What's "mood" got to do with it?

For a couple of weeks we’ve been looking at the evidence…

…the evidence of how your body is doing, as revealed in the simple details of your food (intake) and your poop (output).

Our Food/Mood/Poop Challenge has raised great questions,

if not an eyebrow or two!

Documenting your food is easy.
Eat it. Write it down!

Reporting on your poop isn’t so hard, once you remember to look before you flush.
The Bristol Stool chart we shared on the Facebook page helps keep your reporting “clean”. (And I posted some of my charting reports to help you get in the swing.)

But what’s “mood” got to do with it?

And why the heck do I keep putting “mood” in quotes?
(Are those air quotes, by the way? Yup. They are!)

The “mood” portion of the Food/Mood/Poop Tracker is my favorite.

When I say “mood”, I don’t just mean how your feel emotionally. I mean how you feel up and down, inside and out, and in all parts of your body.
If you think it, track it.

aches

pains

sleepy

gains

bloating

gas

feeling like everyone around you is a pain in the a** (ie. irritable)
If you feel it, reveal it!

headaches

cramps

sore throat

itchy skin

forgetfulness

swollen fingers

sore feet
You get the picture right?

The reason I love this area so much is that it helps me to get in tune, not only with the subtleties of how I’m feeling, but also where I might be able to shift my behaviors to alleviate some of the not-so-welcome “feelings” in my body or brain.
Let me present myself as a case study…

Lately, I’ve been on the road a lot!

A week in California.

A quick stop in Denver.

And back to California.

(Repeat.)

All this followed by a weekend where I had to take a final exam and attend an event at my son’s school (an awesome event, but, nonetheless, taking me away from home)!

My weekdays are packed pretty solid, so there’s no room for a pretend weekend day hidden in there.

And, I typically need to support myself with good food, good rest, and some time to “drink from my own pool”, to replenish. Nothing fancy, just a pause. (If it helps to know, I’m a Cancer, and also like my “shell”, my home time.)

These past few days I’ve been noticing that I’m more tired than usual.

More cold than usual.

And one of my old telltale signs (swollen and painful breasts at not any time of the month that would seem logical), was cropping up with some steady consistency.

Tracking these “mood” swings on my Food/Mood/Poop Tracker made me sit up and take notice.

Are these niggling signs and symptoms taking me down?
No.

Might I otherwise just plow ahead and “suffer” the consequences as an annoyance?
Yes.

But not this week!

This week I took note of those things and stopped for a moment, getting curious…
What’s my food been like?
Well, in all honesty, with all the travel, there had been a few more drifts into the “bike lane” or “shoulder” as my east coast friends like to call it.
What’s my poop been like?
Come to think of it, I’ve been out of Magnesium for a few days. It’s likely time for a refill!

Plus, based on my “mood” (or signs and symptoms), I took the steps to make a few other changes, or upgrades, if you will, in my daily routine:

• reign in the food, incorporating more fiber and more anti-inflammatory superfoods

• restock the Magnesium and incorporate a bit more adrenal support

• rekindle my relationship with “listening in” more deeply, being kind, gentle and tuned in ~ what I like to call “nonviolent communication with self”

Have you been tracking too?

What’s your tracking telling you?

Can you find a place or two to invite an upgrade or switch gears based on the evidence?

Let’s Get Tracking!

YOUR NEXT STEPS ARE SIMPLE

1. Grab your Food, Mood, Poop Journal by clicking right here.

2. Join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Tune in to all your signs and symptoms and get them down in your journal.

Stay objective (no judgement, please).

And only then, once you have some clear evidence, see if you can connect some dots.

Together in awareness…

Warmly,

By: Andrea Nakayama, FxNA Founder & Functional Medicine Nutritionist

Functional Nutrition Alliance provides the comprehensive online Functional Nutrition training in the Science & Art of the Functional Nutrition practice. Learn to address the roots of your clients’ suffering with client education, diet & lifestyle modifications.