Thankful

I love my doctors.  I seriously have two of the best doctors in the whole world.  They care about my whole health and my whole body and mind.  I couldn't ask for more.

One of the things I am overwhelmingly thankful for this year is good medical care.  You may think that I'm talking about western medicine in general, and to some extent that is true.  But healing is so much more than prescribing medicines.  Maybe that soapbox is for another post, but I love that my team of doctors think holistically.  I am a whole person to them and all of my systems interact and overlap.

In other good news, we've established that there are two areas of my health that still need major work: hormone imbalance (probably stress-induced) and allergies.

Now that some time has passed and I've calmed down about my allergy test results (and had wonderful chats with both of my wonderful doctors), I'm ready to share a bit about that.  I tested very strongly for dairy allergies (milk, goats' milk, soft cheese, hard cheese, whey, casein, etc.).  I also tested as allergic to red meat, lamb, eggs, peanuts, almonds, red grapes, green beans, etc.  That's an overwhelming list to a midwestern girl! I didn't test with strong allergies to gluten, but I felt remarkably different being gluten-free for three weeks.  So I'm going to stay off gluten as much as possible.  Which will be complete starting in the new year and non-militant until then (side note: I get a huge lump in my stomach anytime I have anything with wheat in it now-- that can't be good).  So a cookie here or a piece of pie there.  And I haven't started dairy-free yet and won't until December sometime.  And similarly it will be complete dairy-free starting in the new year.  I find that plan manageable.

One of the things I was most pleased to hear was that my doctors don't want me to worry about the beef, eggs, peanuts, almonds, etc.  They both said that in their experience, unless I was anaphylactic (which I'm not) then I should focus on wheat and dairy for now.  Any other sensitivities will likely go away as my body heals.

Oh, and for the record, I think staying refined-sugar-free is a smart decision for anyone, myself included.  So I'll keep that up, too.  When I challenged wheat I got a lump in my stomach.  But when I challenged sugar (after being off it for 3 full weeks), I was grossed out by the taste of sugar-- it tasted so strange and chemical-like that I literally can't stand the stuff.  I'll take raisins, honey and maple syrup any day over refined sugar!

As I read through what I've just written, I'm overwhelmed by how thankful I feel.  Thankful I'm living in a place where I can do strange diets and find substitutions and good food.  I'm thankful for Trader Joes, Costco, and all the other places that carry good whole food.  I'm thankful for doctors and for real medical care.  And I'm thankful for the time and the space to get to the bottom of all of this.  We're not done.  Not by any means.  But we've got a good start and I'm encouraged, which is not something to scoff at!  I've had way too many discouragements in this journey, so I'm thankful to see the sunshine through the clouds.

Happy Thanksgiving.

JLR

Vitamix

Where would I be without my new Vitamix?  Tim gave me my birthday present early this year so we could enjoy fresh smoothies, dressings, soups... and that's only what I've tried so far!

http://www.costco.com/Vitamix-5200-Super-Package.product.11609068.html

The back-story is that I've broken at least 3 blenders in the past 3 years.  Granted two of them were in Tanzania where craftsmanship on this type of appliance is not amazing and warranties are uncommon.  I love making smoothies with frozen fruit, hence the broken blenders.

But this machine has exceeded all of my expectations.  I'd heard that the vitamix brand is amazing and have even seen them in use once or twice, but I didn't realize HOW awesome it would be!  I've used it at least once a day since I got it on October 31.  My favorite recipes are smoothies (green smoothie, fruit salad smoothie, spinach smoothie, etc.) and balsamic vinaigrette dressing, but I've also tried carrot/citrus/ginger soup and mixing bananas/eggs for use in a recipe.  I love my vitamix and use it all the time!

Are any of you vitamix users?  What's your favorite recipe?

JLR

Allergy Testing

I got my allergy test results yesterday (blood testing for IgG + IgE).  I don't even want to talk about the results because I don't even want to think that this thing could be right!  If it is, I will have to drastically change my lifestyle, and I don't know if/that I can cope.  I think I'm at the denial stage of my grief...

On a more practical level, how accurate is blood allergy testing?  My naturopathic doctor recommended this test (E-95 through a lab in Washington state) along with gluten saliva testing.  I haven't talked to her yet, but will do so next week and I have a long list of questions for her.  My question for all of you (if you happen to know) is: IS allergy testing reliable?  Suppose one has multiple allergies that are off the charts... hypothetically... would that person have to avoid those foods forever?  Or is it true that a gut-healing diet like GAPS can actually heal the intestines and actually remove the allergies from that hypothetical person?  Any other solutions/ideas?  I know there's a lot of wisdom out there-- and trust me, I'm searching!-- but if anyone has any practical advice, studies, etc., I'd sure love to consider it! 

**note: I love anecdotes and stories, but I think at this point I'm specifically searching for medical journals, holistic health websites that you love, etc.  So send your stories, but also help me with research links when possible!!

JLR

The Miss List

What do I miss being on this diet?  The answer to that question has changed each day of the past 12 since we started (this is day 13, I think..).  Not enjoying sugar or gluten has been tough, but I'm also enjoying it, believe it or not!  Here are a few of the things I've missed along the way...

