Congratulations on finishing the program! You should be feeling much better after following the program for the last 6 weeks. For you folks it is about slowly introducing the foods you have eliminated back into your diet, one food at a time and seeing how you feel. I give guidelines in the book, but it may be worth keeping a food diary as this way it will be easier to see which foods don’t agree with you.
For most people, even if you are sensitive to gluten or dairy, you will still be able to have small amounts. It is when you go over your limit that it becomes a problem. And each person’s threshold is different. This is for you to explore over the next few weeks. Becoming more conscious of how you feel after eating various foods is a great awareness to have.
At the same time, it is about trying to maintain your exercise, relaxation and tennis ball and foam roller releases as needed, and finding a way to maintain your health without becoming too lax or obsessive either. Use the daily beats as tips you can frequently go back to, incorporating whichever ones work for you at the time.
For those of you who are not better at all or those of you who are still not feeling significantly better, the troubleshooting chapter should help determine why and give you tools to help solve the problem. The Spent program was developed to improve function of the various organ systems that are usually involved when you are Spent, but sometimes, specific areas need more targeted therapy and more of a boost. Everyone is different.
But in my many years of doing this, the most common issues that I see and that need to be addressed are…thyroid dysfunction, adrenal dysfunction, gastro-intestinal dysfunction and nutritional deficiencies. In other words, you may need more help with your thyroid function, adrenal function, gastro-intestinal function or more nutrients. The following links at www.spentmd.com may be helpful in determining what is wrong:
§ Adrenal Quiz, http://www.spentmd.com//index.php?nav=89
§ Thyroid Quiz, http://www.spentmd.com//index.php?nav=90
§ Digestive Quiz, http://www.spentmd.com//index.php?nav=92
I would also suggest you go to your doctor and ask him to do regular blood tests to rule anemia, sleep apnea, side effects from drugs or any other disease process that may be causing you to feel exhausted. In addition to the standard blood tests done normally, I recommend requesting additional blood tests not usually done by your physician, see pg 241. I have found these tests extremely helpful troubleshooting what may be wrong.
Please keep in contact with me if you have any further questions at www.franklipman.com
All the best on your health journey
Frank
Dr. Frank Lipman, author of SPENT: End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again (Fireside/Simon & Schuster, January 2009), is the founder and director of the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in New York City, where his personal blend of Western and alternative medicine has helped thousands of people recover their energy and zest for life. For more information, visit www.franklipman.com.