New Year, New Me- My health goals for the new year

I’ll just come out and say it… last year was a struggle when it comes to my health.  

If I was to illustrate it I suppose I’d have a picture of me, not able to keep my head above water. 

With my lyme treatments and other problem treatments (Mold toxicity, hypoglycemia, thyroid, adrenal, candida) last year… I had a lot of ups and downs. 

 I had some good progress killing off lyme, but sometimes the treatments get rough… I found it is soooo hard to take medicines that literally make you sick.  Meds should make you feel better right? Not with lyme unfortunately. For those that aren’t familiar… You take medicines or herbal treatments to kill the lyme, but then you have die off from the lyme that is toxic to your system and overwhelms your body- It’s called a herxheimer reaction.  Therefore any time you are treating yourself and actually doing good... you are sick.  Your symptoms are multiplied oh about 20 fold (think flu but 10x worse).  It’s so hard.   And it becomes so much harder when you are trying to work, live a normal life, be social in your 20’s, have friendships, put time into your relationship.  This among some other work stress caused me to have to quit my job in March.   After working years to get my degree, being only 3 months away from attaining my license, and just the general guilt of not being able to contribute to finances it gets even harder.  Learning to accept this has been one of my biggest struggles and biggest sources of emotional stress this year.  I’ve learned to trust God with my life like I’ve never had to before. 

I wrote a post earlier this year about my food intolerances and allergies.  I failed miserably at avoiding all of these.  It was just impossible.  100 foods you can’t eat make things so hard.   I think it’s still good to know the problem foods however, and I choose the major ones to avoid.  I can also say I’m nowhere near having my gut fixed however.  It’s very hard to say what the most major player is in that however… whether it’s the food intolerances, the candida yeast overgrowth, just bad bacteria etc.

I realized I can’t go in our local hardware store without an epi pen.  Apparently they had water damage… I don’t get this reaction in any other of the stores. Apparently my reaction to mold is now so bad my throat starts closing up, I get sudden ice pick headaches, and sudden migrating joint pain.  It only lasts oh about a day and a half.   So mold sickness is still a big player.  I also discovered some new things… he tested me for the MTHFR genes- which have to do with your body to detox, to make enough folic acid and process it.   My body which my doctor expected has both the mutations and not just one.  This is pretty common in anyone with mold sickness, and even seen with most everyone with lyme.   It’s interesting the things both sicknesses have in common, and how many people have both.   Usually as I understand it, your first sign of lyme (if you didn’t have the symptoms right after bite) can come with a trigger from mold sickness.   This gene is also associated with a lot of other things like autoimmune disorders on one, heart disease and conditions on the other, along with some pregnancy issues because of your inability to absorb folic acid (thankful I found out now and can be ahead of that).  I started some treatment with supplements to be able to open up my detox pathways, and will now be on methylfolate for life.  I also started going to a sauna to help detox the mold out of my system.  Apparently getting too much in my system (like when I went to the store) and my body’s inability to get it out, causes the bad symptoms. 

Just before the year ended at my last doctor’s visit I also discussed with the doctor some pretty severe and quick weight gain and inability to lose weight even eating less and walking long distances/exercising more than I had been.   He drew some bloodwork just to check insulin levels since metabolic things can affect that.   Well my insulin came back with extremely high levels.  With some other symptoms- such as becoming extremely shaky and nearly passing out when I didn’t eat on time when a restaurant was taking forever to seat us on vacation a few weeks before,  this also meant most likely severe hypoglycemia.  High insulin= low blood sugar.  High insulin also = impossible to lose weight gain that comes on very fast.  Every bit of sugar you eat is stored as fat.    Thanks body… appreciate that. The doctor also said if I didn’t change my diet I was on my way to becoming a diabetic within months.  Yeah.. not happening.   I definitely would pursue change. 

However I did finish the year feeling strong.   I was able to go over 30 days on a sugar free diet (including no grains and no high carb/sugar fruits or veggies, and that was a HUGE accomplishment for me.  

No cinnamon rolls?  No croissants with cookie butter, no hot chocolate/Rollos coffee from the awesome little coffee shop downtown…   hello THAT was an accomplishment.  Food has always been my friend… my comforter when I’m down… It’s always there for me when I have a bad day to make me feel better.  It’s true what they say about food and the link to your psyche.   Food for me (ESPECIALLY CARBS) is all about my emotions.   But food was actually making me sick.   It was also keeping me sick.   Such betrayal from that friend.    

How did I do it?   I realized all that time that I was depending on food for comfort… I should’ve been depending on God.  Sounds super simple right?  Well… it kinda is.   I also realized I should be doing everything in my power to take care of the body that God gave me.   This included not eating stuff I know hurts me.   I also found some innovative new recipes and subs for the things I used to eat.   Almond flour cheddar bay biscuits folks… yumm. 

