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.

Day 3

    I'm feeling less pain in my lower abdomen this morning.  Which is wonderful.  I weighed myself again this morning just to see if last night was some kind of fluke. 

 

138 pounds.   I can not believe it!!!!

 

 

      I felt really lethargic last night, but this morning is a lot better.  I have a bit more energy and I'm excited to get to my day.  The other interesting part of the diet is the crazy food dreams.  I've been dreaming for the last two nights about chocolate, ice cream, rice crispy treats, rolls, homemade bread, donuts, and cinnamon rolls.  I start feeling bad while I'm dreaming, afraid I've ruined my diet.  When I wake up I'm relieved to find I haven't actually eaten any of the foods.  :)  I'm still staying strong!!!

 

    I did pretty well today.  I still have some pelvic pain but my fibro pain is definitely doing better.  I'm still having some specific areas that are painful to the touch but overall weakness in muscles and general muscle pain is not as bad.  I am not bloating much at all.  I've been kind of groggy, but that is to be expected the first week or two.  I am feeling more energized and have been pretty excited that I still have enough energy at the end of the day to make two meals (one for me and the family) and get everything cleaned up (with the help of some little hands too).  IC pain is still present, it can take a while for a flare to calm down.

 

    Today's meals:

 

 

Breakfast. Beef patties, beet chips, and mixed fruit was pretty good.

 

Lunch.  A salmon salad.

 

Dinner. chicken and sautéed veggies.

 

 



Day 2

     Day 2 on the diet has been a bit challenging.  Granted, I am still homeschooling my kids and we do work until three o'clock.  I had a few little meltdowns, pleading with the kids to help me out.  When they recognized I needed it, they started to be more helpful.  I am starting to feel tired now, but I was doing pretty good for the first half of the day.  I've enjoyed the meals today but am really struggling with pelvic pain.
  
   From the belly button down I am in quite a bit of pain.  It is so weird, because I'm not bloating much.  I still think its part of the initial reaction/shock of going on the diet.  I'll be happy if it lets up by the end of the week.  I did my walk and toning exercises this morning.  It was hard (I had to take a lot of breaks on the toning).  But it helped my fibro some.  I am having a flare up of IC.  This may also be a reaction/shock from the initial start of the diet.  Another challenge I'm dealing with is more hot flashes.  I don't think I'm getting as much estrogen from the foods I'm eating, so the hot flashes are coming on strong.  I'm just going to give it all more time and hope for healing in the next few weeks.

    I had beef patties with sauteed veggies and a blueberry smoothie for breakfast, a chicken butternut squash soup with watermelon and coconut milk for lunch, and I'll be having Ginger baked salmon for dinner.

 

Breakfast.

Lunch.

Salad snack.

 

Dinner!  It was delicious!

 

 

   I checked my weight last night because I was curious.  I only weighed myself a few days ago and I was 152 pounds.  I was 139 pounds this time.  I could not believe it, but I am positive it was water retention due to inflammation.  Wow!!!  I am so excited.  This is really going to help me.  

 

First Day of Whole30

    For my first day on the diet I had meat patties, spinach, and Raspberry Cream Smoothie for breakfast.  For lunch  I had salmon ginger stir fry.  And I had some fresh fruit and veggies for snack with some bone broth to drink.  I have to admit, the bone broth did not go down easy.  I might get use to it, we will see.  The health benefits are suppose to be great though, so I'll muscle my way through.  :)  For dinner I'm having Chicken butternut squash soup.  We shall see how that one is.  It looks good, and I love squash.


    I will also be starting an exercise program along with the diet.  Tomorrow I will be using Leslie Sansone's, "Walk away the Pounds," DVD, and some of Mary Helen Bowers's, "Ballet Beautiful," DVD.  It will take some time to be able to do more challenging workouts.  I will be working out for about 40 min. every morning before we have breakfast.  We'll see how that goes as well.  My blog is going to help me be a good tracker of my progress.

