The Angry Typist

NUTRITION: Feeling very overwhelmed with my new total caloric intake of 1650-1850 – just looking at those numbers makes me internally frantic. I have not consumed over 1200-1400 calories for over a decade, and even though I am completely petrified, I must trust the process because what I have been doing on my own wasn’t working either. I feel like my day is nothing but watching the clock & eating, watching the clock & eating, on repeat. My anxiety is in overdrive and trying to consume a total of 125g of Protein daily seems an impossible task. It would be much easier to reach 1850 if they were ‘fun’ calories. A bag of chips here, a cookie there, but to eat nutritious rich foods – which tends to be less in calories, just complicates getting my nutrition on track.  And being FODMAP sensitive [(Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides And Polyols) which are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly], it just seemed impossible to find enough of the right foods to reach these caloric & macro goals. To add to my frustration, my Nutrition Coach seemed to be very focused on potential gut issues instead of just accepting that I’m FODMAP sensitive. I had to finally just explained in painful detail of my life as a preemie and offer my understanding that the last 4 weeks of fetal development is when a good portion of the enzymes/microbes in the large & small intestines are developed. Since I missed most of that last 4 weeks, I just concluded that there’s going to be a limitation to what foods or supplements I can consume to balance or increase natural enzymes/balance microbes if I wasn’t born with enough to begin with. Thankfully she was very open & accepted my explanation but more importantly, her receptiveness made me feel heard and increased my confidence in her being the right person to lead me through this journey.

SLEEP: I have been fully functional on 4.5 -5 hours’ sleep for years and it’s just my reality that I had embraced to be the life of a mother to two kiddos back when and three doggos now. My Nutrition Coach continues to lobby for a minimum of 7 hours with facts of how menopausal women need a minimum of 7 hours to “recover, balance hormones, improve metabolism, regulate cortisol.” Sleep is just one of those things that I just don’t put a lot of importance on but I am going to trust the process, get on HRT to reign in my menopausal symptoms, continue to adjust my pre-bed routine, and see how it goes.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Going to class 4-5 days a week has never been a challenge. I’ve been regularly working out now for so long it’s just what I do after work without much thought. Small win.