What I've Eliminated, Lost, Gained, and am Working For...

[L.]

Hi guys :)

 

Well I'm feeling...ahh...about the same as yesterday but yesterday I was feeling a LOT better than the day before...so at least things have improved!  With my body I never really seem to know what to expect, so at least some positivity is happening.

 

Also I have lost so much weight being on this flu...well, I think at least 4 of it was waterweight, as it was gone after the first day, but now I've lost 6 pounds and I'm down to 114!  And I don't keep the weight in my curves--it's all in my gut, so I still have potbelly lady fat that I wanna get rid of even like this!  My goal weight is 108, that is how I looked and felt best, though I suppose if I had to for health reasons, I'd stay around the weight I am now.  As of yet though, I don't need to.  I could tone except that I can't really physically tone right now (I'll get on that in a second), and every pound of weight on arthritis is 3 pounds of pressure.  I'm not sure if it works that way for muscle, but either way, this is me doing what I can.  Feels like with every pound gone, also my arthritis pain is lessening and it's easier to move.

 

Something discouraging that happened this morning was I did have an arthritis flare-up :-/  In my hips.  Not legs, thank god, so I can still walk without limping and needing to sit, which is wonderful. It's probably detox...I know I know.  But it kind of dampered my mood for a few minutes.  At least it's not in my legs, so I can still walk without needing to sit down.

I did make a sesame seed dip today and ate half of it with some vegetables.  I suppose I could have juiced apples or pears but I was tired of both juice and juicing, and I was hungry for the first time in days, so I didn't really feel motivated or understand why I would need to continue juicing.  I've still managed to eliminate so much from my diet, I'm not really worried about the sesame seeds.  However I suppose if I continue having pain and flare-ups, I'll have to eliminate those too.  The main problem is it gets kind of tiring for me to juice so much with my nut milk bag all day, which is why the weight has been dropping off so much (not juicing nearly enough and only drinking water aside from that and very few, easily digested snacks in order to detoxify and make my digestive system work again).  Hopefully that will change once this arthritis pain goes and flu bug goes and I can really cleanse....why is it always the most challenging for the people who need the most help.

What I've eliminated so far by the way.

100 percent vegan (no meat, no dairy) for a year, don't ever plan on changing that, love it, never feel deprived.
Grains are gone...don't really care.
Nuts are almost gone..maybe two-three are eaten every other day on average as of this moment in time.  don't really care anymore as long as they aren't in the same room with me, then it is difficult but I think I can manage...we will see!  don't want to get too cocky with this one.
Beans are gone...don't care.
Added sugar gone, don't really care, that's an easy one for me for some reason...stevia/vanilla/fruit/dates/my licorice root fennel peppermint tea, etc.  Why do we have added sugar? o.^ I really do forget sometimes.

Next would be salt, nightshades, seeds...spices?  hmm, not really concerned about spices at least, as of yet.  fruit would be weird to eliminate because i do need calories...kinds of fruit?  what is it gonna take until all this gunk causing flare-ups is out of me lol!!

 

None of those foods I just listed sound good to me, because I know how they make me feel...Every loss here is truly a gain on far more levels.  I've got to remember that.

However, I wish I could just eat raw fruits and veggies and not have to juice (though I can feel just from what fiber I ate that that was all my body could take) :-/  I hate all this painful standing up juicing/washing my nutmilk bag business while I am in pain from arthritis and have the flu.  Not to complain or anything...I'm still going to do it, I am STRONG, I AM WOMAN, and my symptoms are easier!  Just stinks how we've gotta be the strongest when we're the weakest, is all. :)  Life.  Okay no more whining!!!

 

I've been feeling a little discouraged about the raw diet lately as it seems so many around me don't agree with it and, maybe it's paranoia (likely) but I fear people might be thinking I'm nutso :-/  That with the arthritis flareup is making me feel really insecure at the moment...why am I doing this again?  I know I've got to keep going, I just think I need a little encouragement.  Which you guys are fabulous at. :)

 

Alright, well, I'm going to hang out with a friend today, she too is getting over a cold so we are going to watch a movie and take it easy with girl talk :)  I have suspicions she's traveling down to Pennsylvania to go see if things are going to work out with her potential man.  I'll be kind of sad if this becomes a permanent thing, as she's one of the few girls my age I know who I actually enjoy spending long periods of time with in real life.  Off to blow my nose and drink some water!

[L.]

Aw...thankyou so much, Kimberly. :)  Kinda needed that!  Though my friend who came over last night did say that my story only sounded logical and that I did sound balanced, which was helpful for me.  You're so right, thanks again!

[Kimberly RT(T)]

Hi Lyza!  You are such a strong woman!  The one thing that really made me sad was that you were paranoid because you fear everyone thinks your nutso :(

You are doing what you feel is best for your body.  That is amazing.  Don't let others get you down.  Only you know your body best and what it needs :)

[L.]

Hi Gill!! :)  Aw, thanks so much!!!  You guys are just encouraging me to go further!

 

Hi Eppy--yes, once I've eliminated everything and things are all fully healed, I totally am going to start adding things back...I'm iffy on nuts because I seem to experience heavy inflammation/facial swelling when I eat them (EXTREME SADNESS, I love them too...), which probably means I have an intolerance.  However that's in large portions...at least half a cup...maybe everyone is like that?  I never want to add grains back also--just don't feel like they're necessary for me and seem to cause me more trouble than they're worth in the arthritis dept.  A lot of pain went away after giving those up.

I would only start eliminating types of fruit if I noticed flare-ups while on an only or mostly veggie and fruit based diet...I am not sure I do too well with pears!

 

I've got proctitis so I totally understand with the juicing....wow, seems we're in similar predicaments.  OOH, I was just thinking--I could make date juices!!  High calories and no fiber, wouldn't be so difficult to do all the juices when I wouldn't have to make as many bc dates are so high calorie!  Have you ever had a date juice?

 

Me too...and same to you too!!  You deserve smoothies...and so do I!  Take care. :)

 

Wendi, ahh!!!  Thankyou so much.  Very encouraging.

[Wendi Grant]

I don't even know you, and I am proud of you!  Good for you for staying strong!

[Eppy Sleep]

I have a question for you; once you have eliminated everything, if the arthritis does go away, will you slowly add back in things like the fruit and the nuts which have important vitamins and minerals, to see if you can have them without experiencing arthritis pain?

 

I understand the need to eliminate many of the things you listed, I also can't have nightshades, grains, or legumes; I'm just not sure what has brought you to the decision to eliminate fruit and nuts since those can be so useful.

 

I also have joint and muscle pain, so we (my husband normally, but sometimes I) make all of my juice for the day the night before and store it in the fridge because I am unable to stand long enough to make each juice individually and then wash all of the pieces of the juicer and the blender.  We do hope to eventually have me on half juice/half blended eventually, but between IBS-A and a problem with digesting solid foods because I can't chew and my stomach doesn't seem to want to break things down beyond what my chewing does, it is going to be a long slow process.

 

I hope you feel better and are able to figure out what foods don't cause you pain and ways of eating them that you can feel good about.