Vian

My mom suffered from anxiety attacks most of her adult life. I didn't start with it until a little over a year ago when I got sick with a really nasty chicken pox-like virus. I was sick for 5 weeks, my knees swelled up so I couldn't walk, I had a 102 degree fever for a week and a half, and went to the ER once. I took an 8 day taper course of prednisone for my knees being so swollen, and every time I stepped down the dose I was hit with debilitating anxiety. The illness had made me tachycardic and hypertensive (fast heart rate and high BP, like 130 BPM and 140/90) and then the prednisone sent me in the opposite direction with slow heart rate and low BP, like 50bpm and 90/40 (normal for me is 80bpm and 115/65). Anyway, I started freaking out about my heart, plus I started getting really strong heart palpitations and muscle twitches all over my body. I would literally make my mom (an RN) check my blood pressure several times a day, and I'd be bawling my eyes out thinking I was going to die in my sleep because of the palpitations. I also started getting a weird hot/tense feeling in my left arm and chest pain.

I eventually found out the palpitations are premature ventricular contractions, which are harmless, and the chest pain and weird feeling in my arm were pure stress and anxiety. I started taking lots of magnesium which really helped everything, and a supplement called L-theanine, which really helped the anxiety too. Now I get a palpitation maybe once or twice a month, vs. several a day when it first started, and I only get the weird feeling in my arm when I have a really stressful day at work. Getting diagnosed and finding out that the palpitations were harmless and my heart is perfectly healthy otherwise went a LONG way towards relieving my anxiety about it.

"In this world, you will have trouble. but take heart, for I have overcome the world." John 16:33

This is pretty insulting to those that bodybuild, FYI.

That's my opinion. I think the people in those bodybuilding competitions use unhealthy practices to look the way they want (getting down to unsustainable, unhealthy body fat percentages, dehydrating themselves dangerously before competitions, some of them I'm sure use steroids and testosterone) for a result that is frankly pretty disgusting looking. I think it's really gross to be able to see the striations in someone's muscles through their skin. I'm all for weightlifting and getting strong, I just think those bodybuilding competitions aren't really any different than beauty pageants.

Some of my go-to dinners are: 

Roast a whole chicken (coat with a little oil, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning) with carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, turnips, any combo of root veggies you like, scattered around it. I roast my chicken at 375 for 2 hours. I eat it with the root veggies for dinner that night, have leftovers for lunch the next day, then have the remaining meat for salads for another day. 

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/65246577688/orange-sriracha-chicken This recipe is the bomb. Seriously. I just do some stirfried veggies on the side, like broccoli, carrots, green onions, peppers, whatever with a little coconut aminos, fish sauce, garlic and ginger on them.

This is Autoimmune Protocol (because I'm on it right now) but it's seriously the best meatloaf I've ever had, paleo or not, AIP or not. Feel free to put ketchup on it if you like. http://autoimmune-paleo.com/nutrisclerosis-meatloaf/ I serve it with http://nomnompaleo.com/post/11136213353/roasted-kabocha-squash

http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/03/11/simple-tender-pot-roast-with-holy-grail-gravy/

Last time I had my cholesterol and stuff checked was something like 6-8 years ago. My total cholesterol was fine (something like 140-150 ish), and my LDL was fine, but my HDL was just below where they wanted to see it (39), I think my triglicerides were a bit high too. I was about 100lbs. overweight and had a crappy diet consisting of fast food and stuff from the deli counter, you know, the corn dogs and jojo's, not the cold cuts and sandwiches. 

I lost 65lbs. went full on paleo, and got my blood tested again about 4 months ago. My total cholesterol went UP to something like 190, but all of that increase was HDL. My LDL was the same (somewhere in the 80's) but my HDL skyrocketed to 89, more than double what it was. 

Basically, dietary cholesterol has very little if any bearing on serum (blood) cholesterol. Your liver produces it's own cholesterol and THAT is where the cholesterol comes from that clogs your arteries. The reason your liver produces cholesterol is because cholesterol plays a vital role as a building block of many hormones and messenger chemicals in the body (like Vitamin D3) but it also produces cholesterol to patch lesions on the insides of your arteries, like a scab. Those lesions are caused by high blood sugar, and high insulin levels, both of which are very, very irritating to the arteries. I once heard a heart surgeon describe high blood sugar and insulin levels are like running a coarse wire brush through the insides of your arteries, it scrapes them up. high cholesterol is your bodies response to inflammation, it is a symptom of a greater problem of chronic systemic inflammation, not the problem itself. Also, high total cholesterol is meaningless so long as your ratios of HDL to LDL and triglycerides are good.

I also read an article (can't find it now) that said that higher cholesterol in women is actually healthy, and protects them from heart attacks.

It all depends on motivation. Those people who get all ripped and then dehydrate themselves and cover themselves with tanning oil and wear speedos/bikinis and flex their muscles on stage infront of judges, those people are superficial. They train in such a way that their muscles get bigger, but not actually that strong compared to size. 

