Changing Directions

   My husband showed me this video in regards to my feelings to go on the diet.  I felt it was so true.  I know I have felt to go in one direction in my life only to discover that a different path was the one I should take in regards to my health.  The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways to bring us greater understanding and happiness in our lives.  I now know for sure what I need to do in regards to my health, something that has been bothering me for such a long time.  I just needed to move forward to learn.

    My pain is now starting to let up more than ever as I'm choosing small meals, less packaged foods, low fat foods (they slow digestion), less acidic  foods, and well cooked veggies.  Going on the diet was the quickest way for me to learn these things.  I have been truly blessed.  The Lord is so watchful of His children.  I know that if we rely on Him, and listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost we are directed to healing, spiritual and temporal.  And I have experienced both. :)
  
   Also, important to understand is that I've been dealing with these health problems for about seven years.  It's been a long road in my mind, but to God all things are eternal.  This has been a short time in the eternal view of life.  I've also learned patience, and that all things come in His time.  And if we endure well we are blessed with greater joy than we have before known.  When a person has lived with any pain (mental, physical, or spiritual) they are filled with such joy when that pain is no longer present. I have received this feeling at different times.  And although I'm not completely pain free, I know that even if I'm not in this life I will be, in the life to come.  I will strive to endure it well.

Days 14, 15, and 16

    So, my husband doctor and I talked the other day about my diet and what I'm getting from it.  For the most part what I've learned is that I feel the best when I eat only pureed foods.  Which is telling me that for the most part my problem is most likely mechanical and not allergy.  The pain is coming mostly from my intestines trying to digest foods that are more difficult to digest.  Fiber causes a lot of pain, gassy foods cause a lot of gas that just gets stuck all the time, and meats are so bulky they push on damaged nerves that cause a lot of sharp pain.
    
     I've also discovered that when I exercise the pain worsens if I've eaten food that needs a lot of blood flow to digest (fiber, meats, gassy foods, etc...).  Blood flow is impaired to my G.I. so if I exercise it takes blood away from the G.I. causing it to cramp up and act like somewhat of an ileus. 
  
     The other problem we have been speculating about is the pelvic inflammation.  We discussed the possibility of gut permeability.  It's possible that my gut leaks microscopic food particles into my blood stream which my body calculates as foreign substances and attacks causing an autoimmune response. The last surgery, the surgeon told me the lower half of my gut was inflamed (on the outside), what I assumed was the endo, but that may have just been in the deeper pelvic cavity.

     I'm going to admit, it is a bit heart breaking.  I was hoping it was allergy, then I would just have to omit those foods and I'd be fine.  Now it looks like I will have to revamp my entire life.  I know I can make it work for me it's just going to be challenging.
 
     I'm no longer sure that staying on this diet is for me, but even if I get off it I now know that I can't go back to eating the way I was if I want to live without pain.  That's what doing this diet was all about.  But eating a strictly meat, veggie, and fruit diet is most likely not the most helpful for me.  Meat is painful for me.  Fresh veggies and some fruits are painful for me.  I'm not going to be able to get the nutrition I need if I only eat these things.
  
      I'm going to start adding some things in a little at a time now to see how my body reacts.  I think I'll start with eggs, then try some dairy, then move to potatoes and rice.

     A short note on why I had an energy boost.  I've been eating very small meals, sometimes just a sweet potato, and small amounts of meat to try and avoid pain.  Well that doesn't take much to digest so I'd end up having more energy and less pain.
   
     So the end result is I'm dealing with more than IBS, Fibro, and IC.  It's more complicated and more challenging to understand than a simple diet could ever remedy.  But I'm ready to move forward with what I've learned, one step at a time.

What I have to do now to live closer to pain free:

Add things back in slowly to see how my body reacts
Eat six small meals a day
Stay away from gassy and acidic foods
Eat small amounts of meat
Eat more of the grains my body can handle
Exercise in small amounts a few times a day
Keep practicing relaxation techniques
Eat two to three of those meals pureed

   My husband has high hopes for me, and has said that if I try to do these things my body may create more blood vessels that feed the intestines and I may end up living pain free some day.  I can hope right?  For now I will do my best with what I know.

   This diet has been great, in that it has helped me see even more, what is going on with my body.  I'm glad I've done it, but for my personal health needs it's time to cut it short, and start living what I know.

THANKS WHOLE30 YOU HAVE SERVED ME IN THE WAY I NEEDED!

 

My husband made a delicious turkey dinner for me last night because he wanted to do something nice for me.

