looking after number 1

This is one thing lately I have been thinking a lot about. I have been seeing huge improvements in my health and management of chronic fatigue and endometriosis as regular readers will know. The results have been coming mainly from eating a high raw diet, cutting out the CRAP ( literally Carbs, Refined Sugars, Alcohol and Processed foods), and exercising as much as I can whilst resting when my body needs it. Simple, right?

Looking after myself takes time. Time to make a green juice or smoothies and to wash it up, (those gadgets can create a lot of mess!) time to go for a run or a yoga class. As a working, self employed mum, it can be all so easy to make excuses or feel bad about making that time for myself, and I think a lot of us can relate to that. But guess what....the kids are seeing more of me now I am not in bed for 3 or 4 days a week in chronic pain. They are benefiting from having a mum who is present, not foggy headed and perpetually sore, who is energised and full of life. I am not 100% well, I am still on a journey but my goodness the difference is huge.

the harsh truth of health

I believe, wholeheartedly, that the journey to health and vitality differs for each and every one of us.

I didn't really know how much I was missing out on health-wise in my younger years until the state of my body and overall health, energy and lack of vitality was just in pieces. Broken. Beyond immediate repair.

I have spoken very openly here on this blog about living with chronic pain, illness and the ups and downs of that reality. I am starting to change that reality, slowly, and I am acutely aware how much I am learning about the personal responsibility we all have for our health. This is the one body we have on this earth, and I don't mean to state the obvious but without it we are kind of stuck....

Training and freya active

I am sure you watched the Olympic Opening ceremony like me on Friday - wasn't it MINDBLOWING? I loved the whole thing, from Branagh as Brunel to Mr Bean, Bond and the Queen, Becks on a boat...all of it was magical inspiring and just so....us.

So in the Olympic spirit I am of course still training for Cycletta and Run to the Beat. On Friday I was out on my mountain bike in the fens for 17k bike ride, and today I donned my trusty Team Bangs on the Run top and my Freya Active set to crank out a 4 mile run.

Endo, fatigue, 1 month roaaaaar and results

So, lovely people.

For the last month I have been eating a high raw diet and taking supplements to help my chronic endometriosis and fatigue. What a month it has been. I don't need to tell you how unwell I have been. If you read this bog you will know, if you don't, have a browse on through and you will see many posts of coping with chronic illness and pain. I don't want to live like that any more.Here is a little update on how things are going....

High raw: I am not eating 100% raw foods at the moment, probably around 60-70% fresh, raw unprocessed foods. I have still had some meat and cooked foods but make it as organic and unprocessed as possible when I do. I am taking the journey at my own pace and working out what works and what doesn't.

Coffee: It has now been 3 weeks since I had coffee. I would normally have had 3 or 4 fresh coffees a day (my poor weeping adrenal glands!) but now I am down to mainlining redbush tea and the odd black tea from time to time.

Booze: No vino or rum for a month ( I know!) and you know what? It's FINE....feeling so much better outweighs the craving for a cheeky glass. I will get myself a little more healed before having an occasional drink, but for now, I am a no booze zone.

Painkillers: one month ago I was on the following cocktail - 20mg amatryptaline at night, gabapantin, and at least 8 30/500 cocodamol tablets PER DAY.....in addition to 40mg citalopram. Yip. I rattled when I walked. Now I have halved my antidepressants, cut out the amatryptaline, and I am on 2 - 4 8/500 cocodamols a day with an extra 30mg codeine if pain happens to be really bad. I have a way to go to rid myself of all the meds, but the progress is immense, truly immense.

Energy: I am still tired, I still have pain, but the most amazing thing is that I have more days when I have sustained energy ALL DAY and sometimes into the evening. Also, if I do something, like run or have a day out with the girls I am now not havng to pay for it for 3 days with chronic fatigue in bed. This is changing my life, folks.

Pain: I am keeping a daiy log of all my food, drink, supplements and symptoms, and can see that I still have a bad week around ovulation time. My pain is bad, and my tiredness is a lot worse, but I have had one - count it, ONE - day in bed this month, NOT THE USUAL 3 PER WEEK!!! I am having time with my little girls, time to DO MORE, read more, be more, LIVE MORE and it's just so so liberating.

Exercise: I am still building up slowly from adrenal fatigue and exhaustion, but I am not back up to running 4 miles and cycling around 10. I have my goal for Cycletta in September and Run ot the Beat in October, but I am so thrilled that movement isn't making me horizontal with pain and fatigue so much now.

So, what am I eating? At the moment a day's menu might look like this:

Brekkie: oats and chia seeds soaked in raw apple juice with almonds and chopped fruit.

