My diet & detox journal

Ticket Clerk: I can assure you, Mr. Monk, this particular aircraft has a perfect safety record.
Adrian Monk: Could I see it?

I am becoming addicted to IMDB.com. Can you tell?

ok. It is now tuesday evening, and my belly is a mess again. I am sure now that the headaches and nausea I felt over the weekend were warning me, and I am sure now that I wasn’t listening hard enough…I think this all started when I ate the junk food at work on Friday. (popcorn, twizlers and red hot tamale candy.) And I didn’t eat that much of it, but to be honest, since that day I have had wierd symtoms, and as of now, (today) it appears that it set off my gallbladder/stomach/etc as well. Care to comiserate?

I actually had a really hard time falling asleep last night, having gotten into bed around 9:30, but didn’t fall asleep till around 11:30. Lots on my mind, good and bad. Then I was up and down all night. Didn’t help that the heat was running, and I got thirsty in the middle of the night. I dragged myself to work, and funny, I did feel better when I was lecturing the class. Distraction I guess. But I cleared out and went home at lunch time, and worked from home. THat was interesting. Managed to sit in bed, while simultaneously doing certifications for my students. Coincidentally I was certifiying on IBS, so I got to chat a bit about what is going on in my own belly. The cat curled up on the bed with me, so it was kinda cosy.

My right hepatic area is all colicy, and i feel nausea. Not really bad, but it is there. So I am back on my chinese herbs for the gallbladder, and I am taking extra intestiNEW in case it is my stomach. Once again, I have no one to blame but myself. I KNOW I CAN’T EAT HALF THE THINGS I WANT TO EAT! My belly was really distended last night following the omlette T made for me. It was part of the reason I couldn’t sleep. I bet that this gallbladder issue wasn’t helped by the eggs. What is strange is that sometimes I can eat certain foods without a reaction. OTher times, the same foods will cause this. I can’t win…

All I have eaten today is a cup of tea, three lavash breads, a half of a greens+ protein bar and a mix of my metagenics rice protein meal replacer. I am not hungry really. The IBS fear of eating is setting in again. And I just saw my TCM last night! I had her do a sinus treatment, however, since I had had a pretty bad right side headache. Perhaps it was a migraine, not sinus. I don’t know. Perhaps I should call her and go back for another treatment, this time for my liver gallbladder.

I think a lot of this is emotionally driven too. A lot of stuff is coming up for me right now, and it is hard to not allow my state of mind to affect my belly. I am at the point of wanting to just sit and eat chocolate. That would drown out my emotional baggage, etc. don’t you think? But that would not be principled. I know better than to just give into to such behavior!

And, to top things off the photo editor isn’t working and I can’t add my pics to this entry. But I shan’t let it affect me. It is 9:52 and I am going to crash…Sleep will hopefully come quicker this evening. So much to do this week.

Caz

I haven’t written in ages, I know. Probably because I decided to spend my energy healing myself from all my issues. The time was well spent. Indeed, the last time I wrote I was planning on seeing the chinese doctor. I did. She is a nurse of 20 years, plus a chinese doctor. I must say that the herbs and dietary work we have done together has helped me TREMENDOUSLY.

I was reading over my entries from the past year, and I am surprised I never really considered just how bad my IBS had really gotten. I mean, nearly every entry had some mention of either bloating, or nausea, or histeria, which is of course related. (the vagus nerve and all.) Even if I don’t totally agree with all of chinese medicine and thought, they are really on to something when they say that things can get out of balance…The doc agreed with what my collegue had said back in February, that all the raw food had shifted my system and digestion…I had ‘gone cold’ in my tummy, and things were just not breaking down right.

I have been given herbs to get rid of ‘damp heat’ in my middle burner, as they said my ‘liver is attacking my spleen and stomach.’ Now, this is simply another way of saying that I have liver gallbladder issues, compounded by hypochlorhydria. (too little stomach acid.) I have been taken off wheat, dairy, gluten, excess sugar - none of which was too hard for me. WHat is hard is that I was instructed to not eat any more raw foods for a long while. ANd that means NO raw foods. I have begun to steam all my veggies (even lettuce) and that has been really a hard mental challenge for me. Even harder is that I have to eat lots more protein. So I have had to bite the bullet and go back on poultry. I have not tolerated fishes, in fact on two occasions they have triggered my IBS and gall bladder. So, I am eating all sorts of foods that I have not eaten in years…

The great thing is, I FEEL SOOO MUCH BETTER! No kidding. It is like day and night. No more indigestion, no more bloating, no more side aches, and, I am sleeping through the night again. No more shoulder pain, no more nausea even.

