Discussion Board

Here I am

I've run into a few of you around the board so you'll know that I began this WOE back in September due to pain issues. So far so good! I've seen a huge reduction in pain levels and length of pain flares. But I'm still determining dietary pain triggers and I also have other things that contribute to flares such as cold weather it seems and excessive physical activity.

Being laid up with pain for a few years I put on about 20+ pounds. I've always been very thin and never had to struggle to stay that way, so the new weight was a burden. I'm happy to say I've lost it all with this plant-based diet and I'm back to my figthing weight.

The pain is down and the weight is off but I am left with a body that feels abused, beaten, broken, injured to its core. Prior to this WOE, exercise, even slow walks, greatly exacerbated things so I'm really out of shape, very weak. I started a gentle yoga class in the fall and have mainly been working on flexibilty to this point but gradually I'm able to do some poses and practice them outside of class time. It's helping.

Majority of time outside of work for the past 3 years has been devoted to pain management, in the form of hot baths, cold and hot packs, lidocaine patches, and the occasional pain reliever and muscle relaxer. My dependence on the meds has drastically reduced since I began this WOE, but my daily get-myself-out-of-pain-and-moving schedule still looks something like this:

5:30 am - 10 to 20 minute walk, 30 minute HOT bath, 1 hour of stretching/meditation

Lunchbreak - 10 to 20 minute walk, 20 - 30 minutes of stretching/meditation and lower back exercises

8:00 pm - 10 to 20 minute walk, 30 minute HOT bath, 40 minutes of stretching/meditation, plus ice packs, heating pad, lidocaine patches for the night

Well, pain is drastically reduced but as you can see still an issue and requiring a good portion of my day to manage!; there's definitely room for improvement so I will continue to work on I figuring out what works for me diet-wise. Not much else to say right now so I guess I'll just post my menu for today.

B - green smoothie, heavy on the greens
snack - brown rice cake w/ peanut butter
L - pinto beans and brown rice, 1/2 sm avocado
snack - 5 saltine crackers (bad-got gluten!!) and 10 baked corn chips
D - steamed baby broccoli, potatos mashed w/ rice milk

Hi Blue: I am glad you have started your own specific journal. You have done a good job of explaining your issues, where you have been and are now. Really important too, is the actual schedule of what us pain sufferers go through just to maintain and prepare for the next hour or day.

Mostly, my big hope is that this opening post is something you'll be able to look back on and say OMG see how far I have come from that time. So far I am so happy to see that pain reduction is already happening that has got to be so encouraging!

B- green smoothie
L - cup of pinto beans and 1/2 sm avocado w/ homemade salsa
D- brown rice cake w/ peanut butter
Snack- romaine lettuce

not very hungry today!

Hi Michelle Thanks for stopping by and for the support. It helps! I am encouraged, too! It's been almost a miracle how much better I feel.

I hope you are having good days. Hmmm... did you have a surgery recently?? I'll have to check your journal.

I'm adjusting well to this WOE. Weird, occasionally I miss cooking meat, but not eating it! I think it has to do with the preparation and anticipation, as I used to love to slow roast things and cook soups that have a lot of steps and take all day. But as I build up a cache of vegan recipes and pantry of ingredients for gluten free/vegan cooking, I'm adapting my old recipes and settling into things more and more as time passes. I'm sure there's a typical adjustment phase for most people.

I went to yoga tonight. That's going well, but plank pose is tearing up my arms, I think. Either that or I have bursitis! We did plank several times tonight to see what my reaction will be. Couple times in the past few weeks I've had horrible pain in my upper arms making it very painful to turn over at night, this is something new, so have yet to determine if it is just a progression of my "condition" or just my challenging muscles long forgotten! Hopefully just the latter!

Regards, Blue

B- green smoothie
L- 1.5 onion rings, green salad, pinto beans
D- 2 cups of brown rice puffs with rice milk

just not very hungry lately

Had my first lunch out today with a large group. Everyone ordered seafood, my weakness, but I was strong and only succumbed to the onion rings! Choices were limited for me, the pinto beans had a bit of bacon, I picked it out best I could!

At lunch yesterday I was seated next to an overweight vegetarian. When she learned I was eating vegan she asked me how I got so skinny?! I replied that I stopped eating dairy and other animal products.

She then proceeded to order fried/breaded cheddar cheese and fried pickles for her lunch followed by a cheese covered spinach salad.

I referred her to McDougall.

