Dietary Changes

November last year when I was diagnosed with diabetes, my doctor simply said "You are right on the line, do NOT eat anything ever again with sugar". He also scooted around his desk in his chair, looked me up and down and said "and lose 10 maybe 15 kilos and you'll be fine. You can make this go away by doing these simple things". My doctor and I have a good relationship, he is honest and straight with me and I pay him for it. In case you think he was being rude by saying that about my weight , he wasn't, I can easily afford to lose 20-25 kilos and still not hit the ideal weight for my height so he was actually being rather kind.


So I left the surgery and with a couple of small exceptions I haven't had any sugary drinks or foods, except for the stuff that's found in fruit and veg. I now only drink herbal tea, the occasional regular tea with almond milk and water. I don't drink or eat anything with "fake" sugar because all it does is make you continue to want the sweet tasted in foods and drinks. Many of my recipes for sweet desserts are now made from raw food recipes so I am still getting "my fix" every now and then. Surprisingly it has not been that hard, maybe because I have HAD to give it up. If I simply wanted to for diet reasons I know I'd fail almost immediately. So I am counting this news as a blessing really; a necessary boycott of sugar.


Ideally I would like to give up wheat and bread but that seems to be harder for me. I am making a little bit of my own to ensure it has no sugar and I try and make it with rice flour, etc. I suppose every little bit helps.


I also no longer drink milk except for almond milk, but I haven't been able to give up cheese or some natural yoghurt (I am not even sure I want to) and as for eggs I get mine from my own free range chookens so I can live with that.


A couple of weeks later, after more tests, it was found another couple of organs were struggling so I was advised again to stay away from anything with FAT. I then made the decision to cut out meat to make life easier for my liver and gall bladder.

So people I am now a pescatarian which means I can still eat seafood but although I ate a bit of it at the beginning I don't eat too much of it now as my repertoire of vegetarian recipes has increased. I am happy to report that the pain in my gall bladder area has cleared up. I had thought once my liver and gall bladder were recovered I would return to having a bit of meat every now and then but, I have tried a small bit of meat on a couple of occasions over the last couple of months and found that it doesn't agree with me when I do. I end up in a bit of pain, bloated and nauseous. So I am not sure what will happen with regards to meat but for the moment I am doing OK without it and it's no real hardship. Now if you think you could never give up meat, think again, I was a huge meat eater so if I can anyone can. I just adored the taste of meat. The Fashionista has joined me, although occasionally she might have a bite of her sister's meat simply to see what it's like. Agent Smelly wanted to do it too but lasted 24 hours, although I have noticed recently that she often enjoys the non meat dishes more than the meat which surprises her. The Papa has been fully supportive and happy to have vegetarian meals and says not to make him meat especially as he likes the idea of eating less meat and is happy to go without it.


You can see the difference in my skin too, it was quite blotchy before the dietary changes and despite not exercising much due to my recovery from the op (like I really need an excuse not to exercise ...who am I kidding) I have still managed to drop 5 kilos. So I am heading towards to my target of 15 kilos minimum.  I would love to face my next operation having lost 10 kilos ... so wish me luck.

Not Quite There Yet ...

Well I have just been for my post op meet up with my surgeon and the great news is that all my tests came back showing nothing "sinister". 

The not so great news is that within the next six months I am definitely going to have to further surgery which will take 5 - 6 hours. Most of the work will be concentrated on my bowel which is apparently a bit of a mess with the endometriosis so a bowel surgeon will be required and they will probably have to give me a hysterectomy in order to access it properly.

There is no guarantee that all this surgery will cure me but there is about an 80% chance that it might stop it from occurring again.  If it doesn't it will mean I will probably require surgery again at some later date when it all starts to come back ... 'choice' as the kiwis say!

The surgeon also recommended placing me on some medication (a monthly jab in the butt) which will cause immediate menopause ... this hasn't thrilled me at all as the side effects may possibly worsen some other issues I have. I am going to try and see my GP, whose opinion I value, to discuss this with him. I sort of got the impression from the surgeon that these drugs would make the operation easier for him, not necessarily do a whole lot for me.

I have also spoken to a lady who has run a support group for many years and she has given me some great advice on other options that may be available to me instead of the injection.