To me fitness is about training my body to be prepared for whatever life throws at me, and to be able to do whatever activities I want to do. I don't want to be someone who relies on others to help me lift something heavy. I love that I can take a 40lb bag of dog food and throw it over my shoulder and carry it to my car without a cart. I don't want to be like my coworker who has to ask someone else to lift the kitchenaid mixer onto the counter so she can use it (I can lift it one-handed). 

That said, nothing you say is going to make your girlfriend suddenly want to work out with you. It has to be her decision. You can encourage her, share information about how exercise helps with osteoperosis and other health benefits, but ultimately if she doesn't decide that it's something SHE wants to do, nothing you say will magically make her change her mind.

I've loved horses since I was a little kid. I thought they were beautiful, elegant, powerful. When I was in highschool, I finally got to take riding lessons at a local stable. I can't remember why I stopped, probably just life happened. I moved out, got married, and pretty much gave up everything that made me happy in life. About 5.5 years ago I got divorced, but haven't really made much progress on doing more things that make me really happy. I was complaining to my only friend about something and he told me I wasn't happy, that I needed to do something that makes me happy and I blurted out "I want to horseback ride again". I've missed it so much. I find myself daydreaming about it, the smell, the feeling of a rolling canter. Plus it's a great workout. So 4 weeks ago, I started lessons again at the same stable I was at in highschool. I love it, especially after a crappy day at work, I love getting to ride a horse, and I love that when I'm done I'm so exhausted I'm walking funny, covered in sweat and so out of breath I can't talk.

I agree, total hottie. And I love the 50's pinup girl look. you're rocking it

The last place I worked at hat wellness programs. We got discounts on our health insurance if we completed 3 a year. Some of them included a 10,000 step challenge. We got cheap pedometers and kept track of how many steps each person got each day and whoever got the most got something (which kind of sucked for the people who spent all day sitting at a sewing machine). Then we had people come in and take blood samples and put it in a little machine that checked glucose, cholesterol, etc. 

Since everyone is posting pictures....This pic is from like 10+ years ago, but I still really like it, and I was probably the same weight then as I am now. It shows off my nice ass and I like the way my shoulder blades look too. And yes, I made the corset.

I've been lucky so far in that I haven't really gotten any comments during my weight loss journey. I started when I was in college and was hanging out with people who were fairly health conscious and one woman had lost over 100lbs. and was still losing more (she'd started at about 300lbs.) Anyway, it wasn't until a month or two ago, I was at church, and my pastor had noticed a few weeks prior how much weight I'd lost, and he kind of make it a point to complement me whenever he saw me, just very innocent "You look so great, I'm proud of you" kind of stuff, which I appreciated. But then one time I mentioned that I still had another 30-40 pounds to lose and he was like "Oh no, don't do that, you'll be too skinny!" 

I was kind of surprised how much it pissed me off to be told something like that. He doesn't know what it feels like to live in my body, to constantly be aware of how my gut rolls over the top of my jeans, even still after losing 65 pounds, or to have jeans wear through in the inner thigh in a year because my thighs rub together so much. He doesn't know what a healthy weight is for my body type. I'm still over 200 pounds, I don't care who you are, that's more than a woman should weigh unless she's really tall, or really muscular. I'm only kind of tall and kind of muscular. I know I carry my weight well. I know I don't look like I weigh as much as I do, but it's not for other people to determine at what weight I'll look best. That's my decision based on how and when I feel comfortable with my body. And no, I don't have a distorted body image. I'm very realistic with what I feel is a healthy weight. losing 40 pounds from where I am now will not even put me into the healthy range of BMI, I'd be just a few pounds heavy, but I'm built like an amazon and want to be strong when it's all said and done, so I don't really give a fuck about BMI.

Don't cook any chicken in a crock pot for longer than 6 hours or it will end up with a texture like canned tuna, dry and mushy. 

My favorite crock pot recipe is to take a pork roast, sprinkle generously with salt and gratuitously with cracked black pepper, place in the crock pot, then sprinkle with about a tablespoon of juniper berries, the leaves of a couple sprigs fresh thyme, and a couple bay leaves. No added liquid. Cook on low for 8 hours and shred. It tastes just like chipotle's carnitas. Serve on lettuce with guac and salsa, in tacos, whatever, it's delicious.

I like when I look down while I'm walking and see my quads sticking out. I also realized I have a nice neck, it's pretty long and more slender than I used to think. I love seeing my clavicles too. And my boobs and butt. They are curvy and perfectly proportioned to the rest of me. I am slowly but surely coming to feel comfortable in my own skin.

Thanks! That's really helpful!

Went to the cardiologist last thursday. He said I had a heart murmur and wants me to get an EKG and wear a holter monitor for 24 hours. I found out the EKG is going to cost $1000 because I haven't met my deductible on my insurance yet. I cried all day yesterday. But I need to get it done to know what's going on. This is something that has held me prisoner for a year now, and I want to be free of it. I want to know exactly what's going on and whether or not my heart is healthy enough to exercise.

