Brown Bag lunches

Sometimes I get questions on what I feed Reece. Ever since he was little he's always had the same foods, or similar foods to what I eat. One of his first "whole" foods was actually sauerkraut. As my diet evolves, so does his.  I don't believe in feeding your children "special" foods. I do think that you allow your kid to become a picky eater. He isn't allowed to tell me that he doesn't like something before he tries it. You may have to introduce your kid to a food seven times before they like it. Yes, seven times. Sometimes that means reheating the same food at least twice. Reece is not a picky eater at all. In fact, he can be easily described as a "hearty" eater.

My personal philosophy on kid-rearing is that you need to treat them with respect like you would any other human being. This can be tough; I would like to elaborate on this more in another post.  This does mean that Reece is allowed his own opinion when it comes to food. I respect his opinions. Reece does not care for spicy foods. I love spicy foods. Usually I only cook anything spicy when I'm home alone. However, on occasion I cook something I want that is spicy but it's usually a compromise (and there are some spicy foods he likes).

I ask him if he thinks a dish needs something (Spice perhaps? More meat? Less broth? Cheese? A sauce? Butter?). My mom gets a kick out of his descriptions of food because he is so opinionated about it. He has told me that at certain restaurants he's "disappointed" in the food. I work to make his food experience better and I actively explain why certain foods are better for him. He is not to be rude when I cook something he doesn't like. After a meal if he doesn't care for it he simply says, "Mommy, that was ok for tonight but I would prefer if you didn't make it again." That's code for "I ate it, but I wasn't happy about it." I do also hear "I would love if you made that again, Mommy. That was awesome!" (i.e. Alfredo is is fav. right now.)

I don't always have time to make his lunch. I'm getting better about it, though. I like to put little notes in his lunch box to let him know I'm thinking about him too. The lunch and the note combined make for a nourishing meal for his body and his mind. I make a few different lunches for him. I like to rotate them because I don't want him eating the same thing every day. (How boring!) I do ask for feedback. (What did you eat first? What didn't you eat? Were you full? Is there something you would have liked to have?) I always want to know "why" for his answers. I hate the idea of him throwing away something or trading food. 

Ideas for his main course for lunch are:

Awesome Chili

Nacho salad (meat + cheese + sour cream + vegetable chips + lettuce and salsa mixed up)

Tuna salad (mayo + tuna + sardines) <- I would put spices but he doesn't want them

Crab salad (mayo + crab + spices)

Chicken salad – usually with a sliced fruit and crumbled nuts + mayo or dressing

Cheese + Meat, no crackers

Leftover soup

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Here’s Reece’s favorite lunch:

Grassfed polish sausage (cooked and cut into little disks)

Homemade honey mustard -> really raw honey + deli style grey poupon stirred until mixed thoroughly (in a 1:2 ratio)

The raw honey gives him extra enzymes to boost his immune system and help digestion. Because the grassfed polish sausage is higher in fat + protein he does not have the wild blood sugar swings he would if he only ate honey on it’s own… Plus he’s just dipping it so he’s not eating a ton of honey. He really doesn’t care about the sides as much. Once he sees the polish sausage, he knows he’s in business.

__________________________

The sides change too. But here’s some examples:

I give him at least 1 savory item in his lunch also. Examples of this are:

Cheese (usually raw from the farmer)

Vegetables and dip (not celery though… he dislikes celery)

Vegetable chips (usually with homemade dip)

Spiced nuts

Deviled eggs (although sometimes these are the actual meal if I put enough in there)

A small side salad + dressing (He loves this)

Savory mini doughnuts (I'll write a post about these later)

I've sent him bacon strips too. He likes that. (I do too.)

A few times a week I will give him 1 sweet treat (which is usually not really that sweet). Examples of this are:

Plain yogurt (organic always) + berries and nuts

Sweet almonds

Chocolate milk (from the farmer)

Homemade cookie

Grapes or another (low sugar) fruit

Apple + almond butter

A couple squares of dark chocolate

To drink usually I'll send him water, kefir smoothie, or  raw milk (which he loves). Over the next couple weeks I'm going to try fermenting more foods and sending him those too. He's been battling a more illnesses this year than in past years. It'd be good to boost his immunity now while he's overcoming some illnesses.

