updated pre-trip report

[alicia1506]

hi all,

so most of you know me from my recent TR where we did a whirlwind cross-country trip to the states, incorporating 4 x cities in 2 weeks. this was our first trip to visit the mouse and we're hooked. we're planning a return trip in oct/nov of 2012 and i want to be healthy for it.

some of you will be familiar with my posts regarding my weight, the jet lag, feeling off when we came home etc. most of this i put down to needing to get healthy, and get off the pills from an ulcer i discovered i had just prior to the trip. the doc thought from stress and trip planning and what have you.

anyways, some pain in my abdomen on the trip, the hideously ill episode i had whilst in NYC -- turns out these were all symptoms of a lovely 2 x ulcer combination... one in my esophagus and one in my stomach. fabulousness. we were aware of the first one. not the second. and the pain is just truly awesome. i've had over 5 days off work since returning from our trip, and medicine isn't helping. i spoke to my doc regarding natural remedies and he suggested really strict diet modification, in line with what happyfingers is doing -- a juice fast.

at first i thought the idea of a juice fast was pretty interesting, and a nice boost to a traditional weight loss program, but after watching the Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead video, i was inspired like nothing else to turn my life around completely and get off this medication, cure my ulcer and get healthy like never before. the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead raises some very awe-inspiring points, and it does it in a totally laid back, non-intrusive, non-lecture-y kind of way. it's common sense combined with a slap in the head kind of wake up call. the thing that struck me most through the video is just how much people who were unhealthy were unwilling to do anything about it aside from consulting doctors or popping more pills, or putting action off until 'someday'.

so my resolution is to feel better. drop some weight. get rid of the ulcer and take back my health. and i'm doing it through juice fasting. 3 x meals a day are pure, freshly juiced fruit and vegetables. nothing purchased in stores, nothing pre-packaged or premade. freshly juiced whole fruits and vegetables for 100 days. then for 30 days i'll eat nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, and then review.

as the first several days involve a pretty nasty detox period, i'm commencing this health journey on 26th December 2011, not because it's the day after xmas but because it's the first day of my week of xmas holidays at home, and i'll be using that week to detox and try not to be a complete grump to everyone. i figure if i'm detoxing, the best place to be is at home and far away from customers.

for the next 12 days, i'm massively increasing my consumption of fruits and vegetables and dramatically reducing my intake of carbs and processed foods, caffeine, sugars and animal products to try and ready my system for this massive change.

i intend to do daily updates on this once i've started, and essentially blog about my journey towards a healthier me... this is just me on my own little journey, putting it out there into the cosmic void so i can be accountable to myself and anyone who feels like following along on this little trip.

i promise there will also be pre-trip discussions too

 

[WAMUMOF4]

good on you for taking control of your life. i don't think i could try what your doing but i have just had food allergy tests and been taken off of wheat, eggs, dairy, rice, rye, peanuts and some fish so my life is in major restyle day 6 for me and i must say i am starting to feel so much better. I hope this cures your ulcers Good luck

 

[alicia1506]

thanks so much for the support it helps, big time.

i want to make this change, and love the accountability of coming on here daily to make sure i stay on track. mine is an issue of willpower -- i could keep ignoring my body and the signals it is sending me, and keep getting worse and taking more medicines, but i want to be fit and healthy.

we just discovered disney cruise lines and carlo is thinking it might be worth it to add to our trip so i'm also thinking it would be good to look/feel good in a bathing suit too

 

[ExcitedSam]

Good luck Alicia! You can do it!! Get fit for Mickey!

 

[alicia1506]

thanks sam!! the encouragement is helpful.. especially when i am off work today due to the pain of the ulcer again. ugh. can't wait to get started on this and get rid of the stupid things!!!

 

[cassi8]

Good on you! Its going to be very difficult drinking all of your nutrients but I am sure you can do it! My slap in the face for doing anything bad to my body was dad in hospital at 45 after having a massive heart attack and nearly leaving us for good and then being diagnosed with PCOS I had to do something as I was on the same road as dad!

I will join the journey with you, we are going in late Sept and I want to be down about 10kgs by then and an awful lot fitter. I have started working on my diet and fitting exercise in where I can with a 3mth old and a 3 year old.

 

[alicia1506]

Good on you! Its going to be very difficult drinking all of your nutrients but I am sure you can do it! My slap in the face for doing anything bad to my body was dad in hospital at 45 after having a massive heart attack and nearly leaving us for good and then being diagnosed with PCOS I had to do something as I was on the same road as dad!

