Tag: sleep

Posted in Updates

The AIP and me

Posted on by nlchronicles

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

If you caught my first update of the year, then you’ll remember that I wanted to try the AIP, autoimmune protocol. So what is it? It’s a complementary elimination diet to remove foods that could be a trigger and help heal your gut. There’s also a lifestyle component that focuses on sleep, reduction of stress and movement among other things. Now I will be honest, I tried a semi-elimination diet about 2 years ago but didn’t go all in.

And going all in for me is EVERYTHING!

I find that if I try to slowly transition, I’ll cheat because I keep putting off the next item to eliminate. This time, I did go about 95% elimination as there were food items that wouldn’t last too long. But I didn’t replace those. So now I’m going on all in. And here are my thoughts:

  • Meal prepping is crucial. Since I’ve eliminated so many things, I have to cook alllllll the time. I live in a college town and there are just lots of chain restaurants and fast food places. I do have a couple of go to places just in case but I’m trying to limit my use of those.
  • Sleep is your friend! I have to go into the office one day per week and need to get up earlier to be on time. But my go to bed time is about the same = less overall sleep. And I can definitely tell a difference.
  • Movement as exercise. This is a carryover from working with my nutritionist (who I’m starting to work with again!) but finding movement that works with you and doesn’t burn you out is important. I overdid my movement today while watching Encanto and dancing merengue in my living room! But I recognize that and will focus on restorative movements tomorrow.
  • Trying different recipes has been very helpful. I also track my nutrients in an app to see where I’m landing since the goal of AIP is to focus on nutrient density. In my case, dialing back my fats would be helpful.
  • And I can’t say enough about drawing inspiration from those who have completed the AIP and seen such tremendous progress. My goal is to try this for 3 months before methodically introducing food in stages. In full transparency, the first 10 days were not fun. It was like a detox for me but I know that doesn’t happen for most. If I have detox symptoms again next month, I’ll try introductions earlier. It’s recommended to do AIP for at least 4 weeks before reintroductions.

I’ll keep you posted on how this goes! Have you tried an elimination diet? If so, how did it go for you? Let’s share our experiences!

Posted in Health experiments

Trying CBD

Posted on by nlchronicles

So I’ve read the info about CBD oil and given my battle with inflammation and sleep challenges, I decided to give it a try because why not 🤷🏽‍♀️ What do I have to lose but inflammation?! And if I sleep better, inflammation naturally decreases.

Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

I tried more than one brand on my way to choosing the one that I use now. Since I don’t want a potential lawsuit, I’ll not mention the names of the others. The first was from a health food store that I frequent often. It seemed to work but the taste was awful. Just imagine eating weed. That’s how the oil tasted as it was unflavored. I don’t know how anyone could use that long term. So I decided to try flavored CBD oils. One flavored one was from another health food store that I go to alllllll the time. A plus for the flavor but OMG- I stayed sleepy with that brand and always had brain fog. So I kept researching until …

I decided to give One Farm a try. Now, I really didn’t want to try it because I have to order online and I’d rather get something in person, if possible. I learned of the brand through my part time job; I work for a research doctor who had discussed the results of studies and mentioned this product. So I made sure to order a flavored version.

And – this one has a great taste which is a plus for sure. I tend to sleep better when I take a dose along side winding down at night (easier said than done!). I’m not sure where I stand with inflammation levels just yet. I am researching functional doctors so that I can get my C Reactive protein tested and see where I land. My trial period is always 3 months to decide whether I’ll stick with a practice as natural methods tend to take more time to resolve issues.

Just a note – I am not affiliated with One Farm. I do not get any kickbacks from mentioning the product here. They have other products that I’m going to try in the future and will share the results. Have you tried any CBD products? What has been your experience?

Posted in supplements

Magnesium – Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Welcome to the third week of Wellness Wednesdays! Today’s focus is magnesium. Allow me to remind everyone that I am not giving medical advice, but just sharing my journey that has allowed me to move toward better health.

What is magnesium? According to the Nutrition Source of the Harvard School of Public Health, magnesium is a mineral that “plays an important role in assisting more than 300 enzymes to carry out various chemical reactions in the body such as building proteins and strong bones, and regulating blood sugar, blood pressure, and muscle and nerve functions.” It basically helps with everything.

In PCOS, women tend to need more magnesium than the recommended daily dosage. It can be difficult for my muscles to relax and magnesium is responsible for that. Have you ever taken magnesium citrate? See how quickly your digestive system relaxes from that! And even though I don’t take the citrate form (I use buffered chelate magnesium), if you have too much, it can cause diarrhea. So I now take approximately 600 mg of magnesium daily and it has works wonders.

I can sleep better. My bowel movements are regular and easy, which has not always been the case. I’ve dealt with low motility and that is the worst ever. And of course, magnesium helps with the other 300 processes mentioned above that I didn’t even realize were connected until I started using it. I even use a topical magnesium spray for areas that tend to stay tight, like the cervical area or hips.

I’ve recommended the use of supplemental magnesium to family members. They both mentioned it to their respective doctors and their doctors agreed with my recommendations! One person, my mom, has seen improvements in her sleep as she is better able to relax, bm consistency and help with sciatic nerve pain that she was dealing with. I sent her the magnesium spray as well to help with areas that she needs to address.

I am not saying that supplemental magnesium is for everyone. Checking with your medical care team is a must. But it has definitely come through for me and been a game changer! Have you tried magnesium? If so, please comment below with your thoughts. I’ll see you next week! 🎊

Posted in Overall health, self-care, Work/life balance

Sleep – Wellness Wednesdays

Posted on by nlchronicles

Where do I even begin with making sleep a priority? Looking back, for years I ran on little sleep which didn’t help me to better health. Then, for awhile, I would go to sleep really easily but wake up around 1 or 2 am and just be in the bed, wide awake until about 5, doze off and jump up to a 6 am alarm. I would maybe get 4 hours of sleep. Not enough hours and lack of quality caught up with me.

And I knew I needed to do better because I felt tired all the time. I would need a nap in the middle of the day, which worked out as I worked remotely at the time. But I felt awful and it affected everything else.

I follow a couple of functional doctors who kept emphasizing the need for quality sleep as well. Then I started with working my nutritionist (I actually work with two now who focus on different things). The first one really helped me to understand the importance of sleep and how it allows the body to repair itself and reduces inflammation, which is HUGE for me. And it’s made such a positive difference.

So if you are not getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep, rethink your routine. Wear blue blocker glasses after dark. Limit the amount of time you watch tv, especially at night. Don’t use overhead lights after dark. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule, even on the weekends. Meditate before bed to get your mind prepared to sleep. These are all changes that I made and continue to tweak as I still work on this area.

Any suggestions on how to improve sleep quality? Comment below and share what works for you.