Mother's Day 2014

Today we spent the day with my sister, Carol, and her family.  My dear sister is one of the people who hounded me about changing my diet.  Our genes lend us to more autoimmune issues than either of us care to admit.  We both have Raynaud's, we both suffer from migraines, we both have seen specialists for other autoimmune issues.  She has been a big supporter of me converting my whole family to a paleo diet.

It was so nice to be able to plan our whole meal today with no worries.  We had a wide variety of food, and not one child complained!!  We did laugh later that there was no fruit!  How did we miss fruit?!?!  Oh well, it didn't matter, we ate well for sure!!  I even ate avocado!!  

Today's menu included BBQ chicken on the grill, with my homemade paleo friendly BBQ sauce; jicama potato salad with bacon; creamy cucumbers; carrots with dressing and sesame seeds; roasted butternut squash; deviled eggs; and a mixed lettuce salad with all the trimmings.  Oh and I brought leftover chunky monkey muffins, which everyone always loves.  Maybe that was our fruit!

Christian helped make the deviled eggs.  He is not adept at peeling them yet, but he'll get there!

Creamy Cucumbers

2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2/3 cup fresh parsley leaves (I used dried because that's what I had)

In another bowl, mix: 

1/4 cup mayo (there are many paleo mayo recipes out there but this is my 20% as I tolerate it and I failed horribly at making my own.)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Toss over cucumbers, salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe adapted from the book Well Fed.

Jicama Potato Salad

This takes prep.  24 hours of prep.  But it's not hard.  You need two medium jicama, about the size of your two fists.  Diced into 1" cubes.  You can peel it if you want but I don't.  Place cubes into a crock pot and cover with water 2" over the top of the jicama.  Add 1 tsp salt.  Cook on high 12-24 hours.

Drain and pat dry.  These can be kept in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In a bowl, mix together:

4 strips of bacon, 1/4" pcs fried (you can use leftover bacon from breakfast like I did, or cut up the bacon into pieces and quick pan fry it.)

4 hard boiled eggs, diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

1/2 medium red or yellow onion, diced

1 TBS dried chives (I used fresh)

3/4 tsp. dried mustard

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Add the jicama and mix well.

Add 3/4 cup mayo (see above for my mayo disclaimer)

Chill for about 20-30 minutes.

This recipe was also found in Well Fed.

My personal notes on this...I used 5 strips of bacon and next time, I will use more.  I also like mustard, so I may increase the dried mustard a bit.  But everything blended really well together and was yum!  Jicama does not taste "exactly" like potatoes, but it is a great substitute.  If you find that you do well with white potatoes, use them!  I do eat them on occasion, but I prefer to save those for a rare treat.  This I could make once a week all summer!

Autoimmune or Allergic Reaction

Today was my day to react in some way.  I haven't decided yet if this is just a standard autoimmune reaction, an unknown allergic reaction, or a violent reaction to something I accidentally ingested that my body now no longer likes.  Any one of these could be the answer, or a combination of some form.

This morning about 6:30am, I woke up itching.  I usually am awake earlier than that, and I was.  I actually was awake around 4:00am but forced myself back to sleep, which I must have needed.  I was surprised by the itching, checked my arm and sure enough I had hives.  I quickly ran through the typical questions, which I already knew were all "no's".  No new detergents, soaps, lotions, perfumes.  No contact with odd plants or other environmental allergens.  No new foods.  I hadn't even ate yet, so it would have had to been from the previous day(s).  I took some diphenhydramine (Benadryl for you non-pharmaceutical people.) and went down to make the boys breakfast.  Yet the itching continued.

I took the boys to school.  When I got home, I was very sleepy and thought I'd lay down for awhile.  When I woke up an hour later, then itching was still there and had spread significantly.  Took a shower, took more Benadryl, and went to work.  By the time I got to work, my entire face, neck, chest was broke out.  I had patches of hives on both arms, stomach and legs.  This was obviously systemic and I was miserable!!!

Then came the decisions, 100mg of diphenhydramine had not stopped the itching or spreading, so it was time to take further action and I headed to the ER.

Same questions, same answers.  No known cause, but you're a mess!!

A few hours later, steroids and more Benadryl, and I'm headed home, back to bed to sleep some more!

