christytomlinson

eating green update...

So it's been a few weeks since I've updated my blog about going on the new eating plan.. eating only fresh fruits and veggies and meats.(you also get to eat rice,  nuts, have olive oil and real butter.. so you get to eat a lot of great things!  

Basically just  NO processed foods.. and gluten free, dairy free and sugar free. I was doing SO good until about 2 weeks ago. I felt amazing and really DID feel a huge difference. I felt better than I had in months. Then we went out with friends one night and I ordered off the gluten free menu.. thought it would be fine.. but later that night I started feeling not soo good. The next day.. same thing.. ate great all day.. that night went out and ordered something off the gluten free menu, thinking I would be okay.. and again.. felt crappy the next day. Still trying to figure out what it was in what I ate that wasn't good for me. Or maybe I was just having an off day.?

The last three weeks I have been off and on eating "good" and eating "not so good".. ( I spent a week at girls camp..which made it really hard to eat that way)...  but have been trying to be good for the most part...and I have to tell you. I CAN TELL a difference. Specially with sugar and gluten. When I eat it.. I don't feel very good. and it's within an hour.. if not minutes of eating it.  When I stay away from it.. I feel GREAT. Dairy doesn't seem to bother me at all. which is good, because I was started to miss feta cheese on my salads :). Though I have to tell you I switched to Almond milk in my oatmeal and I LOVE It. So I just drink it instead of regular milk.

Another thing I noticed is that corn really bothers me. Even popcorn. Which I love. I can eat it and seriously MINUTES later.. achy.. feeling yucky.. and I am like.. oh but it was SOOO worth it! lol.  

So what am I learning from all of this? That I get what I get.. if I want to feel good. I need to eat good.. and when I don't.. just be prepared to not be up to par. I realize that I can't go through life eating ONLY green.. and clean. I just can't. I wish I could.. but with life and traveling, it's not as easy as it looks. Even ordering from a gluten free menu doesn't mean the dressing is sugar free.  BUT the good thing is that now I have a little more "power" behind how I feel. I mean I realize, I will still have "bad" days.. where I feel crappy.. just because I will, Just because of the weather, or because of the stress.. but if I can help it at all.. like have some sort of small decision.. it's a start. Knowing that what I eat and what I do, and how I treat my body.. MAKES a difference in how I feel. I have a choice. and that is what matters.. because before.. I felt like I didn't have a choice. I felt like no matter what I did, I would always be in pain and not be able to control any part of it.

I have also been trying to relax and take it easy this summer, not working so much, not worrying so much and I am SURE the that is helping as well. Gotta get a little relaxation in before "reality" comes back and the summer is over and it's time to work hard again :).  Exercising is helping too. I have been starting to wake-board and have plans to to try and go at least 3-4 times a week in the mornings. My husband, and I and our friend, get up early.. usually heading out by 8:00, to the lake that is only 3 miles away.. and we each take about 20-30 minutes wake-boarding or skiing. (i don't ski). It's great exercise and I LOVE being out on the water that early. It's calm and peaceful and no one else is crazy enough to be out there. (the water is cold.. seriously cold! lol). But we are usually back home by 9:30 or 10:00 and still have plenty of time to work. It's my new "gym"..  I think If I can start walking or running or bike riding at night too, it will help even more. Exercises does wonders for your health.

anyhow.. so that is the update on my health and eating clean! I TRULY love it. I do. I wish I had the will power to do it everyday. I wish I could wake up every morning and have my green drink already made. it sometimes a pain to get up and juice it and then clean the juicer (cleaning it takes the longest).. but  It truly makes a difference on my day. Even just having one green juice in the morning.. makes a HUGE difference. and by that I mean.. juicing Kale, Celery, spinach and then either a fruit or tomatoes. I love it. Love the taste too. And gives me SO much energy! Another thing that gives me energy are my snacks. My favorite snack by the way (i have 3 small snacks a day between meals).. are sliced apples dipped in natural peanut butter (no sugar added) . Yum!  My favorite! Sometimes I will just have that for breakfast too. It's so good.

Well enough about that.. I have some BIG news to share tomorrow!!! I can't wait! I have asked be be apart of a really cool new "Show".. that will be airing this fall on the web.. and I can not wait!! Tomorrow I get to share with you, all about it! wahoo!

