Days 3 & 4 - Portillos Brought in for Lunch

Wednesday wasn't that exciting. I stuck to it. I ate spinach salad with Vadalia Onion, Grape Tomatoes and a dressing that my Grandma has been mixing for every family meal I can remember. Conola Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, and Garlic Salt. Interestingly enough, this dressing is like comfort food to me. It reminds me of my whole family gathered around a table laughing and joking at Christmas or Thanksgiving or my 10th Birthday and I'm pretty sure it would be on my "Last Meal" list. I've decided I'm not a big fan of carrots without Ranch Dressing and since I can't have that - I will no longer be packing carrots in my lunch. (Much to my dog's dismay) I actually skipped dinner Wednesday since I had such a bad headache and went to bed about 8PM.

Thursday on the other hand... The day started with the Chiropractor trying to help ease my headache and I think she did to some degree as the pain is back down around a 6/7. I had a V-8 Fusion for breakfast on the way to work. Have you ever read one of those bottles? The nutritional information is for 1 serving which surprisingly is 1 bottle but they print on there that its one whole fruit and one whole vegetable serving per 16 oz or something - and the bottle is only 12oz.

I work in physicians office and Thursday and Friday are a big day for Drug Reps to bring in lunches to talk to the doctors. Yesterday she brought in Portillos. Now in case you are reading this and you don't know what Portillos is - its only the BEST Chicago Hot Dog you can get and their catering of Hot Dogs comes with all the fixings and she also got their Cheeseburgers, Italian Beefs, and Chicken Sandwiches. Even better is their Chocolate Cake. Now I like chocolate but I'm not a big fan of chocolate flavored things like chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream but I would CRAWL to get some of this cake.

So I go back to the lunch room and sit down at the table and everyone has their plates with Hot Dogs (Did I mention I could probably live off Hot Dogs?) and Beefs, and Chopped Salad. And I think - I can't even have the salad because of the pasta in it. So I open my Red lunch bag and pull out my Spinach Salad and Grandma's dressing and Raspberries, and Almond Butter and Banana and everyone stares at me.

Wow Rhiannon you have some willpower.

I'm sorry that its going to smell like vinegar in here.

That's OK we're sorry that it smells like Beef while you are trying to eat so healthy.

So we kind of chit chat and I joke no worried you'll all probably end up in my blog :) about the meanies at work who continued to eat and talk about Portillos right in front of me while I ate my Spinach. Then out of no where my Mother - my own MOTHER says

Wow this bun is really soft...

It really is OK because that bread was probably 6 Weight Watcher points and my entire lunch was probably only 10. And truthfully I laughed. My co-workers have been really supportive sharing tips and telling me when they see Gluten free and Soy free stuff. Even encouraging this blog.

I was so full after lunch I took my grapes for a snack later and didn't even think twice about the Chocolate Cake. The fact that I'm trying to avoid substances way more harmful than fat and calories in the form of methotrexate and that the pounds on the scale just keep coming off are so much better of a reward.

Day 2 - Discovering Almond Butter

Yesterday was much easier as I was not at work. I take a day off here and there in order to rest and since I worked all last week I could feel my pain level creeping back up. In fact I'm still at a 7 and have been for 3 days.

Breakfast: Fresh Fruit Pinapple, Raspberries and Blueberries. YUMMY. I was full until lunchtime.

Lunch:Leftover chickenbreast and a sliced tomato.

The Doc mentioned Almond Butter a as a great food on this diet. I'm not particularly a fan of Almonds by themselves so I must admit I was skeptical. My husband tried it the other night and even the dog was hesitant to lick the spoon - never a good sign. But around 3:00PM I got a little hungry and decided that to try it out. So I sliced up a banana and took 2 tablespoons of the Almond Butter (With flaxseeds and Omega 3s) and DIED and went to Heaven. Dare I say - BETTER than Peanut butter. In fact I had some more about 10PM after my Spinach Salad and grapes weren't enough for dinner.

I also tried a Pure Bar with lunch. $1.50 for a 2" square of Raw, Vegan, Allergan free snacking. No Gluten, wheat, soy, or dairy. I tried the Chocolate Brownie and I have to admit it was pretty good.

Day 2 : Victorious on sticking to the plan!

