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Eudaimonia tip #35 – Adaptation is the key to your survival 

Question: What is the one thing in life that remains constant? Anyone anyone? 

Answer: Change! 

Or more specifically, the idea that we can plan all we want, but sometimes life takes a different turn throwing us into a new way of living, just when we got used to our chosen road.  

The last few months have been one giant frustration-fest as every time I went to write, I found my words were negative and downright depressing. It was then that I decided I would retreat into the shadows, not wanting to be seen, and in the case of my blog, not wanting to be read. 

My vision was simple. I would blog about my weight loss journey shedding the pounds and being victorious every day. Of course, we all want it to be that simple. The reality was more like slow weight loss with one complication after another. 

Then I remembered why I started this blog in the first place to show Excellence, understanding, determination, authenticity, and inspiration. I want to inspire others with my words, but sometimes there is no inspiration found within for the words to make sense. The next best thing to being inspirational is to be authentic. So here’s what has been going on with my health and weight loss adventure. 

My previous posts shared my venture into the Keto lifestyle, which I quickly grew to love. I loved not having cravings for sweets. I loved having energy and having a clear head. I loved that I could eat once or twice a day and not be hungry in-between. I loved that I was not a slave to food anymore.  

Just as I thought I had found the foods to eat that would keep me satiated with no cravings, things started to go wonky with my monthly cycle. It was not only late, but it lasted way longer than usual. This went on for September and October, causing me great overall dismay. My fuse was short and not sweet. The easy-breezy attitude I had over the summer that everything will work out was overcome with anger, concern, desperation, and overall just a pissy mood that once again I had to deal with some crap that my body didn’t like.  

Enter Dr. Huang, who is my new holistic doctor, since the other one I was seeing left the practice. I have theories as to why he is gone, but I’ll save that for another post. My first impression of Dr. Huang gives me hope that he is a keeper. He was calming, listened to my issues, and confirmed what was kicking around in the back of my head.  

My already compromised kidney cannot handle the high protein diet and over-stressing my liver, causing my hormones to back up and not flush from my body as designed. I believe Dr. Huang’s exact words were “Your hormones are like plastic.” which means they aren’t moving out of my body as intended resulting in a wonky cycle. I was an overly hormonal toxic mess, which isn’t where one wants to be when trying to lose weight. 

I’ve never felt restricted since diagnosed with chronic bilateral hydronephrosis until now. While it’s not a death sentence, and I’m well aware there are worse diseases to live with, I do not want to lose a kidney, or worst-case scenario have to go on dialysis someday.  

So Keto is finito for me, and the mind-trip that this abrupt change in diet caused was not fun. I struggled with what to eat since I quickly became accustomed to eating a lot of protein. I refused to go back to my old eating habits of chips and popcorn and all that starchy crap. I decided that I would up my daily carbs to 140g a day not wanting to rebound to the 300+ carbs and eat sensible amounts of protein (95g) and moderate healthy fats (100g).

I’ve been eating my new macro numbers for a few weeks, and all is going well. My energy is excellent, and I feel like things are starting to move out of my body thanks to the supplement program, Dr. Huang put me on to support and flush out my kidneys and liver. The most notable change is my attitude. I feel calmer and surer that this too shall pass. 

Before my mood evened out, there were a few dark days where I wanted to give up and dive back into my old eating habits, but then I remembered how I felt a year ago at this time. I was 25+ pounds heavier, none of my close fit, and I was a hermit, hiding from the shame of my weight gain. I will never go back to that feeling again. 

No matter how many turns our lives take, we must keep adapting to what’s in front of us. So I have to adjust my macros and eat to support my kidneys and liver. This is one of my crosses in life, and I will carry it as I do all the others.