It's now been a month of fish oil, prenatal vitamins, and struggling to reach 70g of protein from dairy/egg/fish/protein powder daily. I feel mental benefits from the fish oil (concentration better), but my hair and nails look the same. I am guessing that may take longer. The protein is still tough. If have to make myself eat it. If I eat intuitively, it is very low protein, and reminiscent of the way I was eating before that got me into trouble in the first place. But I don't LIKE to make myself finish things if I don't feel like it, just so that I get the protein. I understand that I may have gotten used to undereating (even though I am not underweight) and the fact that a 5.3 oz. yogurt feels like a lot probably seems dumb to people who are used to eating eggs and dairy daily.
I feel like I am forcing myself to eat a lot of the time, but in a month, my weight has only gone up by about a pound, which is weird. It feels like more. I have to say high protein snacks have been very helpful, as far as my energy level and not being completely ravenous at meals. But going for a long time between meals and being super hungry is what I'm used to, so I guess maybe being well-fed feels "wrong"? I know logically it's not, but it does seem like adding a single-serving container of Greek yogurt (or a homemade protein bar) and a frozen fruit/protein powder smoothie to my day is not much, but it feels like a lot. If you asked me if I actually wanted a snack, I would probably say no, I'm not hungry enough, but then if I skip it, it's a long time between meals and my protein for the day comes up short (maybe 40ish grams for the day without the snacks), which is a problem.
I have ventured into fish! Only canned tuna mixed with light mayo and sriacha so far. I can't bring myself to buy an actual fish and cook it. Are pouches of tuna better? What about salmon?
I guess what I'm asking is whether this will feel normal? How long should I expect it to take for my body to adjust? Thanks in advance!
Just got more bloodwork. It's been about 4 months of the heme iron supplement, and trying to hit 1900-2100 cal/day and 100-1120g protein. Overall, been very successful at that, even though a lot of that comes from plant based protein powder/soy/dairy/eggs.
My ferritin went up 8 points, so now it's 24. I thought it would be higher, but I'll take it! So I guess I need the supplement still. I am seeing some hair regrowth, feeling generally more energetic. Blood pressure still very low, but it hasn't crashed (in the past, it's gone below 90/60 several times, too dizzy to drive, had to eat salt and lie down with legs elevated) for the past 2 months.
My white blood cells, which were low last time (3.7) are now 3.6. I don't know what that means, doctor will comment probably by Wednesday or so. She wasn't concerned before, so hopefully she won't be concerned now? My MCH is also slightly high, which can be related to B vitamin deficiencies, argh. I've been taking the recommended multivitamin that has those. We shall see what she says.
I will follow up with the dietician as well. She might want me to eat more meat than I currently am (I do grass fed ground beef tacos from the place up the street about 1x/wk, and tuna and sometimes chicken when I can stand it). I have also found an organic grass fed beef jerky that I like. Protein, iron, and salt, all of which I need. I am still having trouble making myself eat any form of meat, poultry, or fish. I still can't bring myself to cook it. Any tips?