I will join the journey with you, we are going in late Sept and I want to be down about 10kgs by then and an awful lot fitter. I have started working on my diet and fitting exercise in where I can with a 3mth old and a 3 year old.

hey, pcos is the worst!! i have a borderline case (meaning symptoms but no official diagnosis yet) and it makes moving the weight, especially from the stomach area, so hard.

but i'm determined to do this, and get fit. i plan on checking in online and making myself really accountable.

just got a xmas bonus from work that will be put towards buying a super-dooper juicer as i want to make sure i'm getting the most nutrients possible.

and i figure all i have to do if i start to falter is remember how much pain i'm in now from the ulcer and that should keep me on the straight and narrow.



feel free to join in with your health kick too. the more the merrier i say

 

[cassi8]

I am classic syndrome X, if you have heard of it. A whole host of thing but I had lost a bit before falling pg so I have hope. PCO does make it harder but its not impossible, even just little things like one less sugar in your tea or coffee, white for wholemeal, salad for crackers I am finding make the world of difference and research low GI, its helped balance my BGL and feel better and like I was able to exercise

I can't do a strict diet as I am still feeding the LO but its helping with the extra energy burnt

 

[cassi8]

Double post.

 

[alicia1506]

I am classic syndrome X, if you have heard of it. A whole host of thing but I had lost a bit before falling pg so I have hope. PCO does make it harder but its not impossible, even just little things like one less sugar in your tea or coffee, white for wholemeal, salad for crackers I am finding make the world of difference and research low GI, its helped balance my BGL and feel better and like I was able to exercise

I can't do a strict diet as I am still feeding the LO but its helping with the extra energy burnt

i totally hear you on the changes to diet thing, which i have already been doing. i have some of the worst symptoms and i hate it. my doc thinks the juice fast will help clear up some of the syptoms as well, so another bonus to doing it.

 

[alicia1506]

so just went out and bought kgs and kgs of veges and fruits to start juicing, and my juicer.

i was originally going to start this in 2 weeks, just after xmas and whilst i had time off work, but have decided not to wait. going to start juicing as a pre-cursor now, to try and bring my metabolism and digestive system into order by juicing for 2 meals a day, and having fruits and veges for the third meal for the next 2 weeks, then starting the 3 x juices a day from dec 26 onwards, for the 100 day challenge

went through some count-by-numbers today. took my starting weight in lbs and kgs, my height in feet & inches/cms and my bmi and wrote up some goals for various points through this, eg by day 30 to have lost 20kg etc. fingers crossed i see some results.

these last few days i have been babying my system, lots of eggs and green veges and things that won't upset my stomach, and so far, no ulcer attacks in 2 days, so we'll see how that lasts. will update tomorrow on my first pre-fast juicing experience

 

[WAMUMOF4]

good luck
PCOS is what i was diagnosed with last week horrible thing that it is the natoropath has me on herbs for it and something is working because with that and cutting out all the food i was allergic to i am starting to feel unhormonal for the first time in months
seems like we nearly have a PCOS disboard support group

 

[cassi8]

Its quite interesting to hear how common PCO actually is. Its not until people start talking that you realise just how many have it or the precursors to it.

Glad there have been no more attacks Alicia. What wonderful concoctions are you going to come up with that juice?

SO me, not great on food in the last 2 days but lots of exercise and a few busy days. What I have eaten I have limited though so streching that willpower muscle

 

[alicia1506]

so today is day 1 on my pre-juice fast arrangement. that is to say, between now and dec 26, i am replacing 2 meals a day with fruit/vege juice to increase my micronutrient increase to ensure that i'm not going totally cold turkey.

so i got my juicer last night and plugged it in and started juicing within 20 mins it's easy to use and it takes a lot of fruit/veges to make up the juice!!! i'm not watering mine down or anything, so last night... 8 apples and 2 whole pineapples got me just under 1 litre of juice. i have a huge order of fruit/veges being delivered this afternoon, and this morning i had a juice made up of 6 huge pink lady apples and 500g white seedless grapes. the idea is to have fruit juice only for breakfast (need the extra sugar in the morning) then fruit/vege juice for lunch and vege only for dinner. i've cut out all other sugar, carbs and caffeine.

it's been 2 days since my last hit of precious, precious coffee and my brain is telling me i neeeeeed it or i'll explode. had a bit of a tiff with carlo this morning over what would normally be nothing but turned into something with life and death importance. lol. all back to normal now, but the caffeine withdrawal is a pain. i feel good though, and it's now been 3 nights without an ulcer attack, so that is making me feel good.

took all my measurements this morning for a starting baseline for my weight loss goal. it's looking serious everyone.

will report back tomorrow on how day 1 of the partial fast went.