Snack: Almonds/fruit, green juice, cacao nibs and goji berries.

Lunch: Romaine rollups with chashew nut cheese and avocado, or mung beans with chopped pepper, cucumber, cold pressed oil, rocket, Udo's oil.

Dinner: Quinoa, raw grated beetroot, poached egg, sea salt., Fruit.

Supplement wise, I am taking Juice Plus premium, Prozyme, Womens Essential vitamins, Neovite, Probiotics and pure mineral baking soda to help alkalise my poor acidic body.

I cannot tell you how much this is changing my life, folks. I was close to giving up, having my womb  and ovaries butchered and being on HRT in chronic fatigue forever. This is only the start of my journey too...I am super excited to learn all about making raw chocolate and amazing foods I have to discover. Each week I try out something new, from making courgette and cayenne pepper crisps to a new twist on a recipe, to reading more and more about how I can help myself.

This is a huge learning curve. I know I am at the start of something and I cannot wait to see where it takes me.

It's a whole new world, folks. Hear me ROAAAAR!!!!

 

 

amazing weekend

Well, I can safely say that I had a bloomin' fabulous weekend. It was the amazing 2012 Peterborough Arts Festival this week, which had so much going on to coincide with the Olympic torch relay passing through the region. From Victorian Helter Skelters to beat box folk music, local foods, giant flowers and yoga workshops Peterborough has been awash with cool stuff this week so the Minis, Miles and I popped on over to Central Park to enjoy the fun on Saturday. Luckily we managed to hang out and have a fab time before the rest of the day got rained off in the torrential July craziness, but we really enjoyed ourselves.  We got up super early to watch the flame relay in St Ives today, then we warmed up with a cuppa and bacon roll at Farm Club before weeding the plot and grabbing some lettuce for lunch. We headed over to Cambridge this afternoon to catch the Big Weekend stuff there, where we got hands on at some paint and graffiti workshops. Love it - thanks, weekend, for reminding me that being outdoors rocks, that painting makes my world feel colourful and that childs play is a magic we all need to remember. Play is so important to grown ups too - let's all go play outside from time to time and leave the screen squareness ;)

giving up to get on

I gave up smoking 9 years ago, as a gift to myself for my 28th birthday.

I had struggled for the 5 years that I did smoke to imagine a life without fags - I was a gig going, beer loving girl, always in the pub with my friends. Smoking, at that time, was very much a part of that.

The week after I gave up I went for my first run in Vicky Park since being nicotine free ( well I was addicted the lozenges for a wile, but hey..), and my lungs actually worked. I could breathe. Stopping smoking was hard - most of my friends still had the habit, but one by one we began to grow up and value our lungs more, so the social side of being the odd one out affected me less.

Social acceptance of a habit or behaviour has always been the nub of my ability to deal with things, and I suspect it is for most people. I am not drinking at the moment, to allow for my body to benefit as much as it can from my high raw diet and supplements. As a mum of young pre-schoolers my pub nights are few and far between so it hasn't affected me as much as it may have done pre-Minis. I am also not drinking my beloved coffee, to avoid fatiguing my adrenal glands more and to stop the cortisol spike from happening but luckily most places have a caffeine free alternative these days.

So far I am 3 weeks no booze and 2 weeks no coffee, and alongside my high raw diet the changes in my health have been astounding. Really, really astounding. More on that to follow, but the thing about making these changes is that there is often a social shift too. When I was training last year for the Team Bangs Half Marathon it helped me no end to be surrounded by other runners, other people who would be out pounding the pavement instead of heading for the boozer.

Right now, as I start my high raw food journey I don't know many people around me who eat in a similar way, so the social acceptance of what I am doing may be harder to manage. I know quite a few people online who are real supports to me, but not so many locally or in my social circle. I have a feeling that may change ;)

I wrote before about the social acceptance of being sick, and I really do think that sometimes we as a society find poor health easier to understand than a diet that is different from others. Raw fruit and veg? How odd? No booze? Boring! But chronic fatigue, smoking? Ah yes, normal.

I am not saying that I will never drink again, or that a coffee will never pass my lips. I am not 100% raw and cooked food and occasional organic meat is still part of my diet, but this is how I want to eat, and more importantly to LIVE... Because, as you know I havent been living much recently.

Do you find it hard to give up bad habits? Have you had social acceptances that are hard to manage?

Let me know x

 

P.S if you are on this journey with me don't forget to let me know how it's all going. Also, news is soon to be announced on the Bude Dream Team Chronic Health retreat weekend, stay tuned!