Allergen Free Diet Day 1 - Mon 2/22/10

So I took a little shopping trip to Trader Joe's and Caputo's (Market). Ok so I admit I was hungry and reading labels for what you can't have doesn't help so I was a little crabby but what is with people on their phones in the grocery store? I swear this lady was following me. I thought for sure I'll have solice in the Oragnic/Gluten free aisle - but no she showed up there too. And really people - do you have to let your children roam free in a store like Trader Joe's? Do you really want to pay for the $9 jar of Almond Butter when they knock it off the shelf and break it? (Which is why I opted for the $6 plastic jar).

So I worked Monday and took my lunch to work. The doctor suggested I just keep a lunch bag full of the foods I can have and graze throughout the day. Problem with that is we aren't really allowed to "eat" at our desks so I kept just a handfull of blueberries and some cashews up with me.

I was always amazed at people who could just have a tiny bit of salad for lunch but I had spinach with tomatoes and raspberries and some leftover grilled chicken and I was pretty stuffed. In fact I didn't finish my pineapple or carrots I brought with.

I've found that dieting has always made me get creative. So I took some chicken and seasoned it with poultry seasoning and marinated it in balsamic vinegar. Grilled it on the George Forman and according to my Husband it was the best chicken I've ever made. We ate that and some salad and I was pretty full.

I got a little hungry later and pulled out my Rice/flaxseed crackers that are wheat and gluten free to eat with some Hummus. But there was some cake sitting on the table.....I had a little taste. :( Tuesday is a new day.

Mission: Wellness

Welcome! I'm starting this blog at the suggestion of my friend Karen - with the assumption that I'll have at least one reader! HA! I figure if I am journaling/blogging then I have to stay accountable to this path of wellness that I'm on.

I'm on a path of wellness because I have been very sick for the last year. I've been diagnosed with Neurosarcoidosis an autoimmune disorder for which there is no cure and no know cause. I have a lesion (growth) in my brain near my brain stem that is pressing on my Trigeminal Nerve which has caused an unbelievable headache/head pain for more than a year. Literally every day for the last year I have had some sort of headache on the pain scale between a 4 and a 9. Always in the same spot and no amount of pain medication does anything for it -in fact they won't prescribe it to me since that tends to re-bound the headaches.

Perhaps I'll write later on my journey over the past year with all of the testing and medications I've been on but at this point conventional treatment of Prednisone hasn't worked for me. In an effort to leave no stone unturned, I took the advice of my Mom and went to see a Holistic MD who helped a friend of ours. He suggested I might have Leaky Gut Syndrome (and at this point I'm no longer surprised that there is something called Leaky Gut as I was actually tested for Cat Scratch Fever) and explained that overtime eating these foods that are common allergens confuses the immune system and can lead to things like autoimmune disorders. I had already heard something similar from our Chiropractor who explained that on a cellular level our body doesn't need anything more than the nuts and berries we ate as cavemen (this is a very abbreviated version of her talk it was very informative and I learned quite a bit).

So what are common allergens? Gluten, Soy, Dairy (especially cows Milk), and Wheat. I also shouldn't have Corn, Potatoes, Lunch meat (due to the Gluten), Beef, Peanuts, and Oranges. Along with the usual listing of refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup on any diet plan.

To some this might have been really shocking but I felt I was already halfway there. I had started following Weight Watchers already and had lost 8 lbs so I was already eating lots of lettuce and vegetables and fruit. So I took what the Doc had to say along with the list of supplements I should be taking and brought them with me to see my Sarcoidosis specialist at the University of Chicago - We'll call her Dr. S.

Dr. S had put me on an immunosuppresant and a steroid and for the four days I was on it my headache went away - instead I had a 103.5 fever and a NASTY cold sore. She was so concerned she actually cultured it and took my blood levels in the office. She told me I had to come off the medication and started to discuss chemotherapy (which in my plan is our last resort). I mentioned to her this Immune boosting diet and the Holistic doctor and she immediately agreed this was a better way to go. Boost my immune system naturally and in 6 weeks try the drug again to see if I can handle it. She asked me what changed and I told her "I joined my own team."

I have a team of doctors and professionals (6) who I see on a regular basis to try and deal with this illness and its complications. And while I might have been coordinating the "Team" it took a while for me to get healthy enough to feel like I could choose to help them with my care. I was a compliant patient but now I'm an active participant. Wellness is a choice as our Chiropractor says and I'm choosing to help these doctors make me well again because quite frankly living this way isn't the life I imagined nor one I'm willing to settle for.

So I'm choosing to RESTORE my body to wellness and I'm going to share my STORY with you. I'm not promising that I won't fall off the allergen free wagon from time to time but perhaps if you've known someone like me (or know me) it will help you to understand what its like to be chronically ill.