INSPIRE ME, not terrify me

For about 4 days I hit a bit of a road block. A space between where I am and where I want to be, if you will. Usually MS is my hardest of the 5 diseases I carry. (7 if you count Dysmetabolic Syndrome and Gall Bladder disease). But, this week PCOS (with bursting cysts, no insurance and just pushing through it) knocked me off my feet. Thankfully I had help from my in laws and now am doing much better. 

The MRT/LEAP plan is very specific and structured. With the hubs working 50-60 hrs each week and me in bed, I missed a bit of my plan for Phase 3/Phase 4. But, life just happens and you get back on that horse. :) Giddy up. 

Phase 1::: (the ONLY things I could eat for 7-10 days. I went for 7)

Chicken

Pinto Beans

Eggs

Sole (never did)

Wheat

White potato

Broccoli

Green Peas (never did)

Green Pepper

Cauliflower 

Apple

Cranberry 

Orange

Plum

Cheddar Cheese

Cottage cheese (b/c of whey, and my reaction, I have since cut it off)

Olive oil

Walnut oil (nah)

Carob (what is that? 😳)

Ginger (mmmnhnhn)

Honey

Black Pepper and Salt (chose Pink Himalayan Salt mostly) 

And that is IT. (Bold foods I ate regularly in the 7 days).

It was quite a bit of chicken, some eggs, some cheese (yay), and a whole lot of missing 1) Salads 2) Sandwiches (turkey lunch meat esp) 3) Chocolate. **In that order 😋

With each new PHASE, you have ONE new food you can add per day, according to your reaction in your blood work. 

PHASE 2:::

Added- 

Beef (not sure if my bod appreciated it)

Peach

Almond (Almond Milk)

Lemon

Grapefruit

I "cheated" at two birthday celebrations and paid for it. It was a good reminder for how my body doesn't like (aka loves to death) sugar. 

PHASE 3:::

Added-

MILK (need to try SKIM milk like I grew up with instead. Still not sure if I can do dairy, since I have an intolerance for whey and had gone off dairy for a month before the test). 

Cherry

Olive 

*pAuSe*

Curse you ovaries----pain, misery and bleh. Ha. Got off course. Gained some weight I had lost, then got back on track. 

PHASE 4:::

Added- 

Tomato

This is where I am right now. In Phase 4, but I will extend it beyond the 5 days. It helps to plan out breakfast, lunch and dinner. As well as using the Yummly free app and Pinterest to organize recipes (except for the delicious desserts I see people posting). :) {If anyone wants some ideas for recipes when you are so limited, just leave a comment or message me}.

Having some foods sparingly or completely eliminated has helped me identify my body's reaction to certain foods. It's a long process and sometimes hard to really know with a few foods/flavor enhancers on some sick days. But, overall it has been quite fabulous. (And limiting, but thankfully not forever). I really miss salads and sugar, especially chocolate (which I've cheated on 4 times). But if I can get to a point where I truly feel GOOD or even OKAY, it will be worth it. I may have an exception once a month, so I'm only having chocolate, turkey, or lettuce/spinach 12 times a year would be feasible for me. 

Weight loss in 18 days: 

almost 10 pounds

Inches lost in 18 days: (bust, arm, waist, hips) 5 inches

It has helped me considerably to track it with a planner (it is from 2013-2014, but does the trick). 

Hopefully I can start to post much more frequently. :) Not ready to post pix yet, but eventually. 

Cautiously Optimistic

Most people would say there is no secret to losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight.

Exercise and eat healthy. 

The end.

You'll feel good and reach your optimal health. 

Not true for me. For almost two DECADES, I have been the exception to that rule. Even when I exercised 3 hours every day, I only got down to a size 13/14 (9/10 on a few lucky pieces of clothing) and was still overweight by medical standards. I haven't had one experience of exercise in 17 years where I felt good after I was done. Instead, I lose my vision, hearing, strength, ability to walk (if I've done too much), intestines (you know what I mean), and so much more.  I haven't been able to run for 17 years or walk much for 3 years. 

