Where Did I Go???

Where have I been??  I know. I know. I'll explain.

For reasons that I'll explain shortly, I haven't posted in 3 months. I basically let you all know I was going to run a marathon and then vanished. A few days ago, I checked my stats, and I was still getting pretty reasonable hits, so I decided I'd give it a try again.

So where was I?

It all started months ago...  although if we're being honest, it started years ago. I've always had my problem weight around my mid-section, and figured my balanced approach to working out should make some type of dent. Maybe not abs, since I'm not a diet maniac, but a difference. I've chronicled this here.. I don't just run, since I know your body will eventually adapt, and when I say I weight train, I don't do it like most girls. The smallest dumbbell we own is 20 pounds, and I my husband regularly pushes me to add more weight to our 45 pound barbell.   Plus, we eat gluten-free, mostly Paleo, which is not to say my diet is better than yours, but is to say that there is mostly whole food in this house. We eat clean, not processed junk.

Cue a few months ago, the "Why haven't I lost weight??" whining started. Dear Husband would explains to me that I shouldn't want to "lose weight".  "Ok! Wrong vernacular, we don't even own a scale, but I should see a change, I should have lost some of this (grabbing own belly fat)" Dear Husband then explains how it takes time to notice a difference. "Just keep at it!"  "But I've been working out for 6 months."  "It takes time!" "But I've been working out for 7 months." At a year, Dear Husband finally wouldn't argue, but giving me a puzzled expression and saying, "Hmmm.." doesn't help either.

Ok, so, can't lose weight despite exercise and eating right. But I'm exhausted. "Go to bed earlier." No, I'm exhausted. "Well, you ARE training for a marathon." No, I'm EXHAUSTED. Had to will myself out the door to run, didn't have energy for the dog, didn't want to even think about cooking dinner, and cleaning it or doing anything after dinner? Forget it. In fact, I was worthless after 7 or 8 pm. We have a dog and two cats... we working on their bedtime routines, but they often give us several wake-ups. But, Dear Husband would get a good night's sleep and tell me how wonderful he felt. I'd get a "good" night's sleep and be well, exhausted. And that's if I got it! I couldn't fall asleep as well as when I first went gluten-free, couldn't stay asleep, and if I woke up at my regular wake-up time, I couldn't sleep in.

And my mood?  Well, it was fun. Those little stressful things were big stressful things, and I couldn't handle the stress. I'd rage to myself over what just happened. And if I wasn't raging, I was down, down down.

Cue a sudden interest in random blog posts about thyroid issues and adrenal fatigue. All the symptoms were clicking. Exhausted? That's me. Can't lose weight or gaining weight, especially around the belly? That's me. Stressed, anxious, moody? That's me! Feeling depressed? Me.  Irregular periods? Me! (On the pill, it was coming 5-7 days early. And I've ALWAYS been regular.)

I went to the doctor, who first spent a solid 20 minutes trying to convince me that nothing was wrong with my thyroid, all these little issues were just other things. I'd lose weight if I didn't snack after dinner and didn't have fruit after 4 pm, and besides, I shouldn't worry about weight anyway. AND! Training for a marathon was a perfect way to maintain my weight. I should take something for sleep and then I wouldn't be tired. And she could prescribe something for being depressed.    

I almost stormed out, but convinced her to at least do bloodwork and discuss things after that.  Upon my return, she started the same, doubtful path, but kept looking at my bloodwork. Gee... nothing's wrong. At all. So why am I like this? Suddenly, I become a puzzle to her. She asks lots of random questions. Finally, I say, "Well, could it be adrenal fatigue?"   With a funny smile, she admits that, as a traditional internist, she's not really supposed to diagnose that, but it's exactly what she was thinking.

Normally, she'd need to send me to a functional medicine or holistic doctor. To her credit, she gave me some natural ideas, rather than the costs associated with a whole different doc. I'm taking Vitamin D supplements (along with my fish oil and B-complex) because it was the one thing low in my bloodwork. She suggested an adrenal supplement called Adrenogen from Metagenics.  I know several people from the Paleo world suggest the GAIA Herbs Adrenal Support, but for now, I'm going to follow my doc. We've gone very strict Paleo, though, it's summer... I'm still going have a few drinks!  And, where some people say to cut out exercise, I'm trying not to. I've got more races already paid for, and I enjoy working out. I am going to try to add meditation to my day. I've added holy basil/licorice root tea to my daily routine, and am consciously adding more healthy fats, which I've probably lacked for a while.

I can only guess that my life over the last 4 years had a big part in this... (DH deployment #2, move apartments, lose job, plan wedding, DH comes home, wedding moved at last moment due to Hurricane, Honeymoon canceled due to training, Training, move to Michigan, find (miserable) temp job, find good job, lose good job, hunt for job, find job, daily life). I've always thought I handle stress well, but I'm also a *feeler*. I feel the mood of the room, the mood of another person, and I mean I feel it internally. If you're stressed, I am. If you're upset, I feel it, and I'm unsettled at my core. My husband had even previously suggested stress as a reason I wasn't losing weight, but stress does so much more than that.

I'm hopeful I can get this sorted out and feel like me again. I'm hopeful, not going to lie, that I can tone up and shed some of this body fat before September because we finally booked our Honeymoon!!!  I need to keep working out for me. I think there are probably plenty of you out there just like me, so I'm going to try to be back and keep you all posted on running, eating right, and dealing with Adrenal Fatigue.

Oh, and in case you were wondering...  I'm officially a Marathoner!!!

Are you dealing with, or have you dealt with Adrenal Fatigue? What helped you? Have you ever tried meditation? How do you relieve stress?