Thursday, October 25, 2012

Day #4

Weird things that's happening to me that's different than before....

Weird Thing #1:  My sleep cycle has drastically changed.

 For instance, yesterday I woke up at 4A....FOUR AM!!!....bouncing out of bed ready for the day.  I kept up the same, high energy level (without coffee *gasp*) for the whole day until about 8 that night.  Then I fell asleep around 9, and slept like a rock until 6 this morning.  This is pretty big coming from a girl that only slept 4-6 hours/night.

Weird Thing #2: No more cracking knees, baby!

Before my knees constantly ached, and cracked every time I moved them.  It occurred to me on my drive home yesterday that they hadn't cracked more than once the whole day.  

Weird Thing #3:  SOOOOO hungry!

I seriously am eating myself out of house and home.  It's like every 2 hours I'm hungry again.  I'm not big on staying hungry, so I feel like I'm constantly eating.


Anyways...onto what I ate yesterday....

Breakfast:  Bacon and a banana.  Yum.

Lunch:  Left over Tilapia and some steamed broccoli.

Dinner:  Wednesdays are always a rushed affair ( is it "affair", "a fare", or...?) for me for supper.  I usually eat at church, but this week I was afraid I'd cave to the food cooked by some of the best cooks in the world.  So instead I ate at home--a lot--and arrived just before church started.

I ended up having some more of the tilapia and broccoli again.  Sorry to bore you with my menu...but it's yummy..what can I say?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

How to build your body up to running 3 miles when you have Lupus 101

Since my race I have been asked how I was able to run a 5K when I have Lupus.

Here's the answer:

Step #1:  First you need to play around with your diet, figure out what some of your triggers are.  For me, I'm super sensitive to nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers).  I stopped eating them.

Step #2:  If you're currently in a flare-up you need to wait until you feel "normal" again.  Don't make the same mistake I did by thinking going straight out and running will help.  It won't.  You'll just make your flare-up worse.  Trust me on this.

Step #3:  After you feel "normal", you need to start walking.  Do it so slowly that you trick your body into thinking you're still laying in bed in agony....if you don't do it slowly enough you WILL be back in bed in agony.

First week:  Walk no more than 5 minutes.  Walk every day.  
Second week:  Walk no more than 10 minutes.  Walk every day.
Third week:  Walk no more than 15 minutes. Walk every day.

Step #4: Once you reach 30 minutes of walking, then it's time to start incorporating other activities that don't stress your knees (assuming you're like me and your Lupus effects one of them).

I did activities like bike riding, swimming, and hiking.  Do each activity for no more than 10 minutes when you first start them.  Build yourself up slowly to 30 minutes like you did with the walking.  Do NOT do walking simultaneously as these activities, you'll end up stressing your body and throwing yourself into a flare.

The whole idea of doing the other activities is to get your body used to have an accelerated heart rate.  Once you build up to 30 minutes, then add in 10 minutes of walking per day.

Step #5: Once you reach an hour of physical exercise, put yourself on the Couch potato to 5K runner's plan.

Stretch each day out for 3 days.  So do  Day 1 for 3 days, Day 2 for 3 days, and so on and so on.

Important note:  On your off days, continue to do some form of physical exercise--walking, swimming  biking, whatever.  Just make sure you move every single day. 

Listen to your body. If you feel your Lupus flaring up, then you MUST slow it down.

And as always, you know the drill--never start an exercise plan without the okay from your doctor.

Enjoy running, my friends!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Paleo Day #3

Soo...day #3 and counting.  Even though I feel kinda yucky, I'm still 100% LOVING the cooking aspect of this!  It's like every day I have an excuse to try something new.  

Breakfast--Okay, breakfast was  a COMPLETE, epic fail.  I tried recreating the chicken-egg stir-fry from yesterday, changing it up a bit thinking I could "improve" upon it.  Totally blew up in my face.  I choked down the first two bites, then threw the rest away.  I ended up going simplistic with breakfast (mainly because I had run out of time before I had to start work) and had a banana and some bacon.

Lunch--I LOVE tilapia, but I've never made it before myself.  I always just get it at restaurants, or in the frozen microwavable meal section at Walmart.  But today I decided to be adventurous, and it was a SUCCESS! :)

I couldn't find a good, yummy looking paleo recipe for tilapia that did not include lemon juice (A--I don't have any, and B--I hate lemons) so I got creative.  Here's what I did:

1--Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2--Grease baking sheet with some coconut oil.  
3--Put tilapia onto baking sheet, put one teaspoon of coconut oil on top of fish.
4--Open up spice cabinet and start grabbing things.  I put on:  some grilling seasoning, season salt, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, and parsley.  Weird combination...I know...
5--Put it into oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until fish flakes easily.
6--Enjoy!  :)  

I happened to enjoy my tilapia when some super yummy steamed broccoli.  Which happened to be extremely easy to make.  All I did was cut up some broccoli, put it into a microwavable dish, put in 2-3 TBS of water, covered the dish, and put it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes.  Then once it came out, I drained the water and sprinkled on some garlic powder. 

Supper--I got devious.  I decided to stray from the normal and have breakfast for dinner.  Why not? 

I made paleo pancakes.  I got the recipe from another online blog, and they are PHENOMENAL!!!