You get the idea, hopefully. It's pretty much what we have in the house. I usually make him his favorite lunch on Wednesdays... when I can. I try to make his lunches higher in carbs than I would eat (more vegetables, some fruit, and more dairy), because he doesn’t need to lose weight. He’s not using hormones to grow wide, his hormones are making him grow taller.** I feel he does better if it’s pretty balanced as far as leaning toward a lot of fat and more protein. He tells me he does better in class if he can think clearly. It's hard to concentrate in school (or life) if you're starving.

** I've noticed when he eats more home-cooked foods, gets CLO, and no gluten he grows. He's now up to my clavicle. I'm growing a giant. :D

Quick Post.

I’m in the middle of writing a final paper for my college class. It’s extremely slow going because I really am not into I/O Psych. I need the class to graduate. Luckily I get to write about what I want. I’m writing about motivation and incentives. So I decided to give myself an incentive for reading all of that research… by writing a blog post! (I actually have a few in the queue to post, but I haven’t had the time to go over them.)

This morning I woke up and looked in the mirror like I do every morning. I have noticed my stomach looks smaller, but I thought maybe it was my imagination. This can be possible because my brain plays tricks on me. Sometimes I think I look smaller when I’m regaining 5 lbs. Then sometimes I feel fat, only to find out I’m 5 lbs lighter than normal. Long ago I decided that my day or my self-confidence for the day would not be dictated by my weight or dress size. That was an extremely hard place to get to as a woman. (I don’t know if this is difficult for men; I’m not one.)

Here’s a small hint to success, no matter what your goal is:

It’s always the tiny choices that build up to something big.

I’ve had a choice at every meal and snack; low carb or not? As my weight loss suggests most of my choices have been low-carb. There have been slips, but overall I’m doing well.

Since my hands keep breaking out (and there’s a post about this coming) from eating gluten, most of my choices since 2 weeks before the end of December have been no gluten. Again, I’m not perfect – but my hands wish I were because every breakout is painful. I think I’ve only slipped 5 times.

Gluten free has allowed me drop 10 lbs and finally overcome the plateau that I’d been rocking for a while. I keep a post-it of my recent measurements. Looking back I did these in the first 2 weeks of January. This morning I only measured my natural waist and my lower abs. I was in a bit of a hurry because I wanted to work out (kettlebell swings 30 sec work 30 sec rest – 10 minutes with planks – front and sides for about 1 minute each) before we got breakfast… We were going to a hockey game for my B-Day.

So uh yeah. My imagination wasn’t playing tricks:

-3”  lower stomach

-2” on my waist

This proves several things for me. 1 - Plateaus in weight loss are stupid to get upset over. (Not that I was. Frustrated was more the word.) 2 - Always find 2 things to measure. I’ve been using inches and lbs. You could use lbs and pictures, or inches and body fat measurements… whatever you choose. 

Also I'm awesome. And finally, the gluten-free thing is good because it's reduced inflammation in my body and allowed me to lose weight again. Also awesome.

I celebrated my inch loss by eating some LC dessert. I rarely ever eat dessert. It’s not my bag, baby… Just like I/O Psychology… which I now have to get back to.

Simple Lobster "Risotto"

I know in the past I wrote I enjoy making over recipes from magazines. Perhaps I didn’t explain it enough. I actually love magazines, probably too much. I cut out and collect recipes. Then I end up finding them in odd places throughout the house.

So, at the beginning of the year I saw lobster was on sale – WHAT?! I was all over it. The beginning of the year everyone is trying to cut the fat after indulgent holidays. Their attempted loss is my huge freezer gain. I normally don’t buy decadent cuts of meat, unless they’re on sale. I have extra freezer space specifically for sale items. I've only purchased lobster tail and made it at home twice that I can think of... and this counts as number 2. I think I will remember to do this more often!!

Earlier this month I saw Simple Lobster Risotto in the Cooking Light magazine and thought – "phsht! I could make that." So I did. This wouldn’t be a bad Valentine’s Day dinner or an anniversary night dinner, in case anyone needs hints on what to make. My 8 year old calls this “crab butt” because he saw the tails when I bought them and then when I cooked them. He tried it and gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up. I don’t blame him – it was pretty tasty.

The key to good risotto seems to be to keep adding liquid (in small amounts) until the "rice" (in this case, cauliflower) can't hold anymore liquid. So here's my low-carb recipe:

1 head of cauliflower, ran through a food processor to make faux-rice.