   This will also be a pain tracker.  I want to see what my pain does while on this diet.  Today, my pelvic region feels inflamed, very much so.  My stomach pain is doing  better, and I don't have much bladder pain.  My fibro has flared, probably from the stress of getting everything ready the day before and because I've just changed my diet completely.  I'm eating things I wouldn't normally eat.  My body is probably starting the initial shock of the Whole30 diet.  I hope it will soon pass.  Can't wait to find out. 

Weight Tracker: October 20th: 152 lbs.  I would like to lose some weight as well.  I'll check this every week.

Breakfast!

Lunch!

 

 

Dinner.  It was pretty Good!

 

 

Wish me Luck!!!

Whole30 Prep

     I am following the Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook written by Mickey Trescott.  I love it because it's for people who suffer from autoimmune disorders.  Like I said, I'm not sure if what I'm going through is autoimmune but I looked through the list of ingredients and realized that some of the ones she omits are ones I already know I have a problem with.  Her autoimmune diet was the best one that fit me.  There is the normal paleo diet if you don't have problems with eggs, nightshades, seeds, and nuts.  She is incredible, in that, she put a lot of helpful info in her cookbook.  There is even meal plans, and shopping lists included.  That is very helpful for me right now, as I'm busy homeschooling, and doing a slew of other activities.

    I did a Whole30 preparation day yesterday.  Saturdays work best for me because we have so many things going on during the week.  I made freezer stir fry vegetables, steamed some spinach, made beef patties (24) to freeze, and bone broth.  I also got something to help me relax at night.  I will also use our large whirlpool tub for that.  I cooked a whole chicken and stored all the meat in the fridge for quick protein and to add to meals.  I shredded, cut, and stored a lot of veggies in the fridge for easy access when I need it.  I feel completely prepared.

Whole30 here I come:

Stir Fry Veggies and steamed spinach!!!

Bone Broth.

Massage tools.   I really need these.

A really comfortable blanket when I need to relax at night.

 

My happy place. :)

 Just a few pictures of my Whole30 Prep.  Now here I go.

My Story

              Once upon a time there was a mommy with two kids, a husband in undergraduate school, and a sincere desire to teach her children and support her husband.  She was toiling away teaching her children, who were toddlers, their abc's, how to count, how to play and have a great time.  Her husband would come home give her kisses and dance with the children.  Beside the occasional disagreement or challenge life was, in her mind, close to perfection.  It was blissful, and very simple.  Pregnancy was challenging but she, with the support of her husband came to laugh at the challenges and make the best of it.  Having children in the home was something of a dream come true.  She enjoyed seeing them grow and learn how to deal with conflict and disagreement.  She loved learning their different personalities and how to communicate with each one in their own way.  Her husband was very busy but desired to spend time with the family as much as he could.  He was very ambitious and was working hard to discover what he wanted to do as a career.
      

      One fine day she found out she was pregnant again.  She was excited and wanted to tell everyone.  But almost as soon as it began she was in the hospital (about four weeks pregnant).  She couldn't stand up strait, couldn't keep anything down, and felt as if her insides where being pureed in a blender.  She thought she could be loosing her baby, but wasn't sure.   The doctors did a few tests (blood work, and pressing on the abdomen) then sent her home with some anti nausea medication.  It didn't work and she was ill the rest of the night.  The next morning she woke up with pain in her right side.  In her lack of medical knowledge she believed she pulled a muscle from all her vomiting.  From that point on she had infections, pain, and nausea for the rest of the pregnancy.  She felt so sick (like her body was trying to fight off a sickness and make a baby at the same time). 
     

    When the seven month came around the same experience happened.  This time she called her family doctor first and went to see him.  He quickly diagnosed her with appendicitis.  She had emergency surgery.  She felt so lucky, as the nurses told her it was very diseased (inflamed).  They gave her medication to stop the pre term labor she was going into.  It worked and she delivered a healthy baby boy two months later.  Everything was ok.  At least that was what she thought. 
    

