Whatever Happened With That Food Plan I Was Supposed to Be Following?

Well… apparently I was.

A while back, I started talking about changing the way I eat and getting healthier.

And then, because I'm me, I thought:

“I've procrastinated on this idea long enough.” 😂
(This is AI impression of my humor LOL)

So sometime around the middle of June, I actually did something about it.

We're now about three months in, and I figured it was time for an update.

Because something interesting happened.

I didn't really end up following the complete plan I originally thought I was going to follow.

I ended up following my preferences.

And apparently, that worked.

Strip Away the Garbage and See What's Left

The original idea was fairly simple: take a hard look at what I was eating, get rid of the foods that weren't serving me, and try to move toward a lower-carb, less inflammatory way of eating. Foods that were supportive for HHT, bleeding and iron deficiency.

So I started eliminating.

The foods I knew I didn't tolerate well.

The foods that didn't fit what I was trying to accomplish.

The foods that were basically just… garbage.

And once I stripped all of that away, something funny happened.

I was left with the foods I actually like.

That's a pretty good diet plan when you think about it.

Instead of forcing myself to eat a bunch of “healthy” foods I don't particularly enjoy, I found myself building meals around foods that already fit my preferences.

I was aiming for low-carb.

Apparently, I accidentally went much further in that direction.

Hello, keto.

I guess we met somewhere along the way.

And Then There Was the Hunger

One of the biggest differences I've noticed isn't actually the number on the scale.

It's the hunger.

Before making these changes, I had periods where I felt ravenously hungry.

Not “I could have a snack.”

I'm talking about that overwhelming, almost impossible-to-ignore hunger where your brain seems completely focused on finding food.

And I didn't feel like I was simply lacking willpower.

I felt like my body was demanding food. One of the side effects of the iron infusions is the effect it has on your hormone hunger. The infusions also falsely raise the A1C.

That has been dramatically different this time.

I'm not constantly hungry.

I'm not feeling deprived.

And I'm not spending my day thinking about what I'm going to eat next.

That alone has been a pretty big win.

The Unexpected Side Effect

Weight loss wasn't actually the main goal.

Getting healthier was.

But I'll happily take the side effect.

At this point, I'm bouncing around somewhere in the neighborhood of 23–25 pounds lost.

And what's particularly interesting to me is that I haven't felt like I've been suffering through it.

No constant hunger.

No miserable deprivation.

No feeling like I'm white-knuckling my way through another diet.

My body just seems to be responding differently to the way I'm eating.

And I'm pretty excited about that.

But There's Another Variable

Here's where I have to put on my amateur detective hat.

I had an iron infusion in early May.

That timing matters.

The infusion would have been starting to have an effect around the same time I began making these food changes.

And this particular iron infusion is different from the one I'd been receiving for years. My understanding is that this newer formulation doesn't process through the kidneys in the same way the previous one did.

So how much of what I'm experiencing is the food?

How much is the iron?

How much is the combination?

I don't know yet.

And I'm not going to pretend I do.

But I can tell you what I've noticed.

I've had less pain.

I didn't experience the usual 10–15 pound weight gain I had come to expect after an infusion.

I haven't had the same increase in joint pain.

My hunger has been much more manageable.

And even though my iron has dipped again this month, I still feel somewhat stronger than I did before.

That's enough to make me very curious about what's actually happening inside my body.

And Then There's the PTH Mystery

This is the part I'm particularly interested in right now.

My primary care doctor ran tests for hyperparathyroidism after my May infusion, and my PTH was high.

Then I was referred to an endocrinologist.

By June/July, the tests were repeated.

This time?

Normal.

Hmmmm.

That got my attention.

My current working theory — and I emphasize theory — is that perhaps the iron infusion temporarily affects my PTH, creating a period that looks something like secondary hyperparathyroidism before things settle back down.

Is that actually what's happening?

I have no idea.

I'm calling it my brilliant conclusion until the endocrinologist tells me otherwise. 😂

Fortunately, I'm about to have an opportunity to test my little theory.

I'm getting another infusion this Friday morning , and endocrinologist in the afternoon.

So I'm planning to have the labs repeated afterward.

Science experiment: Florida woman edition.

We'll see if I'm onto something or if my endocrinologist gives me the medical equivalent of a very patient pat on the head.

But It Still Doesn't Explain Everything

Even if I'm right about the PTH connection, there are still pieces of the puzzle that don't fit.

The vitamin D deficiency, for one.

I cannot seem to get that number where it needs to be.

And then there's my long history with kidney stones.

Those two things still need some explaining.

I suspect I'm going to be having some interesting conversations with my endocrinologist.

And yes, I probably do need more sunshine.

You'd think living in Florida would make that one easy.

But apparently working inside + Florida rain + having an actual life = sometimes not nearly as much sunshine as you'd think.

Go figure.

So… Is the Food Plan Working?

I'd say something is working.

I just don't know yet which pieces are responsible for which results.

The food changes have made a noticeable difference in how I feel and how hungry I am.

The weight loss has been significant and, importantly, hasn't felt miserable.

My body feels a little stronger.

And I haven't experienced some of the things that previously made me feel like my body was fighting against me.

But I'm also smart enough to know that correlation isn't causation.

I've got iron infusions, changing lab values, dietary changes, weight loss and several other factors happening at the same time.

That's why I'm looking forward to seeing the numbers.

In a couple of weeks, I'll have a collection of lab results that I can compare before and after.

And that should be interesting.

Maybe I'll find that my brilliant PTH theory was completely wrong.

Maybe I'll discover something I hadn't considered.

Maybe the food changes really are making a bigger difference than I realized.

Or maybe, as usual, the answer is somewhere in the middle.

Either way, I'm paying attention.

And for someone who spent a very long time procrastinating about changing this part of my life…

That's probably the biggest change of all.

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