Hello dear diet and lifestyle comrades!
Little introduction of myself:
I‘ am 23 (24 is coming soon) years old male, student, studying very hard, doing practice and sometimes working (in constructions), when i can find free time in my daily routine. When my studying calendar was easier, with less lectures and exams, i used to train quite a lot, but due to increasing studying strain i had to quit.
Start of university was that time, when i have changed my diet from the basics. Before that, i was eating like a „typical citizen“: sugar, proccesed fats and proteins (meats, eggs, dairy), not so good fats (PUFAs), fairly enough of flour and starch, sometime sweets. But most of the time i‘ve been eating home made food, which wasn‘t bad as supermarket fast food junk. Before my „switch“, i didn‘t have any major health problems, i wasn‘t overweight nor underweight, with well developed physique, i had very nice, clear skin (only ocasional dryness on my elbows), my mental state (in a sense of mood and behaviour stability) was really good, most of the time i was joyfull and positive. I am not trying to imply that i was „superhero“ and that i wasn‘t experiencing hard moments of life, which were pretty frequent, but i was capable of standing in front of them. I was energetic, vibrant, good looking, attractive, with a powerful will to live which was accompanied by big ambitions.
So, my first steps were reduction and elimination of bread, sugar, sweets and fruits and stabilization of meal frequency. I ate mainly meat, veggies, eggs, dairy, i added buckweat and rice as a stable source of carbohydrates. Ate 3 times per day, with long intervals between, no snacks. What was the main in self-feeling-noticable change? Slight drop of energy levels and start of acne. I thought to myself „It‘s everything ok! This is only transition which coud take some time.“
My acne wasn‘t dissapearing, actually, it was increasing more and more, my energy and will reserves were dropping. It made me slightly nervous and anxious. But it wasn‘t bad ass it could. So i was still waiting.
My condition was worsening, i started experiencing very strong fatigue, tirediness, apathy, my desire of activity and working capability was apparently diminishing. It was very hard to study, because concentration became a challenge to me. Time was passing by, i saw no improvements, only degradation. And then came a moment, when i started analyzing my diet more sharply. I thought that my issues could be due to „too much“ (which is absurd notion) carbs, innapropriate type of food.. At that time, it was about 1.5-2 years in my „diet career“.
So, i thought that i have to eat more, but less frequently, so i sticked to 1-2 meals per day. I ate mainly meat, vegetables, dairy, some starches (mainly lentils, buckwheat, but in very small amounts), zero sugar, no fruits. I was very, very low carb for an extended time interval, sometines practically no carb. Still, my acne wasn‘t improving, only worsening. I started crashing after ever meal, sometimes i couldn‘t stand still, i just wanted to lie on the ground, even if i was refreshed after long sleep. My joints were so painful, i developed noticable crepitus and cracking. Intelectual perfomance and production was so hard, as same as physcal exercise. All i wanted to do was sleep, sleep, sleep and do nothing.. For example, if my lectures started at 8 a.m., at about 10 p.m. i was totally „out“. It was impossible for me to go through the day in sharp and energetic fashion.
I started loosing weight, became thin and worn, my hair got weak and for the first time in my life they were falling off. I remember when i was at the gym, exercising and my hair was falling „in real time“, just like in front of my eyes, on after another. My sleep quality was terrible, waking up many times at night, with heart beating very hard. I thought „that‘s really not good“. I looked again at my diet and i saw that i wasn‘t eating „enough“ fat. That was about after 2-2.5 years from the beggining of this diet. So, i „armed“ myself with lots of saturated fats and cholesterol: butter, cream, heavy cream, egg yolks, olive oil and i have increased carbs a little. By the way, some time i ate practically raw meat, sometimes cooked (steaming, boiling) very short, which was really raw. What was the effect of more fat? I fucked up my entire skin: typically, before diet (when i was eating ordinary), i used to cut my hair short, exposing my forehead and it‘s beautiful skin.. Gues what? I don‘t have it anymore. My forehead drowned in all kinds of skin disorders: cystic acne, red spots, zilion of zits, blackheads. Today is the fifth year since i haven‘t cut my hair short. Because it is in terrible condition... ? So, what happened next? I regained some weight, but in overall i was looking very bad. And it was that time when i developed some weird reaction to cold weather, which i haven‘t felt before. For example, if I am in cold (by cold i don‘t mean -20c, more like -10c) weather for prolonged time, something „happens“ to me: i feel numb, „spaced out“, i can‘t think properly, my mood goes „somewhere“, i am like stoned in a negative sense, it‘s like i „dissapear“. Very frustrating feeling. And i need some time to get back to my normal state.