So here lies the new year, a fresh start. 

What are my plans for change?

This year I am going all out.  I am fully in.  I want to do everything in my power to get better and leave all this sickness behind.    I am picturing a future me at this finish line.  Healthier than I’ve ever been in my life.  Healthier skin.  Finally back to my weight pre-sickness.  (I hesitate to use the weight word, but not only for my looks, this is for my health, weight is a big contributor and symptom of my sickness since most was gained from hormone and metabolic problems)   I want to have energy.  I want to be able to hang… as in be able to go all day… be able to keep up with other people… do activities my friends and family do with no problem.  I want to not be afraid to do things in fear I’ll get sick while there and can’t leave.  I want to be able to walk in the winter without pain.  I want to be able to focus on something other than being sick.  I want to be there and have all the energy in the world for my future little Delks.  

Yeah… I have some pretty good motivators.   But how am I going to accomplish this? How am I hopefully leaving lyme behind?

This year I’m taking a full body approach.  In a lot of my research, even with medications I’ve seen where you can’t successfully kick the lyme, without completely transforming your body into a body that is too healthy to harbor the germs.   That means transformation…. That means focusing on everything all at once.  Exercise, Diet, De-stressing, Spiritual, sleep, supplements.  The whole package.  

If I have to become a “health nut” to get rid of this mess… then that is what I shall do!

• I will focus on my relationship with Christ first and foremost. Your spiritual life plays such a huge part in your health physically and mentally.
• I will focus on improving relationships and loving others.
• I will research new techniques and supplements and be on the lookout for ways to help me be healthier.
• I will focus on taking my medications every day and be consistent.  I will take my supplements, I will take my lyme meds- even though they will hurt me, because it is worth it in the end.
• I will make time for exercise each and every day whether I feel like kick boxing and dancing, or only a low key yoga or short walk.  I will move my body. 
• I will be consistent with my healthier diet.  Right now I am going grain free, added sugar free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, and artificial processed free.    Gotta go all out right?   I’m still focusing on avoiding sugars for my insulin problems, but also adding in the others because of my intolerances.  I want my body the least inflamed it can be at this time- and the intolerances lead to inflammation.
• I will focus on meal planning and prep to make the diet easier.
• I will use the sauna an hour at least 3x weekly to detox my body.  (soooo thankful my parents got me a portable sauna for Christmas… this will make this so much more accessible.)
• I will focus on reducing stress in my body.
• I will utilize my new tools- my essential oils for healing my body and improving my health. (I plan to do a post on these specifically soon if you’ve ever been interested)

And those my friends are my goals for a healthier new year.    I would love your encouragement this upcoming year and your prayers to follow through.    Anyone else out there with any health goals this year? I’d love to encourage you!

One of my new favorite recipes for this new diet challenge I'll share with you guys, It's modified from a childhood favorite- because sometimes you just need a little comfort and a little butter ha- thankful on a lowcarb diet butter is considered friend-especially grassfed: dairy-(if you tolerate butter), egg, gluten (check your seasonings), and grain free) If you aren't on a special diet and just want to try the recipe, you can also use normal flour and actual eggs.

Picnic Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients: 

3 tbsp Grass Fed Butter

Powdered egg replacer premixed to equal to 2 eggs

1/2 cup Coconut or almond milk

2 cups Almond flour

2 tbsp Seasoning Salt (such as lawrys)

3 tbsp Cajun Seasoning

1tbsp Garlic powder

2 1/2 tbsp Thyme

1 tbsp Parsley

8-10 Chicken Strips

Preheat oven to 425.

Cut butter into three pieces and place in a glass 9x13 casserole dish or metal pan with sides.   Place in oven and melt butter. (Takes around 10 minutes)

While butter is melting Mix egg re-placer and coconut milk in a shallow bowl.  

Place Almond flour and all other seasonings in another shallow dish and mix thoroughly.   

Don't forget to check on your butter and get the pan out when melted.   

Dip chicken in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and back in the flour mixture rolling until completely coated.  Place in pan with the butter.   Repeat for each Chicken strip.  

Place baking dish in oven when complete.  Cook for about 12-15 minutes, then flip the chicken to the other side.  If the pan becomes dry, additional butter may be added.  Cook an additional 12-15 minutes or until breading starts to become golden brown.  Because of the almond flour, this is sometimes hard to determine.   Check tenders for doneness- clear juices upon cutting, and an internal temperature of 175.   Enjoy!    

I served mine with a Honey Dijon sauce (though the breading is so flavorful it's not even completely necessary)- 1tbsp of dijon mustard mixed with 1 tpsp of honey. We also had a spiced cauliflower cream soup. yummm

(Just a disclaimer, none of my views expressed above were meant to diagnose or treat anyone, just sharing my opinions and things i've found, i'm not a doc- thanks!)