1 carton (or 4 cups homemade) chicken broth/stock

3 lobster tails

4 TBSP butter (or more)

1 package of frozen Asparagus tips (not on sale until spring, but you could use chopped broccoli instead)

I cooked the cauliflower on the stove with a big heap of butter to soften it. Then I ran it through the food processor. At the same time I put a carton of broth and 1 1/2 cups of water on the stove to boil. When it started boiling I added the lobster to cook for 4 minutes. (It says to cover it, which I did for about 3 minutes. The last minute when the pot was over boiling I tilted the lid a bit to let some steam out.) 

I fiddled with the cauliflower for at least 5 more minutes before removing the meat from the tails. The tails weren't cooperative as I pulled the meat out so I broke them up as I went and put them back in the pot of broth. You're actually adding the shells to the broth to give the broth a light seafood taste, and I believe the shells give the broth more nutrients too. However, the instructions said to smash them with a mallet after putting them in a plastic bag. I skipped that step. I let the broth simmer for 20 minutes with the shells.

At this time I did some dishes. I also cut up the lobster into bite size pieces and set it aside. I also lightly sauteed some broccoli with butter to add at the end. You could use asparagus but Reece isn't fond of asparagus.

Once the timer is done you need to strain the broth and reserve the broth. Discard the solid matter. Then you put the buttered cauliflower "rice" in the pan with 1 cup of broth and cook for 5 minutes while stirring. You'll notice that the "rice" will soak up the broth. Repeat this step again. The liquid needs to be completely absorbed before you add more. The recipe says it will take 22 minutes. I think it took about 10 because I could only add so much liquid before the "rice" couldn't take anymore. 

Once you get to that point, remove the rice from the heat and add in lobster and the other vegetable. Serve in bowls with a nice size spoon. Now that you've mastered simple "risotto," let's find that complicated one!

Food porn:

 

 

Original recipe:  http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/cooking-light-january-february-2011-recipes-00412000069886/

Roasted Mushroom Bisque with Turkey

I’ve purchased a lot of recipe books. Well, ok, I have a ton of books in general, but some of them are cookbooks. The problem with gluten free books, or any allergy books is that they aren’t usually low carb. You want a substitution? Great, here’s some more options; try rice flour, corn flour (don’t we eat enough corn?!)… You get the idea. Not very low-carb.

So when I come across simple but delicious looking recipes, I can’t help but make them over. Why should I miss out on good food just because I’m gluten/dairy/carb intolerant?! You shouldn’t either.

Earlier I made some stuffed mushrooms but I didn’t make the second batch like I had planned. The mushrooms weren’t pretty enough to stuff, but they hadn’t gone bad. What to do?

So here is my made over Roasted Mushroom Bisque with Turkey.* It wasn’t a quick dish because I'm a slow-poke. 15 minute recipes? They always turn out to be 30 - 45 minutes. (Why can't I chop faster?!) It’s Saturday so I had time. I bet you could make it ahead of time and enjoy it with a tuna salad on a weeknight. The ideas continue...

Roasted Mushroom Bisque with Turkey

1 carton of button mushrooms, chopped

½ a large onion, chopped

3 gloves garlic

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 TBSP EVOO

salt and pepper

1 carton chicken broth (or homemade 4 cups)

1 bag of frozen cauliflower (or 1 chopped head of cauliflower)

2 TBSP (or more) of butter

2 stalks of celery, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and rosemary on the sheet. (If you do not have the large onions, use a few small ones, or some onion powder will do. The same with the garlic. I also used dried rosemary. I mean, come on - use what you’ve got.) Drizzle with the EVOO and salt and pepper. Toss to coat and then spread in a single layer on the pan.

The first batch of mushrooms I burned (25 minutes). The second batch I cooked for 15 minutes and they turned out well. You just want them browned a bit. If the edges of the ones in the pan are looking burned you’ve left it in there too long.

Next in a large soup pot put the butter, celery and cauliflower in the pot. Cook the vegetables until soft. Add a little salt for taste. Then pour the broth into the pot and bring to a boil and then simmer (and put a lid on it) until the mushrooms are done.

I like to rinse my turkey breasts off. Then I placed them in a glass pan with some water. When the mushrooms are done add them to the pot. Put the lid back on. Put the turkey in the oven for 30 minutes. 