It is all a bit confusing and quite a steep learning curve. I do wish I could simply put it all behind me (I feel fine!) but sadly that is not an option. 

Hopefully this will be the last you hear of it all until after my successful op later in the year.

Scared Witless

I often suffer with stomach "issues", but recently my menstrual cycle has been playing up; very heavy and going for weeks at a time. The Dr's standard reply has been "peri-menopause". This time he put me on the contraceptive pill for a few months to try and regulate it (4 weeks out of 5 is not pleasant and I have been so darn tired because of it!) but also referred me for an ultra sound along with a few blood tests.

Sadly the blood tests show that I have "diabetes" so I received a call from the nurse to say the Dr said to QUIT SUGAR NOW!  They will retest me again in a while, once they have given me a chance to get it under control as the Dr feels I should be able to return to an acceptable sugar level if I do what he suggested and stay off sugar. So I have done what I have been told. Surprisingly it hasn't been that hard, but the thought of never having a doughnut again is just plain sad people!

I also went off for my ultrasound and the radiologist there was just lovely. She did a really extensive check and for some reason towards the end I felt that she had picked something up as she was really persistent in wanting to get some shots of my ovaries and uterus but of course she didn't say much.

So today I went in to see the Dr to get the results as he wanted to see me.  It appears I have a 3cm gall stone and fatty liver disease (not the kind from alcohol!). So now I have to give up all fatty foods too ... goodbye bacon and roast pork and hot chips and burgers and OMG basically everything I quite enjoy! They will leave my gall bladder there unless it keeps giving me pain ... and oh boy, it has been. Hopefully a good diet will alleviate the pain.

Unfortunately, like all that hasn't been enough, they also detected a pile of fibroids, an enlarged and thickly lined uterus and a cyst on my ovary that is 7 x 8cm. Scarily the cyst has walls which is not a good thing but it doesn't have blood vessels which is a good thing. There is a concern that it could be cancer so they have referred me to a gynaecologist and surgeon. 

Anyway as soon as the Dr explained this to me, my heart just about sunk through to the floor. I don't think I have been so scared ... not for myself but for the Papa and the girls. I realise that it just as easily may not be C as it could be, but it has been hard to put it out of my mind. It is the last thing I think of before heading off to sleep and the first thing I think of when waking up. It has been hard making decision over things involving the future as we simply do not what may or may not be required next year.

Fortunately because we have private health insurance (OMG what a blessing!) I was able to get into see a gynaecologist within 2 days, it was a Wednesday, but I was in a little bit of shock when he told me that he would operate on me the following Monday!

Holy crap ... unexpected and unprepared ... wish me luck!

First Aid

During the school holidays the girls had the opportunity to attend a St John's First Aid course. As it was the day before some party prep I had going on, they went with their lovely Guide leader and her daughter.

Both girls really enjoyed the course. They have told me loads and loads of things that they learnt and better yet remembered!

They learnt how to give mouth to mouth on a dummy and at one stage they had to practice making an emergency call on a phone.

Apparently The Fashionista reported to the person on the phone (her partner and BFF, who happens also to be the Guide Leader's daughter) that her mother (me!) had finally been driven to trying to kill her dad so an ambulance had better come quickly. Her partner in turn, reported to her, that the ambulance needed to come as her mother had jumped off a cliff due to the high stress she was under. Apparently the girls were in hysterical laughter over their calls to each other ... goodness knows what the lady taking the course thought of the pair of them. Those two are hysterically funny when they get together and Mrs E was amused on the way home in the car, to hear the pair of them discussing their colour scheme, etc for when they went flatting together when they were old enough.

It is so empowering for children to know what to do in a medical emergency, even if, hopefully the need never arises for them to put into use what they know. I'd really recommend getting along to one of these courses, at only $20 a head it was well worth it.

Give your Kids a Massage!

My two precious ladies love to give their mama neck and back rubs and even foot massages. I lap these up like a cat at a bowl of milk. I unfortunately do not really like giving massages as much as receiving them, I know I am so selfish!