So sweet. :)

Days 11, 12, and 13

      I almost gave into breaking the diet this week.  So many sweets coming in and out of the house made sticking to the diet really challenging.   But I did it and I'm pretty proud of myself.  I made some good recipes this week that I just need to change a little bit if I want to keep eating them.  I've been eating a lot of the same things for breakfast and lunch.  These include: chicken patties, pieces of whole chicken, salmon, a variety of fruits and vegetables, soups, sauerkraut, and coconut.   For dinners I've been branching out, eating some seasoned pork, and steaks.  I'm going to try a cod recipe this week.  I am also using a variety of seasonings to flavor my foods.  I have a lot of fresh parsley, sage, thyme, and cilantro.  These add a lot of flavor.  I cook a lot in coconut oil, coconut milk, and olive oil.  Garlic and onion always give a nice flavor but are hard for me to digest unless pureed. 

     So I'm realizing more and more since being on this diet that I have extremely slow motility.  My Chronic gastritis (which I am going to have checked for autoimmune responses) will not go down unless I eat strictly pureed foods that have little acidity to them.  I ate a little meat and a bowel of sweet potato soup and felt the best I've ever felt in a long time. 

   Joint/fibro pain has gone way down so far on this diet.  I know the diet is a huge part of the reason this has gone down.  I tried doing an exercise program without being on the diet and could only do it for a few days because the pain would get so bad.  Now I feel I have enough energy to keep going.  I've been working out every day, mostly with my kids, but doing my own toning exercises.

I'm so excited to be playing with my kids, with energy and some freedom.

I DON'T FEEL LIKE I'M ILL ALL THE TIME!!!

WEIGHT:  145 POUND

I've lost three more pounds this week. :)

 

Sweet Potato soup.  I'm going to make one similar with Butternut squash.

This was good but I think I needed to cook the shrimp in olive oil instead of coconut oil..  Just for flavor purposes.

Day 8, 9, and 10

   The diet has gone great the past few days.  I've been feeling a lot better, and have had more energy.  Sunday I made a delicious sweet potato soup.  I loved it.  It's probably my favorite recipe I've made so far.  My abdomen has been swelling up some (when I'm late for a meal, or eat something acidic).  I'm really working at healing my intestinal lining, and it doesn't help when I don't eat on time.  I know I need to keep working at it.  The warm soups feel good in my stomach and intestines so I think I'll keep eating some more soups.  I'm not digesting fats well probably because my intestines are so damaged.  I just need to keep doing what I know helps me.  Sometimes when I'm in a hurry I don't cook my veggies I just eat them in a salad.  That leads to intestinal spasms that are hard as a rock the rest of the day and into the night.  I've been able to remedy that some by taking peppermint capsules every morning.  It's all a work in progress, I just need to keep at it.

    I've been exercising every day.  I jumped on the trampoline today and it felt so great.  It was so exciting to start feeling young again, or my age again.  My fibro symptoms are getting a lot better with the diet and exercise.  It was such a vicious cycle.  My food sensitivities, swelling, and distention would make exercise  very difficult,  my fibro would flare up because of inactivity and possibly inflammation in the body, and I couldn't do anything to help it.  Now that I'm getting my abdominal pain down I can exercise more and I'm able to help my entire body more.  I've also been making sure I relax more by going outside to meditate, getting an occasional massage from my husband, and cuddling up in my cozy blanket.  I am overall starting to feel a lot better.

   Today was my husbands day off so we went out to the movies and mall.  My husband is a big comfort food guy and when we go out we always get goodies.  We went to candy shops, a restaurant, and to the movies (where he got more goodies).  He couldn't stand that I couldn't eat some goodies with them, but I got through it.  He handed me a number of things in the hopes I would forget what I was doing and eat it.  I pushed them all away and tried to help him understand why I needed to do this.  By the end of the day he warmed up to everything, but it was hard.  I wasn't giving up that easily.

I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

Day 6 and 7

    Yesterday was a pretty good day on the diet.  I still was having abdominal pain, but I can't expect to be completely healed six days into the diet.  I did a lot of liquid to try and calm my abdominal pain down and it helped a lot.  By the end of the day I was feeling a lot better.  The only problem was, I went to an activity and didn't eat before I left the house.  It was a dinner, and Trunk or Treat activity.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I didn't eat anything, no hot dogs, delicious sweet, or candy.  The only thing they had I could eat were pears.  I ate a few and regretted it later.  I was doubled over in pain when I got home.  I tried eating something and it only worsened it.  Finally I laid down in bed and waited for the pain to subside.  When it did I quickly fell asleep.  Note to me:  Never go to long without eating and make sure it is enough to satisfy.    For breakfast, and lunch I made some fruit drinks and had some steamed vegetables, with a little meat like bacon and chicken.

