Journey To Health: ALIVE -The beginning...

5k,Urgent Care, and desperation

Thanksgiving day was to be my first 5k, ever. It is something I have dreamed of, wanted, and never believed I could actually do. Well, I didn't do it. As you know I had several medical problems come up...one specifically was an extremely(can not wear any shoes, even flip flops leave a mark) swollen left foot. I also was having migraines that were lasting 1-3 days, per week, and pain medicine was not even making a dent! Acid reflux and stomach pains were a regular, daily occurrence. I was really at a loss for exactly what to do, several trips to Urgent Care, the ER, and a couple specialists resulted in labs and work-ups with no answers. They ran hormone screening, cholesterol, looked for blood clots, early menopause and more. I was emotionally in a low place from having my 5k dream on hold, the real pain of it being that the hold was indefinitely. According to the doctors: If you get dizzy when you exercise, don't exercise. If you feel nauseous when rising in the morning sleep in 2 more hours. If your foot is too swollen for a shoe, don't wear one.
These are NOT solutions, the last Urgent Care trip the doctor said, "Maybe we should just TRY a neurologist, to poke around for something..." she kept talking but I was already gone. My head rocked with the false vibration of the lights as they pierced through my eyes and deep into my neck. None of this made any sense to me. Other than being overweight and hypothyroid, I was healthy, according to the labs. So I was to just treat the symptoms(nausea and migraine medications) and keep living and hopefully work in some out of town speaclists that may or may not help me after running several tests.
Leaving the urgent care for the last time with my doctor's notes, medications, instructions to rest, not exercise, follow up with all these specialists orders~ I thought-there has to be another way. She causally and lightheartedly joked as I was walking to Ashley waiting in the van, "Oh and avoid major stress, it is a killer."

I wanted to punch her, I wanted to cry on her shoulder, I wanted to scream, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH THE LAST 2.5 YEARS?!?!?!?!?!"  but I didn't, because I don't have any fight left. Not for me. I have spent all my energy until my health is bouncing checks that my body simply can not cash anymore. I have fought for Vivace, and currently have challenges with Etude's school, I am fighting to create a new normal in the house, to accomplish homeschooling, early intervention specialist appointments, and therapy while supporting my military husband with unpredictable hours and assignments. People believe that Vivace is away and we live in lala land with no issues, we actually receive 2 social calls a week that are often heated, full of insults, and painful. We also have an hour therapy session with his therapist and him jointly on the videophone, which are not light topics. We participate in monthly treatment calls, and anytime he erupts in violence I get a call from the nurse advising me of the situation and how it was handled. I receive his school newsletter, his behaviors charts, and have to continually report to the case management team that ensures the insurance coverage that I fought so hard for, stays in place.

"Avoid major stress, it is a killer!" was on repeat in my head, it continued to the "vibration" of any light I was unlucky enough to be around, to each bump and toss of the van as we rode home. The pharmacist sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher, everything was foggy if I could open my eyes at all, one thing I was sure of was my foot had joined the pains of my head, eyes and neck and they all throbbed in a unison of protest.

I took the migraine medicine and it worked very well(with side effects) and the next day I was researching how much it would cost to do the Jenny Craig program. I knew it tasted good, I knew that I could do it, I needed someone, something to help me...It was too expensive.
I began to research various affordable methods from overeaters anonymous, to local Weight Watchers groups, to online group support networks like Ediets. I read lots of scripture and talked to lots of friends. My foot stayed swollen, even when I woke, it was painful to stand on, my migraines and headaches were almost constant. I began drinking Mt Dew again and not taking care of myself at all. I was feeling defeated, because I had nothing left to offer myself. No fight.  No direction.

My friend Bobbie and I were reading up on several things, one thing that made sense to both of us was the Hallelujah Diet. I believe it started more as a "this makes sense" and a "this should be cost effective short term solution" type discussion. We both read and researched more. The more we learned the more we felt right about aiming for whole foods, mostly raw, juicing fruits and vegetables and just aiming to feel more alive by eating more alive. We picked Abby's brain, as our local "expert," on where to buy Organic, the Co-ops, Vegan recipes, why juicing is processed different than eating the same fruits, etc. Abby would never call herself an expert, but she has an incredible thirst for knowledge to be healthy naturally inside and out and experience in doing so for some time now. Bobbie was much more ready to jump in that I was, and she did, almost a week before I was ready. She blogged about it recently and I encourage you to check it out.

