I restarted my Whole30--again. I graduated college. The day after my final assignment was due, my family threw me a surprise party. It was lovely. They made me gluten free cake and I ate it. It was lovely. So, I started again.
Today I am on Day 6. It is going surprisingly well! I even packed my own food for a White's Foster Mom Retreat and ate clean the entire weekend! I am very proud of myself for that!
I posted on the Whole30 blog this morning about pain. Another poster had complained of a terrible stomach ache, and it got me thinking about the blessing of pain. Here is an excerpt of that post.
Try to think about what was different so you can avoid that food next time. Or were you terribly anxious for something, lack of sleep, not enough to drink, etc? I would encourage you to listen closely to your body’s signals and allow the pain to be a blessing. Pain is the body’s way of talking to us. In a great workout, for example, pain tells us we’ve challenged ourselves. A quick recovery from that pain tells us we are getting where we want to go with those workouts. Continued pain tells us we’re either not doing the exercise correctly or that we’ve pushed too far that time–or that we are not eating properly or hydrating adequately.
Similarly, outside of the gym (listen to me here, like I am a gym rat or something–I’m coming, though, gym rat friends! I’ll be with you soon!) pain tells us something is not right. We’re not supposed to have pain after eating or after yard work, etc. We all perceive pain as our enemy, but it is actually a blessing. People who have leprosy don’t feel pain at all. Diabetics sometimes do not have pain. This is why these folks have problems with unhealed wounds and amputations, etc. They would love to have the sensation of pain to tell them that their shoes don’t fit right or that they have gotten too close to the burner, etc.
I suffered from fibromyalgia for years. For folks with fibromyalgia, your body sends signals to your brain that you are in pain, when you have done nothing to cause the pain at all. And a day of working in the yard can lay you up for the next week. It’s a horrible way to live, to just be in pain all the time and have no good reason to chalk it up to.
The right foods can regulate our body’s pain response system. The right foods can set our brain chemistry in better alignment, straighten out our hormonal imbalances, and cause our bodies to function in the way they were originally created to.
When we experience pain or gut discomfort, I think we need to examine our past few hours or days and reflect on what we have eaten as well as on our stress levels and emotional issues. Our bodies are responding to something. If we can find the root of the pain or discomfort, we can often find ways to amend our lives to avoid that the next time.
Pain is a great tool if we will use it effectively. Just some deep thoughts this morning.
You know how you just KNOW that something has shifted in your thinking? I am sure that I have experienced a paradigm shift in my thinking/experiencing of food and eating. I am here, two hours after getting up, not having eaten yet. There are homemade biscuits and gravy in the fridge that my husband made while I was away at my retreat. I literally have no desire to eat it! I am going to make myself a couple of eggs and then get ready for a full day of work (I only work outside the home a few times a month; today is one of those). I feel empowered by my weekend of staying on the Whole30 while I was on my retreat.
Life is just so good. Why would I want to ruin that by not taking care of myself? I love being pain free. I love waking up and being able to swing my feet over the bed and stand right up. I love working in the yard or exercising and having that sort of comfortable pain that says, “yeah, I worked those muscles, and look what all got accomplished because of it”, but then feel great again the next day.
This is LIVING! I kind of like it this way! :) Be blessed, Whole30 Buds! A great day to all of you!
Thank you!
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