Insanity and Whole30... Feeling Insane, Indeed

This is going to be a jumbled mess.

So this is week 3 of Insanity. Only the chiropractor asked me to take three days off from working out because my back's been bothering me. Well, technically it's the junction of my back and my pelvis, on the right side... incidentally, the exact (and only) spot where my epidural did NOT work during labor. My SI joint.

I adore my chiropractor -- he and his wife and new baby have become good friends -- and I love the feeling of that half an hour a week being selfishly just for me. Where I lie on a table and get poked and prodded and massaged in a hurts-so-good sort of way.

I started going to see him at the very end of my pregnancy, in hopes of getting "the baby" (aka Calliope) to drop into my pelvis when she was floating so high. Alas, it didn't work, but I got hooked on the habit. And since my insurance pays for many visits per year, I visit Dr. Mike once a week at lunchtime.

I typically have one injury at a time. It flares up and gets worse and worse, then suddenly disappears at the very moment that a new injury appears. This has been true since college.

So the SI issue was getting worse. Mostly when I get up in the morning. It's really uncomfortable to bend over. Picking up something off the floor -- excruciating. Doing something like reaching into a crib to lift a toddler who refuses to stand up is downright impossible.

But. It wears off after I've been up and awake and moving around for a while.

So workouts, with all their squats and bends, are hard. But the warm up, while uncomfortable, heats the joint to a degree where it stops hurting.

So I haven't stopped working out.

Until Dr. Mike asked me to take three days off. This week, he finally figured out that the pain I feel in my back isn't actually stemming from my back. The problem is in my hip, but it's radiating to my back. I had no idea. My hip felt fine. But after he worked on it this week, I feel bruised and sore but also... lighter. Like there's a lot more space in my pelvis.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to do the Whole30 dietary regimen -- excluding all grains and sugar from my diet for 30 days -- but without following the rule of excluding dairy.

And I feel kind of crappy. And given that the authors talk about how all these forbidden foods cause inflammation... I keep wondering if eliminating dairy would cure my back problem.

Unfortunately, plain whole fat yogurt is my breakfast of choice. With cream mixed in. (I find that fat cures my carb cravings.) I am totally intimidated at the idea of figuring out breakfast at work without yogurt.

So I'm not having carb cravings... but I think my blood sugar is tanking. Because I've been feeling lethargic and burnt out (on life) and unmotivated. I get headaches and feel queasy sometimes.

I've tried to eat extra carbs, in the form of carrots and squash and sweet potato, but they don't seem to help.

Thing is: I know I feel better when I don't eat grains. My energy is more stable during the day. No more energy dips. Problem is, I walk around feeling slightly drained. And hungry. I can't seem to get full.

I think my PCOS body is really bad at burning fat for fuel.

Bummer.

So this was my third day off from Insanity. Tomorrow is Friday. And I am pretty darn sure I'm taking another day off. Because normally, after even two days off from exercise, I'm bouncing off the walls.

Not this time.