I usually can relate to 80 yr olds or cancer patients more than I can to someone my age. I've borrowed walkers, people, and walls to get around and figured it was simply the "new me." If you see me out, you are seeing the best 30 min of me I'll have for a whole week. I've saved up energy for days and will pay for my hour excursion. I will always save the majority of my energy and strength for taking care of my daughter. Thankfully I have been able to manage (with some help from others). More often than not I'm equipped with my cooling vest, as kids inch away from me because I look like a terrorist bomber who forgot to hide my vest under my clothes. But, you'll see me happy, laughing, smiling, and inching forward because it was worth it and you've gotta make the best of any situation. 

Ever since I became preggo, my body is much worse. It was worth it, but I simply haven't been the same ever since. After every relapse or exacerbation, you have to relearn your body and limits. I've had several especially in the last year. I figured I was just getting worse and possibly moving into a secondary progressive  type of MS that many others experience. But, when I went to Idaho for nearly two months, I realized just how hard humidity is on me and gained a hope of progress. 

Retrospectively, I remember certain travels where I felt like I'd collapse in the middle of the road. It took me a while to realize my body can't cool itself down. Now I'm learning how invasive humidity is on my body. Looking back, I remember moments when my body was screaming at me because of humidity's suffocating grasp that refuses to release for hours or days. After a red eye flight, in the middle of an intensive graduate program and walking around NYC with my luggage in tow, I thought I'd crumble. Climbing up the steep hill of Jerusalem's Mount Scopus in my steel toe Doc Martins and heavy jeans after galavanting through the Old City in the heat of the Middle East, I was convinced I'd be taken out by a sherut after I fainted. So many times I would brush it off and not let anyone know how much I was struggling. Sure my vision, hearing, nausea, twitching muscles, pain, dizziness, and strength would be worse for days after, but I could manage. I'd just pray harder, laugh louder and move slower. 

After I experienced the stark contrast of a humid place, to a cool, dry place and back to beautiful Kansas humidity and ever changing weather, I am reminded of the role climate plays in my health but also find a bit of hope too. I knew a big reason for us going to Idaho was to work on my health. I thought I'd fix one aspect or gain some strength but instead, I think I just got on the right PATH.  

It will be a long journey, but in looking back, I can see why other attempts at controlling my body instead of letting my body control me has failed. 

I was going to wait to post on this because I usually fail and am the "exception" to everything. My body is hyper sensitive and I am ALWAYS THAT .01% of the population with weird reactions. 

I posted last year about Herbalife that helped me. I had hope. But, just like almost everything I've tried, it was short lived. I couldn't explain why it helped me tremendously the first month and then went downhill afterwards. I started a new MS med and excused a lot away because of my intense intestinal side effects. But, even after being off of the meds, I never could get a handle on things. 

When I went to Idaho, I tried an EXTREMELY restrictive diet. I've done restrictive before. This one was NO gluten, dairy, sugar, corn, and hardly any meat beyond turkey. I'll spare you the details, but after one month, I wasn't better. I was worse. But I researched many different diets and experiences other MS patients had with nutrition changes. One woman in the 70s read about the benefits of wheat grass. She had her husband mow the lawn and ate that. It took 6 years before she noticed a significant difference (following Swank diet I believe, focusing on reduced saturated fat). I also ate some crazy stuff during my month of a diet I wouldn't wish on anyone. :) 

(Pretty close to eating dirt and grass---Diatomaceous Earth, flax seed and wheat grass). 

(Some daiya was good. This was not my fave). 

Because my body struggles every day I cannot pin point my body's reactions to specific foods. I decided to get a blood test done to determine foods I am most sensitive to. I'd tried the skin test with one immunologist (diagnosis---allergic to sooooo many things, come get a weekly shot for 3-5 years). This test I did in Idaho is the MRT/LEAP and is the most accurate I could find. 

(After a week, these were the bruises left from a nurse jabbing, poking and prodding unsuccessfully with several IV needles....I was ready to give up. But, I went to a lab and they had no problem). 

The results were a mixture of surprising and expected. 

