The Wellness Edition No.62 // Online Hiatus

You might have realised that I kind of took a break from the internet in the past few weeks ever since I wrote the last ‘The Wellness Edition’ where I mentioned that I am slowly getting back on my feet again. October started kind of stressful for me with a very unsatisfying works situation that made me reflect on all the work situation things that I actually really want to change and I realised where, when it comes to making money, my biggest pain point is right now and where I have to walk away from in order not to feel as stressed and burned out again as I did in the first two weeks of October.

Also I went for a weekend to Barcelona with a friend, I was just there for 36 hours, but this short trip did me really well and I feel much better ever since I went and took a short mini-break from what I currently call my life here in Germany. And being there I also made up my mind that I certainly want to move back again. Being there feels like home and this time when I live there again conditions will be so much better than they were when I first moved there a few years ago.

I pretty much tried to put the focus on me inwards I would say, not outwards, therefore my absence on blogging and Instagram. And I realise that it was much needed. So I spent the past few weeks meeting friends for dinner and wine, walking a lot every day (my goal is to walk at least 7000 - 10.000 steps every day), putting the focus back on a very Ray Peat approach of nutrition which is very pro-thyroid and pro-metabolic. And I have to say, it all creates a feeling of happiness and feeling good about myself. I guess that is what living in the present means, to try to get the most out of every moment, every day and every week.

I had lots of amazing dinner dates with friends lately and I went to an incredible Vivaldi Four Seasons concert that really lifted my spirit and my mood. Also focusing more on a pro-thyroid way of eating certainly makes me feel a lot better as well. Hey, I am happy to say that I finally got pretty much the first period in a very long time that did not send me straight to bed with Ibuprofen 600 like they normally do. No, instead I was just doing fine, I barely felt pain and that is very unusual for me so I count it in as a big progress.

So what did I do differently than before?! I eat a more Ray Peat style way lately. I eat an egg fried in coconut oil in the morning with a slice of Serrano ham (the ham is nothing Ray Peat would be a fan of because of PUFA but I just don’t like my egg without it as much as I do with Serrano and I am not doing food or food group restrictions anymore, so this is just fine), orange juice and espresso with lots of raw milk. Later on I eat a slice of sour dough bread with homemade chicken liver paté and orange marmalade and during the day I drink lots of raw milk with pureed fruit and maple syrup or honey. In the evening I just eat whatever I want, crave or whatever is out there if I go out for dinner with friends. So my main source of carbohydrates and protein are fruit and milk. So basically this means it is low starch, high sugar and high protein. I feel quite energetic as well, I mean I walk a lot every day which is something I did not feel like doing before much - one reason for sure for not feeling like doing it was of course because of low energy levels.

I am no physician but I suppose that my current nutrition helps to convert inactive T4 into active T3 in the liver since the liver is from what I have read greatly supported through sugar and protein which apparently helps the liver to better convert inactive thyroid hormones into active thyroid hormones. Also I suppose that all the milk and possibly also the vitamins from the lhomemade iver paté help to raise progesterone levels and to lower estrogen levels. Also I eat shrimps fried in butter at least 2 to 3 times per week, that helps to get copper into the system. I go very low on meat which is high on iron and too much iron is very toxic. So raising copper and lowering iron might also have good benefits on feeling well. Ray Peat is not a fan of chicken since it is so high in PUFA but I still eat my homemade chicken soup on a regular basis and I think it also has good benefits because of the gelatine that comes with it and yea also it is salty, warms up my body and root vegetables are a good source of carbohydrates anyways. Also I ordered Great Lakes grass-fed collagen lately that I now add to my milk and fruit smoothies that I drink during the day and to my morning café con leche. I can’t say much about it yet since I only received the collagen about one or two days ago. But I think the combination of organic eggs, coconut oil, butter, raw milk, gelatinous meats, extra collagen through Great Lakes gelatine, sugar through fruit and maple syrup and honey, protein through raw milk, eggs and shell fish, espresso, liver paté, salt with meals and sugar through fruit and maple syrup and honey…I think that all of this together combined with lots of walking and getting in some sunshine and with that vitamin D, all of that has great benefits on my physical and mental health I’d say.

So, I plan to continue my online hiatus at least on Instagram but I try to get back to regular blogging again since now writing this here I realise that I really missed blogging but some time off was needed in order to put the focus back on myself again. In a way it feels that Instagram is getting to me what Facebook used to be, apparently there is not so much I like and appreciate about it anymore like I did back in the days when it was not totally about profits and advertising as it is now and when it was less of a social media platform like Facebook as it is now. I still keep my account but for now I keep it private and inactive, I see how I feel about it and then I decide how I want to continue. But for now less Instagram is certainly better for me, that is one thing I realised lately.