A New Leaf: Week 2

Week 1 on this health protocol addressing my Thyroid disorder was much easier to write. Only the second week in and I’m already worried of perceived reader fatigue. I guess these are the things I need to address and work through, too. Get into your worth, lady, and don’t worry about others all of the time! Baring my soul here feels like the only way to go, so write on.

Week 2 felt pretty easy. I had a whole week without a headache, that is a rarity for me! Typically, by dinnertime I would be too burnt out to nourish my own self properly. Eating three square meals a day sounds pretty basic. But I think that has made a huge difference in my headaches. As well as the types of food and nutrients I have been feeding myself. It takes a bit more work and planning and I am making beans every other day it seems. But it’s also easier to have a set of things that I have to eat so it balances the work out a bit. Gotta do it, so get to it.

The caffeine and sugar ban hasn’t been as hard as I imagined it would be. The big withdrawal headaches came the first week (a fourth one after I wrote last Sunday’s post), and actually now that I’m writing this, my head is feeling ever so slightly heavy, perhaps my body is still detoxing or I’m not getting enough sleep. Stepping away from sugar brings into focus just how unhealthy my consumption had been and also how aggressively it surrounds us in this culture. I truly don’t miss the sugar or the caffeine and their collective effects on my body, I’m surprised how quickly I’ve come to this acceptance. Oh and towards the end of Week 1 I was losing noticeably less hair in my brushings and showers.

I’ve also been very conscious of fragrances and it seems they are everywhere in the city. Walking my son to school presents half a dozen passerby fragrances and of course my job as a florist (I’ve been wearing a mask) is making me question my life path! Hmmm. Changes, changes. Make one and its like dominoes! I haven’t fully addressed our laundry soap situation in a desire to use up soap I had recently purchased. I feel that is holding me back on a holistic level and I’m not one hundred percent on the protocol. I’ve found I do really notice fragrances on a heightened level this week after cutting most everything out and going fragrance-free. Karen replied in an email to me that fragrance in particular is one of the biggest migraine contributors.

Last night the laundry soap fragrance was overpowering in the kids’ room as wet laundry was drying and hanging close to the radiator. I opened some windows, moved the clothes away from the heat and that helped a bit. But the ever so slight headache I was feeling last night has intensified, now Sunday morning, prompting me to take two Extra Strength Tylenol pills upon waking. Is it the fragrances? Or the new recipe that had a whole 6 oz. can of tomato paste (which I’ve been noticing in the last year how tomatoes, especially fresh, seem to contribute to headaches) from Friday night? One headache in a whole week is progress for me though!

I have been writing my morning pages journaling every morning in an attempt to get as clear as possible. This process is feeling transformative. I’m learning so much and that feels like good growth. Onto Week 3!

I included some iPhone snaps from the Bergdorf holiday windows, the florist of course as I’m knee-deep in Valentines prep. And the others well, just because they spoke to something in me. I haven’t been as inspired by the windows in the last few years but they felt pretty spectacular this last holiday season. Happy Valentine’s Week!