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Day 123: Reviewing Food Journals and Triggers

A woman performing a hands elevated pushup in a home gym. She is in a plank position with her hands placed on a sturdy bench and her feet on the floor. Her body is straight, and she is lowering herself towards the bench. The home gym features equipment like dumbbells, a yoga mat, and a stability ball. The room is well-lit with natural light coming through a window, and there are motivational posters on the walls.

Today's lesson was a lot of review, but it reinforced important concepts. The focus was on recognizing how different foods make us feel, which is crucial for understanding our reactions and improving our eating habits. I found it enlightening to see how my food choices impact my well-being, even though the habit of food journaling can feel overwhelming. However, I've noticed positive changes like fewer IBS symptoms, better sleep, and consistent energy levels since doing my best to eat following the PN habits.

Basics of Reviewing Food Journals

We revisited the basics of what to look for in a food journal food quantity, food quality, staying consistent with PN Coaching habits and principles. I am looking forward to the end of this habit. I don't think that it really has helped me in the way that it could and I would like to try it again at a later date.

Food and Feelings

The lesson emphasized paying attention to how foods make us feel, focusing on food intolerances and triggers rather than emotions. This involves noticing symptoms that might appear after eating certain foods, even if they don’t seem related initially as they could be allergies or intolerances. This was something that we had talked about in a live session earlier so I'm glad it was covered again as a reminder.

Food Allergies and Intolerances

Food allergies can cause severe reactions, but food intolerances are more common and cause milder symptoms like GI issues, respiratory problems, skin reactions, and mood changes. Identifying and eliminating problematic foods can lead to significant improvements in well-being. I like the idea of if there is one food you think might be causing X symptom to eliminate it for a couple of weeks and try again, we use that a lot with breastfeeding mums and babies.

Trigger Foods

Trigger foods are those that lead to poor choices, overeating, or negative feelings. These often include foods high in sugar, fat, or sodium, and highly processed items. Recognizing and managing these foods helps maintain a balanced diet and achieve health goals. For me it seems to be hormonally driven - whenever I have my period I want more things like ice cream or pie and then that drive to eat them goes away. I can say that last summer when I was basically living in my car/at the hospital/rehab fast food became a huge issue and I had daily IBS episodes and I can say that on occasion when I have the same type of food my system doesn't have that same reaction.

Notes from the Coaches: New Habit Coming - Create & Use a Sleep Ritual

The sent their normal Friday recap of the week and let us know that next week we have a new habit: creating and using a sleep ritual. The goal is to improve sleep quality, which is essential for overall well-being. Here are the key points sleep rituals encourages us to develop a better sleep routine. More details on how to implement this will be provided on Monday. I'm kinda looking forward to this one. I did completely overhaul my sleep routine a while ago but I'm sure there will be more pointers. I can say that my sleep score from my Fitbit is consistently good/excellent over the past couple of months so I know that PN has helped there already.

Continuing Food Journals

While the two-week habit of recording food intake is officially ending, consider continuing if it helped you make better decisions, you need more data, or you didn’t complete the full two weeks. While I understand why they want us to continue and appreciate the thought, I need a break from it.

Sleep and Recovery Resources

The coaches provided additional resources for improving sleep and recovery including a questionnaire and a link for a white noise app.

Foodie Friday Recipe

As part of Foodie Friday, the coaches shared a refreshing recipe perfect for warmer weather. They suggested adding vanilla protein powder or hemp seeds for a more complete meal or snack.

Glowing Green Smoothie: Recipe from Blender Babes.

Workout and Worm Farm Setup

Today was the third new exercise routine for this phase. I can say that Fridays have been my favorite set of exercises, and this phase is no different. I did have a bit more scar tissue pulling with the new dead bug exercises, so I'm hoping that over the coming weeks, this will lessen.

In addition to my workout, my son and I set up our new worm farm, following the video I mentioned yesterday, in preparation for the worms arriving tomorrow. It's a great feeling to know that, in addition to the regular compost bin outside and in my garden center, I now have a year-round option as well. Hopefully, the worms will be happy in their new home!


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