      A few months later she discovered that things were not working properly inside, and she was beginning to experience pain every day in her abdomen, then her pelvic and pelvic floor.  Next she started getting a great deal of pain and fatigue in her muscles.  Then she started to bloat out to looking 8 months pregnant. She got pregnant again because she felt there was no way she could have more babies unless it was right then.  She really loved kids, they had always wanted a big family.  The pregnancy stopped the symptoms except the ones that are already there during pregnancy (nausea).  But she suffered from high blood pressure and exhaustion.  But after the baby came she enjoyed freedom for a few months, from health challenges.  Then came all the symptoms she had before he was born.  And this time all her pelvic organs collapsed and she was in terrible pelvic pain.  An exploratory surgery was done to find out the cause of so much pain.  They discovered endometriosis and inflammation from the belly button down.  There where scars all over everything (except the ovaries and uterus, that's why she could have babies).  She tried drugs, with no help.  She tried diet with little help.  It seemed she would never be free if she didn't go through another surgery.
 
     
    She decided to fix the prolapse of the pelvic organs first to see how it helped.  It helped some, but not significantly enough.  Every day was so hard.  She tried to be positive, but it was very hard not to get depressed when everything she wanted to do had become so difficult.  Her heart was breaking.  She pushed herself so much to do what she felt was important for her family and others.  She often felt lost and alone, and tried to find solace in online support forums, and websites on endometriosis.  She often said, "if just one of my pains would let up I would be so happy."  Her prayers where often repetitious and heartless.  It was hard to feel God in her life.  Frequently she asked the questions, "Is anything worth it anymore?"  and, "would my family be better off without a sick mother all the time?"
 

      After more diets, medications, and supplements, she decided to have her ovaries removed.  The surgeon was hesitant but the pain was still so overwhelming no matter what she tried, so he decided to do it for her.  Recovery was rough but not as rough as the previous one.  Gradually she started to gain more energy and have more strength.  She didn't bloat as much, didn't get head aches, and her muscle pain and weakness improved.  Her pelvic area didn't inflame as often.  It wasn't a cure all but it helped enough for her to start living a bit more normal life with her family.
    

     The entire time she went through this she homeschooled her kids (the kids understood when mommy couldn't do things sometimes).  The kids supported her and did school work and helped with chores around the house.    They all supported dad at medical school as well.  At this point they were moving to where her husband was going to attend his medical residency.  An entirely new adventure. 
   

      She was still bloating some and having abdominal pain that sometimes was still severe.  After years of research and the help of her doctor husband she decided she most likely had an autoimmune reaction after the first surgery she had, and that the surgery on the bowel caused nerve damage.  That nerve damage impaired her intestinal movement.  It may also have caused her "dormant" endometriosis to flare up which also damaged the nerves in her pelvic region and parts of the bowel.  This chronic inflammation seems to have most likely caused interstitial cystitis.  The chronic inflamed bowel may have caused her to be sensitive to foods and caused IBS symptoms to start.  The IBS/bowel motility problems most likely have caused bad bacteria to populate in the small intestines causing extreme bloating and pain.  This caused severe gastritis that became chronic.   All of these things may have very well caused her to have fibromyalgia, because of the painful and weak muscles she experiences, and the tender points she has on specific muscles.
   

     Although she can't know these things for sure (there is not enough knowledge about these diseases yet), she has become almost certain of them.  Her heart feels, because somewhere in the entire experience she started truly seeking Gods guidance and became more patient in her afflictions, that God guided her.  He guided her to study and put knowledge together, and gain wisdom.
   

    After all that she has come to know and understand about her body, she realizes that it is up to her to take control of her body and bring it back into full health.  She feels the surgeries where important in her case because they did relieve a lot of the pain, but there is still much to be done the natural way.
   

     She still homeschools her kids, and is loving it.  But she is also taking care of her own body, by doing the Whole30.  This will help her discover what things irritate her system and what things she can eat.  This blog starts out with the Whole30 prep and day one.  Welcome to her adventure, I hope it helps someone suffering from these same things.
    

      I don't know that there will ever be an end to this story, and I know there are many stories like it in the world.  But this story is mine, and I will keep living it, and striving to better it.