Back on Track!

First, I want to say thank you to my brother for posting a link to this on his facebook. I got a lot more views because of it.

Today I feel much better than I have the past few days. I have decided to not eat chicken for a while and come back to it in a few weeks to see if it is what is making me sick. Last week, especially Saturday, every time that I thought about chicken, smelled chicken, or tasted chicken I felt like I was going to throw up. I don't know if it was the chicken itself or something I put with it. To solve this problem I am going to eliminate it for a little while and then try it again. Maybe it was just a sickness or something. It is tough to figure out what it is that makes me feel sick.

I started taking a wheatgrass shot in the morning before my breakfast. It seems to help with the bloating and makes me feel much better in general. I have been taking one a day for 20 days, then today I added in a second shot in the afternoon. I am hoping that this will help even more. A couple of weeks ago I took a shot and then an hour later I noticed that I was not bloated at all!! It was so exciting for em since I have been bloated every day for about 2-3 years and doctors had no idea why. It was short lived, but still an accomplishment! I'm hoping that upping my intake of fruits, veggies, flaxseed, and wheatgrass may make the bloating less and less. And cutting chicken out of my diet might help the bloating too, if that is a sensitivity now.

Most days I have a fruit smoothie with ground flaxseed in it in the morning with my spinach omelet. Having all of those things for breakfast makes me feel full and healthier. I have stopped the smoothies for the past few days because my fiance has been going into work later and the blender would wake him up. I try to be as quiet as possible in the morning. Usually just Ellen and typing on my laptop.

I have been going to bed later and sleeping in! People who know me know that I would normally wake up by 8am every morning no matter what time I went to bed the night before. These days I wake up between 9am and 10am. This makes me skip Ellen most days (she is on from 9am-10am), which I am not happy about, but sleeping in is an accomplishment for me. I immediately get the wheatgrass shot out of the freezer and put it in a bowl of warm water to defrost then sit down to my laptop. After about a half hour, I drink the shot, then go back to the laptop or tv. My breakfast doesn't happen until 11am-noon so I don't eat a second meal until midafternoon and am fine for the night. I have snacks throughout the day to make up the meal that I am missing, but for now having 2 meals a day keeps me full and feeling good.

I spend my time making jewelry that I sell. I keep myself busy either teaching myself something new or coming up with new combinations of beads/lengths. It is a great hobby and I hope that I can turn it into a career. A bunch of friends and I were talking about how it is unusual to know what you want to do (and actually accomplish that) before you turn 25. You come up with all different plans of action throughout your childhood and it changes anytime something sounds interesting. I have to agree with that. I am not 25 yet, but I think I found what I want to do for the rest of my life and what I am good at. Now I just need to figure out how to make that happen. Luckily all of my friends and family are behind me on this. I have never felt this kind of support before on anything that I have done. It is a great place to be. I have this gut feeling that this is what I am supposed to do at this moment. If it wasn't, then I think something else would have worked out. I am selling quite a lot of jewelry, I have people supporting me, and friends willing to help this happen. I feel inspired to do this.

Anyway, I am off to enjoy my night with a good book and The Biggest Loser! Hope you all have a great night.

Day 7

Every day this weekend/week I have had a fruit smoothie. All included peaches, blueberries, strawberries, and ground flaxseed. I used up the black cherry juice and switched to 100% white grape juice on Monday. Today I put carrots into my smoothie, but they didn't juice that well in the blender. It wasn't bad but I'm not sure how often I will do that.

I started taking wheatgrass shots this morning. I got the individually frozen wheatgrass shots from wholefoods. I'm hoping to detox/help my stomach issues. I am extremely bloated a lot of the time, so I am always looking for something to help.

The weather hasn't been that nice in the past few days. Monday was snowy, Tuesday was windy and slightly cold, and today is rainy. Tomorrow and Friday are both supposed to be in the 50's-60's. I plan to try walking to the gym tomorrow. I hope that I will actually get there tomorrow.

Goals: Day 2

So after my post yesterday, I did not have corn pasta, meatballs, sauce, and a fruit and veggie. I ran out of time before I left to go to a friend's house. I did have a great dinner of saffron rice, chicken with onions, carrots and a sundried tomato sauce. When I got home I read for a half hour or so then went to bed. I started That's Another Story by Julie Walters. Very good so far.

