Tag: MT

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Whole 30 Journey

My next goal on this journey was to increase my energy level.  My kids were driving themselves now and didn’t need me home as much. I decided it was time to increase my work hours to full time.  The problem with this was I didn’t know if I could sustain a 40 hour work week with my current energy level. In my research, the Whole 30 diet seemed to address energy.  The Whole 30 Diet was my next project.

For my first Whole 30, I followed the Whole 30 diet plan that Michelle Tam of Nomnom Paleo created on her website Nomnompaleo.com.  We enjoyed her recipes while we followed the Specific Carb Diet. It seemed a good transition for family. The recipes were very flavorful. My family never felt like they were deprived of good food during the 30 days.

Like all of the whole food diets I followed, the Whole 30 Diet would require a lot of work and planning.  Especially, since I love to snack. If I am tired, I can easily convince myself to go out or prepare an easy processed frozen or boxed dinner.  I had to take all of those options away from myself. This had to be so easy, I didn’t need to think about it, I just came home from work and did it.

At the begining of each week, I printed out the recipes.  I prepared a weekly calendar, a shopping/preparation list.  The calendar I created for the family was for dinners. I planned to eat leftovers for lunch.  For my breakfast each week, I cooked the breakfast recipes and froze them. Then I heated them up during the week.  

Sunday, was shopping day.  After shopping, my family chopped vegetables and stored them in containers for the refrigerator.  We prepared sauces, dressings, and seasonings for the week. We baked the week’s breakfasts and snacks. 

The calendar, shopping and preparation lists for the Nomnom Paleo Whole 30 I created are available if you email me.

Some Whole 30 tips and tricks I learned from the Paleo/Whole 30 bloggers I follow which helped me be successful during my Whole 30:

  1. Choffy brewed chocolate and a tablespoon of Nutpod to replace lattes,
  2. Tessamae salad dressings,
  3. Primal Kitchen Mayonaises, Ketchup,
  4. LaCroix sparkling waters,
  5. Hint waters,

During my Whole 30 the first and last weeks were the hardest, mentally.  In the middle of the 30 days I felt really good. My energy increased and continued to increase during the 30 days.  I was able to get out of bed with my alarm every morning. I hadn’t been able to do that in quite a while. It was amazing.  I have done 5 Whole 30s since my first one. Each Whole 30 I do, I find a new food I don’t tolerate exposing new layers in my journey to heal myself. 

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Whole Food Diet on a Budget

Eating a whole food diet can be expensive.  I learned some cost saving tricks. With my son in college, my daughter going to college in the fall, my family follows a food budget.  The tricks I learned allow us to eat healthy and stay within the budget.

These tricks can help you eat healthy without busting your budget.  I will post these tricks on this blog to share them with you. My money savings ideas are for Missoula, Montana grocery stores and a couple on-line stores. The concepts can be applied to your town grocery stores. Research your store’s sales and coupon systems and with planning these tools should work anywhere.

Free-range eggs are a big part of my family’s diet.  Our favorite brand cost $5.49 a dozen at most grocery stores in Missoula.  At the Missoula Natural Grocers I signed-up for {N}Power, the in store discounts program.  The free-range eggs through {N}Power pricing are $1.99 per dozen. We usually get 3 dozen a week. That would be $16.47 at most grocery stores.  At Natural Grocers in Missoula, the 3 dozen eggs with the {N}Power program are $5.97. That is a $10.50 savings every week or a $40 savings for our monthly budget.

Saving in areas like this where I can, allows my family to continue eating a whole food diet within our budget.

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My Journey

With this blog, I will share my journey to improve my stomach health.  After many years of feeling pretty awful and no real help from my doctors, I was feeling very frustrated and hopeless.  I hope that through these blog posts others may find they are not alone in their frustration of feeling lousy and undergoing test after test and not finding any relief.  I will share my journey to heal my body through changing the food I ate. I want to give others hope that relief is possible. Everyone’s journey is different. I hope this blog will give someone struggling with digestive issues ideas on how to heal themselves.

My stomach problems started in college.  My stomach would burn when I got stressed out during finals week.  I would take antacids for relief. Eventually, they weren’t enough.  The health service doctor prescribed an acid reducer. I took the acid reducer for 2 years.  My symptoms got worse and I went to a gastroenterologist. I had an endoscopy which verified I had gastritis.  The doctor prescribed a muscle relaxer to clear up the gastritis and then I went on a maintenance protocol of a once daily fiber drink.  I also ate a fairly bland diet.

Seven years later, I had another gastritis flare up.  My gastroenterologist did another endoscopy with the same results.  Gastritis! The doctor prescribed the fiber drink with the prescription acid reducer to clear up the gastritis. I managed my symptoms for another 7 years.

I couldn’t take pain medication, because that caused flare-ups.  I would get a flare-up from cold or the flu. I would use over the counter acid reducers, and drink only chicken broth for a week to clear up the gastritis.

I experienced a really bad flare-up a year after I lost my sister to suicide.  My gastroenterologist did another endoscopy. Same diagnosis, gastritis. The usual protocol of fiber and acid reducer didn’t work.  I had an mri twice on my liver. Nothing was wrong with my liver. I went on a proton pump inhibitor. I managed with the bland diet but my symptoms didn’t go away.

My husband encouraged me to try changes in my diet.  I tried cutting out gluten. It helped but it wasn’t enough.  I read a grain free, dairy free food blog. I bought the author’s cookbooks.  I learned more about reading labels, hidden gluten, and being dairy free. The food was great and easy to prepare.  It opened my mind up to other possibilities on this journey to heal my stomach.

I went to a chiropractor  who told me about stimulation of my vagus nerve to help with digestion.  I thought, why not, right now I’ll try anything. I was amazed at how much it helped my symptoms.  I started with once a week appointments, then went to two weeks, once a month, and now I go when I have symptoms.  Definitely, part of my maintenance protocol.

I read about a supplement protocol that reduced inflammation.  I followed the protocol. Within a couple weeks of starting the supplements my symptoms improved.  No pain. I was really encouraged. Next, I tried to go off my proton pump inhibitor, and within 1 week, my gastritis flared up again. My symptoms continued for 6 months. I lost 20 pounds. I was miserable.

I went to a naturopath for some help.  She recommended a stool test. The test results indicated, I had a fungus in my gut.  She gave me a strong probiotic for 7 days followed by a buteraid supplement. My symptoms improved greatly.  I was able to gain the weight I lost.

I researched gut fungus and how to treat it.  I read a specific carb diet can help treat a gut fungus.    I tried a specific carb diet for hard cases.  I followed the plan. My symptoms slowly went away. After three months, I was symptom free.  After another month, I went off my proton pump inhibitor. I still take the buteraid supplement and the daily fiber.

I feel so much better but I still have work to do.  I am very thankful for the autoimmune issues, and food blogs, I researched.  Each story I read gave me hope that I could be healthy.