Thursday, October 18th, 2018: a day I had been looking forward to since my last appointment 3 weeks ago. THEE DAY. I was hoping I would be able to start phase 2 of my meal plan which includes some fruits, legumes, brown rice, and a few other items that are off limits in phase 1…most importantly RED WINE 😛 kidding. But, seriously, it is allowed.

I showed up to my appointment and was happy to report a huge reduction in my pain. I asked for confirmations to thoughts I had been having over the course of the 3 weeks since starting this food plan. “The sugar I was consuming, so, got in the way of my healing.”(His response: Yes) “Eating a banana and almond butter every day for breakfast before starting this plan was not a good thing.” (His response: That’s the worst thing) Okay, then. Eggs it is…

He tested my hip strength; and, he and I both noticed a big improvement. There was only one position where I showed considerable weakness.

I casually mentioned, “I feel like I could start running, soon.” He quickly nixed that idea…something about my muscles being too weak to do a good job supporting the shock from running without causing further inflammation.

Before my pregnancy, I liked to stay active. My husband and I would go to the gym, I would go for runs, etc. During pregnancy I was told to stay off my feet as much as possible. So, I have been going a little crazy – not just because of the hormone imbalance – not being able to be as active. I had tried to get back into circuit training and jogging postpartum, but I ended up in more pain than was worth the adrenaline rush I had been missing. Plus, I guess the one good piece of advice I got from the spine doctor was the following: it’s okay to push through muscle pain, but not through nerve pain. And, so, I have been sticking to walking these days.

BUT, now that I am in less pain, even though I can’t start running, I can start weight training a couple times a week along with a couple days of hill walking. Definitely some good news.

Toward the end of our appointment, my doctor tells me to keep everything as is for now regarding supplements and so on.

As is? He must have missed the part where he tells me I can move on to phase 2……

……….

There was no part about me moving onto phase 2…

I am stuck with phase 1 for a least one more month.  Although I was a little bummed driving home, I rallied through work with my cucumber slices and raw cashews. However, as dinner time approached – and, of course, no meals were prepped – I sulked at the thought of my phase 2 dreams being crushed earlier in the day. And while I sulked in my room…(yes, I do sometimes act like a adolescent)…(no, it’s not related to my hormone imbalance)…(yes, I do realize it’s a bad character trait)…my husband whipped up a delicious meal.

I think I will feel better after grocery shopping and meal prepping tomorrow…