GUT RESET: WEEK ONE:
So I’ve just finished the first week of my gut microbiome reset. If you missed part one, you can find it HERE. This week was all about just jumping in to my meal plan, since I had figured out all of my meals last week, and stocked up on all of the ingredients I’d need.
Results this week: I lost 1 ½ pounds overall, and an inch off of my waist. Not too shabby, considering it is REALLY difficult for me to lose weight; when there aren’t many extra pounds to lose, they don’t come off easily. Also very cool that my goal is really to shrink the menopause belly, and that the weight came off the belly!
No change in the amount or intensity of hot flashes yet- but I’m not expecting hormonal changes until much later in the process, as they are contingent upon balancing out the intestinal flora first.
My Lyme coinfection rash seems mildly improved- it’s less purple, and lighter in color. Some of the more raised bumpy parts are less bumpy. And no new splotches this week.
I did experience a lot of fatigue for the first couple of days, which was disheartening since I don’t typically feel tired or run down, and usually have ample energy throughout the day. However, I think this was due to my stressing over the meal plan, and doing way too much on day one (all the shopping, all the prepping, so much veggie chopping and cooking and container-ing… holy crow that was HOURS of work!).
What I’ve learned this week: I’m going to switch my prep day to Friday, so I can meal plan and shop before the weekend. Doing my prep on a Monday left me too tired, staying up hours past my bedtime just to finish cooking and storing and cleaning before an early start the next day. Prepping on Friday means if I need to batch prep I can do smaller chunks of work over the course of the weekend.
Sticking with novel dinners each night worked well, as I didn’t have to prep anything if I didn’t want to. And eating the same breakfast and lunch mid-week was great, since those are my hefty work schedule days. I don’t have time to prep each meal, so having grab-and-go containers was easy and alleviated a lot of night-before prep stress that I usually have.
My husband was super helpful in the first two days, pointing out that stressing over food options was NOT going to help me get results. Raising my cortisol levels is going to ADD to the belly I’m trying to shrink, negating the gains I’d get with those food options in the first place. Once I focused on keeping calm, letting things go, and allowing myself grace when making mistakes and figuring things out, the remainder of the week went much smoother.
Goals for week two: Meal planning on Friday, shopping Friday, and breaking out meal prep over the weekend will be my big change in the plan this week. I feel so much calmer and focused now, plus I have seven more days of experience to help me frame my planning. I also have some big results so far, which is super fueling my motivation to keep going!
See you next week for another check in, and hopefully some more progress and insight.
Blessings,
Melanie