It is unknown whether this is a true allergic reaction or an autoimmune reaction of some other source.  But regardless I know that I'm doing the right thing in the dietary changes I've made to make my body healthier.  I will continue to do so, track any other reactions and see if there is a connection.

Inflammation...You may just explode!!

When we talk about inflammation, most people think about acute inflammation.  You sprain your ankle and it swells.  Or you have an infected nail bed and it's swollen and full of pus.  In reference to eating paleolithic foods, we are not referencing acute inflammation.  Acute inflammation is typically a positive stimulus.  Your body is trying to heal itself.  We are talking about chronic inflammation.  Chronic, as in on-going.  Your body is no longer trying to heal itself, but rather trying to destroy itself.

Inflammation in general terms is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants.  When the irritant is YOU then it becomes a problem.  Many conditions and diseases are a direct result of inflammation in various cells in your body.  Whereas acute inflammation is caused by things like infection or injury or an allergic reaction, chronic inflammation is often caused by what we put INTO our bodies, purposefully, like FOOD.

When we ingest certain foods, they react to cells in our body in different ways.  There are inflammatory foods and anti-inflammatory foods.  Grains, legumes, dairy, foods in the nightshade group and even some nuts & seeds are inflammatory.  I'm not a scientist, nor will I try to re-iterate what others have already said so much better than I.  I will point you in some good direction to read more about the inflammatory process of these foods if you want the real "why's" behind it.  Below is a chart that briefly explains chronic inflammation, the cells it effects, and the outcomes.

Chronic Inflammation:

• Causative agent:  Persistent acute inflammation due to non-degradable pathogens, viral infection, persistent foreign bodies, or autoimmune reactions
• Major cells involved:  Mononuclear cells (monocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, plasma cells), fibroblasts
• Primary mediators:  IFN-γ and other cytokines, growth factors, reactive oxygen species, hydrolytic enzymes
• Onset:  Delayed
• Duration:  Up to many months, or years
• Outcomes Resolution:  Tissue destruction, fibrosis, necrosis

Inflammation is an underlying cause in many conditions and diseases.  All 140 known autoimmune diseases have inflammation as part of their conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, infertility, multiple sclerosis, lupus, narcolepsy, schizophrenia, depression, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, hypothyroidism, IBS, Chron's disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc.  The list goes on.  It is also a known antagonist in cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, migraine headaches, acne and cancer.  

If all of these conditions and diseases (and a host of others) are directly linked to inflammation, it would behoove those of us with any one (or multiples) of them to reduce chronic inflammation as much as we can.  Thankfully, science has shown us that we can!  By removing grains and legumes and dairy from our diet, we can effectively decrease symptoms and possibly even reverse disease!!

I shared before what changing my everyday diet has done for me.  In the past few months I have seen joint pain and inflammation significantly decrease.  I have gone from chronic daily headaches and frequent migraines to only one or two headaches during that time.  I have seen gut healing from IBS symptoms.  My overall health is significantly better!  I chose to bring my family along for this ride because I know that many of the diseases/conditions also have a genetic component.  I see similar issues in my children already.  I cannot change their genes, but I can help them make better food choices now which will hopefully go with them throughout life.  Do they eat perfectly paleo?  No.  I don't expect them to.  But the meals I control will move them in the right direction.  As they get older they can own this for themselves as they learn how eating the wrong foods affects them physically.

Once again here are some places to read more about reversing disease via a paleo diet:

www.robbwolf.com

www.thepaleodiet.com

www.thepaleomom.com

I have books by these three scientists/authors and I haven't regretted one dime that I have spent in bettering my knowledge and my health.  :)

Did you say "Leaky Gut"? Ewwwww....

Leaky gut, yes it is as gross as it sounds.  Leaky gut, also know as "increased intestinal permeability", is exactly what it sounds like.  Something is permeating your intestinal walls and leaking into places it shouldn't be.  That includes undigested foods, bacteria, bile and waste.  All autoimmune diseases have leaky gut associated with them.  Many other health conditions and diseases are linked back to leaky gut and gut dysbiosis.  So if you knew that eliminating one food group would alleviate the key factor in these diseases wouldn't you do it?  If the FDA knew that this one food group was unhealthy and harmful for every human on the planet, wouldn't you think they'd tell everyone?  Be prepared, a rant is coming...

