Onward and upward

I mentioned a while ago about what things I am willing to do, and how long I am willing to do them, in order to achieve health. What I'm doing now, and what I've been doing for the past year, obviously isn't enough. I need to take it farther if I want to feel great. There are a lot of things to consider, and a few of of them are daunting.

The first issue is financial.
I already spend at least a third of my income on healthcare that isn't covered by insurance: regular visits to Kiva, my acupuncturist visits with Dr. Khosh, the supplements he recommends, and other miscellaneous trials of treatments-that-might-possibly-help (lymph drainage, energy work).

My grocery bill is substantial, since a diet of meat and fresh vegetables is considerably more expensive than a diet packed with cheap carbohydrates. Even though I purchase largely conventionally-grown food, I spend a lot of money on food.

And then there's the money I spend on exercise opportunities, although mckitterick kindly footed the bill on that lately.

If I want to see some improvement, though, I need to invest more.

I plan to resume weekly acupuncture treatments--I'd gone to every-other-week appointments for a few months. I must be more diligent about not letting my supplements from Dr. Khosh run out. Earlier this month I was out of my Cortisol Manager for nearly a week. I couldn't make the time to get to the office to pick it up, and it's $50 for a twenty-day supply of just that one supplement (I take four). I don't know if I'll continue the lymph drainage treatments until after I feel I have a handle on the adrenal issues, so that's a small bit back in my pocket.

The biggest cost increase over my current expenditures will be food. Once I get the chest freezer cleared out of our current supply of animals, I'm eating only grass-fed/organic meats and vegetables (with the exception of fish). I'm not sure exactly how much this will increase the grocery bill, but I estimate a 50% to 75% increase. I hope I can order part of a cow or pig (or both) and cut that closer to the 50% estimate. Buying the meat in bulk will be much cheaper.

My exercise bill is the most nebulous of the financial issues. I signed up for a ballroom dance class through Parks & Rec, but since it's Parks & Rec it's practically negligible, cost-wise. I also enrolled in a nine-week Thursday night yoga class that will run through the end of December. That was a little more expensive. I'm thinking of following in the footsteps of some women I know who swim a couple times a week. Most importantly, I need to consider what I'm going to do about CrossFit starting with the new year. I've nearly completely wasted the membership mckitterick purchased for me (not completely by choice).

I'm unwilling to put more money towards CrossFit when I don't know I'll be able to use their facilities to the extent I wish. I love them, but it's pretty hard on my body and I don't know how I feel about going to CrossFit and taking it easy. What I need to do is scrape together my dignity and make an appointment to talk with Thomas or Andrew about how/if I can effectively use them and their services under my current physical restrictions.

And that segues nicely to my second major consideration.

The second issue is social.
I cannot allow myself to get run down, and I will get run down if I continue to book myself at the rate I've been doing and still fit in the additional physical activities (dance class, yoga, other crucial daily activities). So I need to even more restrict my participation in social activities and put my Me Time first. I already have a limited social calendar when it comes to actually socializing, but I have to cut it back even more. This will be made a teensy bit easier by the facts that I'll no longer be able to eat at restaurants (not many 100% organic restaurants that serve Paleo-style food around here), and I'm also cutting out all alcohol consumption as of January 2. Yep. More on that in a bit.

In general, I'm going to be more of a homebody than ever, and I'm eliminating late weekday nights outs. Prep for bed will begin no later than 9:00pm and I must be asleep by 10:00pm. On weekends, any occasions that result in a bedtime past 11:00pm will be limited to one a month. Making sure I get more than enough good sleep is crucial. Along with dietary improvements, sleep quality and quantity is the best thing I can do to help heal my adrenals.

This brings me to my last major concern.

The third issue is dietary.
Yes, I'm going to restrict and monitor my diet even more. Starting in January, I'll follow the Autoimmune Protocol for Paleo (AIP). Foods I'm eliminating (that I haven't already cut from my diet): Nuts, seeds (including cocoa and seed-based spices), nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, sweet and hot peppers and spices derived from peppers), and alcohol.

I'll also avoid particular starchy fruits and vegetables that have reported problems with people who have Small Intestinal Bowel Overgrowth (like me). Of the fruits and vegetables I eat that aren't nixed via the AIP, I'll further eliminate artichokes, okra, parsnips, and yams.

And of course I'll record my food intake in some sort of journal. Whether it'll be on paper, here on LJ, or in an online food tracker I haven't decided. I'll probably use a combination of two (or all) of those because I need to keep an eye on what I'm eating, and keep an eye on how I react to foods once I start to reintroduce them.

This is all more than a little intimidating. Just one of those groups of problems would be a big deal, but put all three together and I admit I'm a little nervous. But the idea of spending another year in the same poor health I spent 2012 is not acceptable, and the idea of getting worse is terrifying. With my options presented as going backward, staying still, or going forward, I can't imagine choosing anything other than going forward.