Hi blue: My Aunt stayed with me right after my surgery. She is not eating healthy at all, but thinks she is. OMG, she's doing the Atkin's diet! One day for lunch her whole meal was 3 different types of cheeses.

In my vegetarian days I was glad to still be lacto-ovo, because I am so addicted to dairy. Now, I just look at cheese like it really is almost all fat! I think I used to be a happy vegetarian, because excluding the meat gave me more opportunities for the dairy.

I hope your lunch friend looks at McDougall though - I wish everyone could wise up about actual healthy choices, but for sure my Aunt won't - she grew up on a dairy farm.

Eating out is so hard for me too still, but we do try. I chuckled at you picking out the bacon, been there - done that.

B- brown rice cake with peanut butter
L- Amy's enchiladas and black beans
S- green smoothie
D- New potatoes mashed with rice milk, parsley, and green onion

Disappointed with myself for having those enchiladas! I didn't do my shopping or cooking for the week yesterday so I was caught unprepared and very hungry when I went to the store during my lunch break. I'm going to make a pot of black beans tomorrow and need to look up a vegan enchilada recipe!

I noticed today after eating those enchiladas I got the afternoon "slump" from too much fat and carbs. That's the most fat I've gotten in one sitting since beginning this WOE! I feel a lot better when I stick with the diet.

Got a good workout at yoga tonight and will start a new class on Thursday nights--Power Yoga. I'm scared!

uggghhh paying for the cheese enchiladas I had yesterday. Stuffy head and swollen face with dark circles under my eyes.
I'll learn!

wooo hoooo Success!!! I had a pain free day today!! Not one muscle hurt! Never ever thought I would reach this point. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by posting this here!

The yoga is really helping. Gaining some strength and stability in my hips is improving my posture, which helps keep the neck and shoulder pain/ stiffness at bay. I cut out all alcohol a few weeks ago and that is definitely helping, too.

This is the first time in almost 3 years that I haven't hurt at least somewhere in my body!

I'm up a couple of pounds, have been winging it with my meals lately and its showing on the scale. I stocked up on a bunch of greens and grains yesterday so this weekend I'm going to make a plan for my meals for the week.

B- green smoothie
S- black beans, tangerine, banana
L- whole wheat tortilla with rice and beans
D- black beans, chips and salsa, 1/2 apple, 8 blackberries, 3 dates

How completely fantastic that there is NO PAIN! I am thrilled for you, completely thrilled ! Keep it going, all of it

Hey Michelle, thank you! I had another pain free day yesterday. I'm thrilled!

I felt great yesterday but woke up this morning hit with an awful cold I've got some stiffness in my shoulders this morning but that may be due to the yoga last night. I'm going to take a hot bath, take some cold meds, go back to bed and hopefully get this under control so I can get my meal planning for the week done.

Can't remember what I ate yesterday. Green smoothie, some fruit, and black beans, I think. And a Van's gluten free vegan waffle with honey! I've got to stop buying those!!!

Hey Blue!Boy, can I relate to your situation - Ouch! I cannot even tell you how happy I am for you that you have been having completely pain-free days! I love it when we experience the miracle that is taking charge of our own health.

Hi Nicole
Thx for dropping by! I'm reading with interest regarding your water fast and upcoming changes to your diet.

Well, I've been sick for over a week now! Had 4 days of fever and now some serious sinus issues. Missed several days of work last week and have had a miserable weekend. I'm worn out from being in bed so much! I've fallen off my diet here and there and paid with a return of tension and pressure feeling in my hands and feet but now that I'm eating better again that seems to have cleared up and my pain free days continue!!

I've lost 5 pounds in the past week from eating poorly, now down to 122. I didn't want to lose it this way but I'll take it!. Never thought I'd say this but my clothes are looking too baggy! I've been hesitant to go shopping, wondering if my weight loss is here to stay, but I think it is time to reward my self for losing 25 pounds since September!

Blue, you are welcome! And thanks for letting me know about reading my journal - it sometimes feels like I am indugling in a heafty round of navel-gazing when I write really long, detailed posts

I am sorry to hear you have been sick!

You know, when I first starting eating this way, I was getting sick all the time - my husband used to joke that I would never convince anyone else to eat this way because I was not exactly a poster child of health!:

"Sorry I can't come to your brunch,<cough, cough>,I am home sick in bed....yes again....but really, low-fat, whole-food vegan is the way to go!"



Do it! get some new clothes! No need to look homeless in baggy pants, when you can look fabulous in clothes that fit! You definitely have something to celebrate.