the previous year since I've had to be less active due to an injury.
|
AuthorsTim & Lynette Jenné are learners first and foremost. We love to ask "why?" We question the status quo. We also love to research and find answers for ourselves. As parents of four adult children, we've learned a few things along the way that may be helpful to others. We love to live & eat clean, simple lives. Archives
July 2015
Categories |