Sorry for taking it so easy this summer.. I am just so enjoying my time with my family and with just enjoying my time. period.  :) hope you are too!

See you tomorrow!!
Happy Wednesday!

Christy

Being predictable...

so sorry I was MIA yesterday.. it was NOT a good day.. i know it was because of the weather.. but man I hate those days.. I call them my "flu" days.   Usually anywhere from 6-10 hours before a storm I will start to feel like I have the flu.. body aches, sweats.. etc.  but no fever.. just the achy, week feeling you get when you have the flu. My hands and feet also feel like they are swollen (but they aren't).. and they become SUPER hot. On fire.. hot. It's so weird and seriously SO random! lol.. and depending on the storm or the weather BEFORE the storm.. it is either a mild ache.. or a SEVERE ache. And yesterday.. oh so severe.  I couldn't even stand. I think it was due to the fact that when I woke up at 7.00 am it was sunny and warm and beautiful and by 11:00 it was cold and raining and windy.. so a fast change in the barometric pressure really causes the pain for me. I can seriously PREDICT a storm.  It happened while I was in Texas.. I woke up Sunday morning with a good 10 hours of sleep.. feeling so rested.. but by 10 am started feeling So crappy and by 2:00 I was just not doing good. It wasn't a severe ache.. just a mild ache.. but I was so frustrated because I couldn't understand why I was feeling this way! I had had a great nights rest AND a great breakfast of eggs and fresh fruit.. and  The forecast showed ONLY sun for days on end.. not even a small  chance of perception.  I had to get up from my table several times to just go lay down in my room.  I kept telling margie, I had no idea why i felt so crappy?? Couldn't figure it out.

Well that night after the event ended and al the students left to head home and to the airport,  Shea and her family took us and the  cooks out for dinner... At this seriously DELICIOUS Mexican restaurant! When we left it was SO hot and sunny... and halfway through dinner I looked out side and it was POURING rain.. not just a light rain.. It was like a monsoon! Lol .  I was like.. and YEP! of course it is.. and THAT, folks.. is WHY I was feeling so crappy today!  Now it all made sense and I wasn't so frustrated anymore.. isn't that silly? I was almost more frustrated because I was having a 'flu" day and yet the normal things that cause my flu days weren't present.  I think when you are in pain like this and it's chronic and by nature it's just unexplainable.. it's nice to have some sort of "expectations" or predictions with it.. to make it a little more livable? if that makes sense. So far I have only had flu days WHEN it storms.. never had them when it doesn't. And those days are my low of lows.The days where my body hurts so much that it also clouds my judgement of what it is I want and how I feel.. and why I want to be doing what I want to be doing. Its almost like it creates this fog over  my senses and I forgot that tomorrow won't be like this.. you start panicking that this will be your "normal" for the rest of your life and seriously.. I am telling you that when I feel that way.. I CAN NOT talk myself out of it? I mean I will try and remind myself that it's only temporary.. that when the storm passes I will fill better.. but like yesterday.. I was freaking out that maybe it wouldn't and maybe I would wake up like this again today and the next day and me being a functional mom and friend and artist and wife.. would be over. And then yet today I woke up.. feeling great and rested and happy .. and NOT having flu day.

DUDE, would someone please remind me that on those days it WILL BE OKAY??? lol!  I think I need to put sticky notes around my house that says.. "it's just a flu day.. tomorrow it won't be.. so relax, smile.. this isn't your life". good idea christy.. (though I know on those days' those notes aren't going to help! Lol).

 okay.. SO.. SEROUISLY??  what is the blog turning into?? We need some ART around here!!! TRULY! I promise this week.. ART!