Scientifically speaking, if I told you that apples cannot be processed by the human digestive tract.  No matter what you do to it: cook it, peel it, bleach it, process it 150 different ways; in the end the final proteins cannot be broke down by your digestive system.  In the end, there will remain undigested parts and those will permeate your gut lining in one of two ways and leak into your body, also allowing other bacteria and waste to leak into your body.  Would you WANT to know this information?  Would you EXPECT science to make you aware of this FACT?  Would you STOP eating apples even if they were your FAVORITE?

The answer is YES!!  Who would knowingly do that to their body????

Guess what?  Science KNOWS that grains cannot be completely digested by our bodies.  They never have been.  You can boil it, bake it, bleach it, grind it, whatever you want, it still isn't going to be digested by your body.  The last parts of the protein cannot be broken down by our body into the amino acids our body needs.  The last parts then are able to permeate the gut lining in two ways, depending on your genetic make-up, and leak out.  This also then opens up the gut for other things to leak out as well.  They know this, yet we are encouraged to not only eat grains, but to consume 12 servings a day of grains.  12 servings a day!!  While foregoing other fiber and nutrient rich foods like fruits and vegetables.  12 servings a day while giving up healthy animal fats which are necessary to cell function in our body.  12 servings a day that permeate our gut, make us sick and no one can understand WHY we are sick, yet we keep eating our grains.

I'm thankful for the agricultural revolution.  Truly I am. If it weren't for the agricultural revolution, I wouldn't have learned this information from other sources.  If it weren't for the agricultural revolution I wouldn't be able to send this message to you across cyber space from the comfort of my home.  But along the way, when these things came to light, it sure would have been nice if someone bothered to SHARE this information with the masses. I'm even more thankful for the agricultural revolution that THANKFULLY through hundreds of people, paleo gurus and those of us just learning, the information IS getting to the masses!!!

In order to begin healing your gut and reversing disease you must eliminate the following:
ALL Grains including:

• corn
• barley
• fonio
• kamut
• oats
• rice
• rye
• sorghum
• spelt
• teff triticale
• wheat (including durum and semolina)
• wild rice
• millet

ALL Psuedo-Grains including:

• amaranth
• buckwheat
• chia
• quinoa

Each and every one of these will affect gut health, in every single person.  Now the extent that you feel the effects is determined by other things in your life.  Genetics, stress, lifestyle, environment, infections.  But this is the KEY area.  If you could improve your health, the health of your family, your children, your grandchildren, wouldn't you do it?  You might say, "But I'm not seeing any affects from this, why should I eliminate grains?"  Are you really not seeing any affects?  Do you take prescription drugs for any health issues?  Do you take antacids for heartburn, reflux, etc?  Do you experience bowel issues regularly?  Do you have a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease or autoimmune disease?  You can change your health dramatically in this one area!

Aside from the battle in the gut from grains, they aren't even "healthy" for you in general terms.  Grains have no more fiber in them than fruits and vegetables, yet they are higher in starches and sugar than fruits!  That all translates to sugar in your body, which translates to being overweight, fluctuating blood sugars, mood issues, headaches, and disease.  Let's face it, grains gotta go!!!

Cheating and Reacting

I do believe we have seen our first major reaction post-paleo.

I know my body pretty well and last week when I had some popcorn at the movie theater I had a headache within a few hours.  The next morning, I had lots of intestinal issues.  Now, it could have been the popcorn itself (grain) or the highly processed vegetable oils they cook it in (yuck).  Either way, I reacted.  But that's me...when it comes to my kids, totally a different story.

None of them are 100% paleo.  They have treats and goodies, especially from school parties, etc.  They are pretty good at home, but pretty not-so-good when they are visiting their fathers.  It is unfortunate that there isn't more attention paid to the chronic health conditions of children.  Even after asking to please respect this decision and offer alternatives for the kids so they are not on overload, it is ignored.  Well Justin is our first casualty of that ignorance.  Yesterday he spent most of the afternoon in his bed.  He then moved to the couch to attempt to be a part of the family, and slept.  He had what I would deem a migraine.  His head hurt so bad he could hardly move.  He felt awful, just wanted to sleep.  It was sad to see.  I treated with ibuprofen, hydration and tried to get some healthy food into his system.  He was finally feeling better by bedtime, but what a crappy way to spend your last day of spring break.