 

[aussietravellers]

Good on you Alicia for starting your getting healthy journey. I started my getting healthy journey not long ago and have lost a bit so far, about 12% body fat actually in the last three months. It really is a great thing you are doing and it definately makes you feel better as you start seeing results.

Have you thought of starting a blog of your journey? I started one when I started my journey and have become quite addicted to the whole blogging thing (have since started a travel one too).

Anyway, looking forward to following your journey.

 

[australiankaren]

hey

good luck with the whole thing.......dont forget to treat yourself every now and then, other wise you become a weight-zilla....

i haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks and are loving the break, but back to it after Xmas....my body just said "enough exercise!!! now feed me crap"..

hope you feel better.....

 

[alicia1506]

so i start my total juice-only fast in a few days and i'm really, really looking forward to it. i've been experimenting the last few days with different flavour combinations, and keeping the fruit to vege ratio pretty constant, and i'm really liking it.

the only hard/boring part about it is the cleaning of the juicer each time i make it, and the fact that the juicer only makes about 1 litre of juice each time, so making it up in bulk quantities to take to work with me etc is a bit of a pain. the actual consumption of the juice is fabulous and i'm already noticing changes to my sleeping/eating habits, different foods taste better/worse to me and my hair/skin/nails are all looking much better than they were. i've had no flare ups from my ulcer, so looking forward to actually starting the juice-only fast.

we're getting a new fridge next week, and i cannot wait. my current fridge either freezes my veges (so not nice!) or barely cools them. room temperature beetroot juice = blech!!

we were overdue for a new one, so we went and picked one out and this one is much bigger, with lots of vege storage which will be good as our vege & fruit purchases have increased exponentially recently

an interesting side note -- i love celery, cannot stand it in juice form. i hate beetroot, love it in juice form.

i also have a sensitivity to all red fruits in that i become clinically hyper-hyperactive due to an allergy to the red pigmentation -- even though the whole berry/apple etc is put into the juicer, skin and all, in juice form the hyperactivity is somehow mitigated and all i get is an awesome energy burst similar to drinking coffee or some kind of energy drink -- but without the massive over-stimulation of my brain receptors and the resulting depressive episode coming down from the hyper-hyperactivity awesomeness

 

[alicia1506]

so i had an ulcer attack last night. hideous, hideous pain woke me at 2am. i'd been so good with the xmas food, especially as i have been juicing and eating lots of micronutrient rich food for the last week or so and really getting into this whole health kick.

xmas day, i turned down most every food except the ham and various salad bits -- but then came dessert. rum balls and trifle. i didn't overindulge, but as the rum balls have rum in them (you don't say!!) and a decent quantity too, and the trifle is soaked in sherry... well, the alcohol hit my stomach and about later that night... unbearable pain.

not good at all. today is my last day to indulge any kind of food, then tomorrow... juicing 24/7 begins. wish me luck!!!

 

[cassi8]

You can do it Alicia! Not good on the attack, I won't even pretend to know how painful it is but hopefully all the juice will help

I have been going well, was quite restrained yesterday went nuts today LOL but its ok, have to have indulgence days sometimes!

I'll get back to it when DH goes back to work next week

 

[alicia1506]

so... i discovered doing a juice only fast when it's 'that time' and you have terrible chocolate cravings like nobody's business... yeah. not the smartest of moves.

so my start date has been 'officially' moved to today. i've still been juicing and having only fruits & veges to eat, and i've been really, really good. it's just the handful of chocolate-covered peanuts that screwed me over, that's all

the attack i had on christmas day night/boxing day morning... mostly due to the alcohol in the rum balls. since then i've felt great. so fingers crossed that that was the end of it

on a side note, we had to sit down and have the 'talk'...you know, the one where you budget for your trip and decide what you can & can't do, and what you can afford if you don't eat for a month, etc

we've decided that since we have some large expenses this year, we will only be doing our november trip. we liked travelling in november, the weather was great and it's a good time of year for us, work-wise. it also gives us the better part of the year to save up

so we're only going to be travelling to disneyland for several days on this trip, and we're doing the 7 night western carribean cruise on the new disney fantasy from nov 10-17. this will be our first cruise, so really, really looking forward to it, and to seeing the xmas celebrations at disneyland. we'll be at disneyland from 17-26 nov, so will hopefully be able to book thanksgiving dinner at disney... or we might decide to do it up diner-style at the dennys near our hotel... haven't decided yet. so i'm off to contact Dreams Unlimited for a quote for our cruise/airfare/transport etc and see if we can get some free OBC to go with, to put towards our spa appointments