 I was REALLY coming on to tell you about the new diet I am doing.. well not Diet.. way of eating I would call it.  Diets to me are something that tell you you can only eat "this amount of food"  and this diet is NOT like that. You can eat as much as you want. Which is funny because you don't.  
So every morning I have been waking up and making myself a "green" juice.. that I talked about last week in THIS post. Usually I juice Kale, Cucumbers, and apple and a lime. But if I am feeling creative.. I mix it up by swapping out the cucumbers for celery, broccoli tomatoes, beets.. or something else.. but I always include kale and spinach because of the high fiber and protein content. AND HONESTLY i can't even taste either of them! Specially when you add the apple and the lime or lemon. It's great. You can add just about anything you want. I try not to add too many fruits for two reasons.. one because the juice from fruits has such a high sugar content.. and even though it's GOOD natural sugar.. I am a diabetic..  and I think I need to keep that on the down low.  AND  second because there are So many GOOD values that fruit have besides the juices.. like the flesh and the skin. They all have great nutrients to them and are much better when eaten whole.. not juiced. So Ionly add an apple in the morning.. just to have something sweet.. like a a power "protein" fruit drink.. but all natural foods.. no powders.. no shakes. It's all freshly juicedfrom fresh vegetables. love it. I usually have one for lunch or for a snack during the day too, but that time, I don't add the apple.. I use a tomato or something else with a lot of water content. Which is important because kale and spinach don't have a lot of water in them.. they are pretty dry, so you need some form of liquid to help get those juices and nutrients out. And apparently adding "water" do the juicer is a no no.  And I say that.. and I sound like an expert.. but I only know that because I kept thinking.. how the HECK is anything coming out of these leaves? (kale is a lettuce).. and then did research on juicing kale and spinach and the experts say to put your kale in the juicer and then quickly follow it with cucumber or celery or something else that has a high content of water. So I am really not that smart.. but I google and youtube a LOT of things when I have question. :)

NOW you don't HAVE to do green juices.. on this "diet".  but they are so good for you. I do two a day as part of either my snacks of meals..  because mostly I don't have a huge appetite right now and I  really don't like to cook. So while I could just as easily make myself oatmeal with fruit and an omelet for breakfast (and you can have raw butter and olive oil.. so it DOES taste yummy).. OR even make myself a salad or grilled chicken and potatoes for lunch.... I just don't have the desire or the time. I just want to drink something fast and be done with it. Juicing is SO fast. For me it isanyway.  But it does depend on the day.  Saturday morning I was feeling SO good and  in a cooking mood and made Gluten free, sugar free banana bread.. OH so yummy.. and I also made myself an egg omelet with sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers and spinach. YUM. Then pureed some plain nonfat yogurt in my blender along with some fresh fruits like pears, strawberries and peaches and poured it into freezer pop cups and put them into the freezer for a frozen snack later.  I apparently was hungry and in the mood to cook and be in the kitchen which is RARE.  lol.   BUT REALLY the point of this diet is to eat 6-7 meals/snacks per day. The rule is though ALWAYS including a protein with each snack. So if I have cherries or applies or pears or whatever for a snack, I also need to have nuts or an egg, or peanut butter or something with it. Now I am only eating fresh.. no processed foods, so my snacks have to be non processed, gluten free, sugar free and dairy free (because believe me.. if i wasn't.. I would be eating pepporoni slices with cheese on them as my protein all day! lol.. yum!). But my goal is to eat NON processed foods. ONLY fresh. It's been pretty easy actually. I think when you are desperate to feel good.. it's not much of a sacrifice to change something if it makes you feel better. 

 BUT I do make a big meal for dinner. Last week I cooked one night..  Sweet Meatloaf with  mashed potatoes and broccoli. (with real butter on the potatoes and the broccoli YUM). The next night I cooked a roasted turkey with oven roasted red poatatoes and green beans.  Tonight I am diong a beef roast rubbed with beef paste and olive oil.. and potatoes. and tomorrow night I have plans for homemade chili. 

