July/August* Update

*Previously I was naming the posts based on when I wrote them, but I think it makes more sense to name them after the month they’re about.

MS:

In early August I noticed some numbness/tingling in my left pinky and the side of my left hand. After a few days I thought it was gone but then I started noticing it in my legs also. I think it’s all gone now, although sometimes I think it’s back. It’s honestly very subtle at this point so it’s hard to tell. But it was definitely happening in August.

I think it was mainly stress related, and also I was busy/stressed so I wasn’t making green smoothies as often or making sure I was eating sulphur vegetables on a daily basis.

So, I took that as a wake-up call, and I’m back to my greens and sulphur! Also, I started meditating every day because that’s supposedly really helpful. Partially I’m just being more disciplined (actually have an app on my phone to help me keep track of all the stuff I’m supposed to be doing!) but also trying to figure out ways to make it easier. For instance, I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m buying a greens powder that I can mix in to water. Not for every day use (at least I don’t plan to at this point) but for those days when I’m super busy and/or I have to leave early in the morning and don’t want to wake anyone up by running the blender. 🙂

Should I be on meds? That’s a question I asked myself a lot. I looked up the drugs again, and I did some more reading, and no, I’m happy with my decision still at this point. Those medications don’t sound like happy things to be on. And right now I feel healthy and good (really can’t recommend this lifestyle enough, especially all the plants!) and I don’t want to take meds that are working against that. Plus I really believe in what I’m doing (and I have decreasing respect/trust for drug companies).

Other health related things:

My migraines seem to be getting less frequent AND less severe! 🙂 There were several times when I expected to get a migraine, because of going too long without eating or something like that, but I didn’t. I have had a couple migraines since my last post, but they’ve been fairly mild and I haven’t used many doses of my medication. Also, like I said, the way I was living the last couple months I feel like I *should* have had way more migraines. Last summer I also had several due to heat, and this summer I think I only had one that was heat related, and that was during the heat wave.

What I am eating/cooking:

We’ve reintroduced quite a few foods by now, and as far as I can tell I haven’t had any reactions to any of them.

I’m really into eggs right now, that’s my biggest news. 😉 Especially in the form of egg salad.

New plant foods have really slowed down. I’m up to 126 types of edible plants eaten since 12/12/20 (up from 122 in June). I’ve had a few people ask me about what’s on this list, so if you’re interested, here it is! The most interesting addition since my last post is probably gooseberries!

How I’m doing emotionally:

A lot better now. 🙂 Honestly a lot of the stress the last couple of months has been good/fun stuff, just too much of it sometimes. 😉 I feel like I started to let my healthy eating slide around mid-July when we got our living room floor replaced. It was no one’s fault but my own, but I just got super into painting and cleaning and all this stuff that went along with having the floor replaced, and didn’t take enough breaks to eat and take care of myself. And after that it felt like one thing after another. Like I said, a lot of it was really fun/good stuff, just super busy so I didn’t want to take the time to make a smoothie or whatever and was just kind of grabbing food as I could.

But there’s also been stress that’s just bad. My dad’s health is continuing to decline, but we finally got him on hospice and they’ve been wonderful, so that’s helping a lot. (Again, if you want more info on Dad, here’s his CaringBridge site.)

Plus, honestly, having that bit of numbness/tingling when I’ve been basically symptom free since last December just threw me. I was questioning my choice to not be on medications, I was blaming myself for not taking better care of myself, it’s just been a lot. I realized it’s okay that I’m not handling stress well all the time. This year has been hard. I was only diagnosed about 10 months ago! So I’m learning to cut myself some slack. 🙂

As I mentioned, I’ve started meditating daily, and I’m actually starting to enjoy it. It’s a nice break to not think about anything except my breath (most of the meditations I do are basically “breathe in, and feel the breath coming into your body. Now breathe out and feel the breath leaving your body”). I’ve never really “believed in” meditation, but I should have because I heard years ago that you can actually calm your brain by calming your body. “Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax.” [University of Michigan Health] Many of the apps I use will give you options of how long you want the meditation to be, usually 2, 5, or 10 minutes. When I started back in December or so I was doing the 2 minute ones, but now I frequently do 10 minutes. It really is like a muscle and gets easier.

Things I’m proud of:

Did my (sprint) triathlon! 😀

Even though I let my self-care slide, I’m back into it now even better than before. As a health coach, there’s a saying (I don’t remember it exactly, but this is the gist) that everyone has slip-ups, but the important thing is whether or not you can recover from them and get back into your healthy routine. I could and did. 🙂

Random:

Started using Lumosity again (let me know if you’re using it too!) and I’ve been able to beat a lot of my scores! I think it might be the meditation?

I reconnected with a friend who I hadn’t seen in about two decades! So that’s been wonderful 💜

Oh, and I got back into knitting more, and I want to extend a special offer!!!

If I know you personally and you would like me to knit something for you (or your child), let me know! I’m not making any promises! Lol! I don’t like to do things that are too complicated, or that need to be too precise/fitted, but we can talk about it. 🙂

I’ve been really enjoying knitting again. I hadn’t *officially* stopped or anything, just hadn’t picked it up in a while. I’m still making things for charity, but I decided it’s more fun to make something for someone I know personally (plus it’s good to be accountable to someone else to finish it! Lol!)

What I read/am reading this month:

I haven’t finished most of the books I want to talk about, but I already know I’m going to be recommending How Not to Die by Michael Greger, MD! It’s a long book, but the message is: eat a wide variety of plants, lots of them. I’m listening to the whole thing, but you might find it more interesting to skip to the section(s) that pertain(s) to any particular health concerns you have. (He also has a website: https://nutritionfacts.org.)

If you’re looking for a fun page-turner, I recommend Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (it’s a novel, not a self-help book 😉 ). I just *re*read that with Mom and it was worth a 2nd read. 🙂

Monthly summary:

	December	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August
Walking	17 mins	18 mins	20 mins! 🙂	23 mins	27 mins!	18 mins	15 mins	20 mins	24 mins
Dark Leafy Greens	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.7!	1.6	1.7!	1.1	1.1	2!
Sulfur-Rich	1.7	1.9	2.3	2.5	1.9	1.9	2.7	1.8	1
Colorful	3.6	5.1	3.5	2.3	3.5	3.9	3.8	3	3.7

Averages per month (a serving of leafy greens is 2 cups, all other servings are 1 cup each)

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