Here's what ya do:

1--Combine: 2 eggs, 1/2 C unsweetened apple sauce, 1/2 C nut butter (I used almond butter), 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract in small bowl until you have a uniform batter.
2--Use coconut oil to grease a skillet.
3--Spread some batter into skillet to form pancake. (I found that cooking two teaspoon pancakes is WAY easier than bigger ones)
4--Cook over low/medium heat. Flip after 1-2 minutes.

**Be careful not to burn them. They burn easily...I learned this the hard way**

this made a TON of batter...way more than what I can consume in one night.  I'm curious which way will store better overnight, so I cooked half of the left-over batter, put it onto a plate, and put it in the fridge.  Then the rest of the batter I just put into a small container.  I'll let ya know tomorrow which way wins.  :)

Now as far as how I'm feeling....thankfully don't have the massive headache I did yesterday.  But I am unbelievably tired.  So much so that I'm contemplating going to sleep at 8 tonight like an old person.  


Monday, October 22, 2012

Take that doc!

So yesterday I accomplished something I have been dreaming about since I was first diagnosed with Lupus--I ran a 5K.  :)

2 1/2 years ago, when I was diagnosed my rheumy bluntly told me I would never be able to walk, let alone run, 3 miles again.  I told him he's never seen what my God can do.  Yesterday, by God's grace, I ran/walked 3 miles.  WOOT!!!

Also, I started my Paleo diet yesterday in the hopes that it will help make my Lupus better.

Today was Day #2.

Today here's what I've eaten thus far....

Breakfast:  Chicken/bacon/broccoli egg stir-fry.  Amanda Scale of Yumminess (on a scale of 1-10):  6.

Lunch:  Chicken/bacon salad. Amanda scale of Yumminess? 9

Snacks (not necessarily eaten after lunch):  handful of almonds, handful of walnuts, a couple bananas, and I may or may not have had a dark chocolate bar.  lol

Supper:  Chicken/broccoli stir-fry.  Amanda Scale of Yumminess?  A BILLION!!!

Here's what ya do it:

Take some chicken.  Drizzle olive oil on it, then put on a bunch of seasonings (garlic powder, salt, pepper).  Cut it up into little pieces.  Cook it.

Then put the chicken on a plate, put in whatever veggies you want....drizzle those in olive oil and garlic powder.  Cook them until they're done.

Put the chicken back into the pan, and add in a handful of almonds.  Cook for 90 seconds or so.  And...you've just made perhaps one of the yummiest dishes I've eaten in a very long time.


I keep on expecting to experience this "carb flu" that everyone talks about--where my body goes through withdraw from all of the bread, pasta, and processed food I've been consuming.  So far all I've experienced is an extreme thirst.  Oh, and I had a REALLY bad headache this morning.  But other than that, I still feel normal.  :)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Lupus Cure?

So if you've talked with me at all within the past 2 weeks, you'll hear all about two things:

1--I'm doing my VERY FIRST 5K since my Lupus diagnosis this Sunday!!!  I'm so stokes.  I am unbelievably nervous about it though.  Mainly because I haven't finished my training program yet....my Lupus flared a bit and I felt it best to scale back on the training program.  So I doubt my time will be as amazing as it used to be, but I'm going to cross that finish line even if I have to crawl.

2--The Paleo Diet,  the great Dr. Jean Seignalet, and how both relate to my Lupus.

One of my good friends started the Paleo diet and mentioned to me how the Paleo diet helps autoimmune diseases.

If you've never heard of it before, basically you can only eat meats, vegetables, and fruit--no processed food, no grain (breads, pastas), and no dairy.

I've never been one to take someone's word for truth until I study it myself.  So I ran across this video:

http://www.myhealthblog.org/2010/03/26/lupus-treatment-success-rate-100-via-paleo-diet-in-france/

The site itself didn't really look like the most trustworthy site, so I checked into it some more.

Then I came across this site:

http://paleozonenutrition.com/2011/04/01/dr-jean-seignalet-ancestral-diet-and-auto-immune-disease-trials/

Much more noteworthy, and they saved me time from tracking down the doctor mentioned in the first video. So then I did a Google search on Dr. Jean Seignalet....sure enough, he exists...he did this study...and it appears to work.

So yours truly is going to do a very strict Paleo diet, and cut out all tomatoes, etc. as well.

I already know from past experience that going gluten-free helps..I'm curious as to how I'll feel after with no dairy, no grains (including potatoes!), and no processed food.  Minus the no diary, it sounds extremely healthy for you.

I'm going to start said diet on Sunday--right after my race.  I would do it before, but I don't want to "shock" my body before one of the most noteworthy events of my life since my diagnosis.  Didn't seem like the most intelligent thing to do.

I rationed out what I figured I'd eat throughout the rest of the week, and I just gave away the rest of my non-Paleo food that I won't be able to eat before Sunday.  It amazes me at the amount of stuff I had.  I ended up giving a bunch to three different people, and all three people commented on how I had so much food. The picture shows only part of it--that's not including everything in my fridge and freezer.


Anyways...I'll be sure to keep you updated on how things go.  I'm planning on documenting my progress, much like a journal on a semi-regular basis. I'm going to shoot for once a day, or at least 5 times/week.  I'll be sharing what I'm eating, how good the recipes taste, how to make said recipes, and how I'm feeling.

From my understanding, when I first start the diet I'll experience the "carb flu"--a withdraw from all of the sugary and processed foods.  Apparently I'll have a headache, be tired, and feel yucky.  But if this helps with Lupus, a couple weeks of yuckiness will be worth it in the end.