    Today was a pretty good day too.  I ate some more leftovers.  I had a simple smoothie for breakfast, some veggies, coconut milk, sauerkraut, salad greens with avocado, and some salmon.   It was filling.  I'm also taking a probiotic, peppermint capsules, and cod liver oil.  We will see how well these help also.  I needed some things to help me heal my gut as well.  I also started doing the Presidential Physical Fitness Challenge with my kids so I can make sure I'm exercising every day.  I'm so excited about the new week.  I went shopping and got some more things ingredients to use in some of the new recipes I want to try.  I'm excited to try some of the great recipes in the Autoimmune Paleo Diet Cookbook.  I'll post more pics this week.

I felt pretty good today, I feel I am gradually healing and finding out what foods work best for me.  I did moderate walking exercises yesterday and today. 

One week down, and three more to go.  I'm excited I'll be done right before Thanksgiving so I can make a meal our 'whole' family can enjoy.


What I've learned so far:

A lot of IBS sufferers need to make sure their vegetables are well cooked. (me)
Citrusy fruits can cause IC flares. (me)
Gassy veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, garlic, peas, and beans) are extremely painful for IBS sufferers.
Fibro is doing better so far on the Autoimmune Paleo Diet as it's being done along with exercise.
 Eat before Istart to feel hungry, and eat enough to feel satisfied or I'll regret it later. :)

Day 5

  Started feeling like I had more energy today.   Pain in my lower abdomen has let up some.   I think it was because I changed the diet some.  I decided to take out all raw vegetables.  I ate some chicken, bacon, and salmon today.  I also had some fruit drinks and steamed vegetables.  For snack I had a banana and apple.  It was the best day so far for pain.  I'm still having my fibro pain but that is because I've gotten away from the exercising.  I usually exercise in the morning and I woke up in pain this morning so I didn't get it in.  I'll try to get it in tomorrow and stay on track.  That wont be to hard if I can keep my pain down.  My IC pain let up some as well.  If  I'm not eating the raw vegetables and citrusy fruits than I will be on my way to being completely pain free.  I hope to see myself there but I still have three weeks left to make it that way.

I'd have to say the hardest part about the diet is stopping my citrusy fruit drinks.  I really LOVE my orange juice (this isn't part of the whole30 diet, it's only for me because I know it causes pain).  But being in less pain is more important to me than drinking my orange juice.  If I can get my inflammation under control than drinking it may not be such a big deal.  When my 30 days are up I'll try adding it back in to see what happens.

My fibro pain is still present mostly in my hips and ribs.  I always feel better if I exercise, so I really need to get to that.  IBS pain is better than usual but I've still got that hardness in my middle (probably spasms, or inflammation).  Bloating is still way down, especially now that I have taken out the raw vegetables.

No pictures tonight of my meals.  I just used what I had from prep, some leftovers, and some fresh veggies I steamed.  I made it work without much thought and I feel satisfied.  I did tell my husband tonight that I needed to get a few more recipes for next week that fit my new need for a change in the diet.  Tomorrow is another shopping day, so I'll have another small prep day on Saturday.

Day 4

    Okay, so first of all I have to clear something up.  The other day I weighed myself and found that I was 138 pounds.  Well, I just realized this morning that I was weighing myself on a rug.  Didn't think anything of it the first few days.  I tried it on solid ground and found out that I have lost about 4 pounds.  It did seem very odd to me that I had lost so much weight so fast.   I feel pretty silly,  but at least I learned something.  So I'm about 148 pounds now.

  I've started to bloat a bit more today.  The bloating was bad enough by the end of the day, that I was pretty uncomfortable and felt very nauseated.  Nausea is a pretty common feeling for me (what with the gastritis and all) but I had been feeling better the first few days of the diet.  My muscles are pretty sore  especially the ones on my rib cage.  That is a very common place for me to have my tender points.  Pain from the belly button down is still constant.  I hope to see some improvement soon.  If I don't, in the next few days I may change my diet some.  Diet for IBS takes out some of the fresh vegetable and fatty meats.  The gut does not handle these well.  It is also good to avoid any gassy foods. 

I haven't exercised in the last few day because of how tired I've felt.  The exhaustion is very common at the beginning of the diet, hopefully it will let up soon.  I'm going to try and exercise tomorrow.  We'll see how it goes.

I ate a lot of leftovers today because I was so tired, and didn't really feel like preparing much.

 

Breakfast.

 

 

 

Lunch.