Day ?

Alright, alright, I know I have been super LAME with this challenge so at this point I'm scrapping it and starting fresh. To be honest I'm pretty content with how things have been going over the last week or so. I'd say I've eaten about 80% Paleo but definitely partaken in a bit of dairy and alcohol. I will say that over the last couple days I've had more wine than I'd like to admit. A good friend of mine was in town, so I allowed myself to indulge. I also discovered the oh so dangerous Trader Joe's flour-less chocolate cake. Not something I'd indulge in on a regular basis, but a delightful once-in-a-while treat. Here's the thing, I'm not perfect, I live in the real world surrounded by all the challenges that come with living in our overfed, overweight, over-medicated society. I think being honest and writing about my struggles, along with my triumphs, is way more beneficial than trying to be perfect ALL the time. It's just not realistic. I will say that once you start down the path of clean eating, it really does suck you in, and your perception of food changes. I find myself preferring to stay clear of grains and really craving fresh ingredients.

I've decided I need to make one large goal and then a few small action steps to get me closer to that goal. I'm honestly thinking it would be awesome to sign up for some type of fitness competition. I like that idea because then the goal is not to "loose weight" its to "be able to compete in a fitness competition." I'm not set on this yet, but I think it would be an awesome thing to work towards. 

So after months of putting it off, I finally got my blood work done. I even watched the nurse do it! That was the first time in my life that I didn't have to close my eyes and focus on my breathing for fear of passing out. Woohoo! I was really curious about my cholesterol levels and my thyroid function, but I went ahead and did a fairly extensive panel since I was getting stuck anyway. I got the results this morning and pulled out the results from my previous 2 labs draws to compare. I was about 2 hours post breakfast when the blood was taken, so I hadn't fasted. Sorry, but waiting til 10am before eating just wasn't gonna happen. So here's how my number compare:

My last cholesterol panel was checked in 2010 and my total was 191mg/dl with and HDL (good) of 70mg/dl and an LDL of 107mg/dl. My total triglycerides were 69mg/dl. Yesterday's results were total: 207mg/dl, HDL: 75mg/dl, LDL:121mg/dl, and triglycerides: 56mg/dl.

My thyroid function looked pretty good last year, but my Np only checked my TSH and Free T4, which were both normal. Yesterday I looked at TSH, Free T4, and Free T3.

Vitamin D last year was 21ng/ml and is now up to 45ng/ml.

Based on my results, I have a better idea of what I'm needing to supplement, and how things are looking. While my total cholesterol is on "high" side, but HDL is the best predictor of cardiac risk, and mine is really high. Nevertheless, I need to start taking my fish oil more regularly. My TSH and Free T4 both look excellent but my Free T3, the active form of thyroid hormone, is on the low side. Therefore it wouldn't hurt to add some iodine to my routine. I'm debating whether or to not to also supplement with selenium, zinc, copper and tyrosine (there are many "thyroid support" products that contain all of these). Vitamin D has certainly improved, but is still a good 40 points away from where I'd like it, so I'm upping my dose from 10,000 IUs to 20,000IUs for the next month. Here's my list of daily supplements starting tomorrow:

Gaia Adrenal support- 2 tabs in the am
Vitamin D- 20,000 IUs daily
Iodine- 225mcg/day
DHA/EPA fish oil 1,000mg/day
Probiotic- 1/day
digestive enzymes- 1 tab with 2 meals/day

 Again, I'm debating about whether to start a thyroid support or just take a good multi-vitamin. I plan on consulting my another Np to see what she thinks. This may seem like a lot, but really once you get in the habit, you don't even think about taking these things.  I always think its funny when people scoff at my supplements, yet they themselves are taking 6 different medications!

I also wanted to share a handy little discovery I made at Whole Foods yesterday. I love getting their sushi bowls which have brown rice, ahi, salmon, shrimps, avocado, cucumber, and mixed green. I wanted one for lunch yesterday but wanted to stay Paleo, so special ordered one without the sauce and without rice. It ended up being less that $5 for lots of fresh fish, avocado, cucumber, green, and a bunch of ginger. Delicious!