I’ve realized that if I’m going to write on this blog and share stories and such, there is a degree of transparency that I have to be willing to submit to in the process. While I’m not talking about delving into the deep of “total TMI” situations, I do mean that I feel that it’s good sometimes to share thoughts and experiences because, you never know, someone out there might benefit from knowing someone else has been through the same. The possibility may even be remote, but I was thinking about this today. I want to be as transparent as I can be on this blog mainly because I want to keep it real and I want to connect with people on that kind of level.
So, if I’m just being honest, January isn’t my favorite month ever. I just don’t dig it, generally speaking. It’s stinkin’ cold (which I don’t like), the joy of the holiday season (Thanksgiving through New Years) has passed, there’s very little football, usually, for our teams, and January has been a time of loss in our families. For three Januarys in a row (2003-2005), we lost Mickey’s Grandma Lois, then his Grandpa Vic, and then his good friend Brian. Needless to say, in 2006 we didn’t want to answer the phone much in January. Not being fearful, mind you, but just not wanting to face another loss. That next loss didn’t come until last year, but it was a big one for me because my beloved Pop passed away on the 22nd of January. As I have said before, and I’m likely to say over and over again, I miss him every day. So…January is really not a month I tend to look forward to even with the turning of the calendar for a year and all.
I wouldn’t say that I suffer from seasonal affective disorder at all, but I do know that I most certainly get the winter blues. Typically, in January I will just feel a significant decrease in energy, I’m more tired, my motivation lacks, and what I really want to do is sleep and eat. I sort of feel like Eeyore. (No offense to the adorable gray donkey, but we can all agree that he’s not the happiest of sorts.) I have tried taking supplements to combat it, but it didn’t really seem to do a lot. I even asked for, and GOT, a sun lamp for my desk to try to help it this year.
Last Monday, I was feeling it again. It was the first day of Whole 30, but it was also just a day when the winter funk was on me like a heavy blanket. I did start using my sun lamp on my desk at work, but it was flippin’ cold because the building heat had apparently been OFF over the weekend. I basically felt like a human popsicle all day and I just didn’t feel like ME, besides. Then, a rassafrassin’ headache settled in on me and had me awake at 2:30am on Tuesday and, just…UGH. Seriously. Stink!! On Whole 30, you’re encouraged not to take any OTC meds, but, listen – it had to happen. Diffused oils weren’t cutting it and it hurt to so much as move my head AND I wasn’t able to sleep due to the pain. Enter a decongestant tab and some ibuprofen. AHH! I went back to sleep after being awake more than an hour and, just being real here, I was a total negative nelly (which is not like me) thinking there would be no way I’d be getting up on time or able to go to work the next morning. Guess what? The alarm went off and I was fine. Significantly reduced headache and I didn’t feel like a truck hit me. I did pop a couple more meds throughout that day, but I didn’t feel horrid. I also kept with the Whole 30 plan, of course, and I also continued to use my sun lamp during the day. Okay…fast forward a couple of days…by Thursday I could NOT believe how good I was feeling! I’m feeling THIS GOOD IN JANUARY?! WOO HOO!!! This is awesome!
If I gain no other benefits whatsoever from Whole 30, just feeling this much better, in general, is amazing!! In addition to having more energy, I’ve also gotten rid of some post gallbladder surgery issues I had been having for weeks! I am just amazed!! In seven days of being on this program, I’ve already seen incredible results. I’m not talking about a scale – heavens no, I avoid those jokers like the plague. I feel a resurgence. I feel like the me I want to be. I’ve reclaimed January! And, that is pretty stinkin’ cool!
Kelly