On Monday I finally got my test results (after spending all last week on pins and needles! ahh!) and it was GOOD NEWS! Basically, I had a test for inflammation in August and my number was insanely high. I asked my doctor if I could have four weeks to try to lower it through diet and exercise alone, and she very reluctantly agreed and pretty much guaranteed me that it wouldn't work. But IT DID! I still have elevated inflammation but after only one month my levels dropped in half. I still have a little bit to go before it's totally normal, but she's giving me two more months to keep working on it.
I know if something was seriously wrong with me this wouldn't have worked, but I'm so proud of myself for trying really hard and getting that number to drop so drastically. Since early September I've been on a vegetarian anti-inflammatory diet, so I've mostly been eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains exclusively. I've been adding ginger and tumeric to everything, drinking ginger tea, and trying to avoid all sugars and wheat products. I went from not exercising ~at all~ to doing 10 minutes on the elliptical every day and logging 5,000 steps a day on my fitbit (I'm now up to 15 minutes on the elliptical and 10k steps a day!) I've honestly never felt better. And I've been coming up with so many delicious meals on this diet that the one day that I caved in and ate pizza, it wasn't even all that satisfying. I feel like somebody else could have written that because pizza has always been my favorite thing in the world, but I'm serious! I was like "I'd rather be eating zucchini noodles and pesto!" WHO AM I.
A nice side effect of getting healthy has been that I've finally shed the ~12 pounds I gained earlier this year. My dresses fit well, zippers are working smoothly, it's wonderful. All in all I'm a pretty happy camper this week.
