Raw Raw Raw...

Breakfast: Banana/mango smoothie
Lunch: Banana smoothie
Dinner: Cabbage and kelp noodles w/ tahini dressing


Meals I'm thinking about:
Smoothies
Juice
Portobello romaine wraps
Tomato Soup
Red Pepper Bisque

Raw Reflections

I wonder why when I found something that worked ... I did not stay with it. I remember feeling sorry for myself that I couldn't eat "regular" food and was restricted to primarily raw blended foods and some solids.

But I was better! I guess it's the nature of the beast to want "more" ... to want "normal" but I felt good for a change and my focus slipped away from feeling good to feeling deprived. A lesson learned along the way I guess. Onward soulja girl... and here's to accepting what's "normal" for my current situation and leaving the past in the past. There's a future to live!

Juicing and Smoothies

When I juice I use my trusty Jack LaLanne juicer and strain the juice to get the fiber out. Carrot/apple/strawberry is one of my favorites. I also like carrot/romain lettuce and green juice made with romaine/celery/cucumber/zucchini/carrot.

Yesterday I ate banana and almond milk smoothies. They were tolerated very well except when I tried adding vegan protein powder to one and suffered the rest of the day. 7 grams of fiber did not agree with me. :-(

I still have bloat for now but it's better than last night. I'm off for some carrot/romaine juice for breakfast. :-)

My Enemy - The Bloat

This is what my bloat

looks like. It's horrible.
I wear a 12 and have to
get out the size 20

stretchy pants.

Gastroparesis and CIP

Gastroparesis is a paralyzed stomach. The food one eats digests very slowly and can sit in the stomach for days. I have colonic inertia as well because what goes in doesn't want to come out. It can be very painful with lots of bloating and nausea and vomiting. Carrisa Haston had the best explanation on GP (gastroparesis) here: http://bluelightningjeep.blogspot.com/2010/02/just-imagine.html

Others with GP cannot eat at all and are on tube or needle feedings. Some have pacemakers installed in the stomachs. Some have their stomachs removed. There is no cure...

I'm having a big flareup after eating a mostly solid (cooked) vegan diet. I miss cooked food and do this on occassion and the flare comes with a vengence. I guess it's wishful thinking that when I'm feeling better I can move to the next step and eat a solid diet of rice, potatoes, and cooked veggies. The food gets stuck somewhere inside eventually and ferments. Ick.

I am considering a tube temporarily if I can't manage this on my own. Please join me as I work on this and see if I can manage my symptoms and get better. Currently I'm on a liquid diet. My main symptoms are:

Severe bloating (10" +)

Vomiting solid food

Nausea

**Please not that what work for me may not work for somebody else that has GP. We all have varying degress of gut motility and severity of symptoms. This is just my experience. :-)

I'm hungry.... always hungry. I cave when I can't stand it and eat. Just a bite probably won't hurt....but it tastes good. I eat a little more....and I'm sorry... so very sorry. I'm bloated....so very bloated. My clothes are pinching my gut in half. It's spilling over my pants and pressing on my lungs. My breathing becomes labored from the pressure. It will be with me the rest of the day, maybe longer.

Results Jan - Sept 2010

46 lbs released since January 1, 2010. I look forward to releasing another 20 or so. My body will know when it's comfy. So far this year with a high raw diet I have lowered my blood sugars from the mid 200's to the low 100's and am off all diabetes medication. I am healing nicely from the after-affects of taking cortisone for so long. For those of you out there with drug induced Cushing's Syndrome - it took me about 15 months to start feeling better after weaning off the cortisone. My gastropresis is much better when I eat a diet high in raw fruit and veggies juices, smoothies and soups w/ a small amount of nut & seed butters. I also eat a smaller percentage of cooked veggies and do on occassion eat a small amount of seafood.

Namaste' Ya'll

16 Weeks Results

At the end of 16 weeks I released 22 lbs. I also stopped my diabetes medication. I start 16 weeks part II on Dec 1st.

Today was juice and smoothies:
BR: banana smoothie
LN: grapefruit/orange/apple juice
DN: Romaine/spinach/carrot/beet juice - slightly sweet and refreshing. Rick hated it. He likes fruit!

See ya!