Hello friends
Now it’s been three month since I started adrenal cortex extract. I have to say it made no difference. I know that treating this problem is a lengthy and patient procedure but… I expected Isocort would improve the situation, at least a little. In reality everything got much worse over this period. My digestion just stopped. My bowels will not move as I am constantly constipated. My body temperature is extremely low and cold intolerance as sever as never before. I am cold, and all in a shiver. The thyroid extract has just arrived but I don’t know what to do with adrenal support. Are there any reasons to continue? Should I show more patience?
Without honey and carbs a sharp pain in my lower back (in kidneys area) is now starting to return. This was the case when I tried anti-candida diet before and haunts me again. I am not sure that my body has enough resources left to cope with it. I just pray for miracle.
My weight melts day by day. I have lost around 11 pounds. Interestingly but all my trousers still fit well. I’m relatively fat round the middle and in waist. It is very strange that Isocort has no effect as all my symptoms are indicative of exhausted adrenals. I'm out of ideas. Everything seems very illogical and unreasonable.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to share some excerpts from my diary.
May 1-st, 2007:Before I started raw meats "therapy" I suffered from constant tiredness and weakness as a result of veganism and malnutrition. Thus fats, proteins and other nutrients have done its part and with so desirable lbs of weight gain I also get rid of the above conditions and
started to regain previous vigour, strength and alertness. Both in terms of weight and general well-being my health have significantly improved and I got noticeably better and healthier appearance. Also some inner changes may as well have occurred. As high-fruit-no-fat vegan diet may have impaired some of the organs (suppose, liver, kidney and pancreas) plenty of raw fats I consumed over this three months definitely helped a lot!
May 16, 2007:When I started Primal Diet my weight was around 115 lb and after 10 weeks I reached 155 pounds (I feel my current weight is c. 185 lb)!
I think when I reach 4-th month on this diet I'll try weight-loss plan. I believe some time is needed for the excess fat to be replaced by pure muscles, I have only to be patient. Anyway, a little belly is by far healthier that that vegan skinnyness! After exhausting period of vegan starvation
it's well strange to feel full up and totally satisfied. But it's so natural!May 29, 2007:First of all, I must admit that I'm tired from constant eating... Just a mere 6 weeks ago I was thinking how lucky I was to follow AV ideas... Yes, I still do appreciate his views, but his position on frequent eating seems to be so hard to carry out. I do feel that two meat meals plus fruit and milshakes are too much for me at the moment. I wouldn't say that I stopped to improve in terms of health. No, Just the opposite!
I feel fantastic, except for excessive thirst. But this continuous condition of being always full really killing me. Maybe this heat outside is the reason... I don't know, but the only thing that is clear to me that I must listen to my body.
Raw meats allowed me to forget about those vegan hunger-pangs, but I intend to go well ahead and throw all the food issues completely out of my head. I just want to feel free in terms of eating and be never bothered about carrying any jars or thinking about when to eat.
I hope I have enough will to make my wishes come true.
June 6, 2007 (started intermittent fasting, stopped dairy, honey, only fruit, meat and fat):
As I've already mentioned I was planning to start weght-loss plan.
Last Monday was my first day in four months on the Primal Diet when I was able to not overload myself with raw food. I worked out for myself convenient regimen to effectively lose excess weight. I usually start eating at 6 p.m. and four hours onwards and consume moderate amounts of raw beef with practically no fat at all. Before I go to bed I may drink a cup of raw milk or self-made kefir... Today is just Friday and I do feel the results already... But, since I'm working actively from 7 a.m. I may sometimes
feel myself light-headed or dizzy. This type of schedule is a transition or adjustment for me before i start one meal daily plan. Hope once and forever!
June 16, 2007:Those four months of constant eating had a huge disadvantage - I ate because I thought I needed it. I believed I had no energy to change smth. Maybe it was true. Plus other raw fooders said AV's Primal Diet was a good thing to start. Switching to single meal daily was more of a mental challenge. More so because for the moment I eat in moderations, to lose excess fat. But merely fortnight on this plan convinced me to stick to this habit forever! It is easy, convenient and so natural! I started loosing extra fat for fun, my energy levels significantly increased, I realised what hunger and appetite means.
It's great, fantastic! I may sometimes
feel myself light-headed or dizzy.July 6, 2007:Thanks to Geoff, I eliminated dairy and veg-juices from my diet.
Instead I incorporated organ meats which consist approximately 2/3 of my diet. I eat one meal daily within 2 to three hours period. I don't mix my foods and wait for 30 min. or so to consume another item, with the fat plus meats being the only exception. Every now and then I consume high-meats and about a cup of fruit daily. So, as for the flesh, I usually have a pound or so of a variety of meats (cows' brains, marrow and muscle or lambs' tongues, liver, kidney or hearts).