Anyway, this morning I got up at 8am. I ate a pear around 9am then I made a smoothie and ate half of a banana. The smoothie had frozen strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and spinach, half of a fresh banana, black cherry juice, ground flaxseed, and a little bit of water. So far I can taste mostly bananas, but that might change. I like adding the banana because the consistency is much creamier, but this is the first time I have tried a banana since I was told it was a sensitivity. I'll see how I feel later. I also warmed up the frozen fruit/veg this time and it blended better than just throwing the frozen fruit/veg into the blender.

It is raining today so I will not be walking down to the gym to start the 2 week trial. I will try to go on Monday.

After I finish my smoothie, I will probably eat the corn pasta and meatballs and sauce. Tonight I am going into Boston with a few of my friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. Should be fun, but I will get home late and B will be getting up early for work tomorrow. I hope that I can sleep in tomorrow, but it seems unlikely.

Hope you all have fun plans tonight/this weekend! Have a great day.

Goals: day 1

Since I just posted the 5 goals I have for myself, I thought that I would let everyone know how I did so far today.

For breakfast:

poached eggs
some Cape cod salt and vinegar kettle chips
smoothie **
water

**[fruit/veggie smoothie consisting of:

frozen strawberries
frozen blueberries
frozen spinach
frozen peaches
ground flaxseed
Just Black Cherry juice
Water


It tasted good and because I had a straw I actually finished it. Usually I only get about halfway through it. With a straw I can mix it, take bigger gulps, and not have the freezing cold drink hit my teeth. It makes it more enjoyable.]

Soon I am going to eat some corn pasta, homemade meatballs and homemade sauce for lunch. I need to pick a veggie/fruit for that meal too. I have carrots, green pepper, apple, pear, or banana to choose from.

Time to face the facts!

I have been putting this post off for a long time. I haven't wanted to/known how to do it. But here I am.

I was fired from my job in early February. It was completely unfair and I was definitely bullied after the fact too. I don't want to focus too much on that though. I am now on unemployment and selling the jewelry I make at a bar in ME. I am trying not to stress about anything and just let things happen how they are supposed to. I thought I would explain what stress has done in the past to me and what it is doing to me know.

Stress has been the hardest part of my life. It is what caused the eating disorder to get worse. The more stressed I got, the less I ate. It continued like that for years until I decided to let myself slip fully into an eating disorder and let that control my life. It still controls my eating habits. It doesn't affect me as much as what it used to be, but there are definitely days when I think about how I could easily slip back to where I was and how I felt then. Luckily in the 3 years since I left treatment I have very rarely skipped more than one meal in a row. Getting fired definitely brought me the closest to the struggles with stress that I previously fought with. I ate very little in the first few days, then I ate what made me feel the best emotionally, but made me feel pretty bad physically. Now I am back on track, for the most part. I still need to be much more careful with the different sensitivities that I have or I have new ones that are affecting me too. I have been snacking constantly and I need to fix that.

So here are my 5 goals for the next few weeks:

1) only eat what I should be eating
2) incorporate a smoothie into my diet: boosting my fruit/veggie intake and hopefully making myself feel better
3) get wheat grass and take a shot every morning
4) take advantage of the 2 week free trial at the gym that I can walk to and use the gym at least 8 times in those 2 weeks. Hopefully the gym isn't too expensive and I can continue using it after 2 weeks.
5) eat 3 balanced meals a day, but only eat when I am hungry. No constant snacking.

It is time for me to take more responsibility about what I do to my body instead of allowing myself to feel like crap daily. I am hoping that boosting fruits/veggies and going to the gym will help me feel better.

Anybody else have goals that they want to work on this week?

Indoor Winter's Farmer's Market!!

Happy Friday Everyone!! I will be leaving work in a few minutes and driving the 2 hours home (1 hour to get B then 1 hour to get home).

