Do Over?

There are many things I do. when it comes to taking care of myself, that need to be done over. 

When I was changing my lifestyle to lose weight I transitioned from a low intensity workout to a higher intensity workout at a good pace.  When I started to change my eating, I did it the same way.  Once I “mastered” a change, I transitioned something else.  I started with portion control with the first trainer I worked with.  When I started with Brent, I then transitioned into the Zone Diet then eventually started going towards the Paleo lifestyle. 

Although it was always tough for me, and I struggled staying on it 100%, it worked great for me.  In fact nothing works better than Paleo for me.  So, now I’m trying to figure out why, in the midst of a panic due to my MS diagnosis, I even thought I had to change my lifestyle again...I think I may have figured it all out.  Yup, I was wrong; I should have never changed anything when I was diagnosed.  Why?

I already changed…yes I needed to be more consistent and add supplements but what I was doing prior to my diagnosis is what some people who are diagnosed with MS do in addition to or in lieu of giving themselves shots.  I overthought, and doubted myself and what I learned more than I ever imagined I could.  Why would I do this?  I was working hard; my workouts were great, I was eating great, and being consistent, and dropping weight like never before when I was slammed with this diagnosis.  I had to be doing something wrong; if it was all right, there should have been no reason for the MS to rear its ugly head.  Right?  WRONG!  I was so wrong and I feel like, because I panicked, I blew it all, again.

What made me realize this?  I was meeting with a doctor and while we were talking about my diagnosis and my concern of my MS being misdiagnosed. He explained to me that MS and many other diseases can be suppressed for a long time then be awoken by stress.

Stress?  THAT’S IT!!  It wasn’t me not doing something right at all.  It was STRESS!  It was like everything crashed together when the doctor explained this to me. 

We started something a couple of months prior to my diagnosis.  I was blown away by how this process affected me and my stress level.  I told TJ repeatedly, throughout this process, that I have never felt the kind of stress that I felt during this time.  It was THE MOST STRESSFUL time of my life.  I am sure, now, after speaking to this doctor, and thinking back to the lifestyle changes I made prior to my diagnosis than comparing my changes to the changes made by others who were diagnosed with MS, that it wasn’t anything more than the stress that caused the supressed MS to awaken. 

It had nothing to do with my new lifestyle.  In fact, I have wondered how much worse the MS symptoms would have been had I not lost weight, exercised, and ate well.  If this is indeed MS, I think there's a good possibility that I could be sitting in a wheel chair today had I not made the changes I did over the past few years.

So, what now?  Where does that leave me?  Do I go back to the drawing board? Find another doctor or 2 or 3?  OR just put the last few months behind me and pick up where I left off in October?  Could it really be that easy?