I was extremely worried about coming off of processed foods, sugars, Mt. Dew, dairy, meat....so many things! I waited for the weekend so I could plan to lay in a miserable coma until the detox passed. Saturday morning I was to start, and I was still hesitant- here goes 2-4 days of pain I thought, but wasn't I already living in pain? I stood to get out of bed and my ankle was full and swollen, painful and I thought, "Well, here goes everything."

Yes, crazy painful! The swollen "foot," was actually swollen toes, foot, and ankle and I felt like it would eventually move up my leg all the way. I did everything the doctors told me to do, even stopped all exercise! And I was still waking up with my foot like this, it was worse before bed after the day was done.

Saturday morning, I mixed a few greens with a few fruits, prepared to hold my nose and cover my mouth if it was to gag back up.

 

It.was.so.delicious! I drank, the children all drank it, Ashley tried it and we all LOVED it, it was sweet, you could not even taste the spinach! I was use to starting my mornings with Mt. Dew, a very sweet soda, for the better part of 15 years. This was the IDEAL substitute. A sweet, refreshing, liquid breakfast. It was amazing! 

No recipe just: I like these fruits lets toss them in, and some greens and a few carrots and here we go! Amazing. 

I wasn't hungry all day and I stayed on program with the juicing, whole grains, mostly raw foods lay out. I had a very mild headache Saturday night and that was it. I didn't crave the Mt. Dew because I wasn't craving processed sugar, or any of the "junk."

24 hours of juicing, whole grains and raw foods, lead up to this:

 

...something doctors couldn't do, but 24 hours and my foot was almost completely better. 24 hours. Unbelievable. I never really had any bad side effects of "detoxing" at all...it was painless and easy. it tasted wonderful and was filing and I was not hungry at all. (And I know you want to ask-did it give you the runs, did you get diarrhea?! Did it make you gassy?!  Nope! I did have to pee several times as my body flushed out toxins, but none of the other stuff!)

I started the program Saturday morning, at the weigh in the following Tuesday I lost 9.5lbs, without being hungry, without migraines, without a swollen foot, no reflux or stomach pains. One of the added benefits is true, deep, meaningful sleep.

You don't know how restless your sleep truly is, until you have truly restful sleep.


This is just the beginning!

I am learning so much about food, our bodies, and American culture and politics affecting food choices and expectations, and even guidelines. I wanted to share with you several resources I have found, as I continue to learn and grow in this process. There is a "rough draft version" of my new tab at the top of the page called "Journey To Health: ALIVE," it will include resources, books, websites, and links to my journey in chronological order, I am just beginning with it, it will grow with time and experience, so check back often for more resources.

I have spent a solid 9+ months working on me, my issues, my past trauma, my set backs in the emotional side of changing my body and lifestyle. And while I just had a set back last week (Wednesday) I have grown so much that I am confident I will not gain bulk weight back and sabotage myself(as I normally do) for weeks and even months, but instead hold steady at my current weight and find pleasure in knowing that is growth. I am weighing in every Tuesday with Bobbie for accountability and support, and I am fortunate to have her on this journey.

Are you still doing donations and matching weight loss?

Yes! However, It will begin again Jan 1, 2012. I need a few weeks to get this new information from awkward application to comfortable daily usage. I did gain some of the weight I lost this year back, and I am currently knocking that off week by week. I am looking forward to finishing strong in 2012 at my healthiest weight, emotional well being and more! I am so glad you are along for the ride!

THANK YOU for your support for Ethiopia and of me! You are amazing!!

What about the Holidays?

The holidays are about tradition, family, and religious celebration of blessed events, not food. If you need food to make an activity work, then you have the wrong people around you. Yes, treats can be nice here and there, and recipes can be changed to healthier versions, but if the activity has to be FOOD focused to feel like Hanukkah, Christmas or any special day, we have our focus wrong!