Tomorrow at Russell's Garden Center in Wayland there will be an Indoor Winter's Farmer's Market! It is from 10am to 2pm. I am excited to see what will be there. A few friends will be going with me to check it out. I can't wait for something healthy and delicious! Hopefully tomorrow's dinner will be made with what I get there. Ali at http://foodfitnessfashion.com/ says that there is another Farmer's Market tomorrow in Somerville. So if you are closer to Somerville, you should definitely check it out!

Have a great weekend!

Bacon Rice

Hey Everyone!

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while, but never find time to actually do so. I need to get a phone that I can blog from. It would make this so much easier.

I have been making this rice dish for a while and love it!

Bacon Rice:

Cook 1 cup of rice. I cook my rice in chicken stock, but cook it however you like it.

In a skillet cook 6-8 strips of bacon until crispy. Once it is crispy I put it on a paper towel to drain and use the bacon fat to cook 1/2-1 onion and 1-2 crushed cloves of garlic (it depends on how big the onion/garlic clove is and how much I want in it). I sometimes get rid of some of the fat so it isn't extremely greasy. Once the onion and garlic are cooked to whatever consistency you like (I like mine caramelized), I put it on the same paper towel as the bacon. I put the cooked rice into the bacon fat and fry it up a little. I fry it until it is warm and coated in bacon fat. Then I crumble in the bacon and add the garlic and onion back into the pan. I stir to combine and then I eat!

So delicious! It's one of my favorite meals at the moment.

Anyway, back to work! Enjoy your day.

My Goals for 2011

Here are my goals for 2011:

* Eat at least 1 vegetable (or fruit) with every meal (not including garlic or onions)

* Exercise every day (even if it is only a few minutes)

* Read at least a half hour every day

* Update my blog several times a week

* Spend more one-on-one time with B

* Spend more time outside

* Have all of my wedding plans set by the end of the year

* Pay off my credit card in the first few months of the year, then use my debit card/cash/checks only

* Stop going into my savings for money

It has been awhile...again!

I really need to get better at this. So much has been going on and it has been tough to find time to think.

My fiance lost his job/got demoted the same week that I posted last (November 9th). We have been trying to figure out what to do next. 3 days a week I spend at least 3.5 hours a day in a car trying to get both of us to work. By the time that I get home on those days, I make dinner and watch 1-2 hour long shows on the DVR before laying in bed. We are doing what needs to be done and don't get to spend that much time together doing something fun. We need to get better about that in the new year. This has (and will) continue to make us stronger as a couple.

My job is as boring as ever. I need to find something else in the new year, but I want to get a job for B first. Then I can figure out what we need to do with the car/money before I find something. If I don't need to make enough to support both of us, then I can get a part time job closer to home and focus on my jewelry making or something like that. Working an 45 minutes away from home is tough and with us both working an 45 minutes away from home in opposite directions is even tougher. I leave work at 5pm, get to B at 6:15pm, and home by 7pm. Tiring.

Jewelry making happens very rarely. I'm too tired to be creative during the week, but only find a few hours to look at my beads on weekends. I am trying to sell my jewelry at a friend's salon, but so far nothing has sold. I don't want to make too much until I sell something. I do have an order for earrings from a friend of my parents and another order for my parents. I will be paid for both next week and will finally see compensation for my work!

My health is the same as before. I'm not in pain anymore, but still do not feel great. My doctor does not know what else to do. I am doing everything that I should be, but it doesn't seem to change much. I am still exhausted, but that could be from emotional issues, as well as all of the rushing around that I do. B has been sick for the past month and seems to be finally getting better. I had a fever last weekend and have cold symptoms this week. Hopefully both of us can kill these germs soon. I have not been able to kiss him in about a month! Not fun.

I want to come up with goals for the new year, like setting time to read and work out every day. Hopefully I can work on the list this week and post it up soon. I need to get better about this!

Since the last time I blogged...

not much has changed. I am still very busy or exhausted, so I don't feel like doing much.

Health-wise: As I said, I feel exhausted all of the time. The fact that it is now dark when I leave work does not help that. It is just after 4pm now and it is starting to get dark. I am not as bloated, so taking the Magnesium Citrate twice a day seems to be helping. I still take the other pills and spray, but do not feel the changes that I once did. I will be seeing my doctor on Thursday, so I hope she will change something.

