Time is up

It has been a month since we started this diet and I can tell you that I found out the hard way how much it has helped!  Over the weekend I helped with the bridal shower.  I made quiche lorraine ,chocolate covered strawberries, and a breakfast casserole.  There was also a chicken biscuit and fruit.  Guess that I sampled a little bit of everything.  Needless to say by that afternoon my stomach was miserable!  I continued to not eat well most of the weekend and now I am paying for it.  I don't believe the sugar hurts me so much as the gluten and cheese.  I need add 1 thing at a time so that I can tell what really bothers my stomach. 
I will keep you posted and let me know how it goes!

Blessings all have a great day!

Thought This was really worth the read!

What to Know Before Telling An Ill Friend to Cheer Up!

Print This Post

July 30, 2012 by admin
Filed under Articles , What's New

Leave a Comment

Has a loved one tried to help you cheer up but the way they did it was just all wrong?

Does anyone ever say, “Cheer up! It can’t be all that bad!” Or maybe someone has gently said, “I wish I could cheer up your day a little, but I don’t know where to start.” Cheering one up is no easy task.
And can those of us who live with chronic illness just confess that sometimes even we don’t know what we want to hear or what will makes feel better? If our circumstances cannot change, and the pain is relenting, someone jumping up and down beside us trying to make you laugh may just irritate you rather than help you cheer up.
Each of us have a distinct personality and that influences how we cope with up illness–and what will even help us cheer up. While a person with a melancholy personality may gain strength from quiet time alone, a person with a sanguine personality may be easier to cheer up.
For example one with a sanguine personality may enjoy going to a funny movie or playing a board game to get her mind off of things. She may even laugh so hard about her own hair falling out from medications you begin to feel uncomfortable!
She may prefer people around her a good deal of the time, even if it just to cry her eyes out, while a melancholy person may desperately need some time with the curtains drawn to feel replenished. She may have an inherent need to be alone so that she can gain the strength to go out there into the world and face all those people trying to cheer her up. (Speaker Georgia Shaffer will be talking about this during our virtual conference!)
If you are trying to cheer up a friend with a chronic illness, keep in mind that what refreshes and encourages her. What cheers her up may be the opposite of what will cheer you up.
For example, if you insist on taking her to lunch, but she says she’d really prefer not to go out, don’t make her defend her decision and bug her until she says yes. Don’t tell her she will feel a lot better if she just gets out of the house. Instead, bring lunch over, have a nice time to visit, and don’t stay very long.
If you see something, like some pretty flowers that you think would cheer her up, take them over to her and be aware of her response. Is she eager to have you in to talk awhile, or does she say “Thanks for the flowers, but now is not a good time”?
Either way, remember, the flowers are appreciated. Don’t hesitate to try to cheer up your friend. But try to think of what would truly cheer her up. . . Not what you would want if someone was trying to cheer up you!
TWEET THIS: Things TO SAY to an ill person #12 I saw these flowers & thought they’d cheer up your day #iiwk12
PIN IT! Join us at Pinterest for chronic illness tips and goodies. We hope you will help us pin our tips reaching out to those with chronic illness to help spread the word.
-ljc

Prayers Needed

Just a quick note that my sister Pam, who has been blogging here with me, is in Phoenix with her husband Kenney @ St. Josephs Hospital.  They believe he may have had a heart attack.  Please pray for him and for my sister as her exhaustion is so terrible right now that she can barely make it through the day.  Our mom is down there with her, which is a huge blessing.  They will be performing a stress test on Kenney today and we will have more information by this afternoon. 

Thanks for your prayers,
Keri

3 weeks

We are three weeks into the diet now and it seems that it has really become so much easier.  I realize how much better I feel with no gluten and sugar.  Now that it is pretty much out of my system I really don't want those things. 

Craig and I went to dinner Saturday night with all my coworkers.  I know I can always order a grilled piece of meat and some steamed veggies and or a salad, but was pleasantly surprised when they had a green plate that had a quinoa salad with it.  It was absolutely delicious.  The only thing that was on the plate that I really wasn't suppose to have was a portabella mushroom.  I did eat it, and I have to say it was Yummy.  I left feeling so satisfied.  There are so many options out there now because so many people are eating this way!  I was even able to refuse the bread, which by the way looked so good!  I know me, and one bite would have lead to several others:).

Until tomorrow!
Blessings,
Keri

Update and Buckwheat Banana Bread

I am feeling a little more rested today, but this is where I can get myself in trouble.  The couch is calling my name.  And I know I need to obey:-)

Here is the recipe I mentioned yesterday:
Buckwheat Banana Bread
Yeast Connection Cookbook
2 Tbsp flax seeds, ground
1/3 c water
1 1/2 c buckwheat groats (I used some gluten free flour in place of grinding up the buckwheat)
1/2 c pumpkin (or other) seeds
2 tbsp tapioca starch flour (I used potato)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Xanthum Gum
1/2 tsp nutmeg or cinnamon ( I used both)
2/3 c chopped walnuts or other nuts
1/4 c walnut oil or other oil (I used the walnut oil since I had it)
2 c. mashed bananas (You could also use applesauce, pumpkin, pineapple puree, pears)
1/2 tsp unbuffered, corn free vitamin C crystals*
2 tsps baking soda*
2 Tbsp boiling water*

*You can use 2 tsp of baking powder in place of this combination.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine flax seeds with water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil and immediately remove from heat.  (I used my glass measuring cup and did this step in the microwave on high for 2 minutes)  Set aside to soak until needed.