My fat supply basically comes from marrow, I think I average a cup or so daily(half a pound). I can purchase lambs' tallow or pork's fat, but since I'm happy with what I currently have, I don't bother about anything else. Brains and tongues with it's high fat content also add to this. I don't know my ratios in terms of percentages , calories or amounts. I eat until I'm fool, content and not hungry. But fasting 20-22 hours daily and occasional food-free days take some time to get used to though.
Constipation?
I have regular bowel movements (usually once a day in the morn after the sleep). The only side-effect I've noticed is probably a bit painful going out of some undigested parts of berries (kernels).
Judging from my size and overall appearance, I ceased to loose weight. Instead I'm able to remain pretty in the same range, in the region of 160 lb. I want to figure out at long last my normal wardrobe
size and finally go shopping, since all my dietary adventures stripped me off significantly and I almost have no alternatives in terms of clothes.
July 16, 2007:Back to my dietary experiences. Among the side-effects of IF on me I should mention
the dizziness and fatigue while doing IF... Well, as long as I can resist them I don't want to back off and include extra supporting meal. Along with the IF regimen, there also might be some other factors. To name a few, I'd suggest overeating. Yes, it sounds strange, but let me explain the situation. On the PD I heavily added in weight (desirable one). Since I don't care anymore about my fat/weight condition, I thought I would loose some excess lbs as a result of IF.
When I first ate little meat and fat I had no problems re energy levels. But I happened to think that I needed more food to keep myself well-nourished and started to eat until I was full. And
more towards evening I feel as I have increased energy. The same holds true for the food-free or fast days. So, maybe less food is what I have to try next.
Moreover, as a result of mentioned period of moderate eating, I have lost c. 20 lbs. Now, I feel my weight remain more or less stable, but I'm far from lean. So, here comes idea of cutting down on overall food intake. I don't know, I'll see how it goes.
Another reason is that I may be getting not enough sleep. I tend to work up to 12 hours daily, plus exercising, going to office and returning home, other activity. The time left for sleep never exceeds 7 hours. Plus, there is always some hindrances to peaceful sleep. I've notived that short naps around the midday makes wonder for me and return me to life. Unfortunately, I cannot often sleep at work
Provided I have the opportunity to catch up on mine sleep maybe then I'll have the answer.
This time I don't eat root vegetables! The only thing from plant kingdom I consume is black currants. I also think that some vegetable matter is important, including leafy vegetables. But for the most of the year I don't have access to quality vegg stuff, so I tend to eat what I can get easily all the time. Come late fall or winter and I gonna try animal foods only. I have a wary look on the commercial imported vegetables.
July 23, 2007:All I know that most problems are a result of bad nutrition. So, to remove the initial cause is the start for me. As I strongly believe in the healing abilities of raw animal foods I hope they can make everything for myself. Plus, I rate very highly exercises, contrast showers, sleep, IF and general self-confidence and peace of mind. Hope when time comes I will suddenly feel that I am in a complete harmony with nature, in a stance of balance! Who knows, maybe during my quest for optimal health some other beneficial things will pop up. For the moment I just have to be patient and bide my time.
The only thing I know for certain that I still have to experiment with quantities of food I eat and the amounts of carbs/proteins and fats. Despite I don't eat large amounts of meats daily (max an lb or less) I feel I have to cut off my overall consumption. I'm loath to do so because I don't want to loose much weight, I hate myself when I look skinny and lean. Meanwhile I have a little belly as a result of PD and some excess fat. That means that I have some room for manoeuvre. My next task is eat less.
As for the carbs ratio, I eat very little of them. Maybe
when I slightly increase the consumption of them I would do better it terms of awareness and energy levels. For the moment I gonna continues this low carb approach, but some changes may be made as well. I'm planning to add some honey to my diet in several months time or so, we will see.
July 30 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY), 2007:My IF practice hasn't changed. Once or twice a week I usually take a full rest day from foods just drinking water. On my eating days I consume late in the evening up to one pound of a kind of meats (either tongue, heart, kidney or others) with half a pound of fat (mostly beef marrow but sometimes a bit of suet). I finish my daily meal with a two cups of black currants (since they are out of season they tend to be mold, I still have some in store for the coming week or so).
I tend to think that I'm eating too much. My weight condition for the past month remained stable, the same 155 lbs. And this inspite of several fast days and everyday IF. When I have my evening meal I'm afraid of possible hunger pangs the following day so I choose to stuff myself with foods... I doubt this is a good idea.
But at the same moment I'm loath to loose my weight as well. I was underweight and don't want to have those problems once again. Still I have a slight excess fat, especially on my belly. I'm not trim as I was in my pre-vegan days. I don't look that fit these days. I'm not sure I should worry about this...