So in appreciation of all those neck and back rubs I surprised my daughters earlier in the year with vouchers for a massage each at a local business, Body Synergy Massage. Body Synergy Massage is a beautiful little business in the centre of our town and the owner / operator Rachel Ferregel is very professional, yet warm and welcoming. She is a mother herself, and she treated the girls beautifully. She had them fill in their own patient forms, which makes a child feel so good and builds their confidence, and explained things to them as she would anyone having a massage. Despite them being young, she even left the room to let them slip out of their clothes so they were left feeling comfortable, respected and safe at all times.
 

They were a little nervous going in, "you go first, no you go first" but coming out ... well I think you can tell from the smile on The Fashionista's face that it was rather enjoyable. I see elbowing each other out of the way to get there first on the cards for their next visit!

After each child's massage Rachel, commented on different things about the children and commented that AS had a very, very tight neck, funnily enough AS had been getting headaches, so yes do try and get a professional who knows what they are doing, it's so worth it as that massage actually eased the frequency of them. She's probably only had one in the last month and she was probably start to get them weekly.

Whilst I did it simply as a thank you after reading up on the benefits of massage and children, and seeing their own reactions first hand, I am going to see if I can arrange a professional massage for them once a term. Babies and young children can be just as stressed and anxious as adults and the benefits of massage therapy is a reduction in stress and thus stress hormone levels. It has been said that the benefits are a happier, calmer (Agent Smelly briefly dozed off on the table) and you will even have a healthier child with the lower stress hormone levels. That's got to be a good thing, especially if you have a wriggly, hyper kid or even a worrier.

And we all know how children like to imitate life so last week I was invited into the guest bedroom where Agent Smelly had set up a massage bed, the CD player, some oils, etc. I had to fill in a patient form and then they left the room for me to strip and get under the towel, just like they had. It was awfully funny but really good actually!

Smoothie Heaven

These are a couple of smoothies that we have tried so far this week. I received these recipes from the Nature's Nutrition Workshop  that I attended last week. We have been having one each afternoon (just before the afternoon munchies set in) and they have been lovely. I have to say the kids have been especially mad about them!

 

 

 

 

BERRY SMOOTHIE

 

Blend together the following ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen berries
• 1 banana
• 1 TBSP LSA (Blended Linseed, Sunflower Seeds and Almonds; good source of protein)
• 1 tsp Hawaiian Spirulina
• 1 cup water

 

"So yum. Can we have that one every day. And look it matches my outfit!" The Fashionista

 




TROPICAL SMOOTHIE

Blend together the following ingredients:

• 2 slices pineapple
• 1/2 paw paw (we substituted for 1/2 mango cause the Mama grabbed the wrong item at the grocers)
• 1 TBSP organic coconut oil
• 1 TBSP Pro Fibre (I used Spirulina instead on another day and it tasted the same; it, just went green)
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1/2 cup yoghurt or 1/2 avocado (we used raw almond milk as I was out of avocado and yoghurt and I used a bit more than 1/2 cup as the mixture was very thick)
• 1 cup ice (we didn't use ice as the pineapple and mango had been frozen so they didn't go off.)

"Tastes really lovely. Pineappley, (sic) like the beach." Agent Smelly

A Change in Dietary Habits?

I am not the best eater in the world, in fact far from it. If I had my way the only time I would eat salad would probably be in a burger. Whilst I make the kids eat fruit, sadly I do not practice what I preach. I eat vegetables, so the kids do, but give me meat, dairy and bread and I am one happy, if not overweight little duck. You get the picture.

Now that I am in my 40's heading swiftly towards 50 (sob, sob), I am noticing that parts of me are actually heading towards 60 and because I have young children I really do need to make changes towards my diet if I want to keep up with them, or perish the thought be around to see them grow up. I simply eat because I am hungry and will collapse if I don't but I must admit I don't give that much thought on what is going into my body. Food has so many medicinal qualities that it's time I looked at using them as they are supposed to be, as a healthy supplement which can benefit my body and mind rather than putting foods into it that could be causing damage.

Salads sampled at the workshop - 3 types, all delicious!

So yesterday I went off to a 3 hour Raw Energy Workshop at a company called Nature's Nutrition which included juicing, smoothies, wheatgrass, beans and sprouts and dehydrating, etc. 