Some I expected that I was intolerant of (shrimp, aspartame, corn, canteloupe), one didn't show up (pineapple) and others were a surprise (spinach, lettuce, turkey, whey, fructose, vanilla, cocoa, several grains, tuna, onion, parsley, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sesame, pecan, tapioca, etc). Some I simply don't like and now I see that it is probably because of my intolerance. Others I ate on a daily basis (sandwiches and salads) and increased when I tried several different diets.  

So far, it has helped me by cutting out the inflammatory foods that my body craves but detests (or just detests). I also have learned the importance of variety and changing things up. I may have skewed my results by eliminating dairy, most meats, wheat, and sugar for the month prior to my test. But, I can tell a difference when I avoid the insulting foods and when I "cheat". 

Lookin back, I was incredibly frustrated by so many diets and had to change, alter or abort them because my body couldn't handle it. 

Herbalife-(1st month successful- then stopped helping) -fructose, vanilla, whey, too much salad. 

Weight Watchers- (couldn't eat allowed points or I'd gain---I usually have to eat 1,300-1,200 calories or I gain and take a month and a half to lose) -too much veggies that don't work with my bod. 

HCG (passed out)- too restrictive and ate some of my worst foods that are "healthy." 

RAW diet - no protein, lots of lettuce and spinach, almost passed out by day 3.5. 

...and so many others with the same results. 

I'd start out good and then in a week or two, it was like my body was rejecting the "super foods" I was filling up on. 

Another pattern my body has followed for the past 17 years is I get sinus infections, bronchitis and close to pneumonia several times a year. I have to go on multiple rounds of antibiotics and steroids. I gain 10-15 pounds, spend 2-3 months trying to take it off and then get sick again. A viscious, frustrating cycle. 

Since following the LEAP (Lifestyle eating and performance) plan, it is easier to identify how my body responds to certain foods. I've lost weight, inches, sleep better, and am not hungry all the time. I will update as I go, moving forward, cautiously optimistic. :) 

I also met with a different nutritionist who gave me a specialized anti-inflammatory diet. Once I'm done with my five/six phases of MRT/LEAP plan and have narrowed down the best foods for my body, I will transition to an anti-inflammatory diet with a focus on the WORD OF WISDOM. (No tea, meat sparingly, grains the staff of life, etc). I've researched so many different diets/eating plans, but always came back to the word of wisdom. There is a LOT of conflicting information out there and MS is such an elusive disease (nicknamed the mocking bird disease), that it is hard to pin point success with nutrition. In the end, I'm gonna trust God on this and see what happens. 

Doctrine and Covenants 89

1 A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion--

2 To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days--

3 Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.

I decided that I am the weakest saint I know (physically) and it is adapted for me, in the latter-days. Instead of trying all these other current fads or anecdotal successes on various diets, adapted to autoimmune diseases, I decided to give the WORD OF WISDOM a go. (Researched/Read: The China Study, Autoimmune Solution, Paleo, Wahl's protocol, Sugar Detox, the MS Recovery Diet, the Multiple Sclerosis Diet book, GAPS diet, Healing MS, Blue Zones diet, the Greek Diet, Eat Clean diet (Tosca Reno), Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Diet and others). 

**Disclaimer:::I'm not a doctor and this is my own personal experience. For the love of everything on this earth, consult a doctor for your health (not some Isagenix/Herbalife/Plexus/DoTerra/"It Works"/whatever MLM company's "consultant," my blog or some random neighbor's dog's second owner's aunt's second cousin's friend who also has MS, PCOS, IBS, Asthma, Hoshimoto's Thyroiditis, Gall Bladder disease, Tietze's Syndrome, Insulin Resistance, Dysmetabolic Syndrome or had a doc mess up, almost kill them and had internal bleeding with intestines failing first. I'm a unique jumble of diseases and a body falling apart. Everyone is different and it may be a unilateral experience for only me. I am simply sharing in case someone else can relate or benefit from my "experiment." I do NOT believe nutrition will CURE my disease(s), but I am hopeful it will benefit me). **