Wedding Planning: Has stopped for now. I am waiting until spring to see the venues. I am not going to be able to actively gauge what the venues will look like in the summer while there is snow on the ground.

Food: Same things as always. I am not eating the bread that I was before. I don't know if that is making me feel better or not. I switched to eating corn tortillas.

Anyway, that is it for now. I'll post again on thursday.

Different Doctor with more advice

I don't know how many guys read this, but it is about my trip to the gynecologist. So stop now if you don't want to hear what she had to say about what I should do.

I saw a new doctor this morning. Dr. Wendie Trubow, gynecologist. I love her!! Other than doing my annual, she gave me advice on how to cut down on the bloating, what I should be eating for breakfast, and what I should be doing in general to feel better during my period and everyday life. She is also gluten-, dairy-, soy-, egg- free so her advice is actually from her experience. She explained things in detail but not like I was a little kid. She told me what she was doing, but not a play-by-play like some of the other doctors I have been to. Very informative and nice! Another great doctor at Visions Medical Center.

Bloating: Caused by constipation. I know it is not a great topic to discuss, but Dr. Trubow told me that I should be pooping 2-3 times a day. I am definitely not doing that, but I am not constipated by my definition of the word. She noticed the bloating right away and hopefully upping the Magnesium Citrate will help with that.

Breakfast: I am going to start making shakes of medical food and egg/rice protein powders. Then switching to medical food with frozen fruits and fresh veggies. It is supposed to detox my liver and move the hormones to my gut. Supposedly the liver and gut are what cause the intense PMS/Cramping/Bleeding. The birth control hormones go into your blood stream, get detoxed by the liver, and then get flushed out through the gut. If one part of the cycle is off then the hormones get split and most go back into the blood stream, so you have an overabundance of the hormone that causes bleeding/pain/PMS. Hopefully fixing the cycle will create less pain during my period and make me feel better during the rest of the month.

Other advice: I need to cut down on processed foods and sugar. No cookies, cakes, brownies, pasta, breads, etc. The less sugar and processed foods, the better I should feel. I'll try it and see what the outcome is.

I need to finish up my bottle of Travacor and then see what a different option is since I don't get into a deep sleep at night. I'm going to take more Travacor this weekend see how I feel when I wake up. Maybe it will make me sleep better.

That is it for today. Just thought that I would update everyone. It has been a long time and I need to get better about posting things again. Have a great day!

Restaurants

Finally I found time to sit down and write. The Travacor that I started 2 weeks ago makes me extremely tired. Most nights I forced myself to stay up until 9:30-10pm, even though I could fall asleep an hour after I get up in the morning. Hopefully adding the Tyrosine spray will keep me awake for the day. I started it yesterday and so far I feel better. I may need to up the Travacor though so I sleep better at night. Oh well.

Now onto my topic for this post. In the past few weeks, I have gone to three different restaurants: PF Changs, British Beer Company, and John Harvard's.

PF Changs is my favorite place around here. The girls and I went a couple weeks ago to celebrate my engagement. I love PF Changs! Not only is it delicious, but it is also gluten-free. I got the Asian Pear Mojito for my drink. It is much better than any other place around here for drinks. So far everything I've gotten there has been good. For dinner I got the Gluten-Free Spicy Chicken, which is their version of General Tso's. It is delicious and light. It is made with rice flour and a good sweet/spicy sauce. MMM. My friend and I are going back to PF Changs tonight. I am excited for more Gluten-Free Spicy Chicken!!

The British Beer Company has amazing Gluten-Free Buffalo Wings. They are oven baked, not fried. I love them. My friend and I go there every few weeks to get the wings. We have also decided that next time we go we are just getting the wings. The entrees are ok but not great. The rolls and wraps are not soy-free so I cannot eat them. The turkey tips in bbq sauce were decent, but the rice with them was a little crunchy. I will stick with just the wings from now on!

John Harvard's doesn't have much I can eat. I went for my brother's birthday dinner. I ended up with the Shepherd's pie. The mashed potatoes were good, but seemed to have a lot of dairy in them. The beef was flavorful. I didn't feel great afterwards, but I wasn't in pain. It did make me think of a way to make mashed potatoes that I can eat. I use pancetta and chicken broth in my potatoes to make them flavorful and creamy.