Once the turkey is done, turn off the pot. Puree the contents of the pot. I did this with a blender and then transferred the contents into another bowl. If I had a hand-held blender I wouldn’t have made such a big miss in the kitchen. Oh well…

Chop up the turkey and serve.

Now for some food porn:

I bet you could season the turkey or use a rotisserie chicken. You could leave it out and use it as a side dish... but once I started I wanted a simple meal. Plus I used up all of the miscellaneous ingredients in the fridge. That always feels awesome.

*The original recipe came from the beautiful book “Cooking for Isaiah.” While all of the recipes I cannot eat because they are high carb, the pictures are stunning. Also, I enjoyed reading about the relationship the author has with her child and food. I too believe you can heal through eating properly. I just hope she doesn’t mind if I keep remaking her recipes!!

Unstuffed cabbage. (AKA Uncovered piggies next to a blanket.)

My mother is a great cook. She taught me how to cook, so she’s got to be good. Her mother is also a fantastic cook. My mom and her mom are of Polish heritage. Without the internet to look up recipes, my grandmother only cooked Polish food. My mom didn’t have spaghetti at home until one of my aunts (her older sister) came home with the recipe. Mom said she was in middle school or high school. The majority of foods I know by heart are from my mom. The exception is sloppy joes that my dad taught me. My comfort foods involve cabbage in some form.

The few Polish words I know generally have to do with food. Gołąbki is rolled cabbage. (Gulumpki is the best way I can explain how to say it in print.) Gołąbki are what my family calls “pigs in a blanket.” (This is a normal translation from what I understand.) When I was in high school some kids were having a party I was attending. They told me they would be serving pigs in a blanket. I was so excited! I love pigs in a blanket!! So, I was so confused when they pointed to hot dogs wrapped in dough. HUH? I understood the correlation after looking at those hot dogs, but I really was expecting cabbage rolls. That was the beginning of realizing some of the words I knew were Polish and not English. Let’s not even talk about babushkas.

Cabbage is low- carb. The rice inside these piggys in their tasty blankets is not. Omit the rice, or replace it with shredded cauliflower (faux rice), and you have a low-carb meal… but it’s time consuming. Hours and hours. That’s why I love when my mom comes and makes a huge batch to freeze for me! (Thanks mom!)

I really need to credit Dana Carpenter with the original unstuffed recipe. I had never thought to slice up the cabbage and cook it as a skillet style recipe. Ingenious!

So, without further delay – because I know you’re salivating! Here’s my uncovered piggies next to a blanket:

1 medium diced onion (you can use ½ tsp onion powder if you didn’t have any onions)

1 – 2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

½ a head of cabbage, chopped

1-2 lbs of ground beef (preferences here – the boys like very meaty foods so I use more. I prefer equal amounts of cabbage to my beef but I guess we all can’t have what we want)

½ tsp of garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp of the following spices (you can add more per preference – I would say more of everything but the cinnamon and nutmeg actually):

Ground Cloves

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Celery salt

Ground coriander seed

A whole lot of butter

1 can of tomato sauce – look for the lowest carb one you can find

Brown the meat and set it aside. Drain all the fat out of the pan. (I just can’t stand grocery store meat fat.) Put butter in the bottom of your pan. Probably more butter than you think you need. (I probably used at least 2 tbsp at first, and kept adding it.) This is where you cook the onions if you have them. Let them cook for two minutes or until they’re nice, soft and translucent. Then put your chopped cabbage into the skillet. Mix it around and let it get soft and buttery. This takes around 5 minutes on medium. You will notice the cabbage cooks down, so you can add it in batches if you need to. If you add more cabbage, add more butter.  Then sprinkle the spices over the cabbage and mix. After that’s warmed up add the meat back. Then add the tomato sauce. Heat everything up together and serve warm. Ta-da!

Don’t eat the bay leave. bleck. (But leave it in there overnight if you made extras… oooh!)

Here’s some food porn! Enjoy. 

SEEing benefits

Hello, my name is Holly. It has been 10 days since I’ve had gluten. Yes, 10 days. That’s not very long right? I will tell you that it took about 7 days to start seeing benefits. Literally.

