Introducing Myself / Where I'm At With My Health

javin

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Hey Peat forum members!

I've been lurking around on the forum for about a week now, and finally decided to make an account.

I'm a 25 year old male, located in California. I've been relatively "healthy" my whole life, but over the past few years have started getting some weird symptoms. These symptoms include:
  • My extremities are pretty much always cold unless I’m working out. (This is probably the first symptom I noticed, starting in 2011.)
  • It's really hard for me to sweat. I'm a very active person and love doing active things like yoga, hiking, surfing, etc. But it takes a lot for me to warm up and start sweating.
  • My basal body temperature hovers at around 96 degrees. (This I only became aware of very recently, but I’m guessing has been an issue for quite some time.)
  • My resting pulse rate hovers at around 60 BPM.
  • Less high quality sleep and waking up multiple times in the night. Troubles falling asleep sometimes.
  • Slight degradation in the overall quality of my hair and nails. (This is what led me to find Danny Roddy and later Raymond Peat and this forum!)
  • Feelings of anxiety and stress, but not having any idea where these feelings are coming from. Like it’s coming from deep within my body, rather than caused by things going on in my life.
  • Strange digestion. My bowel movements are regular in time (every day or twice a day), but not regular in consistency. My stools always break apart when flushing/are never fully solid. I think stuff passes through me too quickly and isn't fully digested. (Sorry for the graphic depiction haha.)
Based on my symptoms and research, it seems pretty clear that I am having issues with my thyroid and metabolic rate. I'm going to get some blood tests this week to see what's really going on inside me.

My diet/lifestyle over the past 7 years probably didn't do much to help me. I have definitely been limiting my sugar/carb consumption during these years. I also haven't been eating a lot of salt. I also drank a lot of water. And, unfortunately my PUFA consumption was pretty high. I'm now working on a more Peat-inspired diet to try and improve my symptoms. Focusing on raising my temps/pulse, warming my extremities, and eliminating my other symptoms.

I plan to use this forum to track my progress, and hopefully with the help of you guys reach a new level of health!
 

charlie

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javin, :welcome

You are definitely on the right track and can now start bringing your metabolism up which in turn will improve all those hypometabolic symptoms you mentioned above.

Hope the best for you and see you around the forum. :hattip
 
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javin

javin

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javin, :welcome

You are definitely on the right track and can now start bringing your metabolism up which in turn will improve all those hypometabolic symptoms you mentioned above.

Hope the best for you and see you around the forum. :hattip

Thanks Charlie. Hope I can start seeing improvements soon. If you have any tips on how I can kickstart my metabolism fast to see some immediate improvements, it would be appreciated! Right now I'm focusing on eating more sugars/carbs, consuming as little PUFA as possible, adding more salt in my foods, and drinking less water. Anything else you would recommend?
 

charlie

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javin

javin

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charlie

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I just bought one quart of OJ and even that seems like a lot for one day to me. I'll definitely try to increase my OJ and milk consumption.
Taking things slow and easy is the best way so you don't stress out the body too much. Listen to your body. Getting enough fuel with frequent feedings will also help bring the metabolism higher.
 

Giraffe

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Taking things slow and easy is the best way so you don't stress out the body too much. Listen to your body. Getting enough fuel with frequent feedings will also help bring the metabolism higher.
:+1

Javin, welcome to the forum! Since when are you working with a Peat inspired approach?
 
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javin

javin

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Javin, welcome to the forum! Since when are you working with a Peat inspired approach?

Thanks Giraffe! I learned about Peat and found this forum only one week ago. :) I've been easing myself into a Peat-inspired diet for about one week. (Consuming more sugars/dairy, trying to not consume PUFA, adding salt, incorporating oysters/carrot salad/coconut oil, etc.) I'm definitely going to get more strict with it to see if it gives me some improvements.
 

Giraffe

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I took it very easy with dietary changes in the beginning. I was (almost) strict on avoiding PUFA, I made small batches of jello with ~ 5 g gelatin, stopped drinking plain water and have juice instead.... What has helped me a lot was to watch out for signs of stress (frequent peeing, cold nose or feeling irritated) and to have a sip of juice, salted milk or some fruit when I noticed that I was running on adrenaline. It didn't take long for my appetite to ramp up. Suddenly I was ravenously hungry all day! :lol: I noticed very welcome health improvements quite soon.

Good luck on your journey, Javin!
 
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javin

javin

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I took it very easy with dietary changes in the beginning. I was (almost) strict on avoiding PUFA, I made small batches of jello with ~ 5 g gelatin, stopped drinking plain water and have juice instead.... What has helped me a lot was to watch out for signs of stress (frequent peeing, cold nose or feeling irritated) and to have a sip of juice, salted milk or some fruit when I noticed that I was running on adrenaline. It didn't take long for my appetite to ramp up. Suddenly I was ravenously hungry all day! :lol: I noticed very welcome health improvements quite soon.

Good luck on your journey, Javin!

