From S to L

Day 18 calorie intake: 1181
Meals: 3
Snacks: 0

Dentist this morning, very sore after routine cleaning- my gum was cut as the dentist couldn't see so far back in my mouth and I was too polite/shy/??? to speak up when I felt her miss my tooth!

Planned to treat myself to TGI Fridays after that ordeal since I not only managed to shower and get out but I did it at 7am (normal for most people I know but it's almost unthinkable for me these days 😂) to go to the dentist (always scary). But, the only TGI's who delivers to me didn't have the chicken strips I wanted :( Actually, they were only selling chicken pasta, two options for kids, or desserts/drinks! Not even a burger was available, and Starbucks aren't bringing the PSL to the UK until the 7th so no backup treat either! 😤

Still, my calories are low today and I can treat myself to my next craving if I want to. I actually want to get another meal or snack but I'm so sleepy I'm not sure I can get up- I nearly forgot to update here! 😂
 
Day 20 calorie intake: 1421
Meals: 2
Snacks: 4

Was set to be under 1200 again today but not on purpose. I planned to have another meal around 6pm but forgot 😅

Then a bit after midnight I nearly fainted when I went to get that meal, and ended up raiding my emergency bedroom snacks (chocolate bar and a bag of crisps) because my symptoms weren't easing after several minutes in bed. I went for those options because I have no idea if the trigger for the attack was due to low blood pressure (been advised by GP to eat more salt), or low sugar, or just general chronic illness f*ckery, so I do keep those snacks handy in case of an emergency. I do have a lot of dizzy spells without fainting, but this one was far, far worse than usual, and 2 days ago I actually briefly fainted whilst lying down so I know it wasn't my postural hypotension for once! A bit miffed I ended up only having relatively empty calories instead of a more nutritious meal within my intake, but it is what it is

I've been feeling uneasy about being in the 1100s for the majority of this week and I've proven myself right tonight apparently. Will weigh tomorrow morning instead of Monday I think, so I can have a higher intake day to let my body recalibrate a bit, especially since I've been craving salt & pepper fried chicken wings for days now but keep forgetting about the craving until the takeaways close for the night 😂

Still, 20 days on track!! 🥳 And I really am feeling the benefits, because aside from tonight's fainting episode, I've actually managed to start doing little bits of housework by myself the last few days which is MASSIVE progress in terms of recovering my mobility! Finding the balance of eating enough to stave off the dizziness and function without eating too much has been really tough to become consistent with the last couple of years while I adjusted to getting long COVID on top of my other illnesses, but it seems like I might finally have it figured out 💖
 
Well done 👏 🥳
Thank you! 💖

I wasn't planning to count calories today so I could honour my cravings. But considering I only ate half the wings (4 of them) and I picked off most of the batter since I'm not big into fatty food, I'm still actually on plan so I will log later tonight :)

It's so hard to find nutrition info for Chinese food so I just logged 4 KFC original recipe drumsticks which are a bit bigger, as I'd rather overestimate than underestimate, but definitely been pleasantly surprised that my planned cheat day turned out not to be cheating at all lol
 
Day 21 calorie intake: 1766
Meals: 2
Snacks: 2

Ended up raiding the sweets before falling asleep but that's a good thing as I did set out to have a higher intake day today after my worsening dizzy spells!
 
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Day 22 calorie intake: 1739
Meals: 2
Snacks: 1

Ended up watching The Conjuring in the dark before bed (never seen it before) and it's the first horror film to scare me for a while so I had to get comfort snacks 😂

Should note that I don't define a snack by the number of things eaten or the calorie content, I go by how nutritious what I ate was in one sitting. It's a habit I've carried over from ED therapy, but it works well for me to think this way so I've kept it :) So if I eat 500cal of sweets or crisps or whatever, that's one snack if eaten at once, even though it's more calories than a typical meal for me, because it's mainly empty calories
 
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Day 23 calorie intake: 1552
Meals: 2
Snacks: 2

Sorry this is yesterday's update! I stayed up until 4am and wasn't sure whether to log my 3am coffee as yesterday or today 😂 But considering I've only just woken up now at 6pm, I'm counting that coffee in today's intake 👀

Can't believe my sleep cycle is this messed up but I'll get it back on track the next couple of days hopefully! For some reason my flat is getting really hot at night and I can't sleep. I suspect my downstairs neighbour may be using an electric heater or something because our radiators get shut off between 11pm and 6am. I wouldn't mind, but it's barely autumn and we're having a warm spell, not a cold spell. I'm a person who tends to be freezing, so for it to be too hot for me to sleep is saying something!
 
Day 24 calorie intake: 1383
Meals: 1
Snacks: 4

Mainly substisted on coffee, Tim Horton's at home French Vanilla so not exactly the healthiest but it's so damn good!! Planning to stay awake through the day to reset my sleep cycle. All in all though I'm glad it's not been a binge trigger. Only problem is I forgot to do my weekly shop in time to get a cheap mid week delivery slot 😬 But I have enough in to last me until Tuesday or Wednesday next week so it's alright

I've also found myself quite restless. My feet burn if I sit or stand and my hands tremor after a few minutes decluttering or tackling dishes so I didn't walk or get any housework done, but I did quite a lot of exercise in bed last night. Over the moon about it really as it's been a LONG time since I had that kind of energy! Any movement is good movement and even if it's just stretching/calisthenics in bed, that's really promising progress and a strong sign that the way I'm eating is helping with my fibro symptoms! It is quite annoying being so fidgety, the restless feeling is mostly in my back and legs, but I'd much rather this to pain or feeling totally unable to move

I just did a few bridges, stretched my legs out and moved them in big circles, lying on my back I alternated "marching" motions with my legs but stretching them all the way out, as well as a few cat/cow/child's pose yoga stretches I learned help a lot with my back pain, among others. It seems to have cracked my spine and hips quite nicely, and relieved a lot of the muscle tension I was having in that area. It almost feels like my body is "waking up" again after several years unable to do much movement at all! The dizzy spells are also gone after a couple of days of 1700+ intake and two nights of 10+ hours sleep, which I think contributed to this energy burst as the last year or so I've often had pre-syncope if not fainting spells whilst lying down and doing nothing!

If this keeps up, maybe my psychiatrist's joke about the duloxetine getting me running marathons by next year won't be too far off 😂 It really has been a miracle medicine for me, and eased my symptoms enough that I haven't had to rely on overeating to keep me from fainting through the day, so combined with balanced eating and getting my weight back down, my hope is that I can eventually manage my chronic illnesses
 
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