When I joined the Army at the age of 19, I was handed some glasses along with my weapon. Why? I couldn’t see the 300-meter target. This wasn’t a surprise. My mom has worn glasses as long as I’ve known her (and longer). My dad wears them to read. I work with computers all day at my job, and then I come home and hang out on the computer. The eye doctor felt it was inevitable that my eyes would get worse as I got older because of the amount of strain I put on them daily.

I’m not getting younger (this is debatable if you ask my son) so I wasn’t surprised when I found I couldn’t see what time it was on the alarm clock, which is about 5 feet from our bed. In fact now that I think about it, I don’t recall being able to see the alarm clock for a while. I had to squint and strain and try to guess the numbers from what I could see.

So this weekend something weird happened. I looked over and I could see the numbers on the clock. One normal open-eye glance. I had to look twice. And then twice more! Realizing it wasn’t normal, I kept checking. Yes, I’ve been doing this every night since I made the discovery. I couldn’t figure out why I could suddenly see when before my eyesight was clearly getting worse! I am too scared to get Lasik (yet) and my eyes have been progressively getting worse instead of stabilizing at one prescription.

It’s either the gluten, the lack of eating out so often (which covers a lot of unwanted substances), or my body is repairing itself in more noticeable ways now that I’ve been eating low carb for so long. I can’t figure out which.

When I was close to 300 lbs there was a lot wrong with my body. I’ve forgotten the complete long list of things I was sick with, or that hurt, or whatever. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the health benefits, but waking up feeling energetic and pain-free is my new reality. I really don’t think waking up in pain is part of getting old. I also don’t think looking old is part of getting old. I do think they’re both part of a crappy diet that comes with a side dish of pills and ailments. If you focus solely on the weight loss, as I have been doing, you can miss these small miracles. I’m surprised that I figured bad eyesight was part of getting old. Myth debunked at least for me. That tiny discovery of being able to see the alarm clock (of all the things!) has given me a renewed respect for what I’m doing. I already loved my diet. I am obviously committed to it and I try not to be too evangelistic about it – unless asked - (sometimes I slip). It’s not my personality to be in your face about things, but if something is working people will usually ask.

Today and many weeks (at least 2 months or more), the scale hasn’t budged. I also don’t weigh myself consistently. I guess it’s taken a back seat at this point in time to inch loss. I am at a plateau for pounds. However, my pants are baggier than they were 2 weeks ago, especially around my upper thighs. Plus I can see! I’ll get to my goal. Just now I’ll be able to see the end result more clearly.

Holiday weight gain... and the reverse. (and a bit of a rant)

Thanksgiving! Christmas! Holidays! I can’t wait! I made an entire meal plan last year and I kept the recipes just for these occasions. The kids were at the house this year. Up until last Thursday, my son has been begging for Thanksgiving to come sooner; all of his favorite foods at the same time in one spot! He even loves the leftovers and the meals that go with them. Of course the menu is low-carb and decadent. Pumpkin cheesecake, Sausage stuffing, Maple-brined turkey with gravy, green beans with portabella mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes, and the list goes on… And yes, I ate until I was full. I didn't feel the urge to overeat. And I actually lost about 3 lbs this past weekend.

One thing is missing from my holiday menu: Guilt. I no longer know the meaning when it comes to my weight or food. This is especially true after the holidays. I promise to not worry about the scale, not even a little bit. My holiday wish is the same for you. In fact, like last year, I expect to lose weight during the holidays. You see, there is a swimsuit related event planned around Christmas. My biggest issue right now is - Do I order a swim suit in a smaller size than I am in now or do I buy one in the size I'm at now? Tough choices. I've lost so much weight the swimsuit I had no longer fits. Wearing it puts me in danger of flashing the entire world - and this is a family friendly event! (Either way I need a new swimsuit.)

I changed my lifestyle almost 2 years ago (March 2009), and last year the holiday season was no different than the rest of the year. I ate what I liked, left out the carbs that made me feel horrible, and lost more weight. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to buy new clothes because I had lost so much weight I couldn’t fit into my old ones. My resolutions have had nothing to do with losing weight, or adding exercise. I have planned another large shopping trip for January of 2011.

There really is nothing psychological about weight loss, except for deciding it’s a lifestyle change. After that, it’s a cakewalk. For me it was a low-carb cheesecake-walk. If it’s true most people regain the weight, perhaps it’s because biologically they are on the wrong path. I feel like the extra energy, the better quality sleep, the satiety hours after eating, the lifted brain fog are all enough reason to stay with your low-carb life style.