SO now you are wondering.. has it helped?  I have to be honest and say.. the first two days.. I was like.. um.. I still feel like crap. But I also realize your body goes through a detox period.. and it takes a few days to feeling better.. but by friday and Saturday and sunday.. I was feeling GREAT! I went the entire day Sunday without taking a single pain pill. I was amazed! and I was in a good mood! For me latley.. that is a strange thing. To have a day when you FEEL GOOD. I mean I always feel.. "okay".. never good. I was happy with the results I was seeing even after a few days.  AND sunday it rained! It wasn't a big rain storm.. and the day didn't start out sunny.. I woke up and it was cold and wet.. but I always have flu days.. even if it's just a mild storm. But I didn't!  I was getting SO excited! Then of course..  came yesterday..  FLU day.. and not just a "mild" flu day.. it was a BAD flu day.  Which put me in this weird funky.. mood.. like really? If this thing is working.. why am I having this day??? WHY????  This Diet is crock! Gluten free? Sugar free? dairy free??  I was SO frustrated.. because I thought I had finally found something to help me feel better and here I was having one of the worst days I had had in weeks. So I just went to bed frustrated and scared that maybe NOTHING would help me get over this. But then today I woke up.. feeling AMAZING.  I NEVER wake up feeling amazing. I always wake up in pain.. infact I DREAD waking up. I have to take a hot bath right as soon as I wake up just to feel like the day is "doable". So here I sit.. again.. resolved to just keep DOING this. To see where this takes me. Maybe this way of eating will help me just live a better day to day life and I may have to just be okay with knowing that those predictable days.. those "flu" days.. will still come when the weather is bad or the storms are ranging.  It's not to start having a little bit of predictably in my life with my health. It FEELS amazing actually. So here's to week two! I see sun in our future for this entire week (until saturday).. so I am going to see what happens this week.  AND my folks.. it the update. :)

Next week I will post the recipes for my Banana Bread and my meatloaf and some other fun recipes I am going to try this week. :) Speaking of which! My sister told me yesterday you can substitute OIL and butter in recipes with NAVY beans! You just puree the beans and add the exact amount as stated for the oil or butter!??  She said she had some and they were amazing!  SO this week I am gonna try making some peanut butter cookies using almond flour, agave nectar AND navy beans instead of oil. Which I can have olive oil and butter. So it's not the big of a deal.. BUT i started thinking.. if you use the navy beans INSTEAD of the oil, think of the protein that little snack would have???  Specially with the peanut butter? and since I am not counting calories.. it doesn't matter on the calorie intake. but the protein intake.. I could eat it as one of my snacks!

AND speaking of calories.. as I said.. on this diet, you don't count calories or watch your intake. It's all about eating healthy foods and eating the right things together.. so I am not on this to loose weight.. but one of the benefits of it, is you do! . Believe me.. loosing weight is the least of my worries right now.. BUT  I got on the scale this morning just to see.. because i could "feel" that I had changed.. and I have lost 4 pounds since last Wednesday!! wow. and I didn't even try to. That is amazing. Eating healthy DOES have it benefits I guess. Now maybe if I walk 3 times a week.. I will feel even better. Gonna start that today!

Okay.. so enough of healthy eating and my boring stories of my way back to health. I promise I will limit these posts to ONCE a week.. :)  Just excited excited to share my progress with you all. It's amazing how happy I feel when I feel amazing. I think you take those things for granted when you don't have the trail of not feeling good. anyhow..

Tomorrow I am going to share with you a fun new "art" project I am working on.. can't wait to share! We need some ART AROUND HERE! right?? :)  I do.. I NEED some art around here :) that always makes me happy too!

Happy Tuesday!

 

Today is a new day...

I am HOME! finally HOME! and when I say that I also mean.. HOME.. like for a while and I can't tell you how MUCH that makes my heart happy. I feel like I have been traveling NON-stop for the last 6 months and had deadlines after deadlines, which only added to the stress and craziness of life. Texas was amazing.. I will tell you more about that experience on Friday, but while I was in Texas, I also had some time to stop and think about life after Texas.. I realized that when I got home, I had NO deadlines, NO commitments, and no place to be jet setting off to next.. and a HUGE smile came across my face!  I was like a kid at Christmas! I almost couldn't wait to get home!
I also had some really great talks with some really great people while I was there. Who gave me some REALLY great advice.. mainly about my health. As you know I have been struggling so much with my Fibro for the last 6 months, and while I haven't openly shared it.. the last 3 months have been utter well.. you know. Just not good.   Seriously I  look back now and don't know how I made it through. I mean I do know. The Lord helped me through, my family helped me through.. but seriously it almost seems impossible what I accomplished. Everything I did with the pain and exhaustion I was feeling on a daily basis. I admit a lot of tears were shed and prayers were offered, just to make it through the day sometimes. It was not good. One thing I decided to do for MYSELF when I got home from Texas was take time for my health. To really figure out what I can do to make it better. To live a healthy life. I mean I realize pain will most likely always exist.. and I can totally handle that. But what I can't handle is the pain that aches so much that I can't think or function. Soo...

today I am starting a new day. A new way of thinking, a new way of life so I can ENJOY my life instead of just making it through the day. I have been so blessed over the last 6 months.. so blessed, don't get me wrong. But I also have never been in so much misery.. truly.. at my knees. misery. Those close to me know what I am talking about.

