My Magical Cure-All?

So, it occurred to me while reading a facebook post from the fantastic blogger over at The Nourished Life that it might appear that I think eating better will cure all of my problems: fertility and otherwise. This is not the case, just fyi. This is what she wrote and I totally agree:

“MYTH: Eating well will fix your life. It’s THE most important thing you can do.

TRUTH: Eating well can support your mind and body, but it doesn’t erase your problems. It can help you feel better, improve your moods, and help you deal with tough times. But it isn’t magic.

Life will still happen when you eat well and take care of your body. You’ll still make mistakes–sometimes huge ones. Sometimes you’ll get hurt by people you love–sometimes you’ll hurt them. Sometimes you’ll feel down, sometimes you’ll run late, sometimes it will feel like life is falling apart at the seams.

Keep your diet in perspective. Eating well is important for your health, but don’t place so much importance on it that you try to cover up life’s problems with ‘healthy’ eating.

Remember to support yourself in other ways, let yourself be human, and accept that life has its ups and downs regardless of how we eat.”

I believe that eating well will help my body heal, partly.

I believe that attending to and deepening my connection with my “higher power”/”creator”/”universal spiritual force” will help my whole self heal in varying and complex ways.

We in the western, American world tend to compartmentalize ourselves into 2, sometimes 3 categories. It’s generally either body-mind or body-mind-soul.

However, this is a false reality.

How can one separate these things? If I’m only attending to my mind/soul, I would be treating myself like a ghost without a body. If I’m only attending to my body, then I would be treating myself like a dead body, for what is a body with a soul/mind? It’s a body on life support. It is incomplete.

Bottom line? I need to focus more on the whole-self mindedness of healing. If I don’t, I will not likely succeed in my attempts to heal.

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

One of the things my creative Papa taught me when cooking is to “use what ya got”. In these budget-tight days of full time school and super part time work, I appreciate this sentiment a lot more than I did when I first heard it! (Eat your heart out parents everywhere! Your kids might appreciate what you tell them–some day, that is!) Yesterday there was no money left in the “Groceries” envelope and a weird collection of food stuffs around the house. Nothing ready made, just a lot of random ingredients. As I searched through the kitchen, I cam upon the cupboards and then started googling. I found a zucchini and lots of gluten-free flours.

So, I started googling! Long story short, I found the gluten-free goddess’ website and discovered that I had all the ingredients for her version of gluten-free zucchini bread! I had enough to make two batches and I wanted to experiment with adding some coconut flour to try and tone down the sorghum flour taste. If you haven’t tasted it before, it’s quite distinct. The second modified recipe loaf was FANTASTIC!!! I couldn’t believe how much better the texture and taste was! I used more zucchini, some coconut flour, olive oil, real sugar and maple syrup! And I used the real sugar and maple syrup because I was out of brown sugar. I figured it would be a good replacement. And it was actually a superior replacement! Yay for using what ya got!

Here’s the recipe:

 

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

(modified from the Gluten Free Goddess)

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (I used somewhere between 1 & 2 cups. I just threw in what I had leftover.)

3/4 cup sorghum flour

¼ cup coconut flour (If you don’t have coconut flour, I’m sure it would be fine with just the sorghum. Although coconut flour is known for absorbing moisture and this recipe has a lot of that, so try it at your own risk.)

½ cup tapioca starch

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp fine sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon (could use more! and maybe 1 tsp of all spice!)

½ cup (overflowing) sugar (I used the “in the raw” version, but regular would work, too)

½ cup maple syrup (you could try just maple syrup and cut out the sugar)

1/3 cup olive oil & coconut oil (do mostly olive oil then top off with coconut oil, or just olive oil would probably work)

2 egg whites, beaten

¼ cup coconut milk (probably any milk would work)

1 tsp lemon juice 

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Options:

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. (My oven runs a little low in the heat department. You might want to try yours at 350 F.)

Line the bottom of a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Lightly oil it.

Get all the ingredients measured out and ready to go. Press grated zucchini with towel to remove as some of the moisture in the zucchini. (Otherwise, bread won’t cook throughout.) Set aside.

Whisk together: sorghum flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, sea salt, & cinnamon

Then, add: sugar, maple syrup, oil, lemon juice, egg whites, coconut milk, vanilla & beat to combine. Continue to beat on medium speed until batter is smooth—takes about 2 minutes.

Add in shredded zucchini and stir to combine. (If you’re using nuts or chocolate chips, add them here.)

TIP: Make sure your batter isn’t cold when you put it into the oven. It will need to cook longer if it’s cold. If you find that your batter is cold, let it sit for about 10 minutes, then put it in the oven.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. It is done when a toothpick is inserted into the loaf and comes out clean.

My three taste-testers and I agree, this loaf was the better one!