On fasting days I happen to feel some elevated energy or quite the contrary (a kind of tiredness). Anyway, I try to fast when I have some other tasks to do, i.e. to go out with friends, go to the cinema,
travel somewhere. This random activity helps me and distracts from thinking about foods. As an alternative I may just come home, lay in my bed and have a rest or longer than usual sleep. It's a bit
challenging but I seem to getting used to it.
August 6, 2007:Yesterday I was in the bed in the morn and accidentally decided to check my pulse rate? It appeared to be less than 60 beats per minute.
In the rawpaleogroup I found post re fatigue, according to which "if one feels tired all the time, then that's a bad sign..."
I agree that smth may be well wrong. But, what if one's body is paving it's way to recovery, just replacing old cells, cleansing and performing general health recreation? Or getting used to smth new, i.e. raw nutrients, IF regimen... I'd like to clarify this situation for myself.
August 13, 2007:Despite overall favourable improvements I still have to strike a kind of balance. I'd like to get rid of small amount of belly fat (probably dut to dairy consumption). I need to figure out my true weight and the amount of raw food I need to maintain it. Plus,
it would be so desirable to overcome the problems
relating to fatigue and drops of energy. And, who knows, my organs need more time to recover and optimaly function. On top of that, dark undereye circles (less visible than before) still present, so I hope with the lapse of time they completely disappear.
Scare food issue. Yesterday I got out of a fridge a jar with black currants... An old one... Those berries were actually a bit white though... Having liquid consistence and harsh flavour/odour. I'm still alive! I've noticed no side effects and presume its safe to eat
aged/mold fruits.
As for the eating/fasting routine. It seems that one daily meal (mostly very short one, c. an hour or so) is a tolerable regimen. But due to work, meetings with friends or travels I from time to time fast for the whole non-consecutive days. This is a bit harder to tolerate but achievable though. I average from two to four such days in a fortnight (depends on a situation).
This is rather debatable for how long should one intermittently fast. Most common and adopted figure is 24 hours. So, this is the regimen I got used to lately. For instance, I ate one meal yesterday within one hour starting at 19-30 or so. Today, when back home, I'm gonna eat similar meal from 9 till 10 p.m. And tomorrow, from 10 p.m. onwards.
Since it won't be possible to catch up this schedule the day after tomorrow (I would gave to eat from 12 p.m. or so) I'll have the fast-day. Technically all my meals are separated with at least 24-hour period, so this is in line with the existing studies. Moreover, a bit of variety in terms of meal timing is present as well. But this practice is relatively new to me and only available when I care to adhere to it. Otherwise I eat when I have the possibility (always in evening or late in night). I just keep in mind some basic rules, i.e. at least 20 hours meals spacing, never eating lean meats on its own or smth like that.
No matter how hard I try, I simply cannot eat more than an lb of meat/organ meat with half of lb of fat(mostly marrow). When I do stuff myself with the food, forcing to eat more than my stomach would have liked, I don't feel comfortable et al and this hinders my peace slip and clearity of mind. Besides, this seems to expand my paunch and isn't much pleasant. That's why mine overall daily food intake (bearing in mind occasional day-fasting) is comparatively low. This is a kind of concern for me, since even on eating days I can hardly cross the 2000 calories line. However, I can't but agree with Geoff that "perhaps, being mostly-raw for quite a while the body somehow gradually becomes more efficient at getting nutrients from food, and so needs less in the long run." Anyway, there are still some options left (eating more) in case of emergency (huge/rapid weight loss) to modify my position.
In the meantime my body-weight remains more or less stable (after loosing the excess weigh resulting from previous Primal Diet gluttony) and I intend to continue this trend and see what happens
next. In addition my muscle bulk seem to remain the same in shape and amount with the fat gradually coming off. I hope this random eating in moderation is capable of providing me with the healthiest and most athletic body composition. I flatter myself that this is the very way the things should be.
August 22, 2007:When I was on a Primal Diet I was convinced I was doing some things wrong but since it was my way back from the vegan hell I opted to accept it at a face value and refused to change a thing... At least for the prescribed four month period. You may remember my progress in terms of weight gain and physical performance. I was happy and calm that at long last I was able to regain a human shape. I had to sacrifice my lean appearance together with the abs but it was kinda judicious selection. At the end of the fourth month I had to force myself to eat so that to stay in line with the recommended schedule.
Still I was too weak to go another level.
Finally, in the beginning of June I decided that I had enough. I said farewell to dairy and constant eating. I stepped up the gear. Interestingly but the Primal Diet is not that low in carbs et al. It just an erroneous delusion. So my next idea was to take the food burden down and became the freeman. IF helped a lot. But I had fears and hopes both at once. I was into smth new, very controversial and unproven.