When I eat, I don’t get hungry for at least another 6 hours, sometimes more. I don’t obsess about food and I am not OCD about meal plans anymore. (Although, I still love to cook and make menus, now I don't worry if plans change.) I have the flexibility to eat where and when I want. I eat until I’m full and stop when I get there. I cannot think of one time in the past year where I’ve had so much that I felt uncomfortably stuffed. I do not feel like I’m starving or food is scarce. Biologically, it’s ok for me to shed fat because times are good. Food and I are friends now, accomplices if you will, not frenemies. Unless I’m talking to someone else who is low-carb, or naturally thin, I rarely hear the same thing when it comes to food.

Why can’t we just stop focusing on the fat? Why are we so obsessed? Is it the carb-crazies that makes us OCD about anything surrounding food? Why in one of the countries with the larges amount of surplus of food do we constantly worry about where our next meal is going to be coming from? Do you think everyone in the world is obsessed about counting calories? Does your skinny friend do that? Then why should you? I certainly don’t. Another thing I don’t do is eat a dessert and end up on the treadmill or elliptical for hours. I do not understand punishing yourself for being human.

What I am saying is find a lifestyle that you can live with so that you’re not constantly berating yourself for your choices. If you want to lose weight, I’m with you. (And if you don’t want to lose weight, I respect that choice too.) I have yet to figure out exactly why people think losing weight is difficult and is supposed to be so hard. From what I can gather, it’s because of that puritanical view to criticize yourself for anything slightly hedonistic, to include food. “If it’s good for you, it must be bad.” I just don’t believe it’s supposed to be like that. Ask the French… and while you’re at it, check their waistlines.

I’ve heard a tall tale that children hate vegetables and are picky eaters. My son hates celery, mushrooms, some peppers (depends on how they are cooked and how visible they are) and olives. That’s pretty much it. He loves broccoli, carrots, peas, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, dill pickles, spinach, asparagus if it's cooked right (and many, many other vegetables). He also loves macadamia nuts, eggs, coconut oil, full fat yogurt, cheese and milk, steak, bacon, turkey, fish… you get the point. I’m not going to make him feel tortured when it’s time to eat. I eat what I like, and so does he. There are no fights at the kitchen table over food. He always tells me I'm the best cook. I assume that's partially because Derek likes my cooking and always tells me that too. I do hear the occasional grumble prior to an initial taste if it “looks weird.” After that first bite my kid is usually on board with me – taste trumps looks always. Good smells increase the happiness. I don’t deprive his body of nutrition or make him feel bad about his choices… now there is a way to mess him up psychologically!

Please, please; do yourself a favor this holiday season - practice the same kindness towards yourself as you do your loved ones. For some people this will be a stretch... for those of you with less than kind relationships with your loved ones, um... How about we all try to treat ourselves like we are deserving of love? That's really where it all starts. If you slip up and you don't eat right, look yourself in the eye, say some kind words and start over again. Don't give yourself an excuse to fail - this is your life!

It's almost December, and I will still make cookies from the leftover mashed sweet potatoes for the boys. I really don't care about sweets; I'm a savory/salty gal. This past weekend I made myself some stuffed mushrooms as my treat. Although I think Derek likes them more than I do. I'll also make some jalapeno poppers for me, since I'm the only person who likes them. I will spend time cooking with my son and Derek making something for the entire family that is delicious. (Dinners made together and watching a Netflicks movie are actually my favorite date nights right now.)

And for my present? Serve yourself something special just for you - minus the guilt - too.

Endometriosis… the sad tales of a chick in pain

This post is going to border on TMI. Ok, it basically dances all over TMI. I’m hoping that if you know and love, or even slightly like someone with these female issues that this might help you find some answers too.

I don’t know what I was thinking when I was younger. On Father’s Day, the year I was 13, I “became a woman” and started menstruating. I was really excited. That meant that I was growing up. I was almost the last girl in my class (that was a big deal). I didn’t want to get left behind.

The pain

It was exactly around that time that my back started hurting. It was a constant burning, dull, aching pain. I would complain to my parents about how much it hurt. Because my parents listened to me, I got a new bed. I got new bras. They tried everything. By the time I was in high school the pain was unbearable. It was constant, but around my periods it was the worst.