I know that this is an answer I could have gotten from within myself if I would jsut listen to my body talking to me. But, even as a nutritionist, I recognise that we all need a little help sometimes. And whatever the doc is doing, it is helping. I am taking herbs for my liver, and other herbs for my tummy. ALso, we are working on my hormones too, and this month my period came at 5 weeks. So I know we are on to something. I am also taking all sorts of supplements from my own company to work on rebuilding my intestine, and target inflamation. It just feels like I am on the right track. Sadly though, I feel like I painted myself into this corner due to staying on the raw diet, long after it had brought me into balance, and thereby sent me WAY to far off in the other direction…

I will continue to post and share how I improve…

Meanwhile, my first class graduated a week or so ago, and I am in the planning stage for my next one which starts in January. I am so proud of my students! THey worked so hard, and now they are going to keep the rest of the team on thier toes, what with thier new eyes and desire to suceeed for the team. IT is great! Now I see why teaching is so rewarding. You are able to watch others grow and grow and then outshine anything you could do yourself!

Well…I had a nice experience yesterday at the Chiro…I have been seeing the doc since June and my car accident. For the first month I saw him 3 times a week and had a massage at least 2 times a week. The second month I went down to twice a week on the adjustment, and the massage once a week. Throughout that time I also had several other types of rehabilitation therapy for my back and neck to aide healing.

For the past month, however, this has all been out of pocket, as my insurance paid 80% until October. So, I asked the chiro when I would be getting my bill for the other 20%, and they said they are writing it off! He said he knew I didn’t get an attorny, and all, and that he didn’t want me to worry about it! I felt so honestly appreciative, as this is a real help considering everything! So, I still see him now once a month, and will continue to do so, especially since the therapy really helped me.

Tuesday, however, I am going to start seeing an acupunturist. I am thinking this may help with my digestive woes, and stress levels. I have been having low-level belly issues since what I assume is my gall bladder, flared up in October. Basically I have been sensitive to things I was not as sensitive too, and fats in particular upset my tummy. Mostly bloating, and yet I know things aren’t normal, so that is why I want to chat with the practitioner. Working in digestive care, I know that much can be affected by diet. However, since my accident my stress level has been so high, that it is affecting my digestion. I know it. I say that because I feel it at its worst when I get stressed. Then I even get shortness of breath and panic, and then nausea. WHen I calm down, miraculously, my belly feels that much better. Arg, IBS.

Considering I have never had acupuncture before, and the fact that I am afraid of needles, this is pretty well surprising that I have agreed to this. HOwever, knowing that accupressure works, based on my own experience with massage and reflexology, and the fact that I am not thrilled about endoscopies, or a HIDDA scan, where they inject radioactive dye and then stimulate your gall bladder to see how it is working, I will gladly have tiny needles tucked under my skin. I guess that makes sense, right?

I would love to say that eating raw food would help my belly feel better. TO the contrary, many uncooked veggies were NOT agreeing with me these days, and I know that too much fruit wasn’t good either. I have been subsisting on ezekial bread (sprouted grain & seed muffin things) plus apple juice, and apple sauce and the occasional smoothie, or beet-lemon-apple juice. (fresh homemade in juicer). TOday, however, I did a search online and found a great greens soup recipe. I found it here, and it is good. HEre is the recipe:

Green Soup Recipe

One bunch parsley 3 medium zucchini
½ lb. Green beans
5 stalks celery

Steam together for 8-10 minutes.
Or partially steam and boil in ½ cup water.
If you have a steamer, you retain more nutrients and flavor
with that method. Puré in a blender.

This soup is wonderful for relief from all sorts of gastric disturbances such as stomach pain, gas, and indigestion. I do not add any fat or salt to this recipe. It can be used anytime but is particularly useful as a three day fast with nothing else but water. It is both nourishing and easy to digest. You can alter the amounts to taste. More beans add more sweetness.

To be honest, I am usually good with bland things, so I wasn’t too worried about trying to consume a greens soup without salt or anything. To be honest, it was really good, even with NO spices or anything. Seems like it went through me pretty quick, and I did use two yellow summer squash in place of 2 of the zucchini. But it was warm and creamy, even with no cream. I chalk the flavor up to the celery and parsly. I was pleasantly surprised.

Anyway, I am still a bit ambivilant about the acupunture treatment, yet I really hope it helps me relax. WE shall see. I thought the comic here would put me at ease…

Well, I suppose I have made my point. This is shaping up to be a nice relaxing weekend, so I best go enjoy it.

Hasta.

Cassy