Eight days in the corn/gluten/sugar free eating and we are still here! :) First of all, thank you for the encouragement and support that so many of you have given to us during this time! Many of you have been asking for recipes that I have been trying this week. I have been documenting everything I'm making and eating and will definitely post more about recipes later.
During this process, there have been a few people that have been INVALUABLE resources to me and have spent vast amount of their time to help me. The least I can do is pass that information along to you! A huge thank you to my mom - she listens to me talk about food, cooking, supplements, doctor visit, etc... ALL the time. She mails me care packages of stuff I need and encourages me every day. She has walked this road for over a year. She was diagnosed with diabetes and she decided to fight and change her lifestyle. She jumped into a world of "extreme" healthy eating with only a few people to help her a long the way. She has done it on her own and is succeeding. At the age of 54, she is starting to run and is rocking it out. So proud of her.
Another huge thank you goes out to my friend Heather. Our families were friends as kids, and even though she has five kids of her own that she home schools, she has spent hours helping me learn this new way of eating and living. Any question I ask, she has answered with an abundance of knowledge and has taught me so much in such a short amount of time.
On Friday my journey took an interesting turn... my medical doctor called and gave me results of some blood work I had done the week before. Turns out my iron stores are low - very low. If you ever THINK you have low iron, make sure your doctor checks for ferritin level! My doctors have told me for months that I wasn't anemic, according to routine CBC tests. Last week they ran the iron store/ferritin test (you iron reserves in your liver). The "normal" range is 13-150, which is crazy to me that a normal range can be so wide, and mine was 7. That certainly explains a lot of the tiredness!
Then my doctor tells me something else - I have a tick born illness: ehrlichiosis. It was found when he did a lyme disease panel of blood work. I was very skeptical. I didn't remember being bit by a tick. How long ago was I bit? Could this have been causing the problems all along or is this a new problem? According to my doctor and my research, 40-50% of people with tick borne illnesses don't remember a bite or a rash. The test, according to the CDC's webiste, is definitive. No other condition would give that result on the test. So, my doctor says iron pills and a month's worth of antibiotics, doxycicline, is the answer. If you know me, you know antibiotics are not something I want in our house, but given the circumstances, Chad and I decided it was the best course of action for me right now. We aren't sure how I got it, but we know this area is the worst in the country for tick borne illness.
So, now what? I'm on a crazy hard diet...and now I'm diagnosed with something that can be "cured" with a pill. Do I continue? Do I really have Adrenal fatigue? We strongly believe the answer is yes to both questions. Adrenal fatigue is a result of stress on the body - whether physical, mental or emotional - or a combination of all three. My body is worn down because of the things going on. Removing as many toxins and work for my body is still the best thing I can do right now. The good news - maybe that means that I won't be on a gluten free diet forever!
I feel better where I am now that I did a week ago. I have settled into the eating pattern and my family has been rock star supporters. More on the eating later, but one major shift came in my thinking earlier in the week. I was doing some reading from a Paleo author (no I'm not on Paleo specificially) and she said, "I'm tired of people feeling sorry for me. I eat like this because I WANT to, not because I have to." That one thought helped me so much. No one is forcing me to do this. Our family has chosen this path because we believe it is the best way to help our entire family to be healthy and to be in a healthy state to serve the Lord and be a productive family. I could go buy a donut in the morning if I wanted to, but I don't. I could wake up and eat a big fat pancake if I wanted to, but I'm not going to. I don't want to "cheat"and eat something with sugar or gluten. Now is it hard to watch people at a Trophy Point concert around us munch on chips, sure. But at the end of the day I do it because it is choice I have made. Period. No wallowing. No self-pity. Embrace it, thank God for the health I have and for all the blessings He has poured out on me and move on.
Stay tuned for recipe keepers from the past week...
During this process, there have been a few people that have been INVALUABLE resources to me and have spent vast amount of their time to help me. The least I can do is pass that information along to you! A huge thank you to my mom - she listens to me talk about food, cooking, supplements, doctor visit, etc... ALL the time. She mails me care packages of stuff I need and encourages me every day. She has walked this road for over a year. She was diagnosed with diabetes and she decided to fight and change her lifestyle. She jumped into a world of "extreme" healthy eating with only a few people to help her a long the way. She has done it on her own and is succeeding. At the age of 54, she is starting to run and is rocking it out. So proud of her.
Another huge thank you goes out to my friend Heather. Our families were friends as kids, and even though she has five kids of her own that she home schools, she has spent hours helping me learn this new way of eating and living. Any question I ask, she has answered with an abundance of knowledge and has taught me so much in such a short amount of time.
On Friday my journey took an interesting turn... my medical doctor called and gave me results of some blood work I had done the week before. Turns out my iron stores are low - very low. If you ever THINK you have low iron, make sure your doctor checks for ferritin level! My doctors have told me for months that I wasn't anemic, according to routine CBC tests. Last week they ran the iron store/ferritin test (you iron reserves in your liver). The "normal" range is 13-150, which is crazy to me that a normal range can be so wide, and mine was 7. That certainly explains a lot of the tiredness!
Then my doctor tells me something else - I have a tick born illness: ehrlichiosis. It was found when he did a lyme disease panel of blood work. I was very skeptical. I didn't remember being bit by a tick. How long ago was I bit? Could this have been causing the problems all along or is this a new problem? According to my doctor and my research, 40-50% of people with tick borne illnesses don't remember a bite or a rash. The test, according to the CDC's webiste, is definitive. No other condition would give that result on the test. So, my doctor says iron pills and a month's worth of antibiotics, doxycicline, is the answer. If you know me, you know antibiotics are not something I want in our house, but given the circumstances, Chad and I decided it was the best course of action for me right now. We aren't sure how I got it, but we know this area is the worst in the country for tick borne illness.
So, now what? I'm on a crazy hard diet...and now I'm diagnosed with something that can be "cured" with a pill. Do I continue? Do I really have Adrenal fatigue? We strongly believe the answer is yes to both questions. Adrenal fatigue is a result of stress on the body - whether physical, mental or emotional - or a combination of all three. My body is worn down because of the things going on. Removing as many toxins and work for my body is still the best thing I can do right now. The good news - maybe that means that I won't be on a gluten free diet forever!
I feel better where I am now that I did a week ago. I have settled into the eating pattern and my family has been rock star supporters. More on the eating later, but one major shift came in my thinking earlier in the week. I was doing some reading from a Paleo author (no I'm not on Paleo specificially) and she said, "I'm tired of people feeling sorry for me. I eat like this because I WANT to, not because I have to." That one thought helped me so much. No one is forcing me to do this. Our family has chosen this path because we believe it is the best way to help our entire family to be healthy and to be in a healthy state to serve the Lord and be a productive family. I could go buy a donut in the morning if I wanted to, but I don't. I could wake up and eat a big fat pancake if I wanted to, but I'm not going to. I don't want to "cheat"and eat something with sugar or gluten. Now is it hard to watch people at a Trophy Point concert around us munch on chips, sure. But at the end of the day I do it because it is choice I have made. Period. No wallowing. No self-pity. Embrace it, thank God for the health I have and for all the blessings He has poured out on me and move on.
Stay tuned for recipe keepers from the past week...
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