Tiny set backs, pressing on.

Yesterday afternoon I had sores in my mouth (one of my not so good signs) then last night I started feeling sore all over... and then I felt very sad, and disappointed. However I have a wonderful sister that called me in the middle of the night to talk to me and let me cry all over her. Reminding me that we are looking for long term results, God is in control... I can't expect everything to suddenly be better over night. She told me I had one good week... which hasn't happened in a long time and I can rejoice in THAT! Yes, my sister is amazing! :-) 

This Monday's Inspiration was really for me... I needed it this week! Amazingly enough I woke up feeling good again today. So the back sliding seems to have been short lived, PRAISE THE LORD! 

Then this song was sent to me this morning. I love it! Very inspiring. 

Psalm 16:8-11

New King James Version (NKJV)

I have set the Lord always before me;

Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will rest in hope.

 

For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

 

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Baby steps

Ok...  First of all... Remind me NEVER to mention winning in marbles on my blog again. I've lost every game since that blog post. ;-) Oh well, we still have had a lot of fun! 

Seeing improvement even in the little things is so encouraging and gives me hope that this truly may help in the long run... even if it takes a while. I'm feeling way better this week than I have in a long time. I still get tired easily, but when I'm awake I don't feel like I'm in constant pain and living in a fog moving from one nap to the next. I can actually be PRODUCTIVE in my day! 

People have started being able to notice just by looking at me that I'm feeling a lot better... I thought that was strange and then looked at this picture that was taken July 4th on one of my "good" days the day before I started my new eating choices. Then I compared it to the picture of me taken last night in the sunflowers... Well, I'll leave you to decide which picture looks like the girl is sick and pretending she feels ok and which picture is actually a picture of a girl that DOES feel good. 

The next goal is working on walking daily. So tonight I started out with a 15 minute walk. I was sad that it really did seem to be a hard walk for me... but hopefully as I do it more it will be easy to work up to more. Just had to keep reminding myself that I'm working on baby steps here, and just because I have to start small to make sure I don't set myself back does not mean I am a failure or inadequate. 

It can be so easy in the midst of all these changes, trying to make the best choices for my health to lose sight of the progress I am making... It's so easy to look ahead to where I know I want to be and feel discouraged. However, God has been so great to send me just the right encouragement I needed to press on and keep my focus on Him and His current plans for me. My health challenges may be overwhelming at times, but they have certainly taught me how to rely on God daily through everything and take it all to Him. He has truly been faithful to me.

Lamentations 3:22-23

New King James Version (NKJV)

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Time

So I've found another benefit to this change in lifestyle. TIME! I had no idea how much time was spent in food prep and clean up. Not to mention trying to decide/plan what we are eating. The evenings are usually really full around here. 

Before: We cooked, ate, cleaned, did family devotions... then most of the time it was too late to do anything else in the evenings because it was the kiddos bed time. 

NOW: We "cook", eat, clean up, do devotions... and then it MIGHT be 7 or so... plenty of time left in our evening. 

So what have we been doing with all this extra time?! Well... we MAY have gotten in a few games of marbles over the last couple of weeks. ;-) And Tor, Jo, and I just MIGHT be slaughtering Mom, Dad, and Leah... ;-) 

Before, our game nights used to include large bags of Skittles, Hot tamales Starbursts, Swedish red fish, Peanut M&Ms, peanut butter cups... etc

Now, our snack foods look like this. That is Black Bean Humus on the spoon... In case you were wondering. I actually like it! 

Now for the update on me: 

~The pain in my hands is very subtle today (HURRAY!) 

~My energy levels aren't where I would like them to be, but I caught a cold on Saturday night and have been battling with that so I think that could be a huge part of the problem. (BUT it's almost GONE!) 

~ Still haven't had to take any Tramadol, or Zophran since this started! 

I hope to start my ten minute or so walks soon! I've just been waiting to get over this dreadful cold!  So I wouldn't be defeating myself. :-) 

I also need to work on drinking more water... I forget I need to drink. Usually eating salty things makes me remember to drink more water... However now I need to drink without the salty reminder! ;-) 

Genesis 1:29
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

Soup Anyone?!?!