I do believe, that for some people, not all, they can handle small amounts of "cheating".   I don't really like the term "cheating" because this is not a fad diet, this is a lifestyle, but like most others in the paleo community, there just isn't another word that fits.  Even the gurus like Dr. Cordain and Robb Wolf put "cheats" into their programs to help people get started.  But ONE meal in a week is totally different that SIX in two days.  I do hope that this ends up being an exception and not the rule.  :(

Why did I do it?

I mentioned before the goals I had for my family.  I had my own personal goals, as well as goals for each of my children. But the biggest reason was our overall health.  The more I read about the Paleolithic foods, the more I knew we had no choice but to change what we were doing.

Primary health conditions that can be reversed or greatly alleviated by removing grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods and sugar from your diet:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Degenerative disease
• Diabetes
• Autoimmune disease (which there are approx. 140 known autoimmune diseases)
• Cholesterol levels
• Acne
• Gastrointestinal diseases
• Vitamin deficiency 
• Insomnia 
• Depression
• ADD/ADHD

You can improve many, if not all, of the following:

• Mood
• Sleep
• Libido
• Energy
• Nutrient absorption
• Weight
• Performance

Mike and I both have cardiovascular disease in our family.  I know for a fact that autoimmune is close to my middle name.  Mike and I both have at least one diagnosed autoimmune disease.  I'm overweight and struggle to lose weight.  I have two children with multiple food allergies.  I have one child with Tourette's, which is autoimmune.  I have one child with sensory issues.  I have two children who are overweight.  I have a child with acne.  I have a child who has chronic gastrointestinal issues, does not digest food properly and suffers from vitamin deficiencies.  Why wouldn't I do it???  Because I like to eat bread??  Well, I've decided I like living more.  My family's health is much more important than bread.  

A year ago, my sister said to me, "If giving up bread/grains made you feel better, wouldn't you do it?"  I think my response was, "Maybe."  I wasn't yet willing to find out.  6 weeks ago, I was, and I'm so much better for it!!

Since removing grains, legumes, sugar and processed foods from my everyday diet I have experienced the beauty of sleep....yes sleep!!  I also have energy!  What's that??  I feel better overall.  That bitchy person I was becoming is now gone.  I get up early every morning!  I can't fall back to sleep even when I think I want to.  My body doesn't ache.  My joints are moving better.  No muscle aches and the chronic dosing of anti-imflamatories is gone.  I have been migraine free!!!  I have been nearly headache free!!!!  THAT is HUGE right there.  And....I've lost 15 lbs!!!  I'm looking forward to seeing how my health continues to improve as I heal my guy and begin to reverse the deterioration of my body.

Where did you start?

"Where did you start?" is a very frequent question.  There are lots of hints, tips and how-to's out there.  Some people say with anything you do, jump in with both feet, rip that band-aid off and go!  Some people say, make small changes over time, you'll stay committed long term if you slowly change.

I did neither. Or both.  Or...well you decide...

You must understand my motto...I've raised 7 of my own children, and added in 3 more...I am not a short order cook.  I refuse to make multiple meals.  You will eat what's served, within reason.  I also have children (and now a grandchild) with multiple food allergies.  No one is ever forced to eat something they are allergic to.  Actually, they aren't even forced to eat foods they hate.  We have a traditional "no thank you" bite that must be taken of any tolerable food, ie: no allergy to said food.  After that, it's up to you.  We always had PBJ or lunch meat sandwiches available, but I wasn't making them.  So until you were old enough to spread your own PB, you ate what mom made, period.  

When we started Advocare, I set forth the rule that everyone would eat the same thing for dinner.  Breakfast was on your own (had been for years), lunch you made yourself for school, but dinner, would remain the family meal and everyone would eat the same.  So that's where we started.  Dinner.