This is how the workshop is described on their site:
"This is a great workshop and one that everyone should attend when thinking about making the change to include more "raw" in your diet.
Whats included

• Comprehensive pack including recipes
• juicing - what to juice, how to juice, why we juice
• Wheatgrass - taste a wheatgrass shot and learn how to grow wheatgrass
• Smoothies - the difference between smoothies and juicing, how to make a nutritious smoothie that can be a meal replacement
• Sprouting - what to sprout, how to sprout and what meals to include sprout in
• Taste fantastic raw energy salads with nutritious dressings, learn how to make your own hummus and pesto that is cost effective and preservative free
• Learn how to make nutritious juices, smoothies, delicious salads and dressings and more.
• Have you tried raw fish - you will in this workshop!
• Finally learn how to make your own tasty crackers and satisfy those sweet cravings, naturally with dehydrating "
 

Now this workshop lived up to the description perfectly! It is taken by the very lovely Debbie Buddle who is a Juice Therapist, Clinical Nutritionist and and Naturopathy Student. Debbie was very easy to understand and what I liked about her is that she does not make you feel like a dill for not knowing about this kind of stuff, despite being a vegetarian herself, she does not make you feel bad about it if you aren't and never at any stage of the workshop does she force her opinions onto you about becoming Raw, etc and I found that she was quite open-minded and not militant about it. She promotes good, healthy eating and changes and if she is anything to go by, then it must work.

First Debbie started by introducing us to Juicing. We got a run down on the equipment to choose and also the benefits of juicing and then she made a few varieties for us to taste. Seriously yum!

We had a brief introduction to growing wheatgrass and were able to sample a shot. I was amazed that despite it being green (did I mention I am not big on greens!) it was really rather nice and the benefits of the stuff blew me away!

We then moved onto smoothies. Did I mention that in the handout you receive when you arrive that the recipes for the things you try are in there for you to use later. We got to sample the smoothies ... of course.  At this stage I was wishing I hadn't had breakfast as I couldn't refuse a shot of any of these they were so yum.

We received an introduction to growing your own sprouts and the benefits of those. I am not much of a sprout eater I confess and my girls haven't taken to them to well either but Debbie managed to even make these quite tasty added to the salads (pics above) that she had prepared earlier.

A raw fish salad, humus, healthy nut bread (baked) and some pesto sauce.

She made some lovely fresh salad dressings, which didn't take long at all and would have to be so much healthier than all the ones that we have sitting around in the fridge at home full of preservatives.

Then she made some fresh preservative free humus (I am never going to buy pre-made humus ever again!!!!)  and some pesto sauce. She also served a raw fish (salmon) salad. So, so good, I am salivating just remembering how yummy they all were.

And then lastly she took out some raw food crackers from the dehydrator and some sweets made from raw foods. It's hard to believe they are simply dehydrated and not baked isn't it.

Best of all we all were handed plates and got to sample ALL of these foods!  I have got to say despite not being a lover of salad, vegetables, etc that there was not one food that I did not enjoy. It was so tasty and I could eat these foods ALL the time and not feel as though I was missing out on anything.

And do you know what, whilst I did not feel as though I had over eaten (don't get me wrong I felt quite full, just not stuffed or lethargic) I was still not hungry at dinner time! I wasn't tempted by any snacks in the afternoon and felt rather energetic all afternoon.

I would strongly recommend taking a course similar to this. Even if you change a few meals to this way of eating then it can only benefit you. I myself have laybyed (payment plan) a juicer so that my family and I can start to reap the benefits found in natural (and organic where possible) foods. Good one's are very expensive but really necessary if you want all the vitamins, etc that can be obtained from your produce.

Stay tuned and hopefully I will be able to share some recipes, etc that my family and I try as we try to improve our eating habits and introduce more smoothies, raw foods and further down the track when I get my juicer (big grin on my face right now!). By the way I have booked in for another one of Debbies classes (she offer's a 50% discount on your next workshop if you book and pay on the same day as your first one) and I just cannot wait.


(Sorry the pics don't do justice to the food served - I grabbed one of the kids camera's and the lens was greasy, which I only realised later when I downloaded all the pics and they were hazy.)