I have had many friends and family offer me "ideas" and support over the last few months on how to change how I feel, eating differently, exercising, slowing down.. but seriously during these last few months,  all I could think about was my next deadline and that TRULY I didn't have time to take care of my health right now. I was barley sleeping, I didn't have time to make different meals, or go exercise everyday.. believe me when I tell you that I truly was running 24/7.

So while I was sitting in Texas this past weekend.. and just really getting to SIT there and relax and enjoy the time.. I also had the opportunity to talk with some close friends that gave me that FINAL push to just go home and do this for ME. To try something healthy.. because obviously what I was doing was NOT working. I had one last stop before home.. my husband was meeting me in Utah to spend the night and day celebrating our 17 year anniversary.. so on the drive home, I told him all about my plan.. to get better. to FEEL better and he was not only on board.. but really excited and happy I was choosing to finally do this (he was one of the people who has been telling me for months I needed to change what I was doing in order to feel better).

So today I woke up in this ridiculously good mood.. honestly good mood! SO excited to start my day and I wanted to write and share my plans for this summer on what I am going to help myself FEEL better.

Starting today, for 30 days, I am going gluten free, dairy free and sugar free. I am also only eaten whole foods (not processed foods out of the can).  I actually went on this program last spring.. my friend Maria sent me the information and  for 3 weeks I stuck with it and I felt AMAZING (funny how it never occurred to me to try it again).. until this weekend. Actually it's a combination of two things.. one is called The Elimination Diet. I think I may have even wrote about it last year on my blog. who knows.. but the reason I loved this program is because basically you go back to the way you ate as a baby. Fresh fruits and veggies, meats, etc. You do that for 30 days and then after the 30 days you slowly add those other healthy foods like grains and dairy.. back into your diet and see how your body reacts to those things. How they can HANDLE those things. My purpose in doing it is to see if WHAT i have been eating.. and the WAY i have been eating is part of the reason for the pain. After listening to a friend this weekend, tell me a story of a woman with similar problems.. who decided to do go on a program similar to this.. eating healthy and after a few weeks was virtually pain free.. I think that was the FINAL push. PAIN FREE.. wow.. what a concept.  So I will also be following THIS blog this summer.. The Alkaline Sisters..  My friend, Jo Packham, told me of Julie's story.. and I was hooked!  I spent some time this morning ready her blog and her amazing journey to being pain free and living healthy.. so excited to do a combination of both!

Let me be clear, I am NOT doing this to lose weight.. to get skinny (although I have gained 15 pounds since March.. apparently fibro slows down your metabolism too.. nice). But honestly I am okay with my body right now.. what I Am NOT okay with is the pain I live with everyday.. the moments I miss with my family or friends because I am in too much pain to join in. The "foggy" brain I have.. not even getting to "remember the good days because when the bad days are present it seriously clouds any judgement of what is good and happy and right. I am doing this because I am at my whits end.. TRULY at the moment I will try anything to feel good  and live good. I have been to my regular doctors SEVERAL times..and they have prescribed me medicine upon medicine.. with truly no help.

I am also not one who jumps on the band wagon of "going gluten free." or NO dairy! no sugar! I  mean.. come on.. be real.. those are also things God put on the earth for us to live off of, and I don't believe they are bad things..  I truly don't.

but for me and my situation right now, I feel like I need to do this for me. It may not work.. who knows.. but I am at a point I will try anything. I have even looked into things like acupuncture, alternative medicine.. you name it. When  you are in that much pain and can't imagine living your life this way..  and honestly not wanting too.. you realize you need to do something different.

