Personal Health Reset Restart: Day 1, Again

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Oops! My last post was 14 days ago and I fell hard from the my personal health reset wagon!

It wasn't intentional, but I fell into a deep funk after seeing my primary care provider recently and embarking on a specific diet for my gastrointestinal issues. I'm not going to get into specifics about the diet or why my provider asked me to try it as I don't want to dissuade someone for whom it could be extremely beneficial. 

For me, it did not help at all considering the impact on my mental health. In fact, the impact on my mental health became so negative over the course of the diet that I had to discontinue it. It took away a significant aspect of my enjoyment of life. 

If the choice is to be miserable mentally while following a diet I detest or to be miserable physically but strong mentally on a diet I enjoy, I'll choose the later. 

Now, that does not mean I'm just eating anything that makes me happy! I am practicing a lot of self-control and eating what I enjoy, but in much smaller amounts and more frequently throughout the day. I'm still being careful to ensure I hit my daily and weekly nutrition needs--which felt impossible on the specialty diet. 

Eating very small quantities much more frequently and chewing until my food can't be chewed further are helping with my physical abdominal pain symptoms. And, eating foods that taste delicious, that I find fun to cook and prepare, and that feel good in my mouth are all factorings improving my mental health over the past several days. 

I am by no means cured of any of my ailments -- my belly still hurts, my hip still hurts, and I have some of the aches and pains that simply come with getting older (I turned 52 last month!).

However, realizing how important my food choices are to my mental well being has been a significant factor in this health reset journey. 

As I type this, I'm sitting in one of my favorite tea shops with a coconut milk vanilla iced matcha latte (oooh, fancy!) and a vegan cinnamon muffin. I'm sipping the latte and savoring every bite of the mufffin. Will my tummy hurt afterwards? Maybe, but I'm focusing on my mental health today after two weeks of feeling progressively more and more depressed. 

Two days ago, I made the connection between my mental health and my food choices. I was feeling so down at that point that I was struggling to get out of bed and go about my daily routines despite vigilantly taking my antidepressant/anti-anxiety medication daily. 

Yesterday, I decided to find a way to enjoy myself despite feeling down and feeling exhausted. I considered cancelling plans with a friend, but one of my goals for 2026 is to yes more and cancel plans less often. I was tired and worried about taking a cross-town bus trip (over an hour each direction), but I missed my friend and I knew we'd have fun. I also knew she'd be fine with it if I needed a nap when I got there! I was right! I didn't need a nap, but I did lounge on her sofa while we chatted about life. 

In the morning, yesterday, I made it a point to savor my morning coffee, to drink more water, and to savor my breakfast parfait (fresh strawberries, vanilla coconut yogurt, fresh raspberries, vegan nutella, and peanut butter--all carefully measured out to make sure it wasn't over the top in calories).

For the bus ride to my friend's house, I made sure to have water, two books, and a few magazines in my bag. The bus trip both directions was tolerable and I came very close to finishing reading I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home by Fergus Craig (It's a cozy murder mystery with lots of laughs, a few plot twists, lots of elderly people with motives to murder, and more! Grab it HERE.).

By the time I got home, I was exhausted and my hip was aching, but I was able to get my dog out for her night time potty, ate a little bit, and wound down for bed. 

Today, I woke up feeling exhuasted after some extremely vivid and upsetting dreams related to grief and family drama, but my dog was tightly by my side and giving her a hug helped. I put on my new favorite sweatshirt (from Comfrt--it feels like wearing a cloud!) and took Mako, my dog, out for her morning potty. While we were out, I was struggling to shake the remnants of the bad dreams and decided to focus on my five sense:

• What could I taste? My own stale mouth since I hadn't brushed my teeth yet.
• What could I smell? Fresh, neutral air.
• What could I hear? Children playing distantly (among other city noises)
• What could I see? The beautiful shades of green among the many trees just outside my home.
• What could I feel? The leash in my hand and slight pull from my dog, the softness of the inside of my sweatshirt, and the firmness of the ground beneath my feet. 

This is an exercise that often seems to help me recenter. 

I was still very tired today, but also determined to have a good day. I finished the book I was reading and started a new one (Joe Nuthin's Guid to Life by Helen Fisher -- grab it HERE) and then got myself ready to go to an acupuncture appointment. 

I purposely left my house early to stop at a coffee shop for my favorite pastry (an olive scone), but they were out and I came away with a short Americano which I enjoyed at one of my favorite parks. 

During my acupuncture appointment, I worked to keep my focus on being relaxed and when I found my mind wandering to stressful topics, I repeated the five senses exercise from above:

• What could I taste? The last remnants of my coffee over the lingering taste of minty toothpaste.
• What could I smell? Mostly neutral air with just the tiniest hint of something like palo santo.
• What could I hear? Soft ambient music, occasional noises of people walking by outside the room.
• What could I see? Blues and blacks in my closed eyes.
• What could I feel? The soft cushion beneath me, a warm tingly sensation across my lower back from applying IcyHot last night as it reacted to the warming pad under the cushion.

I left the appointment feeling relaxed but energized. I have plans to work on this blog and my others -- Caffeinated While Reading, Let Me Tell You About My Period (and the associated podcast), and Shy Awkward Introvert before leaving the cafe. This evening, I plan to work on two videos for my YouTube channel and to prep to record for my period-focused podcast tomorrow. 

I'm determined to not let my health ailments break me.