Am I resigned?

 Hello, I had a friend ask me last week if I was resigned to this eating style. They wanted to know if I enjoyed eating this way and if I was planning on this being what I eat for the rest of my life... I've had several people ask if I had gotten used to eating foods without salt and such. In the back of my mind I thought "I bet a lot of people are wondering this same thing!" So I'm addressing it here for all of you! :-) Do I enjoy eating this way now that I've been doing it for 3 months? No, not in the least! Even after 3 months food still tastes odd. Yes, there are some things we eat that I prefer over others, but generally there isn't much in the way of food that I truly LIKE to eat in the same way that I used to like chicken fried steak and gravy, biscuits, chili dogs, pancakes, PIZZA! Just to name a few. 

HOWEVER! This is what I feel God has called me to do so I try to focus on that and not dwell too much on what I can't have. I try not to think about this being a forever decision and try to just focus on the here and now. Right now my focus is trying to use the tools God has provided me with to the best of my abilities in order to be as healthy as I can be. My mom will certainly tell you that there are days where it is a real challenge to get me to eat anything at all. Those are the days I end of having to drink twice as much veggie juice to make up for "skipped" meals. ;-) So you would think I would learn not to skip my meals. (chuckling to myself) I am by far NOT PERFECT! 

 A new recipe for this last week was this spanish rice. It was a success. I love it when we find new recipes to add to our small list of favorites. :-) However, I'm not usually brave enough to experiment on finding new recipes. So I'm very grateful to my family who keeps trying to find "good" things for us to eat to change things up a bit. Even before this diet change when I would go out to eat I would tend to order the same thing every time I went to a restaurant. I tend to be very predictable this way. :-) 

Salad is still the main course for us at most meals. This fantastic salad I had while eating out with my Mom and Dad this last week. It was nice to be able to get such a good salad out, and it was nice to get time with Mom and Dad. 

 

Time for the big question! How am I doing? Well prior to this weekend things were looking fantastic. Usually my pain levels on a "good" day are around a 4 or 5. However, for the first time in  a long time they have been at 0 on my good days. and I had a few weeks of them there in a row. What a tremendous blessing! So yes, I have faith that everyone's prayers, and this new diet are actually helping. 

On the other hand, this weekend my body decided it was time to fall apart again. I had photo sessions scheduled on Saturday, but as you can see in the picture above.. our Saturday was horribly gloomy with high winds and tons of rain. So I rescheduled those sessions, which ended up being such a good thing for me as I ended up not doing the best that day, and then Sunday was pretty awful. Sunday was a day in bed and pain meds. However, it's days like that, that continue to make me so grateful for the fact God has been taking care of me and that He has been blessing me with so many good days lately. Because there was a while there where living in bed and on pain meds was a normal thing for me. So it was nice to have Sunday be simply a small detour. Yes, it has left me a little more sore still this week and my pain levels have pretty much stayed at a 5 since then, but I have hope that it will be getting better. :-) 

Just like the bad weather came and went, leaving us to enjoy the beauty of fall. 

Okay, I think that is all I had to share this time. Feel free to ask any questions you are curious about! 

Psalm 25:15

New King James Version (NKJV)

My eyes are ever toward the Lord,

For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Another week. :-)

Hello! Just wanted to update on life. :-) 

My sister, Victoria has had a rough time recovering from having her tonsils out. I ended up spending the night in the hospital with her earlier this week. I have been thanking God for His great blessing in the fact that I have felt so good. I have been able to help, and haven't had to worry about my health. It's been a HUGE relief and blessing to me. It has certainly encouraged me in the diet choices I've made. 

Quinoa Bean Salad

We tried this last night. I LOVED it! It actually tasted like "real" food. Something I probably would have liked even before making all these changes. :-) 

 Ingredients: 2 Cups Quinoa cooked in low sodium Vegetable broth, 1 1/2 C cooked white beans (or 1 can low sodium beans drained), 1 Cup grated carrots, 1 Cup currants, 1/2 C raw walnuts chopped, 2 plum tomatoes chopped, 1 small red onion thinly sliced, 1/2 green pepper chopped, 1/2 red pepper chopped, 1/2 orange or yellow pepper chopped, 3 cloves garlic minced, 1 Tbls chili powder (I only used 1 tsp.) 2 tsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce. 

Directions. Cook quinoa according to Pkg directions. Place all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Add cooked quinoa and toss together. Refrigerate overnight. 

 No, I still don't like oatmeal, but this morning it tasted pretty good. I think I might be a bit hungry after all the rushing around to the hospital this week. :-) 

Okay, I haven't liked bananas since I was much much younger... however this has become a new snack of mine. Salt free brown rice cake, cashew butter, and sliced bananas. It tends to be a filling, high calorie snack. :-) Leah loves this with raisins and cinnamon on it. 

How am I? I'm doing great! I'm a bit sore, and tired, but nothing compared to how I was feeling before. I'm functioning well above how I was functioning over the last year for sure. 

I'm happy to have my prednisone down to 10mg (hoping to go down more after my next Dr. visit) 

Down two pills of my Methotrexate

Yes, I've still lost a bunch of weight, but it seems to have stabilized and now that I'm feeling better perhaps I'll put some back on... if not perhaps I'm good where I am. :-) 

Praising God for His infinite Mercy and Grace! He has truly been faithful through all these challenges, and I know He will continue to be. Thank you for all the prayer support. I know I would not be doing this well without all of you praying for me. It means so much to hear that I was brought to mind and you prayed for me. God is so good! 

1 Peter 1:13

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹³ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;