So this is me doing something different. I also HATE to exercise.. i mean don't get me wrong, I love to snowboard, or wake board.. but getting on a treadmill or going to the gym. I just seriously.. BLAH. Yuck. BUT again.. after hearing stories from good friends who tell me they know someone who had Fibro and she starting walking just 30 minutes a day.. and now she feels GReAT.. I have to be honest with myself and say.. okay Christy. As much as you HATE this.. YOU NEED to do this for yourself. If you don't... it's your own fault you feel miserable.

So today is the day! I am kinda excited to document it and share it on my blog too.. it's almost like it's an accountability program!~ lol .. I mean I have all of  YOU wonderful women to be accountable too.. right? so that is why I am putting it out there.. plus I know so many of you have emailed me and facebooked me with similar problems, asking for advice on how to feel better and I have always had to reply.. I don't know how because I am not living better!  So maybe this will help all of us.. just not me, right?

So  every monday I will write an update on how I am feeling, how my change of eating is going, how my exercises went for the week.. maybe some recipes I have to share.. maybe a few tricks I learned. who knows.. I don't have a plan, I just know I am going to start it today and if I make a goal to post my progress on my blog, it will hold me accountable.

So this is what I am going to do: 

•  Exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. That may include walking, doing yoga, Thai Chi, swimming.. bike riding.. not sure but going to have fun mixing it up.
• I am also going to follow the Elimination Diet for the next 30 days.. which cuts out all processed foods, eating only fresh fruits and veggies, meats, nuts, etc. No gluten, no sugar (processed sugars), and no or little dairy. . ( p.s.  I have never really had a problem with dairy.. so I don't know if that will make much of a difference in how I feel, but at the end of  30 days, I will start to add it back in and see).
• Drinking at least EIGHT - FULL classes of water a day (for me.. that is HUGE. I barley drink 1 class of any liquid a day.. so drinking 8.. wow.. I am going to be peeing A LOT.)
• I am also going to eat ginger twice a day. My sister has been giving me some great advice on certain herbs and spices that can really heal the body and ginger is one of them. So I am kinda doing a mixture of some things I think sounds really good to try.

 

 And that is the Key.. TRY.. it never hurts to TRY anything. I am ready and willing.. and honestly at this point.. if I even felt 10% better than I do right now, I was be jumping for joy.  So I am ready to start!

 Okay.. I will stop talking about it now.. I promise this blog isn't going to turn into me getting all "about being healthy" on you! lol.. but I have always been so honest about who I am with you.. figured I might as well share this journey too. So thanks for letting me to that :)

AND in other news.. I also spent the ride home yesterday writing a list of fun things I wanted to do on my blog this summer.. since I will be home and mainly hanging out.   I thought it would be fun to add something different to my blog!  Maybe some art challenges, or weekly "projects".. or something. I came up with an entire list.. way to many things to accomplish.. so I need to spend some time this week "refining" what it is.. but I hope you will join me in it! I hope to do something to keep my creative juices flowing.. painting projects, mixed media, sewing, jewerly.. want to get my "art" on. I  might even offer a mini workshop or two.. project based workshops.. my mind is whirling with fun ideas!  I also have an entire series of "girls" I want to paint this summer and  a Halloween and Christmas series I want to paint too. Kinda excited to just "play" and also include my kids in this process as well. Gonna be fun... just want to remind myself to keep it light and low key.. stress free.

Anyhow.. I will stop talking now! lol.. this is has been along post with no pictures.. and we know how bored we get with too many words and not enough pictures..  wow. I probably lost you all at " so while I was sitting in Texas" lol..

Okay.. so going to get off my computer right now and head to the grocery store.. oh and I forgot to mention! I told my kids about my new way of eating for 30 days and some of them want to join me too! So I am excited!  We are all going shopping together!  Oh and before I leave.. I am going to announce the winner of the Gilded LIfe May Kit!  almost forgot!!..

okay so the lucky winner of this rocking kit is..

Posted by: Pamela Phillips | June 01, 2011 at 04:10 PM

I will see you all back here on Friday when I share with you my awesome time in  Texas with the Gilded Girls and some other AMAZING women!  The oodies I found and art I made.. and the friendships I strengthened.. can't wait to share that!

Happy Wednesday!