So, i continued my high-fat diet with a very strong belief that „somehow something will change“. Yeah, and it changed.. Exactly one year ago, in the past spring, something was going wrong with my right side, under the ribs. I felt some sharp pains, which localized under the ribs, scapula, shoulder, lower back, which sometimes were very confusing and distractive. I was very disturbed, so i decided to go to doctor and see what is going on. They did blood tests, liver enzyme tests, thyroid tests, all came back normal. I registered to ultra sound, they checked it and... my bill was thick. Yeah, right? By that time i was eating mainly eggs, 3-5 a day high-fat and high-cholesterol, for like most days of the week. And then have i realized that this (diet) isn‘t working, not in the way it should. Oh, and i forgot to mention that on high-fat my intelectual abilities were shrinking like hell: my memory was like a piece of shit, i couldn‘t understand what people were talking, my memory recall was very slow, i had to ask about something few times, my planing, tactical, strategical abilities became non-existant, i was constantly „flying“. My head was like an empty chamber. For example, if ate my breakfast (high fat, low carb) at 9 a.m., about 13 p.m. i will have communication, fast orientation problems, car driving sometimes becomes an issue. Another thing is that i‘ve developed are very dark and intense circles around eyes and my face skin most of the time is pale/white. Close people are often asking „What is wrong with me? Was your sleep bad? Maybe you‘re not eating NUTRITIOUS food?“ Nutritious.. It‘s extremely anoying.
About 3 monts ago, i reduced my fat intake, because my right side pain came back. Recently i woke up at night due to very sharp pain in on my right side. :/ I am in so deep desperation.. But i can‘t give up. With reduced fat intake, i introduced much more carbs, it was potatoes, raisins, fruits (at one point, when i was on high fat, i was eating fair amount of fruits, but it was terrible). My right side pain was SIGNIFICANTALY reduced, but not entirely gone. Also, i felt very positive effect of increased meal frequency, more like very small snacks between normal meals. With introduction of more carbs and fermented vegetables, my bowel movements and stools became superior. But i still have very long way to go. So, my present issues are:
• Acne: forehead, upper – mid back, thighs, multiple zit- follicle overcrowded type rashes on femur head level skin (i don‘t know how exactly it‘s called);
• Increased pigmentation spots, moles and other unwelcomed objects on the skin (rugged surface), redness spots on face ;
• Unstable energy levels, sometimes crashing after meals, tirrednes;
• Right side pain, under the ribs;
• Very dark circles around the eyes (it doesn‘t matter if i am tired or after long sleep);
• Terrible tinitus (started when i was on very low or no carb, high fat)
• Strange heart arrhythmias, mostly in the evening, sometimes after workout;
Oh, and i forgot to mention that 4 monts ago i got abscess beside my lip and it had to be removed, now i have visibe scar. Nice, abscess after such a strict diet..
I am sorry that this post has to be so long, but i just wanted to explain everything clearly as it is possible. What do i want with this?
Please, if you had or have similar experience, insights, suggestions, share it: what have you done in order to get better, because in my present state, i can‘t say that i am living now.. It feels like some nothingness, kind a cage or something.
P.s. I was combining, adjusting my food, eating that, not eating this, there was no clear result and i got very tired psychologically. I haven‘t used any vitamins or supplements, only occasional pottasium and magnesium when my exercise was intense.
Sorry for some english grammar errors.