I also decided to start the autoimmune protocol, so my diet is even more restricted...not only can I not have all the things that whole30 limits, but I also can't have ghee or clarified butter, nitrites and nitrates, nuts and seeds, any thickener or preservative or artificial color in food, no nightshades or nightshade spices, no seed spices (that includes black pepper!), no gluten cross-reactive foods (including yeast - no kombucha or fermented foods -  and a number of other things) and no eggs. I also need to limit fructose to 10-20 grams a day...I don't even know how much fructose is in anything I'm eating...I'm still working on reading The Paleo Approach to figure out everything I really need to eliminate, so it's an ongoing process.

I haven't been to a doctor other than going to the urgent care my entire adult life. I had my cholesterol and stuff tested like 5 or 6 years ago at my last job as part of a wellness thing for our insurance though and my HDL was 39 (they like it to be over 40) and my LDL was over 100, somewhere around 110 (they like it to be less than 100)

I'm going to a naturopath now and she sent me to get labs done and my total cholesterol came back just under 200, HDL is now 89, and LDL is in the 80's as well. So happy about that. My thyroid is also right smack in the middle of the normal range and all my other labs look good too. Hooray! Now I just need to figure out what's causing my psoriasis!

Went to my new Naturopath on Wednesday. I've never had a Primary Care Provider in my adult life, so this is new to me. I like her so far. She thinks it's awesome that I brew my own kombucha and encouraged me to try fermenting pickles and sourkraut as well, which I've been thinking of doing anyway. She suggested a bunch of supplements to help with my anxiety and heart health including Vitamin A (preformed, not beta carotene) both internally and topically for my psoriasis, fish oil, B complex with Folate (not folic acid), and L-theanine for anxiety and phytisone for adrenal support. She also refered me to a cartiologist for an EKG and stuff to make sure my heart palpitations and chest pain aren't anything more serious, plus all the standard labs like thyroid and lipid panel. I got blood drawn for those this morning.

http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2014/02/13/real-women-photoshopped/

This is so awesome! I love seeing your progress, such an inspiration. Also, You must have different LARPing where you are than I do, because all the LARPing I've seen is really stupid with people wearing tennishoes and togas throwing beanbags at each other and yelling "ARMOR PLUS FIVE!" while hitting each other with PVC pipes covered in pipe insulation, pantyhose and packing tape. Yours actually looks really badass!

back when I was doing crossfit for the first time, I discovered foam rolling. The first few sessions, I was in so much pain the next day, then I started foam rolling afterwards, and the next day, very minimal soreness. It makes such a huge difference.

Haven't updated this in a while. I've been logging all my meals over on the whole30 forums. I'm on day 26 and going strong. I feel really good and I'm hoping I can reintro full-fat, high-quality dairy on day 31 and nothing else and just stick with eating whole30 + dairy for at least another 30-60 days. I really want to break my sugar addiction. I haven't weighed myself, but my tummy looks like it sticks out less, so whether it's less bloating or actual weight loss, I'll take it. After my whole30, I want to work on making sure I do some form of exercise every day, whether it's the beginner bodyweight routine, or DDR in my garage. I prefer to workout in the morning, but I have a hard time getting up in the morning still. I just want to keep sleeping, even though I've gotten a solid 7-8 hours.

Thanks, those are very good points. I'm not quite ready to get back into crossfit yet. I feel like my fitness is not where it needs to be for that yet. Yes, I know, CF can be scaled down, but I'm REALLY out of shape (I felt like I was going to die after the 5 minute warmup on my Turbofire video last time I tried to do it) I want to at least be able to make it through 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity before trying CF again. I will definitely keep these things in mind when I do give it a try though.

Thanks! That was the kind of thing I was hoping someone would point out, I never would have noticed that or thought anything of it.

I was dabbling in crossfit about this time last year before I came down with a nasty virus that knocked me on my ass for 5 weeks and has left me with lasting anxiety and heart palpitations. I haven't really done any exercise since because I've been afraid to stress my heart. I'm still planning to see a doctor soon to get my heart checked to make sure it's healthy, but I'd really like to get back on track with my goals of getting fit and losing fat!

The other day I noticed a new crossfit box opened literally 3 blocks from my house. This is awesome because I could go early in the morning, then go home, shower, eat, and go to work! I was hoping some people who are more knowledgeable than me could look around their website and see if it looks to be a solid gym or not. I'll probably take them up on the free beginner classes soon too.

Thanks!

http://crossfitrewired.com/

I don't have anything to add about weight gain (I have the opposite problem) but I wanted to tell you that in the US (where most chickens are kept in deplorable conditions) only about 1 in 30,000 eggs has salmonella. Salmonella only gets into eggs that come from sick chickens, so if your country has better standards for farm animals than the US does, and/or you get organic/free range/humane certified eggs, the chances of getting salmonella is pretty low. It's almost non-existent if you raise your own chickens and know that they are healthy and well cared for.