So here I was spending two years of my life living gluten free, still gaining weight and still feeling miserable, knowing that there was something else going on. I swore up and down I had a metabolism disorder but every test imaginable came back negative. In a round about way, I ended up seeing a very good local endocrinologist, who, long story short, helped me determine that part of the weight issue stemmed from a generic birth control I had been taking that caused my cortisol levels to sky rocket. So off that medication I went and onto something else that was much better for my body's hormonal balance and so we thought yay problem solved! About 10 pounds came off within two months but something else started to happen - swelling, weird 6 pound overnight weight swings, a puffy face, insomnia, tiredness, red and itchy skin, and shooting pains up my arms. It was only after a night of heavy white wine drinking that I noticed the severe swelling in my hands and recognized that I had miraculously gained 6 pounds in a span of 6 hours.
As I googled "wine allergies," a bevy of information about sulfite intolerance immediately popped up. I started reading the webpage results and sat in shock - all these things that have sulfites are things I eat! They are things I drink and they are medications I have taken (with weird side effects). So I set on a mission - eat specific sulfated foods and watch my body swell to epic proportions. Sad, right? I felt horrible but I had to see for myself if this really what was causing my problems. It also helped me gauge how I react to certain foods. From there, I was able to start compiling a list of things I could and could not tolerate, along with lists I found online of foods and drinks known to have sulfites in them. Slowly, my list has grown but as time went on, I started to feel better and lose weight.
My stomach issues disappeared. I have lost 33 pounds to date (going from a size 12 to a size 2). I have been able to put muscle on again (something I had lost because of the high cortisol levels). I am sleeping better and I stopped having weird mood swings. For the first time in close to four years, I feel normal again....more like myself than ever before. I knew that all the time I was waiting to figure out what was causing the issues, if I kept working out, at some point, something would click and then it would be smooth sailing. It was working out that kept me sane during all those years. Although frustrating when I knew I would eat right and work out like a mad woman and still gain weight, I knew I had willpower and was not going to let myself give up.
In a nutshell, that is my story. This blog is a place for me to pretty much talk to myself about the different things I am doing, eating, and want to do/see/eat/try. It's a place for me to dump all my thoughts and also keep track of recipes I find and tweak. My goal is to keep up a 5-day a week outline listed as such:
- Manic Mondays - basically a mish mash of stuff that went on during the weekend and what is going on this week
- Try It Tuesdays - I really like to try new things, particularly hair products, beauty products, hygiene and all that fun stuff in between. I will try to review a new product I have been using
- Work Out Wednesdays - My work outs pretty much are consistent throughout the week but if I come across a grueling or fun work out, I will make mention of it here or talk about some new stuff I am looking to do. I run in a lot of local races as well so I will mention that here
- Recipe Thursday - I love to cook and having a sulfite allergy means everything has to be fresh fresh fresh and from scratch. I spend hours looking at recipes until I find the perfect one I can tweak. I will post those adventures here
- What I Look Forward to Friday - Anything coming up on the weekend that I am looking forward to
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