Anyway off to PF Changs! I'll hopefully write again soon. Have a good weekend!

Changes

I meant to write several times in the past few weeks, but it has been crazy. Things have changed in my life, health, and diet. This will be a short entry since I am just in and out of the apartment today.

I got engaged August 27th and have been starting to plan my wedding. Luckily I have until July 2012 to get everything done.

Thursday morning I saw my PCP. I found out that my adrenal glands are not working correctly. The adrenals control your depression, anxiety, and stomach fat. They are not working correctly because I suffered from anxiety and depression for so long that they are now overworked. My Cortisol level is at a 3 and it is supposed to be at a 9. I am now on Adrenotone during the day and Travacor at night. Adrenotone is supposed to give you an energy boost and help the Cortisol levels. Travacor helps you sleep and helps your anxiety/depression. I have been on Travacor before and it has made me sick in the past, so I am monitoring it. After 2 weeks of Travacor, I will add in Tyrosine in the morning. It is a spray that helps during the day. I'll see how it goes. So far the Adrenotone is giving me a boost, but I have felt any other difference.

Today I went to see my nutritionist. I was told that I can start a rotation diet. As long as I do not eat dairy or yeast, I can rotate the other sensitivities into my diet. I can eat my low sensitivities every 3 days. For example: I can eat broccoli today but then cannot eat it again until Tuesday, but I can eat beef tomorrow. This is a big thing. I have to monitor how I feel, but it could be a good thing for me.

Time to leave. I will hopefully post up reviews tomorrow of the 3 restaurants that I went to recently.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weather today. It is beautiful out!

Bread that I can eat!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. This week was busier than I expected, but a lot of fun.

Last weekend I found bread at Wholefoods Bellingham that I can eat!!! Food for Life Brown Rice Bread is wheat-, gluten-, soy-, dairy-, corn- (which doesn't matter to me, but it may affect someone else) and yeast- free. The ingredients are White Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Water, Tapioca Flour, Cellulose Gum, Organic Sunflower Oil, Agar-Agar, Black Strap Molasses, Sea Salt, Grape Concentrate, Pear Concentrate, Rice Dextrin, and Carrot Fiber.

Not only can I eat it, but I have found it delicious. It is a little dry, but I have added a sauce or spread and it has been fine. I have been eating it as a hot dog bun with chicken hot dogs, a burger bun with turkey burgers, or as regular sandwich bread with chicken salad. I added hot sauce or ketchup to the hot dogs and turkey burgers. The only downside is that when I bend it around the hot dog, it usually breaks in the middle. It doesn't bother me that much because I can actually eat bread!

Bread is the one thing that I have been missing. No warm, crunchy bread for months is awful. This bread is not crunchy, but it is like a regular white sandwich bread which is close enough for me.

I hope everyone had a great week. I have so many things in my head, so I will be writing more soon. Enjoy the weather today. It looks beautiful out!

La Cantina Framingham

Thursday night the girls and I went out to La Cantina in Framingham. I have never been before and have heard mixed reviews about it. They have a gluten-free menu so I could potentially eat there without getting sick. However, the menu is not user friendly when it comes to finding gluten-free items. There are just notes in the specific sections, like above pasta it says "gluten-free penne available add $1.99." I had to ask what kind of gluten-free penne they had and the waitress didn't know. (If you only have one kind, then I think you should have your waitresses memorize it or put it on your menu.) She asked the kitchen and told me it was brown rice. I'm not a fan of rice pasta, but it was my only option there. I got it with meat sauce.

My meal didn't look appetizing since it was brownish cream colored pasta just slopped in a dish with sauce over it. More importantly, it didn't taste like anything.It's disappointing. I spent $24 with drink and tip. I left the restaurant feeling kind of sick and not feeling satisfied.

I go to a restaurant to get something that I can't make at home. This meal I make 3 times a week at home and mine is delicious. Corn pasta with meat sauce is my favorite dinner right now. This inferior meal at La Cantina was expensive and tasteless. I will not be going back there again.

