Day #10 of Whole 30 Challenge

Again, for anyone who isn't familiar with the Whole 30 challenge, here's the link:

http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

Today I start day 10 of my 30 day challenge to eat whole, real foods.  So far I have lost 6 pounds and also have experienced the added benefits of ore restful sleep, feeling more refreshed in the morning, less bloat, more energy, easier time exercising, my mood has lifted, my mental fog is beginning to clear.  I honestly am beginning to feel hopeful and happy.  My patience is improved, I find myself enjoying my children more.  And I'm only 10 day in!

I am so excited by this challenge because not only does it seem to be working but it makes sense!  And I have a hard time with things that don't make sense.  Basically you eat only what you could hunt or gather, minus a few exceptions due to the fact that they have inflammatory components.  In other blogs posts that I have read, people who have completed the 30 days have no intention of going back to their old way of eating because of how much better they feel.  Some of these people have suffered for years with skin conditions, arthritis, stomach problems, fertility issues, and within the 30 days they saw such an improvement, or in some cases the complete disappearance, of symptoms that they knew there was no sense in going back.  Their bodies had healed themselves with the help of the right food.

I am in no way discounting Western medicine.  However, I believe that God has given our bodies the ability to heal themselves from a lot of ailments. And I also believe that the food we eat has a lot to do with us acquiring some of these ailments in the first place.  I'm not saying if you have cancer that you should eat a crown of broccoli everyday and you'll be cured.  Lets use me for an example.  I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).  Here's a short list of symptoms that a woman with this condition can experience:

• Acne.
• Weight gain and trouble losing weight.
• Extra hair on the face and body. Often women get thicker and darker facial hair and more hair on the chest, belly, and back.
• Thinning hair on the scalp.
• Irregular periods. Often women with PCOS have fewer than nine periods a year. Some women have no periods. Others have very heavy bleeding.
• Fertility problems. Many women who have PCOS have trouble getting pregnant (infertility).
• Depression.
• Most women with PCOS grow many small cysts on their ovaries. That is why it is called polycystic ovary syndrome. The cysts are not harmful but lead to hormone imbalances.

 In other words, NOT FUN! Doctors don't really know the cause.  They know that's it's caused by hormonal imbalances and that it is hereditary.  But they don't really know why women started getting it in the first place.  However, it's becoming more and more common.  Statistics show that 1 out of 15 women have PCOS, but it's often misdiagnosed and mistreated.  Many doctors feel that you should take birth control to regulate your menstrual cycle.  That's all well and good, however the birth control doesn't help the rest of the list of symptoms.  Then you take an antidepressant, they have special medicines to help with hirsutism (male-pattern hair growth in women). All of these things bring with them a list of side-effects with no guarantee that the symptom you're trying to relieve will actually be relieved. 

When I was diagnosed I started researching PCOS.  Turns out, there is a big movement being made for a holistic approach to treating PCOS. It's about using the glycemic index (http://www.glycemicindex.com/) to help your body heal itself.  Sugar is the enemy, starch is the enemy.  When I mentioned this to my doctor and asked her if she'd heard of anybody finding relief with eating this way, she told me that obviously it was probably healthy, but what I really needed was birth control.  I was trying to get pregnant with my second and she told me that I needed birth control! 

Meanwhile, I spent 8 months trying to get pregnant with no results.  I know that's not very long considering what some people have to endure, but it was still disheartening.  I had tried low-carb diets before and found that it worked in weight-loss.  Armed with my new-found knowledge about how sugar effects women with PCOS, I cut out all refined sugar and carb-heavy foods.  In a month I found out I was pregnant.  This is what I think happened. 

PCOS causes little cysts to grown on the follicles that release the eggs from the ovaries, blocking the eggs from being released.  This means you don't ovulate.  Your body, awaiting the arrival of the egg, still does it's normal thing but when the uterus doesn't receive an egg, it just waits... and waits... and waits.  Eventually you get an overflow of it's... preparation, causing you to think that you've had a period, when really it's just your uterus can't hold anymore.  But if you don't ovulate, you can't conceive, obviously. And you haven't had an actual menstrual cycle.  They believe the cysts to be caused by imbalanced hormones.

When I cut out sugar, my hormones regulate.  I've have always had irregular, inconsistent cycles.  And they started late (when I was 15) which is also a sign of PCOS.  Sugar is one of the biggest culprits in unexplained hormonal imbalance.  And we eat SO MUCH OF IT!!  No wonder PCOS is becoming more and more common with every new ingredient that you can't read that's added to our food.  Anyway, when I cut out sugar all of a sudden I am on a 32 day cycle... if I stay off sugar I eventually work my way down to a 28 day cycle, something my doctor told me I could only get with birth control.  Essentially what I believe to be happening based on my experience and the research that I've done is that the cysts aren't forming as they were because the hormone imbalance isn't there, which means I can ovulate, which means I have an actual cycle.  If I start going off my low-sugar diet, my next cycle is late... every time.  Coincidence?  I don't believe so.

I know I am not a doctor.  But there's got to be something to this.  I had a friend who dealt with IBS and rheumatoid arthritis for 20 years before finally a doctor did some testing and found out she had Celiac disease (severe gluten intolerance).  She had been on SO many medications and been in pain for years.  She cut out gluten and within weeks she felt amazing.  She dropped all her medications, gained some much-needed weight, and was able to walk and move with no pain.  I had another friend who dealt with chronic migraines... turns out it was Celiacs.  Yet another friend who dealt with problems losing weight, depression, fertility issues... PCOS.  Once they cut out the culprits in their diets their symptoms lessened or in some cases ceased completely. 

So what does that have to do with Whole 30 you may ask?  I'll tell you.  Whole 30 cuts out gluten, peanuts, milk, sugar... all these things that are possible allergens or have inflammatory components, for 30 days giving your body the chance to heal from the effects of eating them for so long.  Eventually you can begin to intelligently start adding back in some of the healthier ones and see how they make you feel.  If you feel fine, then you probably aren't sensitive to them. 

To me, it just makes sense!  If you're dealing with issues that doctors have never been able to explain or treat, if you've tried endless medications or treatments with no success, why not try this?  It's easy and simple.  No special foods for foreign lands, no powders you have to sprinkle before every meal, no pills, no excessive amounts of bacon or grapefruit.  You just eat real food in the right combinations and lots of it.  To me, the little sacrifices of milk and sugar and bread are totally worth the way that I'm feeling... and I'm only on day 10.

So, that's my story so far and my reason for doing this.  I could honestly see myself eating this way forever.  Does that mean I'll never again experience the creamy goodness of cheese cake or eat another buttery roll while dining out?  NO!  What would life be without the occasional cheesecake or dinner roll?  Empty, I say!  EMPTY!  However, these should be considered occasional exceptions, not the everyday rule. 

Please check out their website.  Yes they have a group that you can pay to subscribe to and there's also a book for sale, but you can get the majority of the information you need to start today right on their website for free, that's what I did.  They WANT people to feel better and they've given the tools we need to do it.  So just take a gander.  It's really not as hard as it may seem.  And after 10 days, my morning banana tastes like candy, my afternoon serving of cashews and pistachios are a real treat, and I'm loving eating so many vegetables everyday.  I guess the real question is how do you want to feel and what are willing to do to feel that way?  It's only 30 days!  720 hours in which you spend about 240 sleeping.  If it might change the rest of your life, what is 480 hours really?