Diet Update: ABORT ABORT ABORT

Man, what an adventure No Carbs Week turned out to be.

By about Monday night, I was already deciding this was a bad idea. Taking away bread, tortillas and pasta removed almost my entire repertoire from my kitchen and left things like sandwich meat to go bad as I looked at it longingly while eating yet another bowl of rice and veggies. Worse still, it might not end up being all that healthy, as anyone with half a brain noticed when the Atkins diet just moved a lot of people a few bunless burgers closer to heart disease.

Then things got really bad, and not in a dietary way. I went to the doctor on a Wednesday morning for a routine appointment, and I ended up in the office in horrendous pain. I was moved straight down to Urgent Care (essentially a low-rent ER) and after a couple of hours of agony, I was given some painkillers and so much IV fluid that my face swelled up. I was diagnosed with dehydration and a kidney stone.

Yeah. I turn 25 in a couple months. Kidney stone. What.

I took the rest of the week off of school and spent it at home stuffing myself with Advil and water. By Friday I felt good enough to go back on campus for a couple small things and started to wonder if I hadn't been misdiagnosed.

Then, things took a worse turn on Saturday and I felt bad again, and I started to wonder if I wouldn't need to go to the real-deal hospital. Then, a couple extra Advil later, out popped a kidney stone, completely painlessly.

Strange.

I've been back at school for a week, and I seem to be doing OK. I can't drink much coffee or alcohol (dehydration still hurts), but I'm able to go to school again.

And I'm not in debilitating pain.

We're taking a short break from dieting so I can get my life in order. I have a new theory for something to try, but that's a story for another post.

2 responses

Hey man, sorry to hear about this. What's odd is that my brother JUST want through the same deal.

I'm glad you're thinking about your diet. Don't let yourself believe that it's the experimentation that caused this though. It's probably not. I know you'll do the necessary research and learn all about kidney stones so I don't need to lecture you.

Anyway, hope you're feeling better. Water, fruits and vegetables! I'm going start posting some recipes on my blog soon. They may be aren't culinary masterpieces but they are spiced nicely so you don't get bored with "rice and veggies" night after night. Keep an eye out for them. I'll try to post sometime this week.

— aroon pahwa

I know people don't often like to hear this, cuz it's boring, but I'll say it anyway. I think it's neat you're exploring your food boundries by trying different ways of eating for a short time, and if it floats your boat, why not. Everyone likes to try different things.

But most studies I've read about show that moreso than any extreme diet change, switching to vegetarianism or veganism, or cutting out large chunks of any type of food, the most effective and lasting diets are those where you modify your existing diet to be in general more healthy. (Of course if you're a junk food king that probably wouldn't work, but I'm fairly sure you are not.) You're more likely to stick with it for the long term, which will, in the end, grant you more healthy benefits. Making extreme diet changes of any kind makes it more likely that you will binge on the 'forbidden' food or get too frustrated and give up. Not that I don't doubt anyone's willpower, but it makes sense.

Like I said, it's less exciting, but a great lifestyle change that will reward you down the road, and is definitely possible without stressing you or your body out.

— Emma