Okay, I mentioned in my previous post that I had gone out to get stuff for one of my soups that I'm supposed to be eating. My three soup choices were Kale Fennel, Tomato Leek Greens, and Cabbage Mushroom. We decided to just start with the first one... So following are pictures of our Kale Fennel Soup! 

 Trying to translate what the recipe was talking about in certain part was interesting. I've been following recipes for YEARS, but apparently this type of cooking is different. :-) Cause we were highly confused several times, but we stuck with it and were victorious in the end. 

Here is a look at some of our fresh and fabulous ingredients! 

Parsnips,Kale,Carrots, Lentils, and zucchini.

Peaches, zucchini,kale, parsnips, onions,beets,lentils, split peas,carrots, and cashews. 

juicing the carrots and beets 

Vegetables that we had to "soften" so we could blend them in our vita mix.

My attempt at cutting the carrots and parsnips (Thanks for taking over Tor) :-) 

Finished product!

Okay I started this blog with the idea that I would be 100% open and honest with people. So with that in mind I will now disclose my thoughts on this soup. I can perfectly describe it in two words.

Ready?! 

Sweet MUSH

:-)

Textures can be very hard for me... So for me I have needed to eat my "soup" over brown rice. The rice simply helped out with the very mushy texture I had going... gave it a little more substance. I still can't say that it is a favorite, but I have been eating it for lunch all week (except for yesterday) 

Today I am trying the Cabbage and Mushroom soup. I actually think I like it a lot better however it also tastes really sweet... I think I'm missing the more salty savory taste that main meals tend to have. 

I know the question on everyone's mind.... "How are you feeling?" ;-) It is so hard for me to judge from one day to the next how I am doing so I tried to sit down today and really think about if I was seeing any improvement. Well, I don't feel bad, which is good, I think I'm starting to see minor improvements. I don't seem to be as fatigued, I do have pain, but haven't needed to take any Tramadol for pain yet (HUGE), my nausea seems to have disappeared so far... So those are all good things. 

This week I allowed myself to become discouraged with where I am, and what I am doing... My poor mom tried so hard to motivate me and bring my spirits back up.. SORRY MOM! 

Anyway, lessons learned... I need to work really hard at taking thoughts captive! 

2 Corinthians 10:5

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

A look into my life

First of all, thanks so much to all of you that posted comments or sent me emails or did both! I found it all very encouraging, which you will see I greatly needed today! So, thank you for your support. 

Now, here is a look at my day!

Woke up this morning to swollen fingers (very painful), sore elbows, slight chest pains,stiff neck, and sore feet. However after being up for a little bit the only things that remain are the very painful hands, and sore feet. 

Okay, so today I have fun pictures to give you a look into what I am eating these days. :-) 

BREAKFAST! Breakfast is probably the easiest/best meal of the day, but then again I always was more of a fruit person anyways. :-) 

This is my breakfast juice which had tons of lovely fruits in it.... and spinach. It actually was one of my favorite ones so far. VERY sweet. 

In addition to the fresh juice I also sliced peaches, pears, green apples, and clementines.  I didn't quite make it through all of it... A little too much for me. 

I forgot to take a picture of lunch, but I just had a tons of veggies salad (cabbage,broccoli,spinach,cauliflower, zucchini) which I then sprinkled with unsalted pine nuts, raisins, and unsalted sunflower seeds. That actually happens to be my favorite so far... SO I'm sure you will eventually get a picture. :-) Oh... with my salad I drank a "mean green" veggie juice. (Not my favorite)

Dinner

 For dinner we have COOKED food! WOOHOO! Brown Basmati rice (no butter or salt or anything) with stir fried veggies(broccoli,celery,carrots, zucchini, orange bell pepper, spinach, onion). We stir fried the veggies in a balsamic vinegar. 