Diagnosis

By the time I was in 10^th grade, after the doctor trying everything (ulcers, IBS, etc.) I was diagnosed with endometriosis. It’s an autoimmune disease where the lining of your uterus does not 1. grow in the proper places 2. the signals from your body have it “bleed” into improper places in your body instead of out of you 3. can cause damage to your fertility if not treated properly. (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Endometriosis)

Treatment

That year I had surgery (exploratory pelvic laparoscopy) where they removed a cup of blood and 4 “growths.” They then proceeded to put me on birth control pills to regulate my hormones. That did not work completely. I took pills so I didn’t have a period for a year. Immediately after high school I had break through bleeding for 2 months. Straight. I was worried. This was a reoccurring issue for another year. The Army gave me injections to induce menopause. The explanation was so things would “dry up.” I am the only woman I know that knows what menopause will feel like before it happens.

A month after the injections wore off, I got pregnant. This was a surprise to everyone. I had been told my chances of having a child were slim to none and none was winning.

In the past 8 years I have lived almost pain-free.

Things that did not help:

I read a book about endometriosis that talked about ending my love with dairy products, especially cheese. That was very difficult to do – and did not help.

The same book suggested I eat less meat. Also, not very helpful. As soon as I started focusing my eating more towards a vegetarian diet I was in a lot of pain. Also on that same note – soy exacerbated the problem immensely.

I have not noticed a difference with more exercise in my life. The book and websites said that I should strive to get “enough” daily exercise. Large amounts of exercise only made me more tired and unable to cope with the pain.

Acetaminophen, OTC pain relievers – I still hate taking them. They did nothing to dull the pain and always upset my stomach.

Birth Control pills – I think that on top of a high-carb/low-fat diet, they forced my hormones to fluctuate wildly.

Things that have helped:

Having a baby. Seriously. Pregnancy was admittedly rough. I was very sick. I think I would eat differently and take better care of myself (relax more) to make it easier if I had to do it all over again. I don't recommend this if you're not ready yet, of course.

Breastfeeding also prolonged the lack of pain. I breastfed my son for 18 months.

I have a copper IUD. No extra hormones messing with my natural ones.

The biggest difference: CHANGING MY DIET TO LOW CARB!!! I am virtually pain-free today. Atkins worked miracles for my endometriosis. I don’t lose weight during my period, which is normal. (I did call the Atkins’ hotline and ask about that.) But, I still lose inches, and I don’t hurt. I eat cheese too!  I eat a lot of meat, eggs and tons of fat during my period because I need the vitamins. Also, my cycle was about 21 days when I was heavier. It’s now 25 after almost 2 years of low carb. I definitely think the difference is my diet. I do not eat legumes anymore either. That also improved the pain cycle.

PMS symptoms

I do occasionally have breast tenderness. That actually makes up a large amount of surface area on me (no matter what my size), which makes for uncomfortable times. I started taking iodine after hearing Jimmy Moore’s podcast (http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/%E2%80%98livin%E2%80%99-la-vida-low-carb-show%E2%80%99-episode-283-dr-jorge-flechas-says-iodine-deficiency-is-a-real-health-crisis/5801) concerning iodine. I read a lot of information about it before adding it. That one pill helped a lot of other pain issues I had too. (I used to have deep in the bone/tissue pain in my arms and legs. I don’t anymore with the iodine.) There is no pain prior to my period. Another thing that helped was taking high vitamin butter + fermented cod liver oil. I’ve noticed that it reduces the inflammation and gives me more energy.

I used to be very cranky and, um, not-nice prior to my period. (And since it’s a short cycle, that would make me a bad person to be around.) My moods are very even now that I’ve changed my diet to low-carb. I do feel more run down during that time and hungry, but I feel that’s my body’s way of telling me to slow down and focus on taking care of myself.

Something I’m trying:

After reading these two articles on the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website (http://www.westonaprice.org/womens-health/641-wise-choices-healthy-bodies.html and http://www.westonaprice.org/womens-health/637-treating-heavy-bleeding-and-fibroids.html) , I’m taking a double dose of cod liver oil (see above) during this period. I would like to see if it improves the heavier bleeding and cuts my period days down. I am also hoping that it will make my cycle longer. I am not sure that the oil I take now is high enough in Vitamin A to sufficiently do this. I may have to try it with another higher vitamin cod liver oil. I’ve noticed a lot of the health issues I have could possibly be attributed to low vitamin A. We’ll see how I do. I’ll keep you posted. 

