The best way to eat for TBI Survivors!

So here I am, back on the "change your diet for better health" bandwagon! This time I'm doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox. There are three levels to this way of eating (purposely not calling it a diet). Level one is the most lenient and level three is the most restrictive. I'm doing level two and my sweet mom is doing level one. 

All levels have the following in common: NO refined carbs (no wheat, pasta, corn, potatoes even yams) such as bread, crackers, or chips. NO sweeteners of any kind (even the fake sugar kind). NO fruit other than green apples, green-tipped bananas, and grapefruit.

* It takes 3 weeks (21 days) to develop a habit, so by avoiding everything sweet for 3 weeks, you bust the craving all together! *

CHECK OUT THE BELOW INFORMATION ABOUT SUGAR:

Sugar is bad!

I'm beginning day 14 of this 21 day sugar detox and I feel so wonderful. I feel like I've lost nearly 20 pounds (okay, the scale actually shows that I've lost 1.5 pounds). I feel light and clear in my head. This is why I feel this is such a great way to eat for brain injury survivors! 

I'm so excited about the way that I'm feeling, so I think I'm going to try level 3 after this 21 days is over. NO DAIRY in level 3! It's 100% Paleo and Whole Food 30, so very restrictive. Hopefully eating that way will completely improve my sleep!

check out http://the21daysugardetox.com/ for details!!

Dr. Erin Bigler and Neuroscience

Last night I went to the Brain Injury Group at Brigham Young University because Dr. Erin D. Bigler was presenting! Dr. Bigler is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at BYU, and he's pretty much an expert in his field. In fact, more than one BYU Phd Psychology student has told me that he was the reason they selected BYU for their Phd program.

I decided to summarize some of his points on my blog:

I don't think he really had anything specific planned for his presentation because he just said, "Usually when I speak, there are a lot of questions at the end, so I decided to turn things around and start with the questions. What do you guys want to know?"

He preceded to let us know he's been a professor for 40 years and has hundreds of slides, so he probably has a slide for anything we ask . . . and then opened it up for whatever. It was great, and so helpful!

Here are the points I took to heart:

"There's nothing we experience that isn't mediated by the brain."
"The brain is always changing and adapting (even in an uninjured state)."

The reason that processing speed is slower after brain injury is because things have to be rerouted (and bypass the injured parts). He gave a great analogy: back when he was an undergrad at BYU, there was no I-15 (the freeway that connects Provo to Salt Lake City). If you wanted to travel from Southern UT to SLC, you had to take back roads and go through several tiny towns. It took forever. That analogy made complete sense to me.

He said the hippocampus (which plays an important role in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory) is the most vascular part of the brain- meaning it needs blood flow. Everything that's good for the heart is also good for the brain, he said. That means proper exercise, diet, sleep, and a low-stress lifestyle are important to help TBI Survivors stay healthy and sane (the second half of that sentence are my words, but that is pretty much what he said).

Paleo Eating for the TBI Survivor!

I'm absolutely convinced that healthy eating and consistent fitness has helped me recover from my TBI (almost recover. . . if you're a TBI Survivor reading this, you know what I mean by almost. You never fully and completely recover from brain trauma. But this is the best I've felt . . . like, ever, since my injury).

The best way to eat, for me, as a recovering TBI Survivor, is to eat according to the Paleo Diet. That means Paleolithic, also referred to as the Caveman Diet.

In fact, here's an article by a TBI Survivor who's also convinced that this eating plan helps her (lose weight, sleep better and deeper, build muscle, feel all-around "cleaner").

Admittedly I've fluctuated on and off the Paleo Bandwagon. But, I'm promising to get back on starting now. I'm excited!

Check out this article for more Paleo and TBI inspiration:

http://robbwolf.com/2012/04/02/paleo-world-changer/

If you have no idea what "eating Paleo" means, read this link: What is Paleo?

2014 Olympics, Snowboarding and TBI

It's the middle of the 2014 Sochi Olympics and I'm loving it! I particularly love to watch Snowboarding because I'm taking snowboarding lessons this year (it's really fun, but really hard to balance on a board). As I ride up the mountain on the chairlift during my lessons, I'm always amazed by how many boarders I see doing tricks on the mountain while NOT WEARING A HELMET!

Even a tiny fall can result in a tiny concussion and a tiny concussion equals a tiny brain injury. You may have heard about or watched snowboarder Sarka Panchochova of the Czech Republic split her helmet after a nasty crash on the slopestyle course. Her spokesperson said she "might have suffered a small concussion." (eeeek. a small concussion is just as bad as a large concussion)

Here is another sports and TBI story about a female hockey player:

The All-American ice hockey forward had recently been sidelined with a major concussion two years ago, Meghan Duggan was lying nearly comatose at her parents' house in Danvers, Massssion. "I couldn't talk or eat," Duggan says. "I just sat at home in the dark, day after day, month after month." She had been named the best female hockey player in the country in March 2011, but just nine months later, it was unclear if she'd ever return to the ice. "I just kept trying to be patient," Duggan says. "Obviously with an injury like that, you can't really force it." She spent a lot of time alone in her room with the shades drawn. (Concussion symptoms typically include headaches, dizziness, and trouble concentrating.) Reading, watching television, and even walking in the neighborhood were too painful. “It’s hard to explain if you have never had a concussion, but you don’t feel like yourself — something feels wrong.”"

  

I love the last line "It's hard to explain if you have never had a concussion, but you don't feel like yourself - something feels wrong."

EXACTLY. EXACTLY. That is a perfect way to explain what a TBI feels like - something just feels "wrong," and you don't fee like yourself.