MS:
No updates.
Other health related things:
(Most importantly, any health issues I’m experiencing that could be autoimmune or at least affected by inflammation in my body, are important as markers, because if these things are getting better it could be a sign that the MS is getting better.)
I started seeing an orthotropist for my TMJ issues. Hopefully he can find a solution that will help with some of my headaches and help me sleep better. 🙂
What I am eating/cooking:
We’re starting to put foods back into rotation! I can’t really say that we’re “done” with the elimination diet, because we’re putting all the foods individually, one per week.
The *good* news was that ALL peppers could be done the same week! (I don’t really understand the logic there, because they said black beans and kidney beans are different weeks, but ALL the peppers were together.) So, of course we did peppers (read PAPRIKA!) first. That seemed fine, so this week (we decided to introduce new foods each week on sunday) we added potatoes!
[If you’re interested, how it works is we eat the food on sunday, multiple servings throughout the day, and then wait the other 6 days to see if we have any reaction. So for instance, I’m not supposed to eat potatoes right now, even though I feel fine. But if I still have no reaction by sunday, then I can have potatoes (within reason 😉 ) whenever I want and we’ll introduce another new food.]
If you’re paying close attention, 😉 you’re probably surprised that we’re putting food back in already. It’s because we had a special event last month that I decided to cheat for, and the dietician said that if I did that, I would reactivate my “memory cells” and so I may as well end the elimination phase early! So, I was kinda rewarded for cheating. 😉
Oh! I almost forgot to mention! I made my own mayonnaise! I don’t really like it, 😉 BUT, that’s because I made it with olive oil instead of canola oil like most recipes suggest. (Some of you may know that I sometimes go overboard on making things as healthy as possible. But I’m learning. 🙂 ) I’m glad I tried it, and I plan to make another batch with canola oil and see how that is. When I first made it it “broke” (it looked curdled and not like how mayonnaise is supposed to look) but fortunately I found a website that taught me how to fix it. 🙂 So I have more confidence for next time, and it was a fun learning experience. I partially just wanted to make it just to try making it, but also some of the “paleo” mayos (don’t have added sugar and/or other ingredients I’m trying to avoid) season their mayo a bit with black pepper, or rosemary, or mustard, and I don’t really want my mayo to have that kind of flavor. I want it to taste like mayo. Plain and simple. So that’s one of the benefits of making it yourself: you can make it the way you like it. 🙂
I’m up to 117 types of edible plants eaten since 12/12/20 (up from 102 last month).
How I’m doing emotionally:
This month I watched a documentary that I *thought* was going to be uplifting and positive, all about natural therapies like what I’m doing, but instead was about what a horrible disease MS is. It really got to me. It wasn’t like I was sobbing or anything, but I had this dread of the future again that I don’t think I’ve felt since I first realized I might have MS. If I was in denial at all, that documentary broke through it. BUT, I’ve bounced back now. 🙂 Mainly, as usual, because I have hope that I’m going to do really well with this lifestyle. 🙂 It was also possibly good to be sort of “scared straight”. I’ve been taking this diet really seriously, but in addition to the social event where I was cheating, I had another social event where I had decided *not* to cheat, and cheating is a lot less tempting when you have this sobering image in your mind of what your future could be like if you do. (Not that I’ll *never* cheat, but what I’m doing is important, and it’s good to be reminded occasionally of why I’m doing it.)
Things I’m proud of:
Signed up for my triathlon! (It’s the SeaFair Tri on sunday, July 25th, and it’s not too late to join me!) And Mom & I went swimming 2x in the last week, and we have an appt to swim again on thursday. 🙂 This is one of the advantages of signing up for an event, because I might have gone swimming on friday afternoon, which was sunny (we swim in the outdoor pool) but I would NOT have been in the pool sunday morning when it was chilly and overcast if I didn’t have this deadline to train for! Plus we’re signed up to go again. So it’s good motivation to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.
Random:
I finally put my phone in grayscale! (I’ve been going back and forth actually, because some things (*ahem* games) are hard to do on my phone without color.) I kept hearing that it helps your phone to be less addictive, and I think it also maybe cuts down on blue light. Anyway, I ran across that info again and finally said “I’m gonna do it!” So, I did. 🙂 You should at least try it. 🙂
Quick Summary of the Month (May):
| December | January | February | March | April | May | |
| Walking | 17 mins | 18 mins | 20 mins! 🙂 | 23 mins | 27 mins! | 18 mins |
| Dark Leafy Greens | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.7! | 1.6 | 1.7! |
| Sulfur-Rich | 1.7 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Colourful | 3.6 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 3.9 |
I’m not concerned that my walking is down, because my exercise is *probably* up. 🙂 I went running a few times, and I’ve also been going to the gym and using the stationary bike. I was doing better on my leafy greens towards the end of the month, so I was hoping that number would be better, but at least I tied with my previous best. 🙂
Amanda's Journey with MS 