After about a week or so, I had stopped buying cereal and poptarts (staples in our home) so when those ran out, it was time to work on breakfast.  I was now sleeping at night, and getting up early in the morning without feeling like a Mac truck had hit me (another post), so I started making everyone's breakfast and that too was converted to paleolithic. 

It was a couple more weeks, I had quit buying bread, so I had to really work hard to figure out just how "lunch" was going to work.  Our traditional sack lunch for the kids had been a sandwich (lunch meat or PBJ), a bag of chips (I bought the individual bags by the case!), two processed snacks and a juice bag.  Everything they were eating on a daily basis had to go!!  But we did it!!  We are now 100% paleo, most of the time.  

Most advocates of the paleolithic lifestyle follow the 80/20 rule.  If you eat true paleo 80% of the time, you will still see 100% of the benefits.  (Unless you're AIP, autoimmune protocol, which is much stricter and a route I may be taking at some point.)  So when I say we are 100% paleo, it means that we eat on average 80% paleo 100% of the time.  

I did this whole transition in less than 4 weeks.  I would not say this was a "rip the band-aid off" type approach, but we certainly didn't take a lot of baby steps and get used to those before we did something else.  My biggest strategy was to just quit buying anything that didn't fit our new life.  In a family this large (6 of us here daily, 8 or more frequently...could be 14 on any given weekend!) we go through food pretty quickly so it disappeared fast.  My oldest son had also recently moved into his own place and I was pretty willing to "share" some of our "extras" with him.  I sent him home with grocery bags of staples, sugar, rice, flour, corn, bread, seasoning packets, canned goods, lentils, etc.  He shares an apartment with another 20 year old, I knew they could take care of it for me easily enough.  If you don't have a starving college student to feed, send extras to a food pantry.  I didn't want food to go bad, I had spent money on it!!  But I also knew that we were not going to eat it.  Once the cereal, bread and poptarts were gone, it was gone.  The things we used for "meals" was no longer needed.  During this time, I was already paleo for breakfast and lunch.  The challenge came about making sure we had enough food and staples for the whole crew to eat this way.  I spent a lot of time on-line, on Pinterest, reading and making lists. 

My suggestion is if you are doing this for yourself, start NOW.  Don't wait.  If you are doing it for your family, give them warning, wait for the meltdowns and then move forward.  From this day forward, don't buy anymore processed junk, no more sugar, no flour, no rice, no corn, no legumes, nothing packed in soy (it's in everything!).  Your next trip to the grocery store should stay to the perimeter of the store:  

• Produce (lots of it)
• Meat (lots of that too)
• Nuts or seeds (minimal)
• Eggs (I buy 6 dozen at a time.)
• Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Spices (A variety, if you don't have a decent collection start adding to it.  Clean out your spices....HOW old is that tumeric??

When it's not in your home, you don't use it, cook with it, eat it.  This goes for the JUNK as well as the MEAT and VEGGIES!  If it isn't there you won't eat it.  So put the good stuff in the cabinets and leave the junk on the store shelves!

A warning about the grocery store while I'm here:  Don't get sucked into the "organic", "gluten free" and "healthy" labeling!!  Almost always they are marketing ploys!!  Check all ingredient labels of anything you buy that is not right out of the ground or off the tree.  This includes any kind of packaged meat products.  Sausage, bacon, ham, turkey, lunch meat, etc.  Bacon and other meats should be nitrate and nitrite free.  Uncured bacon is more expensive but worth it to not have the fillers (and sugar!) in your body. 

If possible, and your budget allows, look for grass-fed beef, free range chicken (and eggs) and turkey.  We cannot afford to buy those products all the time.  We have a lot of mouths to feed!  But when we can, we do.  I'm still looking for a local grass-fed beef source that I can buy half a cow at a time.  I'd also love a local egg source, but we eat a LOT of eggs (see above) and I'm not sure anyone could keep us in eggs!  But these are plans for the future.  

How Did I Get Here???

I'm not sure how many times in my life I've asked this question? I was a home school mom for nearly 20 years.  I have 7 biological children.  I've owned a business.  I work full time.  As I look back, I probably have asked that questions more times than anybody I know!!