In a blender, grind 1/3 cup of the groats in fine flour.  Place a strainer over a mixing bowl and pour in flour.  Rub the flour through with a spoon, returning unground pieces to blender.  Repeat three time or until all groats have been ground.  (I would have tried this if I had, had the groats, but this is where I substituted with the gluten free flour.)

Oil and flour and 8 x 4 inch pan.  Tap the pan gently to coat the bottom and sides with flour.  Tap any extra flour back into the mixing bowl.

Combine pumpkin seeds, tapioca starch, salt, xanthum gum, and spices in blender.  Blend on high 1 minute, stopping twice to scrape the bottom.  Add seed mixture directly into the flour and whisk together well.

Combine in blender oil and add 2 ripe bananas, broken into 1" pieces.  Blend.  Continue to add banana chunks until you have the equivalent of 2 1/4 cups.  (I ended up using three bananas).  Add the baking powder (or vitamin C crystals) and the flax mixture.  Blend one minute.

Pour the liquid mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  If using the vitamin C crystals you will need to dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water.  Add to the batter and stir with a few swift strokes until water disappears (don't beat it).  Quickly scrape batter into pan and place in hot oven.

Immediately reduce temperature to 325 degrees.  Bake for 70 minutes or until a toothpick thrust in the middle comes out dry.  Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Turn it out on a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.

I thought it was very good.  It is not terribly sweet, but it still tastes like banana bread.  I want to try this with pumpkin.  I will let you know how it turns out.

Never got out of my PJ's.

It is almost 9:00 pm and I have not been out of my pajamas all day today.  I got up at 7:30 am, went back to bed about 11:30 am, got up again about 2:00 pm, have laid around and watched movies all afternoon.  Guess what?    I am still pooped and ready for bed.

I tried a recipe yesterday for banana bread that does not have sugar or regular flour.  I will post it tomorrow.  It actually is pretty good:-)

Which Came First, MS or Metabolic Issues?

Okay, I over did it yesterday.  I had an appointment at 8:30 am with the massage therapist, which was wonderful by the way.  A 9:30 am appointment with the my acupuncturist, which just enhanced the results of the massage.  At 11:00 am I had an appointment to get my haircut and I had made plans with my dear friend Vivian to have lunch afterwards.  Vivian and I had a wonderful lunch and an awesome time of fellowship.  Vivian struggles with fiber myalga and other invisible aches and pains.  Because I work we don't get to visit with each other much, so we have really made an effort to meet up with each other the days I have been coming in for my appointments.  We were enjoying each others company so much that we included a little shoe shopping into our lunch date.  We did not get back to her house until 4:30 p.m.  My original intent had been to come back to her house, rest for an hour or two, do my grocery shopping and then attend a meeting of the Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering.  Either way I knew I would be pushing it.  Mom suggested I drive home with her and leave my car at my office.  I could drive back in with her first thing in the morning so I could do the grocery shopping I did not get done yesterday.  I agreed. Oh did I mention we did not get home until 9:00 pmish  So I drove back into town with mom this morning, with the full intent of running my errands as quickly as possible and heading home before noon.  Oh, did I mention I was exhausted when I got up this morning.

We got to town before 9:00 a.m. so I had to kill a little time, until I could go out to Costco, which was fine, I wanted to visit with my friend and co-worker Karen.  As she was catching me up on what had been going on at work in my absence I began to feel very overwhelmed and weepy.  I love my job and I miss the interaction with all of my co-workers and clientele.  But to be honest I am mostly freaked about the fatigue thing and wondering if I will be able to go back to work and function at an acceptable level.  I left there knowing that I really needed to talk to Dr. Susan.   I was just going to leave her a note and ask her to call me however,  I burst in to tears in the waiting room, when I could not think of the message I wanted to leave her, which got the staffs attention.  They told me to take a seat they would see if she would mind taking a few minutes to see me before her next patient.  God bless her, she took a few minutes to talk with me.  Long story short she said I am really dealing with a metabolic disorder and that in my case rest, rest, rest is the best medicine.  It is not caused by the MS but the MS probably does not help it.  I know, I know she told me this before, but just differently.  I have been laying low, not going anywhere or doing much of anything.  I am not good at just laying around.  Oh by the way instead of going straight home after talking to her, I went ahead and ran my errands, not getting home until about 3:30 pm.  Okay, now I am really, really, really, really tired!!!!  She says I need to go lay on the beach, anyone win the lottery lately and willing to sponsor my beach bathing:-)