__________ Update: 29 November 2010_____________

The cod liver oil helped some. I think the extra sleep I got for the month also helped. I cut the days down by 2 and added an extra 2 days to my cycle. That's actually super awesome and I am very pleased. Then I went more paleo (-any grains, -dairy) for the last couple days and felt even better. No matter what you read about endometriosis and diet, it's no different than other auto-immune diseases. You basically need optimum nutrition to function optimally. 

___________Update: 20 January 2011 ______________
Gluten free was definitely the way to go. When you have one autoimmune disease its easy to get another one. That's something you actually have to watch for... A strange rash on my hands appears when I eat gluten, so I've cold-turkey ended that. Now it really upsets my stomach if I eat gluten. My hands tend to be part of my livelihood (typing) so I can't just ignore them. Also, my cycle is now officially 27 days long. The extra cod liver oil might have corrected something internally. I only took it for that month. I'm really glad I did that. I've noticed now that I do not eat gluten I am not feeling bloated days before my period. I am sure I am still retaining water. Actually, I used to hold on to up to 10 lbs every cycle before low carb - and now it's exact every time. 3 lbs. That's it. Now I don't need "fat pants" ever. I still eat eggs and dairy (ugh! so addicted to those things!) and I'm starting to add more fermented foods and organ meats to my lists of foods to eat. It's an evolving menu plan.

Normal day of eating...

First post... here we go.

I had a lot of questions concerning what I eat in a normal day. The problem with that is the definition of "normal" and what that means in my life. I don't have normal days. I am super busy and I consider myself somewhat of a modern forager. I look through my kitchen and my environment for food. When I said I eat up to 70 - 80% fat it was after looking through my fitday journal (which I'm not very consistent with entering things).

My breakfasts usually consists of 3 eggs scrambled with shredded cheese and some spices. Oh and at least a tbsp of butter. Sometimes I put leftover meat and veggies in there to change it up. (I've also put leftover meat dip in there too. yum!) I like that because I can take it to work in a container and heat it in the microwave. I also like leftovers for breakfast. For a while I would take hard boiled eggs to work with (cold) bacon. After seeing me do that for a week straight, my co-worker commented that I was going to die. That made me laugh.

If we're going out to eat for lunch (which happens way more than I would like) I always check the menu online and decide before we go what I'll have. For fast food I'll usually have a bacon cheeseburger minus the bun. In the cafeteria I just have meat (like roasted chicken) and something like broccoli with butter or a side salad with ranch. I've also made a huge chef salad. If I bring lunch it's simple like leftovers, or a tuna salad (with added sardines and extra mayo) with veggies to scoop it out (no need for utensils!).

I really like to cook so it's different every time with dinner. One of my favorite dinners that I can think of would be the one I made in honor of the swine flu "epidemic." We had pork chops that were rolled in crushed pork rinds and pan fried in lard. That had a side of either green beans, garlic and mushrooms or broccoli. Usually I cook vegetables (and sometimes meat) in a 1:1 ratio of butter and coconut oil. Anytime something calls for breadcrumbs or crushed crackers I use pork rinds. I like stirfry, one dish meals, and I like to makeover recipes that I see in magazines. When we eat at home for dinner everyone eats low-carb - including Derek and my son.

Everyone drinks tons of water. We have a pitcher out on the counter of filtered water. I used to drink 1 diet pop a week as a treat, but I've given that up. It was making me crave sweets.


Standard snacks in our house are pepperoni and string cheese, deviled eggs, olives, or dip and vegetables. I also like macadamia nuts. I've made some jalapeno poppers I really love. If I want dessert I go for warmed up cream cheese mixed with some flavoring (like white chocolate). I also really like to make no-bake cheesecake. (I am guilty of having a piece of that for breakfast once in a while! Shhh! I know that's not the best behavior for someone on a "diet!") :)

I don't know if that all equals out to 70 - 80% (I didn't run it through fitday). I usually don't need a snack and I don't always eat dessert (once or twice a week maybe?). My biggest meal is dinner. On the days I'm ravenous I load up on the fat as much as I can. I try to make 1 casserole a week, and at least one snack. That usually allows for leftovers and snacks. I love my slow-cooker and all of my recipe books. This really is an easy way to live, because it fits even with busy schedules.