Most of the time my doctor's appointments are by phone. It's incredibly efficient considering I can meet during work time without ever leaving my office.
But today I went in person and brought two of my girls, and our new pet.
This is Dakota wearing her Halloween costume. It came yesterday afternoon and she wore it the rest of the day, through the night, and all day today.
She asked to wear it to my office and the doctor's; I don't really care where she wears it, so there's that! She's our cute Kota Cow.
The doctor gave me more supplements to take. He always explains what they're for, and it always makes sense at the time, but then I never remember. Some I take 3 times a day, some once, and some twice. One I take four times. It's a lot to keep track of.
Some are for adrenal health, some for my endocrine system, and some for things I can't really remember. Some I take long-term, some for a month. They change about every 30 days as my body heals from the inside out. I kind of thought that once you found vitamins and supplements you need, you just keep taking them. But I'm learning some things about supplements I hadn't considered.
Today I started a pro-biotic and post-biotic. I've bought these before and thought I understood what they're used for and what to look for. Then I learned they aren't long-term for bodies- they're meant to create your body's microbiome and then it's maintained by the food you eat.
Your gut microbiome contains bacteria and other stuff that live in our bodies- somewhere in the number of trillions of them. They have an impact related to metabolic functions, immunity, and other things I can't remember. The key to maintaining it once it's created is variety of food- especially a variety in non-starchy vegetables and fruit, fresh fish, etc., and foods really high in fiber. The more diverse, the more health benefits the bacteria can contribute to.
This is a little hard for me. I like repetition when I find something I like.
Sometimes I can listen to the same song over and over for a week and I feel pretty good about it.
When I find a food I like, I also feel pretty good about eating it for every meal until I'm sick of it.
I guess not anymore.
We're supposed to change up what we eat every three days or less.
Today my doctor told me I should go to a Chinese grocery store and buy all the vegetables that look like monsters, blend them up in a smoothie, and take a shot of 2-3 ounces. He told me not to think of it like a smoothie because it tastes like dirt, but that it would be incredible for my gut biome. I'm only considering this suggestion because I don't like things that taste like dirt.
I've been "testing" and trying new foods every week as I heal. It makes me nervous, but I can mostly tell when my body isn't ready for something, or when I doesn't sit well with me. So far I can add quite a few things to my food list: 90% lean beef, corn masa, amaranth, millet, brown rice, cocoa, 70% dark chocolate, white potatoes, edamame, and a few others I can't remember.
Food for thought:
A serving size of white potatoes should be half your fist. I have small fists, so this was good for me to know.
Millet and amaranth are pretty good- much better than I thought they'd be. First I tried amaranth as a porridge with monk fruit extract and a banana. It was okay. But tonight when I tried it again I cooked it in homemade chicken broth with millet, then mixed it with seasoned ground turkey and baked it in bell peppers. Stirred in some roasted cauliflower rice and salted the hell out of it. It was good enough I took this picture of it and added to my list of dinners I'll definitely make again.
Cocoa is not good in oatmeal like I thought it would be.
But I did make a hot cocoa out of it that I thought was pretty tasty- a tablespoon of cocoa in unsweetened almond milk with homemade vanilla and monk fruit extract. It was the most delicious "sweet" treat I've had in almost two months, so I raved. I was so excited I made one for Tim. He smiled and drank it and then said no thanks... hahaha.
Homemade corn tortillas are pretty incredible. Corn flour, water, and Amber's tortilla press I borrowed two weeks ago have made for some pretty tasty tacos. Fish tacos, meat and rice, yummy. So yummy I asked for my own tortilla press for my birthday.
Edamame is okay but not spectacular.
I'd be okay not eating white potatoes anymore, or rare occasions. My body's chemistry tolerates them okay but I learned they are definitely not good for blood-sugar balance, so I feel okay about white sweet potatoes instead.
I've really learned how to read ingredient labels and can recognize all the things that folks put in our every day food that pretty much sucks for our health. I'm learning all the different names of sugar, and I've been disgusted to learn what sugar is in, which is everything, even things like spices that are not sweet. I'm pretty conscious of how things are made and how I cook things. I use lots of avocado and olive oil, lots and lots of real salt (go Redmond), lots of herbs, and that's pretty much it. All of my meals, except for fruit, are savory. Meals and snacks take a lot of prep and a lot of time, so I try to make extra every time.
Finally- the other thing I've "tested" in is exercise. I am not unfamiliar with exercise, and I've usually always liked to exercise, so I was surprised when he said I had to "test it in". It started with twice a week exercise- three minutes of resting exercise (like walking) and thirty seconds of all-out-can't-catch-your-breath exercise, repeated five times. Seemed like no big deal compared to what I used to do at Orange Theory- that kicked my trash with the all out intensity intervals for an hour. Until my body was on a better track, that hard of intensity for my body wasn't doing it any favors, so starting off small is a-okay. I feel pretty good about this too.
Overall, I still feel great.
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