But the question now is, HOW DID I GET HERE??? There are many people who put me in this position.  First off, my very good, long time friend, Anne Peterson.  She said, "YOU MUST BLOG!!!!"  I nearly fainted.  Secondly, the love of my life, Mike Rockert.   He said, "DO IT!!!!"  Thirdly, my sister, Carol Zacharias, and good friend, Kirstin Reeder, who are the real reasons I'm here.  If it wasn't for them I would have just chucked it all out the window and remained sick and unhealthy.  I'm eternally grateful to them for pushing me when I thought it was impossible.

In December 2013, I had knee surgery to repair and replace cartilage in my knee.  They performed what is called a micro-fracture by drilling holes into the tibia and releasing a blood patch.  When that blood patch heals it becomes scar tissue which feigns cartilage.  It will never be the cartilage I was born with, but it put a total knee replacement further into my future.  My other knee will have to be done at some point.  Post surgery I was non-weight-bearing for almost 6 weeks.  This meant a lot of sitting around, being bored out of my mind and EATING.  I ate everything.  Christmas cookies, leftover Halloween candy, chips, popcorn, junk, junk, junk.  And I gained 15 lbs. doing so.  As I was getting ready to go back to work, I realized I was not going to even fit into my work clothes!!  What had I done?!?!

Ok, truth time.  I'd been putting on pounds for over a year.  Eating out way too much.  Eating a lot of late night snacks.  Self-medicating with pop, coffee (sugared and creamed) and chocolate.  It was a really bad cycle.  My family was suffering too.  We spent more time eating out than in, and the house was full of junk.  Some changes needed to be made.  Even before surgery, I had talked to a couple of friends and said, "after the new year, after surgery, we're going to make some changes".

Some goals I had for our family:

• Get out of the drive-thru.
• Get rid of the processed junk.
• Get rid of the sugar.
• Get on a healthier path.
• Lose excess weight.

I met with a friend to talk to her about her program, how she was losing weight and getting healthy.  She introduced me to Advocare.  I asked Mike if he would be willing to do Advocare's 24 Day Challenge with me.  It would get us on track, lose some weight, etc.  He said he was willing to even though it meant some hard choices for him, he'd have to give up pop for 24 days.  No junk food, no drive-thru lunches, etc.  These were mainstays in his life.  But he agreed and we were off and running!

At the end of the 24 days we had seen moderate success.  Mike, much more than myself.  Guys lose weight easily.  Let's face it.  They think about losing weight and lose 5 lbs!  Men.  Sheesh.  Neither of us were super happy with our results and we'd expected more.  My biggest complaint:  I felt like CRAP!!!!  I was tired all the time.  I was bitchy and treating my family horribly.  My 15yo said, "Mom, you're crabby...eat something!!!"  I wasn't hungry, I just felt horrible and let it be reflected onto everyone else.  When I notice that I'm being a bitch, I must be really being a bitch!  Typically, I can brush that off as whomever deserved whatever tirade they got, well not this time.  I was bad, and I felt worse.  I thought I was supposed to feel better?  I thought I was supposed to have energy?  I felt like I'd traveled back in time to some of my worst days.  This was NOT what I wanted for me or my family.  I needed to change gears and quickly.  I couldn't live like this.

I immediately started venting to Kirstin.  She said, "Dawn, you are a walking autoimmune disease, you need to eat a Paleo diet, PRONTO".  Ok, maybe not those exact words, but pretty darn close.  Now, you have no idea what those words meant to me.  I was flipping out!!  No bread???  I love bread...give me bread!!  No pasta???  I gotta have my pasta!!!  No corn???  What, are you nuts??  It's the only "vegetable" I eat!! Cereal is a staple in our house. You've fallen right out of your tree, sorry, no can do.

Then I sent my sister a text...You'd have thought I succeeded at finding world peace.  The excitement she had over me even PONDERING the idea of Paleo.  Oh man, HOW DID I GET HERE???

Slow, deep breaths. You need to think.  You need some thinking food.  Yes.  Go get some ice cream and think about this. That is exactly what I did.  I went to Oberweiss and ordered a scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and sat and ate it.  This was my treat for making it 24 days, no drive-thru, no pop, no candy, no junk.  Hmmm....ok now I could think....come on, Dawn, think, you've been eating very differently for the past 24 days.  How many times had I had grains during those 24 days?  Four, maybe 5, meals?  So 24 days, 3 meals a day plus about 2 snacks...that's like 120 "meals".  And only HOW many times did I eat grains??  Oh shoot, I can do this!!  I'm almost there!!  Sold!!!!  I immediately drove to see Mike and tell him we were on a new path.  We were going to begin a Paleolithic Lifestyle.

