chronic pain | Let Food Be My Medicine

It has stopped snowing for the moment, but promises to get more slushy and disgusting later. I’d really rather be home. Also, lots of pain makes it hard to work. I took a bit of a walk around my building but I really wasn’t feeling well, and that sucked. And I hate feeling how out of shape I am. I used to run up the 3 flights of stairs to the top, and back down and around (it’s a very fun and winding old building) View from my building:

Snack this morning was strawberry kiwi fruit leather (i love my dehydrator!), lunch was leftover GF vegan mac & cheese and a salad with black beans, avocado, and chipotle ranch dressing. Chocolate coconut date balls for a snack. I packed a lot of food today in case I got hungry – as long as I’m eating clean, I don’t want to let myself be hungry/tempted to eat something I shouldn’t . I feel like I’m doing really well, and this diet switch has been much easier on me than I thought it would be. I haven’t weighed myself (I probably should, just for progress’ sake – or maybe just wait til the doctor next week and see if there’s a change?) but I do feel like I have lost some weight, and I’ve certainly gained some energy and am feeling better, even with the pain that never ends.

I love cooking and making food from scratch, I love eating clean, healthy food, and most importantly, i love WANTING to eat that way. I love health foods and recipes and trying new food – if only I weren’t so broke, I have an entire amazon wish list of gluten free ingredients and new health foods to try! But, even being broke, I’m doing really well and I’m really happy – I can stick with this. It will always be harder with the boyfriend or eating out, but I think I’ll have a lot of support from him now because I’m doing this for my health.

Also, I finished The China Study – if you haven’t read it, please do! It’s such an important book, and I think everyone should be privy to every last bit of information in it.

It’s always a little exciting to start something new – a new blog, a new diet, and here I am with both! Read my About Me page if you’re wondering what this is all about. March is National Endometriosis Month, and I’ve already ready so many accounts of women who have had a lot of luck changing their diet to eliminate certain foods. Since the thought of being on heavy hormones is as terrifying as the thought of losing my fertility, I’d like to give it a try. However, I intend to ease into this gradually and not throw out all the food in my house. Here’s the eventual plan:

No gluten
No refined sugars
No alcohol
No animal products (meat/dairy)
No soy
No caffeine
No fried foods
No processed foods

That’s quite a list! So what do I plan to eat? PRODUCE! Dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains, fruits – all sorts of things. I have been vegan before, so I know that at home, this won’t be a problem. When it comes to eating out (which I don’t do terribly often anyway), I will work it out. I am excited to slowly start removing all of these things from my diet to see if it helps with the chronic pain I have been experiencing for so long. And I really want to EXERCISE! I miss it, and I have been in so much pain and so tired that I just can’t. I’m starting to go for more walks as the weather gets nicer, and I’m hoping that I am able to ramp that up. I am sitting here nearly doubled over in pain – and I’m so tired of taking painkillers. They give me the worst dreams and they take so long to kick in anyway.

I plan to update often, and document my progress towards this dietary goal, and post any great foods or recipes I come across that meet all of these guidelines!