Two Weeks In - DHwRF

Two weeks.  I've been doing this crazy diet for two weeks.

And guess what?  It's really not that bad anymore.

I know.  You think I'm crazy.  But really.

Reason this diet isn't horrible anymore #1:
My cravings have dissipated and rarely knock me off my feet anymore.  Just tonight, I just sat at a dinner at church and had people offering me gluten-free pizza and salad and coffee and sodas and cookies and oh man it smelled so good.  But I was able to sit between two other ladies who were chowing down on pizza and cookies and honestly I was fine.  Did it smell good?  Yes.  Did I wish I could have some?  Yes.  But did I want to punch someone like I would have wanted to a week earlier?  No.  It was totally manageable.

Reason this diet isn't horrible anymore #2:
I always know what to make for dinner.  Seriously, meal planning for myself is SO EASY right now. Every meal is pick a meat, pick a veggie side, and choose water, hot tea, or kombucha to drink. If I'm craving sweets, I know to go for my ghee bites or raspberry gummies.  If I'm craving crunchy snacks, I go for spinach chips.  It's so simple.  I buy the same foods every time I go to the grocery store and don't have to bother with searching through recipes or making long grocery shopping lists.  It's actually a quite efficient way to meal plan.  [Side note:  I'm not sure my husband is loving this so much, though.  We both, in general, love to have variety in our diets.  He and the kids are basically eating what I eat or some variation of it, maybe with a potato or some rice on the side or an extra veggie.  He's probably getting pretty sick of the diet at this point since he's not reaping any obvious health benefits from it like I am...]

Which leads me to reason this diet isn't horrible anymore #3:
I'm starting to feel like a normal person!!!  I am seriously so excited about this.  Just within the last few days, I've started only needing 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours of sleep per night.  This is compared to the 10 to 12 hours of sleep (minimum) I was needing for quite a while leading up to now.  Do you know what that means???? It means that I have 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 extra hours in my day.  It means I'm actually getting fully rested, so I'm not dragging through my days feeling fatigued.  I have more energy to live life, and I have more awake hours of life to live.  You guys, THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!!  The interesting thing about this is that it all turned around the day after I had a complete emotional breakdown over my life.  God gave me an answer to my cries for help, He gave me some hope.  He gave me the physical ability to actually live my life without wanting to collapse.  Because seriously, living out this diet while trying to do normal life and take care of a family AND being incredibly sickly with zero energy was SO HARD.  Hence my breakdown.  But now, God willing, the hardest part is past me.  And I am SO, SO excited about this!!

For an update on my symptoms:

Digestive symptoms: My GI symptoms are basically gone other than bloating, and that only seems to happen when I eat raspberries.  I expect raspberries to give me symptoms anyway, due to their fructose content (I have fructose malabsorption).  [I'm keeping raspberries in my diet due to their supposed ability to fight h. pylori infections, even though they're technically not DHwRF-compliant.]

Reflux symptoms: My esophagus finally stopped hurting from the previous week's injury on Wednesday.  So it took one week to heal.  I still occasionally get reflux at night when taking my supplements, and when I do I just drink some apple cider vinegar in water and the reflux stops.  So this is still something I need to watch.

Autoimmune symptoms:  So much better!!!!  Fatigue is basically gone and I'm actually feeling like I could start exercising again soon.  No more body aches, chills, or feeling drained.  I do get frequent aches in my legs, which I've had my whole life.  I'll be curious to see if these stop with the diet. When I get them I usually take a hot Epsom salt bath to relax the muscles since pain meds like NSAIDS need to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.  My eyes are still dry but not so severe that they cause me discomfort during the day.  My mouth does not seem to be dry at all.  Hair is still falling out but the amount seems to be lessening.

Cravings: Amazingly, I don't get severe cravings anymore.  Would coffee taste good?  Yes.  Would chocolate taste good?  Yes.  But will I punch someone if they eat it in front of me?  No.  And let me tell you, it is SO AWESOME to feel like I'm controlling my cravings rather than them controlling me.

So all in all, I seem to be on track to be healthy again soon.  I am so excited.  And hopefully that means I'll be able to start reintroductions at three weeks or soon after. :)

(To read the list of what foods I am currently eating, you can read my previous post here: http://www.just1step.com/2015/03/one-week-in-dhwrf-update.html.)

What about you other readers who are on the diet?  Have you been experiencing improvement in your symptoms??