Day 1: not much.  I was excited for the challenge and enjoyed all the fruits and veggies.

Day 2: Halloween, so therefore I missed candy.  It was TORTURE and Micaiah got such a great stash of all sorts of wonderful candy, that I had to really watch myself...

Day 3: Bread.  I love bread.

Day 4: cinnamon rolls.  I love waking up on a Saturday morning and having warm cinnamon rolls or french toast or pancakes or whatever other weekend treat is on my mind.  Unfortunately they're all sugar/gluten based, so that's a no-go.

Day 5: our church had its annual roast beef dinner.  I hated passing up the dessert table, but I also missed the applesauce (sugar) and bread.  I had another plate of mashed potatoes as my dessert.

Day 6: ice cream. 

Day 7: graham crackers.  I'm not the kinda girl who has one or two-- I have an entire pack (that's about 11 crackers, for anyone who is counting), and dip them in milk.

Day 8: gluten-ous pancakes.  I tried a gluten-free flour today and was not impressed. 

Day 9: I was daydreaming about warm rolls fresh from the oven.  I've gotten pretty good at baking them over the years, and I was very much in the mood for some!

Day 10: real pasta.  Ok, so the quinoa/brown rice alternative wasn't BAD, but it wasn't awesome, either. 

Day 11: cereal.  My daughter (age 8) is not with us in this sugar-free, gluten-free thing and continues to enjoy Cheerios and Life cereals.  Those are two of my favorites and I had to have some pretty strong will power to not nip a bowl today!

Day 12: chocolate chip cookies (and dough).  I baked some peanut butter cookies with agave that were a total flop, and decided that was not acceptable to serve to my small group.  So I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  This was the first time in my ENTIRE LIFE that I did not either taste the dough or have a warm cookie straight out of the oven.  Wow.

Day 13 (today): chocolate.  I could really use some right now.  Maybe chocolate pieces mixed with some cherry craisins and some almonds-- my favorite pre-diet evening snack.

Well there you have it.  I'm about halfway through.  We're aiming for 3-4 weeks but haven't pinned down a firm end-date.  I'm curious to see how the second half goes and whether the cravings will be quite as strong.

-JLR

A New Diet

We are currently living in the beautiful city of St Louis.  Not downtown, of course, but slightly West in a little two bedroom house.  We've made our house a home, but as we're prone to the nomadic lifestyle, it's hard to say how long we'll be here.

I'm on medical leave.  I've had some medical issues that I've been dealing with for over 18 months now that brought us back from our life in Tanzania.  I currently have a team of 3 amazing doctors and I'm very happy with them all.  That's huge, considering how picky I am!

One of the things that two of my doctors have suggested is trying a gluten-free diet.  My naturopathic doctor also recommended that I go sugar-free.  10 days ago, Tim and I embarked on a sugar-free, gluten-free trial.  We've made it 10 days so far and are still going strong!  I have put this off for as long as I thought was possible... it's not easy for a midwestern girl to give up her carbs and sugar!  Plus, I'm really not a fan of fad diets and gluten-free is super trendy.  But I want to be eating in a way that will facilitate my healing.  The other thing is that I've known so many people who have gone off gluten without a doctor's supervision or recommendation, and I don't actually like that approach.  So this trial is after allergy testing (E95 plus saliva gluten testing) and under two doctors' supervision.  What do you think, is a gluten-free diet something you can safely try without a doctor? 

First impressions... well, it's much more do-able than I expected.  We started October 30 and it was difficult to look at our daughter's Halloween candy without eating it!  Reeses, snickers, butterfinger... it was a major test of will power!  But I'm glad we made it through that phase.  We also made it through the headaches, the sweats/fevers, and the crankiness without killing anyone, so that's a plus.  I also notice that I'm not as hungry.  I can actually taste food better and enjoy the different flavors.  I've read that that is because of the sugar-free aspect.  Sugar (including splenda, stevia, and aspartame) can reduce your taste buds to "sweet or salty" when there are much more complex flavors to enjoy.

Anyway, the diet is the real reason I decided to pick up again with the blog.  I'd love to look back and see just how it did (or did not?) help. 

-JLR

Hello Again, Old Blog

I've learned some things about myself over the past few months.  One that's pertinent to this blog is that I don't like to write about things until I have a sense of completion.  I admire my friends who can put it all out there, but I tend to have it wrapped up before I share it.  I've always felt that I should maintain some degree of self-composure.... I really don't like other people seeing the mess in my life until I can show them that it all works out in the end.  The funny thing is that I LOVE seeing this sort of vulnerability in others, but don't really care for it in myself. 

Another thing I've learned about blogging is that I like it to be more of a conversation.  I think that's why I tend to enjoy facebook more than blogging in general.  There are more "likes" and comments and people tend to interact with what I write.  And more than that, I actually KNOW who is reading it!  It drives me a certain type of crazy to not know who-- if anyone-- will actually read this.  Sure, I can see general locations on the geography ticker and blogger tells me other stats, but in order for this to be more of a conversation, please feel free to leave comments or engage with me on what I've posted.  I appreciate it a lot!