Falling Off The Wagon

There has been a bit of a big pause since my last blog entry. 8 months, to be precise. Oh my! Within that time a lot of things have changed. I moved out of my apartment and into a wonderful house. I met a lovely man as summer was ending last year and by the time spring was just barely peaking its marvelous head around the corner, we were married!

And now, guess what? I’m pregnant! And no, I am not posting a picture of the stick I peed on or a picture of my uterus. You’ll just have to take my word for it. 🙂 The hubs made a joke about how he’s batting 1000. I thought it was hilarious. On a separate occasion, my Dad said, “Nice shot,” which is typical and also hilarious, though I only smiled as if I was slightly amused since I don’t want to encourage the man. HA!

I don’t know if it was all the changes or what, but for about the past month and a half I have been falling off-track of my healing journey. I have been eating things that give me symptoms that make my life less pleasant and make me more grumpy. This on top of the pregnancy just makes me feel out of control and crazy. The hubs says it’s not that bad from where he’s standing, but I feel awful at times and I would really like to change.

In case you’re curious, foods that cause indigestion, headaches and moodiness for me are: bread, sugar (fake or otherwise), dairy products (cheese, sour cream, etc), corn products (like popcorn—OH HOW I LOVE POPCORN), and rice.

Well, my symptoms are back. Skin issues, gut issues, & mental health decline are all upon me. And I tell you what…

I remember now why I chose a different path.

And I am thankful for the divergence from the healing path because it has helped me remember why I choose to eat “weird” and why I take time to shop, cook & meal plan for myself.

I want to live life more fully.

I want to smile really big, with my whole self because I don’t have any nagging itching on my skin, or worries about when the next urge will overtake me and can make it to the bathroom in time?

So, I am getting back in the wagon. I am getting back on the horse. I am making my healing and health a priority, again.

However, I am under no illusion that saying this will magically make my will power return. I have an accountability plan and it involves you. 🙂

Every meal I eat, breakfast, snack or otherwise, will be documented on Instagram from here on out. It might get old for some, but I know lots of folks who post pictures of food on there, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be in good company.

If I have to post on Instagram what I eat, then I will think twice about what I’m choosing to eat instead of ignoring that inner voice of wisdom and driving to Taco Bell anyway. And although it seems like it would be easy to eat something and not post a picture, I won’t hide anything because that feels like lying, which I’m not good at doing.

Feel free to follow me on my healing journey. My Instagram name is dmdbanana 🙂 I will be eating Paleo (scroll down to the “You talk about SCD a lot. What is it and what is the difference between SCD and Paleo?” question) and SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) mostly, perhaps slightly modified since even with these diets most of us still have problem foods among the allegedly “safe” foods on these diets. Every body is different and unique after all! 🙂

Got Sick, Stayed Sick, Am Still Sick…

I got sick on Friday, March 12th. It began with a sore throat. I thought, “Oh, I’ve just been pushing myself too hard and I’ve got a sore throat.” Well, it developed into sore throat, cough, heavy congestion, achy muscles (all of them) and mild fever. I tried to push through all of this for about 4 days before a friend of mine said, “Really?!” and I woke up. Which is a darn good thing because my throat today is still sore, 19 days later!

During week two of this sickness, as I was coughing, another friend of mine looked at me with a knowing look. She told me my symptoms remind her of her daughter who would get very sick and stay sick for long periods of time. She was recently diagnosed with an auto-immune issue and went on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which has helped her daughter IMMENSELY. My friend advised me to take a look at it and follow it, if possible. (In fact she invited me to come over to her house and cook with her so I can see how some of the basic recipes are made, which would be SO HELPFUL and I’m totally going to take her up on that when classes are over!)

Interestingly, I had already had a book about the diet and had read the whole thing months ago. I was starting to suspect that it would help me and this only confirms my suspicions.

During one of the weeks of being sick, I was eating a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches. I used gluten & dairy free bread and soy-cheeses. They were delicious! Grilled cheese is a comfort food for me, so I craved them and enjoyed them immensely!

HOWEVER, I experienced severe bloating and pain in my gut.

What?!

I was eating a lot of fruit salads (strawberries, spinach & other lettuces with no dressing) other than these grilled cheese sandwiches, so I knew that the culprit was more than likely the sandwiches.

So, more eliminations. No soy. No grains. Right…?

At this point, doubly sick and doubly frustrated, I got out my “Specific Carbohydrate Diet” book and my “Eat Right For Your Type” book and made an excel spreadsheet of my safe foods.

In doing so, I have discovered that there are a number of trouble foods that I have been eating all along, detox or no detox. Cucumbers being one of them.

While I am skeptical of these new limitations, I am also hopeful. And I am willing to try almost anything at this point in order to re-gain some semblance of health! I have been sick 4 times this winter! 4 times! That is way more than I usually get sick. Usually, I get sick once a year, maybe twice. But 4 times? Something is wrong with my body. I feel as though I am attempting life, school, family, work, etc, with one hand tied behind my back, a limp in my leg and only one functioning eye.

Needless to say, I am tired of treading water just so I can get by, and barely get by at that. I need energy and health and I am going to find it!

Please send me good vibes, warm fuzzies, or prayers. They’re much needed. I have one more month of classes, then I head to Brazil for 10 days! Exciting, yes! Stressful, yes! 😀

Here’s a pic of me two Sundays ago, sick and home on the couch.