Vitamin Deficiencies

I touched on my vitamin deficiencies in that blog, so now I will go into more detail. I feel extremely tired for almost every minute of every day and have stomach/digestion issues. I was tested in November 2009 for vitamin deficiencies (the same day as the food sensitivity testing) and found out that I had multiple deficiencies too.

Here are my deficiencies and what I took/am taking to fix them:

Vitamin D—it affects bones and can cause osteoporosis. I took 4000 IU a day (which I didn’t mind because it tasted like chocolate). Since November my levels have improved dramatically.

Vitamin C—it affects my energy. It is an antioxidant. I was supposed to take 4 packets of Emergen-C a day, but it was too much for me. I took a couple of packets whenever I felt I needed them, but it didn’t make a difference. In June 2010, I had an IV of Vitamin C. It didn’t seem to make me feel any different and I cannot afford to keep going (it is $85 an IV).

Vitamin B12—deficiency can cause problems with energy, sleep, tingling of extremities, memory, and migraines. I took “End Fatigue Daily Energy B Complex” for a while, but when I got retested in June 2010 it wasn’t enough. I now do Vitamin B12 shots every Sunday. I will be switching back to the pills after the shots are done to try and keep the levels up.

Carnitine—affects metabolism and energy levels. I take a teaspoon of L-Carnitine every day. It is a thick, sticky liquid that tastes like raspberry and mint. It is kind of weird tasting, but not entirely disgusting. I have been taking it since November. As of June my levels were still low so I have to keep going for now.

CoQ10—an antioxidant that boosts metabolism. I get extremely bloated and have stomach fat that doesn’t go away. I take 200mg a day to combat both issues. I originally had an IV of Glutathione (a more powerful antioxidant), but the pills are cheaper.

Iron—can cause anemia and fatigue. I take 27mg of Ferrochel a day. I have been taking it since November and my levels are up since November. I continue to take it every day because I still have pills that I need to use up.

Probiotics—aid with digestion. I took them from November until a few months ago. I need to start taking them again since my body doesn’t digest food correctly. They made me feel a little better while on them.

Magnesium—helps with digestion. I take 150mg of Magnesium Citrate to help my stomach and intestines. It relieves constipation and makes sure everything moves through.

Berberine—restores the intestinal barrier that was damaged from food sensitivities. I took 900mg two to three times a day. It helped me feel much better. I was taken off of Berberine when I started the Magnesium Citrate.

Fish Oil—helps with dry skin. I took it for a few weeks, but the Cod in the pills caused problems for me. I stopped taking the Fish oil and it made me feel better. I still have extremely dry skin, but it is better than me feeling sick all the time.

Travacor—sleep aid and anti-anxiety pill. I wasn’t sleeping well for a few months when Brett was out of town. I took 2 pills every night for a month or two, but was taken off of it because I felt extremely groggy in the morning.

Other than those supplements, I take birth control and 3 shots a week for year round and fall allergies.

Every time I see my PCP she adds and takes away supplements. We are still trying to find the right balance for me. I get my vitamin levels checked every 6 months to figure out what has changed. I don't get most of the vitamins from food so I have to supplement them for now.

Enjoy your night!

Chicken Soup with Zucchini "Noodles"

I made Chicken Soup with Zucchini "Noodles" for lunch today. Here is the recipe:

1 Quart Chicken Stock (Make sure that it is sensitivity free. It took me awhile to find one that I could use. I used "More Than Gourmet Chicken Stock")
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib of celery, chopped
1 leek stalk, chopped
1 small zucchini, made into "noodles"
3 small chicken thighs, cooked (or any kind of cooked chicken that you like)

I brought the chicken stock to a boil while I chopped the vegetables. I chopped up the carrot, celery, and leek, then added it to the pot. I brought the soup down to a simmer for 10-20 minutes until the carrots were tender. I chopped the chicken and dropped it into the pot. I made the zucchini into matchsticks and added them into the pot. I let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Extremely easy to make. I added salt and pepper into my individual bowls as I dished it out, but you could add any spices you like into this soup.

Welcome to my blog!

