Day 4 and Day 5.
My energy levels have been consistently higher. I have worked out four days in a row this week, which during a regular work week is an accomplishment. I am coming home from work, wanting to write, make supper and do things around the house. Even though I am doing those things one hundred percent in my pajamas, I am still doing them. I am excited to wake up in the morning and excited to go to sleep. I feel motivated during the work day to get things done, even during that last hour when we are watching the hands on the clock tick consistently in the same direction. I don’t want this energy and mood level to change, I am less irritable, which is a major change from the last few months.
Physically I am feeling less bloated, which in turn makes me feel lighter. My theory is that there is a connection between the physical bloat and baggage that I felt I was carrying and my irritability levels. If I feel uncomfortable with my body during a certain frame of time, I am not going to be sunshine and rainbows. I feel good. I feel light, I don’t mean my weight, but my stress level, what I am carrying each day. Even though I have been liking cheese the last four days, the high fat dairy products do not seem to be affecting me negatively.
I have been doing a little googling, just to satisfy my curiosity in what could have possibly been causing the bloat. Commonly, vegetables cause a lot of bloat because they create gas; however, this doesn’t seem to be the case with me, since my vegetable intake as been significantly higher in the last five days and yet the bloat is decreasing. Bloating is generally caused by gas build up, creating a pressure in your gut post meal; each person is unique when it comes to what foods may or may not cause them to bloat. When looking through the different articles and comparing my new diet the last few days, I have to look at what I have been eating less. Obviously, I have been eating less meat, but what does the meat carry that might be causing me to hold onto a little extra gas?
Meat protein consists of a lot of B-vitamins, which are fantastic for us; however, meat protein does not consist of the folate B-vitamin. The vitamin that is recommended for women at childbearing age. I have been adding a lot more foods in my diet that consist of this vitamin; dark greens and legumes have been my highest consumption, next to cheese. This means that I have been getting my protein intake with a high folate food group, satisfying the nutrients that I need at my age, without adding the extra vitamins and salts from the meat. My observation is not that I shouldn’t eat meat, but that the bloat was possibly because I was lacking the nutrients that my body needed, and over the last five days I have been giving it those nutrients with the foods that I have been eating. The connection that I can make with this is that, for my age, I needed to be adding these nutrients in my diet, and I wasn’t, my body was reacting to its lack of food, both through vitamins, as well as actual food consumption. I have been strict on making sure that I eat, not getting distracted at work and forgetting my lunch or snacks. This also plays a large role because now my body is being fed what it needs to be fed, when it needs to be fed and the amount that it needs to be fed.
I am still going to be analyzing the changes that I feel physically and emotionally; however, so far this experiment has been a success in understanding what my own body needs at this stage in my life. There are still two days left, lets see what other interesting events occur.
Resources
Derington, J. (2016). Nutrients in meat. Retrieved from https://meatscience.org/TheMeatWeEat/topics/meat-in-the-diet/nutrients-in-meat
Gunnars, K. (2018). 11 proven ways to reduce or eliminate bloating. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-proven-ways-to-reduce-bloating
Moore, L. (2015). 11 ways every woman’s body changes in her 20s. Retrieved from https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a47313/ways-every-womans-body-changes-in-her-twenties/
Olivenstein, K. (2016). Women nutritional needs from your 20s to 60s. Retrieved from https://motivenutrition.com/women-nutrition-needs-20s-60s/
Raman, R. (2017). How your nutritional needs change as you age. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nutritional-needs-and-aging
Ware, M. (2018). Why is folate good for you. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287677.php
Watson, S. (2018). What is the best age to get pregnant. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/best-age-to-get-pregnant