Food, Fat and Fatigue - Getting Real Part 2

I am heading into the 4th week of the food program with Shonda Holt, an Edmonton Functional Nutrition Practioner (Nourishing Yourself). I decided to try her program because I was frustrated with my hormones, digestion issues and weight gain. Although I eat fairly clean and am very active, I felt something was off. The first few weeks were interesting as I was learning how to cook and prepare food from a different perspective. Planning is the key!

The hunger feels different, and I have only had a few craving, one for ice cream a few nights ago. But I know my tummy will hurt... so I passed that one. The very best thing has been sleeping. My thermostat turned down, the extreme hot flashes have gone, so guess who is sleeping better....me! Yeah!

But the hardest thing has been handling stress. Although I don't feel stressed, my body has become used to operating at a high stress level and it has become my normal.

Shonda challenged me to spend time during the day to stop and breath. She suggested I take a minute before each meal and just breath, focusing on my heart. It relaxes me, but I keep forgetting to do it. Some resistance here I think. I have been meditating before bed and in the morning before I get up, which is really nice, except I keep falling back to sleep.

This morning I was down just over 5 lbs. My tummy is a little flatter and overall I feel pretty good. I have had several days of extreme fatigue, probably because I am not eating enough. From what Shonda tells me this is a common problem for women my age. It is not over-eating, it is under-eating and not getting enough nourishment from the food we eat. This is where Shonda is so great, lots of recipe ideas and always there to help me when I don't know what to do next.

An a big thanks to all the food bloggers who post great recipes online that are free from wheat, gluten, and dairy, it makes preparing meals so much easier.

I finally broke down and bought a new Ninja blender, holy cow, that thing could almost cut the grass, it is so powerful. It even came with a little food processor and smoothie cups.

Still have some challenges to tackle, but overall feeling like this right choice for me.

Dianna Bowes is the founder of Fabulous@50 and creative director of the Be Fabulous! EMagazine.