How I Got To This Point

I thought I would skip the corny first blog post about my plans for the site and what it will become that I am so used to doing for my blogs.

Up to this point I have been through a quite lengthy journey. I have always been able to handle the day to day stressed that present themselves and usually pride myself on how much I can excel in them. I don't mean to sound cocky but what kept me going through the most trying of times was knowing that the average person would give up. Ego aside, this was more of a confidence building phase I was going through, I loved challenges and I loved knowing not many people would take them on as eagerly as me. I was unstoppable. For starters, I challenged myself to complete my associates degree in one year, with no semester breaks. Did I mention I also decided I was quite capable of doing this while working just under (36 hours not including breaks) a week to pay me expenses?

Well, as if that wasn't enough, I decided to up the ante so to speak. Even though I was dabbling in the art of starting my own corporation (has since but ended) and picking up a thing or two about web design, I felt if I was going to do something I should do it 'big'. I would accept nothing less than a 4.0 for that one year degree while playing lacrosse for a nearby university. I was just in the middle of accomplishing it all when it happened, a gradual pressure built up in my head. The pressure began to be met with daily congestion. It was only weeks until the 24/7 migraines set in, and my life was changed forever.

I was such a big shot, huh? Wrong. To fuel myself through these ridiculous goals I set, I constantly ate. I don't mean eat as in your normal '3 meals and a snack' eat. I only weighed around 140 lbs and am 5' 8" but I ate for someone twice my size. In my free time there was not a moment that went by I didn't snack. It sounds absurd thinking a skinny person has room to talk, but let me explain to you something, if it wasn't for my poor nutrition I would not have been skinny eating like that. A snack for me was a huge plate of white rice, as much chips as I could devour without my girlfriend getting mad at another empty bag, and cheese that could last anyone a month. I washed it all down with protein smoothies to curve my hunger so I could concentrate and would eat sometimes up to eight quesdill without any satisfaction. I found myself before an empty but once loaded down plate of atleast a couple pounds, drooling and 'starving'.

As months of this style of eating crept up on me I was none the wiser. My migraines began to change me as a person, a once out going and very positive individual, I found myself becoming violent with everyone around me. Fluorescent lights became my enemies and days went by that I just couldn't put up with trivial trials life presented for me. I would find myself constantly stressing over small costs that came out of nowhere such as getting a haircut, and the irritation of it would eat at me all day long for weeks until the next thing came along. Using the restroom, not to be gross but I know there are others out there who this could help, was not quite the same anymore and took much more effort. The 'foggy' feeling I felt made paying attention in class extremely difficult and I had to focus much more than ever. If anyone were to disrupt class it would take me upwards of twenty minutes to prime my brain to get back to where it needed to be.

I worked in a photo lab at the local drug store. I loved my job previous to the migraines, but as they became I worse the joy faded. I have always been a peoples person but whether it was the constant unblocked fluorescent lights or the repetitive songs that played every day, I just couldn't do it anymore. Looking back on it, walking in those automatic doors to punch in clock I always felt like a little piece of me died inside that I would subject myself to the torment(or so it felt) for such a little amount of money. The job was actually one of the best I have ever had, but my condition made it seem like a prison. I stuck in as long as I could but eventually I had to leave the place, my migraines began to pound into my skull within minutes of getting to work.

The next month was filled with episodes of pain that send shivers down my spine to think of now. I would have to lock myself in a bathroom lying on the cold tile floor with all the lights off to even damper the pain a little. My eyes bulged and I would wake up in the morning with a headache that I was certain could knock out a whale. Once a fan of sleep, I began to dread the moment I would place my head down to rest. For the very second I did so, the migraines would come and the bright green and pink lights in my eyes would return even though the room was pitch black and my eyes were closed. My memory also began to deteriorate. I can see now that it was a gradual process, I couldn't recall dates and schedules would have been impossible if it weren't for the calender in my phone. I began using lists for the simplest of tasks to make sure I would not forget something along the way.

That is when I had enough. It had been six months of the torture and I was not about to turn over for some migraine. I began seeing multiple doctors and a variety of things were done ( I will blog about the whole process in another as this post is getting long) to no avail. It seemed all doctors wanted to do was throw medications at me and not one was I asked about my diet. I have been on it now for just over three weeks and the results, while not completely solving everything yet, have far surpassed any medication I have taken. I decided to ditch all the things in the normal diet of Americans today, the grains, cereal, dairy, and so on to make sure I was not filling my body with things that were harming it.

So, I will be skipping the first corny blog post I have been so fond of in the past. I find it to be indicative of phases I am going through and for thoughts that are simple moments in time. No my dietery customs are not temporary, ditching the grains is a life style.