I'm positive he was clueless as to what that meant.  He was convinced his 24 days was done, he could drink pop and hit McDonald's and all would be well!  Sorry honey...for better or worse, sickness and health...oh wait, we haven't said those words.  Oh well he loves me anyway.  Even though I don't let him eat bread anymore.  

The very next day I began our whole kitchen make-over (which I will describe in more detail later), and our new lifestyle was underway!

Background History: My Personal Struggles

For over 12 years I have struggled to find out what is "wrong" with me.  I've been to many different doctors, had numerous tests done, and explored alternative medicine.  I used the internet to try to educate myself on my symptoms and fought traditional medicine until I was exhausted.  Exhausted.  Yep.  I was exhausted.  All the time.  Fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, chronic DAILY headaches, frequent migraines, insomnia, IBS with chronic constipation, weight gain, struggling to lose weight, hair loss, splotches on my face, out-of-whack hormones.  I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  It wasn't pretty.

I'm a mom of a lot of kids...I didn't have time for this.  I didn't have time for doctors.  I didn't have time for day long (or night long) tests.  I just wanted answers.  Answers never came.  This is brief run down on tests I've had done in the past 12 years:

MRIs

CT Scans

Lumbar Puncture

Optic Nerve Scan

Ultra Sounds (female organs, as well as thyroid, gall bladder and liver)

Sleep Study

IgE, IgG and full battery of allergy testing

Countless blood work up's including TSH, T4, T3, Vitamin levels, hormones, antibodies, etc.

I'm sure I'm missing something, somewhere.

A couple of times I thought I'd found answers.  During some tests by my immunologist they found I had almost no antibodies.  Was my body producing them?  I was chronically sick, maybe this was why.  Would my body produce them on its own?  I was given a Pneumo-Vax to find out.  They retested 6 weeks later and yes, my body did produce antibodies against those known viruses.  That ruled out several autoimmune diseases.

At another time, they found goiters on my thyroid.  That success was short-lived.  I was treated medicinally for a short while and the MD stopped treatment.  

Another time the neurologist was sure I had psuedo-tumors.  Every test came back normal.

Sleep study, normal, except, "You need more sleep."  Truly.  I could have told them that without a test!

I also found out during an MRI on my shoulder last year that I have arthritis in my shoulder(s).  Add that to the chronic knee problems I've had since youth...MRI on my right knee showed I needed surgery, had no cartilage and degenerative breakdown/arthritis.  The presumption is that both knees have these issues, but you only deal with the most painful and debilitating one at a time.  I had knee surgery in December of 2013, which ended up being much more complicated than they originally thought.  They had to "create" new cartilage for me, I was non-weight-bearing for almost 6 weeks and off work for nearly 12.  

During that time I learned a few things about myself:

My headaches are much less when I'm not working.  (Stress, lights, sleep???)

I don't get sick when I'm not working.  (Chronically exposed to every virus in town!)

I gain weight when I sit around and do nothing but eat because I'm bored for 6 weeks.  (Almost 15 lbs.!!)

I still don't like exercise and it makes me feel like CRAP.  (PT kicked my butt!!!)

I would love to be healthy.  Period.

That leads us into another post.  ;)

I will say I believe I am a walking autoimmune disease.  At this point I don't really care which ones, as I'm sure there are multiple.  I'm positive I have Raynaud's.  I also believe I have adrenal fatigue, if I haven't completely crushed my adrenals altogether!  I know I have Chronic Fatigue/Fibromyalgia symptoms and my doctor refers to it with me, but it's not recorded anywhere.  I have undiagnosed thyroid issues.  I'm sure there are more.  Sarah Ballantyne, PhD. lists 22 chronic symptoms that point to autoimmune issues in her book The Paleo Approach.  Of those 22 symptoms, I have 19 of them.  No question.  NOW what to do about it??