I’m wondering how it would turn out with more maple syrup…Mmm! Let me know if you try this recipe and how it comes out for you! Zucchini’s in season right now and even two of my taste testers, who despise zucchini, ate this and enjoyed it!

(Just fyi, this is not a particularly friendly recipe for someone with gut health issues like me. Celiacs, yes, but my issues seem to be with most grains, most starches and most sweeteners. This recipe contains starches and sweeteners that, in my ideal world, I would prefer to avoid. However, with our budget the way it is at the moment, I’ve gotta use what I’ve got in the apartment! And I still call this a win for making something from scratch vs. eating something processed and pre-packaged. At least for me, I call this a win. And at least for now. Gotta give myself a little grace, you know?)

School and Food Choices

Whenever I am stressed with the looming of a paper, or am in the middle of writing said paper, I crave the greasiest, cheesiest, fattiest foods! I think it’s a combination of my brain being on overdrive from working so hard and from not being stimulated in any fun ways. Lol. Food is fun, after all! 🙂 At least for me.

However, I was able to get in some healthy eating today!

I ate HALF of that pile of veggies! And the orange stuff in the upper right-hand corner is ranch with a spoonful of Sriracha sauce! Mmm!!! It’s the best way to eat ranch!!! It’s the best way to eat many things, actually. (If you’re in the mood for a chuckle, check out this entertaining comic about the stuff!)

I also had pizza today, but this is still a step up from my normal eating routine when writing papers! Either I don’t eat and am even more grouchy, or I eat whatever I can get my hands on–which is usually greasy, crunchy things or just a quick trip to Wendy’s.

I’ll probably start listing all my foods and all my symptoms at the bottom of my posts, but for now, I am tired and would rather just skip it today.

You all ROCK! Thanks for reading!

I thought you might enjoy this pic from today’s paper writing extravaganza.
My cat, Trixie, shared the chair with me. 🙂
She’s my baby!

A New Health Issue

Warning: This post contains frank and open discussion about menstruation, ovulation and fertility. If this makes you uncomfortable, please navigate to one of my other posts that have more agreeable things in them, like yummy recipes! Here’s one to get you started!

 

In good fiction, you do not introduce a character in the initial part of the story unless that character is going to be a crucial one throughout the story. I don’t know if you noticed, but in my very first blog post, I mentioned having hemorrhagic (blood-filled) cystitis on my ovaries, but I did not incorporate this detail into the conversation other than to state that it was the cause of some abdominal pain. I included this detail to show that, in fact, I do believe in using doctors and when something is wrong, I do go to them and get things diagnosed, if that is possible. However, now I am going to pick back up this ovary issue and weave it into the next big health issue that I have discovered:

Fertility issues.

I suppose some of you will tell me that I am just being impatient. Others will tell me that just because it’s been a year does not mean that I will never get pregnant. Some of you will tell me to relax, to take a vacation, to stop trying so hard and it will happen. Don’t worry. Be happy!

If you have something like that to say, keep it to yourself. I’ve heard it. I’ve considered it. I’m moving on.

Here’s the thing. The partner and I have been trying for a year. Casual-like. Nothing strenuous. No alarms telling us to go running because it’s my fertile window. Nothing like that. Basically, we’re just letting whatever happens, happen!

Then, through a friend who was seeing a doctor, getting hormone treatments, the WORKS to try and get pregnant, I discovered that I do have at least one fertility issue: most of my cycles are not long enough.

When I say “cycle” this is what I’m talking about: from day 1 of period to day 1 of the next period is the amount of time that the egg has to develop, rupture, get fertilized and get down to the uterus and implant. These things move slowly. This whole process needs AT LEAST 28 days to accomplish the task and upwards of 32 days would be better.

My average cycle is 26 days.

Now do you see why I have a fertility issue?

Some of my cycles are long enough, but only 1/4 of them are. This cuts the probability of getting pregnant down quite a bit. I’m pretty bummed about this. Honestly, I just thought that having a menstrual cycle, popping out eggs–and all that–was my birthright as a woman. And now I find out that it’s not. It’s a hit to my ego, but perhaps more profoundly, it’s a hit to my identity.

I had always thought that as a woman I had a choice regarding having children. For the longest time, and in fact even when I got married (the partner wanted nothing to do with children!), I chose to not have kids. Until the day I changed my mind, of course. Not having the choice to have or not have kids is a bigger deal than I would’ve imagined.

And it is eating me up inside.

My depression is coming back with a vengeance.

But this time, it’s gonna hear me roar.

(Yes, I am referencing Katy Perry. Don’t hate me because I love her music!)

I will not let it take me down. I’ve got an arsenal of tools to use to combat my particular form of depression and I am actively using said tools! 🙂

Point of this story: I believe that healing my gut through food is one piece to this puzzle of infertility. I will be blogging about what I am eating, why I am eating it and my struggle to stay motivated, stay physically active, and stay spiritually centered. Whew! What a task! 🙂