Hi. My name is Angela. I’m 23 years old and a recent college graduate. I am writing this because I have been diagnosed with many, many food sensitivities in the past few months and have not found enough information online that helps me cope with multiple sensitivities. Before I get too much into my problems now, I am going to give you some of my back story so you can understand what I have already dealt with.

On and off for about 13 years of my life I have battled with an eating disorder. When I got into college it started to consume me. It got to the point where I decided that I could not continue the way I was going or I was going to die. A month after my 21^st birthday (February 2008), I checked myself into a treatment facility. Even though I hated it at first, I complied with the treatment and did everything I needed to do to get out. I did a few weeks of Partial Hospitalization, which was Monday to Friday 8:30am-2:30pm, then a month of Intensive Outpatient, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5:15pm-8:30pm. I came out of treatment with new friends, new skills to handle stress (otherwise known as life), and a new outlook. I continued to work with my outpatient team, which consisted of my therapist and my nutritionist, for about 6 months before I decided that I could do it on my own. I stopped seeing my therapist, but before I got to stop going to my nutritionist I got extremely bad pains in my kidneys. My PCP decided that it had to do with the eating disorder and thought I was lying when I said that I was behavior free for over 6 months. My nutritionist believed that it was kidney stones. After several weeks of pain in my kidneys, the pain spread to my stomach. I wish I could accurately describe the pain that I experienced. Almost every night I would curl up on the couch or in bed and just hope that I found a position that would let me sleep.

I knew that I couldn’t go back to the PCP who thought that I was lying, so my nutritionist recommended that I see someone at the place that she works. They specialize in natural and supplemental medicine. I switched to Visions Medical Center and had tests upon tests done. Food sensitivity tests, Vitamin tests, traditional blood tests, and many more that I cannot think of at the moment. My initial list of food sensitivities: dairy, beef liver, cod, lamb, clam, cilantro, sage, broccoli, peas, green beans, kale, cucumber, cantaloupe, pineapple, date, ginger, sesame, safflower oil, walnut, and vanilla. I already knew I was allergic to soy and was lactose-intolerant, but I had no idea about all of these sensitivities. I found this out the day before Thanksgiving 2009. My boyfriend, Brett, and I went to his sister’s house for Thanksgiving and I ate turkey, leftover rice, and cranberry sauce. I couldn’t eat anything else. It was not fun, but I eliminated these foods immediately and started to feel a little better.

A few months later I started getting the same pains again. My second sensitivity test showed these sensitivities: beef, yeast (brewer’s and baker’s), banana, peanut, and aspergillus niger (mold found in leftovers that are more than 2 days old and bruised fruits). My nutritionist put me on the Anti-Candida Diet which consisted of rice and chicken for every meal. NO Yeast, Sugars, Acids, or Processed Foods of any kind. I made rice pudding with unsweetened rice milk and cinnamon. It was my only treat on that diet. My new PCP didn’t agree with the diet because of my past and took me off of it 2 weeks later since my Candida (an overgrowth of yeast in the body) tests came back negative. She wanted to add in foods gradually, starting with carrots for 3 days, then moving to something else for 3 days, then something else for 3 days. I refused to go along with it and ate almost everything in sight (that didn’t include any of my sensitivities). You can’t deprive me of chocolate for 2 weeks and expect me to not eat it for a couple more months. My will power is not that strong.

Again, I felt fine for a few months, then (like before) I started to feel worse. I was checked for more food sensitivities and got this list: gluten, wheat, lobster, red beans, horseradish, mango, pistachio, oyster, black-eyed peas, radish, rosemary, teff, and turmeric. This is where I am now. I am still trying to figure out meals that do not include any of these sensitivities and are still healthy. I need to diversify what foods I eat, so that I don’t end up with more sensitivities.

For the past few weeks I have been trying to find blogs that are gluten-, soy-, and dairy- free. I have found many on the Autism diets, but I don’t need to know how to adapt kid’s food. I want something more than Mac & Cheese and chicken nuggets. I have decided to start this blog to keep track of the changes in my life and to hopefully find others in my position so we can help each other. I want to figure out why all these sensitivities are showing up all of a sudden. Is it just because I had an eating disorder in my past? Or could it be genetic? Or could they just be popping up for no reason?

Thanks for reading.