Thanks Giraffe. That's all great to hear! I'm still kind of bummed that my previous diet/lifestyle is what likely led me to these symptoms, but hopefully I caught it early enough to reverse it and get to a more healthy self again. I feel like I'm in the right place. :)

Did you make your own jello or use the Jello brand packages? This past week I've been getting my gelatin from pork rinds (the kind that's fried in its own fat).
 

Giraffe

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Did you make your own jello or use the Jello brand packages?
In the beginning I used cheap gelatin leaves. I either take fruit juice or milk and fruits to make jello. Little by little my jello batches became larger, and that's when I looked for other sources of gelatin (I use Great Lakes at the moment). Once in a while I buy calf's feet or oxtail to make a broth which I use to cook vegetables or rice. Sometimes I add a little to leftovers from lunch (with our without added Great Lakes depending on how gelatinous it is).

There was a period when I wouldn't leave the house without carrying food with me because I was hungry every two hours. Jello is quite convenient to take with you.

but hopefully I caught it early enough to reverse it and get to a more healthy self again.
You were smart to investigate it. :)

This waking up at night, bristle nails and so on its something quite a few of us started with. I turned it around with diet alone. It took a couple of weeks. Other issues took a little longer to reverse, and problems I have since childhood are not sorted out yet, but I am still making progress.

I feel like I'm in the right place. :)
Nice. :grin
 
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javin

javin

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...problems I have since childhood are not sorted out yet, but I am still making progress.

If you don't mind me asking, what are some of your other symptoms you're trying to resolve?

This is all very new to me, so some of the things I've been ignoring and living with for years I found out were thyroid/hypometabolic symptoms only last week. At this point I'm trying to pinpoint every possible symptom and gain as much knowledge from others as possible.
 

Giraffe

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I have a trouble falling asleep, water retention, RLS.

I find it difficult to truly relax my muscles. To not get tense I need to do exercises regularly (some meditation style breathing exercises, stretching, ...), and I need to ensure that I get plenty of magnesium.

If I were you I first would focus on the cold extremities. They are very often a sign that you need fuel, but if you are running on stress hormones, you don't have much appetite. Lots of small snacks between meals and some exercise to raise CO2 (bag breathing or simple breath holds) can go a long way. Make sure to eat foods that agree with you.

Let us know how things go.
 
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javin

javin

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If I were you I first would focus on the cold extremities. They are very often a sign that you need fuel, but if you are running on stress hormones, you don't have much appetite. Lots of small snacks between meals and some exercise to raise CO2 (bag breathing or simple breath holds) can go a long way. Make sure to eat foods that agree with you.

Let us know how things go.

Thanks again. Things are going GREAT so far. My extremities were warm almost all day yesterday and all day so far today (even before I had breakfast)! I also just had my first solid poop in a long time haha. This diet really seems to be helping! Currently eating my breakfast; egg scramble with cheese, bell pepper and onion, and a big glass of OJ. Got my blood drawn this morning for testing, so we'll see what the results say in about a week.
 

tara

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:welcome Javin

but hopefully I caught it early enough to reverse it and get to a more healthy self again.
I'd guess the odds are good. :)

I'm definitely going to get more strict with it to see if it gives me some improvements.
Unless you have particularly noticable bad reactions to particular foods, I'd focus on getting enough nutrition before getting too restrictive on avoiding things. Except for minimising PUFA, which I'm convinced is pretty much always a good idea unless you have no other food available. I agree with Charlie about taking it easy and sleep; good that you get regular sunshine.

If I were you I first would focus on the cold extremities. They are very often a sign that you need fuel, but if you are running on stress hormones, you don't have much appetite. Lots of small snacks between meals and some exercise to raise CO2 (bag breathing or simple breath holds) can go a long way. Make sure to eat foods that agree with you.
+1
 
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javin

javin

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Thanks for the welcome Tara!

I've definitely been minimizing PUFA over the past week and eating more Peat-y foods. That, and upping my intake of sugar/good carbs. I have already noticed that my extremities are warmer for more of the day. Whenever I feel them cooling down, I can easily drink a glass of OJ and they will start to warm up again. It's crazy! It feels good to listen to your body.

Other noticeable small improvements in just a week:
  • Better digestion. I feel like my bowel movements are actually more normal now. Before I was struggling with this (loose stools) for months.
  • I feel like my temps and pulse have been rising slightly. Kinda hard to tell because I've only been measuring for a week. I hope that this will continue to get more noticeable as continue. I'd love to hit 98.6°!
  • Great mood this week. The few months before now I was experiencing some weird anxiety symptoms. This week I've felt much more level-headed and calm in general. This could also be a mental thing from just knowing that I'm doing something good for my body and health.
I'll keep posting updates around the forum on whatever insights I discover!
 

tara

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Whenever I feel them cooling down, I can easily drink a glass of OJ and they will start to warm up again. It's crazy! It feels good to listen to your body.
:)
Great mood this week. The few months before now I was experiencing some weird anxiety symptoms. This week I've felt much more level-headed and calm in general. This could also be a mental thing from just knowing that I'm doing something good for my body and health.
Could be, or could be mainly the improved fuel supply.
 

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