10 weeks into this routine. I have mixed results. Together with achievements I found some difficulties. Yet I have to managed to discover the cause of the struggles. Am I something impatient? I think I yes, I have to wait and see. Anyway, at least some other options remain. I may eat for longer periods (lasting up for 4 hours), to reduce the amount of fast-days or abandon them for some time (I currently fast every third or fourth day - or four in a fortnight), limit activity levels (I'm not too keen or sure re this), try to reach the minimum calorie level (by stuffing myself during my meals), increase carb intake (since starting IF I never exceeded 40-50 grams daily), to drastically decrease my fat intake and up the proteins ratio (my current diet is too high-fat, at least 70%) or adopt similar changes. But for the moment I opt to hold back.
My weigh still is not far below the average and I have a bit of time and space to experiment more. I just hope I can reach the point when the weigh-drop stops and normalized condition settles. For the past three weeks I've lost c. 3 lbs and now am at the 151 lbs mark. Some little body fat (belly region) is present and my old trousers are too tight but I inexplicably inclined to panic...
Yes
I have less energy but more strength than before. Maybe I'm heading the right path. What if my body, at long last provided with the opportunity to heal and not continuously digest food, is on the way to recovery? I feel I ought to give it time to turn round, a chance for a kind of R and R. Everything is good, everything is rosy... Why should I worry? Rome was not built in a day... But this would try the patience of Job. That remains to be seen, time will show...
September 4, 2007:That day I was able to check my weight and much to my regret and astonishment I found that I was loosing weight. It dropped to the point of 145 ibs (I'm 5.7) and I became anxious and uneasy. Maybe I
should limit those fast-days to no more than a couple every fortnight…
I must think it over, I mean the frequency of fast-days. Maybe I really go too far with them. Thus on the weekend I decided to eat more to put on weight or at least remain at the current level. Maybe this
can solve
the fatigue problem as well, who knows.
Yet I continue to experiment with rawpaleo diet. I try to figure out the best ratios/amounts for me. Most notable recent alterations were to eat more meat and to slightly reduce the fat intake. It seems that my obsession with fats is not the best idea though. Bone marrow and brains are tasty but it shouldn't go the limit as well.
It seems that eating a tad more than I used to makes me emotionally balanced. Moreover I am able to maintain my weight in spite of frequent fast-days. However I still lack buoyancy… Most of the time I
have to force myself to exercise. But this weekend in the countryside was well arduous and loads of energy were spent.
September 19, 2007:Deep down I question the wisdom of it all, I mean the diet and so on.
I had a near perfect health just a couple of years ago and now I can't find the way. At the start of the Primal Diet I was oozing with confidence. I really believed in success and saw a bright future. And now again I am faced with the dilemma. I don't mind this kind of fighting. But honestly I'm afraid how many days will my health deposits last, wouldn't I burn myself out...
The question is more complicated than is supposed. Every why has a wherefore. But I don't know what contributes to my downfall. I no longer know what to think. I do feel completely dwarfed by it as all my experiments are a mere supposition. I haven't much faith in this anymore. I incline to believe that I have a hope but without dead certainty. There is no alternative but to keep on trying.
In general it all comes to the same thing - a kind of deficiency.
Let's decide on every last detail. To effectively perform the body needs fuel and when it lacks in something than it meets failures. So I may presume that primarily I'm coming short of something. As I refrain from all sorts of bad habits and doing rather beneficial things like exercises and lead an overall healthy life nothing remains for me but question the diet I follow.
So the whole question reduces itself to the question whether I'm getting enough or not. After having carefully analysed the situation I have reached the conclusion that the overacidity of the body may be
the cause. And that things should have come to this pass! I mean living off of practically all meat diet. But let's beat the matter out and have another go at this problem. What do we need are the minerals
and vitamins. Even muscle meats alone on a paper are capable of covering all the needs with the exception of some nutrients. Together with fats we have practically complete diet. It only remains to find a proper source of calcium and magnesium. Nuts will do that, say twice a week. To add some base for the balance and we have worked out the optimal human diet and mind that it is all raw. And it's hard for me to understand where am I wrong and hence I'm driven from pillar to post. I feel uncertain what to do next. Wait? But for how long? Just to whistle for a wind? Or to let the grass grow under my feet?
Would I stiil be able to recoup my losses after that? I have no choice but to hope against hope.
Well, that is it. I can continue up to this day, but there is no reason. Since all this time I have been trying to find the answers. If you were patient enough to read all this stuff through what would you suggest? Any ideas? Has the picture became clearer? Was my problems caused by intermittent fasting initially? Or had I harvested candida (remember all that moldy berries)? Or I suddenly got parasites when switched to one meal daily schedule?
I would be enormously grateful for any suggestions and opinions!