This is my drink with dinner. 2 green apples, 3 stalks of celery, ginger, lemon, spinach, cucumber, beets, and carrots (again not my favorite, but it was drinkable) 

We have been doing more research on everything and what all I should be eating. So today I headed to the store to pick out veggies for this special "soup" I'm apparently supposed to be living on... It was so funny going in with a list of pretty much all veggies and not even knowing what some of them were going to look like! :-) We made soup today for me to start eating for lunch daily, so when you are enjoying lunch tomorrow think of me. ;-) 

Today was mostly good, except for the pain in my hands (which got so bad I had to stop chopping carrots for the soup and find someone else to do that for me) and the minor emotional breakdown I had after getting through dinner. 

It is hard sometimes to remember God's promises for me with all of this going on, but I try to keep my focus on Him as I press onward. Remembering to be thankful for all that I have and everything He has blessed me with instead of focusing on the things that I am either unable to do (like chopping food) or things I am no longer able to eat (like the meatballs we cooked for another families dinner tonight) :-) 

Well, that's a little look into my life right now. 

Romans 14:17

for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

A New Beginning

Hello, I have decided to start a blog on a new journey I am setting forth upon searching for healthy living. I simply thought this would help me keep track of my progress and stay focused and encouraged to press on. I know the road I am setting out upon will be very difficult at times... but my prayer is that the results will be more than worth it in the end. 

You see, my health has been going from bad to worse over the last few years. At first I was simply sick a lot, with no idea what was wrong (scary time in my life). The next phase was being diagnosed with Lupus in September of 2010. At first I was relieved, it was so nice to know what was "wrong" with me finally. However, this simply marks the beginning of a roller coaster ride of trying to figure out how to make me feel better. Some things worked for awhile, but nothing lasted long. I finally gave in to using one medication after the other trying to find some normalcy for me. Until now I find myself on tons of meds, in lots of pain, and my bad days far outnumber the good ones. 

IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE!

My amazing family has been an awesome support to me through the struggles I have been facing, going way beyond the call of duty. We saw a video called "Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead" A man's journey to getting healthy. Now being overweight was NOT my problem, but having an autoimmune disease, and the meds I am on were a similarity I shared with this man. So, my whole family decided to do something drastic hoping for a change. So together we proceeded to juice for 9 days ending this weekend.   

While we were juicing we started researching and found a diet that is supposed to help with Lupus. It has changed 100s of lives making it possible for many to lead great lives without the constant pain, and worry that is normally involved with living with Lupus. So, we have decided that since we had already "detoxed" by juicing we would go straight into this. So for now we are simply eating  Fruits and veggies, some beans, and some nuts. NO SALT, NO DAIRY,NO FLOURS, NO SUGARS, and NO MEAT! We are hoping for great results, but we know it will probably take a while to see them. So for now we simply decided that it can't hurt, and it just might help, and we are therefore willing to give it a go! 

Where I am at now: 

Mid-high pain levels on most days

low low energy

unable to walk around for more than 10minutes

Unable to be outside during the day

Medications I am currently on:

20mg prednisone per day

15mg meloxicam per day

400mg plaquenil per day

25mg Methotrexate per week

50 mg Tramadol as needed (usually a few times a week)

8 mg Zophran as needed (at least once a week)

Goal:

I Would like to see the good days outnumber the bad

Be able to play outside with my nephews and nieces without falling apart physically

Walk three miles

Bring the Prednisone down to 5 mg per day

Go off meloxicam

Go off Methotrexate

Go off Tramadol

Go off Zophran

I know, I know... one tall order... but if you are gonna reach, why not reach for the stars? RIGHT?! :-) 

So hopefully from time to time I'll post how things are going, how I am feeling as we go along. Maybe blog some challenges, or successes, pictures of what a "Meal" looks like for us now. :-) This way I can keep track of how things are going and hopefully be able to look back in AMAZEMENT at how FAR I'VE COME! :-) 

Philippians 4:11-13  Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: ¹² I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ^[b] who strengthens me.