It’s that time again.  It’s time for my monthly health goal update.  If you are new here, I made a commitment to set a new health goal once a month and report everything back to you.  You are my accountability partners. ???? Aren’t you excited about that?   If you missed them, here are the ones from January, February and March.  It is so much easier for me to accomplish goals when I focus on one per month.  I used to set New Year’s resolutions and fail all of them by mid January.  This way is so much easier.

Update on Past Goals

January and February goals were fairly easy for me and they are both still in full force.  My original March goals took a turn in a different direction.  I was going to count all the calories, macros, and do some intermittent fasting, but I switched a few weeks into the month.  For the first two weeks of the month, we were entering all of our calories into our fitness tracker.  And, we were trying to keep our protein up and our carbs and fat down.  One week into the month, I got the bird flu again.

The “bird flu” in our house is ANYTHING respiratory related.  It was all allergy related and it was MISERABLE.  I got the normal sore throat, snotty nose, drainage, and cough.  The cough was so bad that I ended up with bronchitis.. on the way to pneumonia.  I ended up getting a steroid shot thinking that was going to take care of it.  Two days later, I coughed so hard in the night that I threw a rib out of place.  I ended up on oral steroids… a steroid inhaler… and a stronger allergy pill to go along with my normal one and absolutely NO SLEEP.  I ended up in the chiropractor’s office more than once for my jacked up ribs. ???? It was PURE MISERY.

Autoimmune Paleo Protocol

My chiropractor ended up mentioning to me that I should probably get my allergies under control because I get sick three times a year.  And that’s no bueno.  I talked a little bit about it to the receptionist and mentioned that I had hypothyroidism, which is an autoimmune disease.  She mentioned that I should maybe follow the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol (AIP) diet for 30 days for inflammation.  The idea behind it is to eliminate a list of foods that cause LOTS of people inflammation which is the root cause for allergy and autoimmune diseases.  Which in turn will help your system calm down enough to fight off bad bugs, etc.

I mentioned starting this over on my Instagram stories and I had SEVERAL PEOPLE reach out and tell me what happened to them after following this for 30 days.  One person told me they lost 10 pounds of inflammation in one week following this protocol.  I went into this with an open mind.  The idea was to get inflammation under control but if the benefit was losing a few pounds, I will take it.  Because I have tried EVERYTHING to lose some poundages.  My tried and true Weight Watchers plan kept 20 pounds off for 15 years.  Since my thyroid issues, they slowly crept back on over a three year time frame.  I followed WW to a T last summer for a month and lost NOTHING.  Not one pound.  I’ve tried several different other things including keto which actually made me gain weight, along with training at the gym since mid January working out harder than I’ve worked out in my LIFE.  We SHAN’T forget drinking ALL OF THE WATER one can drink.  NOTHING.  I ended up gaining 1.5 pounds at my first weigh in.

What is AIP – Autoimmune Paleo Protocol

This book explains it all in simple terms.  But basically AIP is a Paleo diet on steroids, which was perfect.  I was on nothing BUT steroids for the first couple weeks of March. ???? Like I said above, you eliminate several foods that cause people issues with inflammation.  The list includes eliminating dairy, grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and nightshade vegetables.  So, basically, the diet consists of meat, AIP approved vegetables, and fruits.  You do this for a month to calm down your system and then introduce certain things one by one to see if you get a reaction.  We actually did things a little differently.  Several people also recommended calling my doctor and asking for a blood test for food sensitivities so I would know FOR SURE.  I ended up calling and asking about that and he politely called one in.. to the tune of $600.  ????  Uh… NOPE.

EverlyWell Test Kits

I did a little research and found a new to me company called EverlyWell.  They were actually on Shark Tank when Lori Greiner decided to take a chance on them as an investor.  EveryWell is a company that has mail-order test kits at reasonable prices for everything from metabolism test kits to sexually transmitted infections…. thyroid and food sensitivity tests.  It is a little controversial with doctors saying that the food sensitivity test is inconclusive, BUT….  I take that with a grain of salt.  Deflecting money away from the health industry is always bad in some doctors eyes.  Let’s not get me started on that subject.  ????  I chose to go ahead and order myself a food sensitivity test which tests for 96 common foods.

I wanted to do this so that I had an idea of what I react to.  If the reactions are high, I will try to stay away from those foods altogether.  The results should be back this week so I will keep you updated.

My Results of the AIP after Two Weeks

On day 3 of following the AIP, I felt completely different.  My joints didn’t ache.  I don’t think I realized how swollen my hands and face were until they weren’t.  I cannot tell you the messages I received telling me my face looked thinner on day 3.  Yes… after just three days.  For shits and giggles, I hopped on the scales to see what was happening.  Five pounds of inflammation were gone in the first two days.  I weighed myself yesterday, day 14, and I have lost 8 pounds total.  I cannot believe the difference in how I feel.

Is it hard and are you hungry?

These are the two main questions that I’ve gotten 100 times.  I don’t find it hard at all.  You are able to eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING from the list WHENEVER you want.  So, if you are hungry, eat.   I was hungry the first two days.  Starving to be exact.  But that went away.  I made three trips to the bathroom each night for the first week and a half because of all of the water retention that I had.   But I feel FABULOUS!

What’s next?

After I receive my test results back, I will move forward with the Paleo diet, eliminating everything that I show sensitivities to.  I will more than likely leave dairy out of my diet because that is what I believe is causing me issues. So… that’s my April goal.  It will be to finish out the next two weeks of the AIP and then switch to Paleo.  I feel it’s the best for MY body.    Like I said above, I will keep you updated on my test.  And, also let you know my thoughts on the results.

I’ve heard from a lot of you who are following the AIP as well.  How are you doing?  Hopefully you are all feeling fabulous!

SHOP A FEW BOOKS ON AIP AND PALEO