RE: FRUSTRATION - 3 month review

[Guest guest]

Hi Leah,

As for the Meds, I had mine made at a compound pharmacy, and I had more problems with them. So here is what I suggest. Take your regular meds if you feel you have to,( we are not Doctors with the ability to tell you what to do with the Meds) and stay 100% to the diet. It would be better than not being on the diet at all....However, do not think of your meds as cheating, the human mind, under stress, will look for comfort. If you think of meds as cheating you might be tempted to throw in the towel and really cheat......

I think you already realized that you will never know about the three month flare due to all the different variables you threw at yourself.....work on the food log, I had fallen on my face soooo many times when I had started, because I was like you.....

As for the calories, You don't want to get to weak, I had lost 100 lbs my first year. Sometimes I didn't have the power to yell ( 3 small kids). Here is a link http://caloriecount.about.com to a calorie tracking site, I use it to keep my weigh down now, but you can use it to maintain yours. You fill out the forms and it tells you how many calories you need to live for the day, from there you can add the food you ate for the day. If you filled the forms accurately, and you eat what you are allowed, then your weight will stay maintained. If Your weight drops, then you still might have an absorption problem. From there you can add calories to balance yourself.

You mentioned eating lots of fruit and vegs, and Almond butter, (Sorry everyone, I feel like I have said this too much but) What worked for me is to treat of your damaged intestines as that of a baby.... soft, cooked, purred foods and only one new food a week.....Almond butter set me back a few times, to a damaged intestines it like sand paper.....That is also why we should start with ground meat instead of solid meat it is a lot of work for our system to break down.

I got tired of ground beef and relied on chicken salad made in my food processor with homemade mayo.

All The Best, Lou

1) How much of a problem are the meds? If I'm not totally SCD compliant with the meds, even if I'm 100% with food and drink, will I still heal? 2) THREE MONTH FLARE???? Is THAT what that was?? Or was it a reaction to either the coconut milk or the flu shot? If it was a reaction to the coconut milk, it was a lot stronger than any other reaction I've had. 3) Should I be worried about calorie intake? Does it sound like I'm wasting away (which is what my mom is worried about)?Plan your next getaway with AOL Travel. Check out Today's Hot 5 Travel Deals!

[Guest guest]

I have read a good way to figure out your " ideal " weight is to go with

100 pounds for the five foot and then 5 pounds for each inch above

that........thus 110 could still be ideal........I think your bmi is

probably ok for your height.......

HTH Michele

[Guest guest]

Hi Leah,I just want to encourage you to eat 100% legal and keep your spirits up. Healing takes time and a lot of trial and error. For the weight issue I know family and friends can have very different views of what is a healthy weight for you, and you need to do your very best to appreciate the love they are expressing with their concern but completely ignore them. Only you and your doctor can determine what your healthy weight range is, and even for you that will vary depending on your bone structure and muscle mass. Most Americans are overweight, even basically slender people, so most folks have an unrealistic sense of what is healthy to begin with. If you are eating and your body is processing food well, then whatever weight you are is probably fine. To give you something to compare against, I am 2 inches taller than you - 5'4" - and my healthy adult weight seems to be between 125 and 135 depending on whether I am exercising regularly or not (higher weight with higher muscle mass.) When I was in high school at the same height I only weighed 108 and in college I was about 120. I am small to medium boned, but I am not super skinny.I also want to encourage you to reread BTVC from time to time and the legal/illegal list. I thought I had weeded out all illegals from my cabinet, only to realize a few weeks ago that I was still cooking with molasses, which is illegal since it is a by-product of sugar production - duh! Boy did I feel silly when I caught that one. I am used to cooking gluten-free and other allergen free, so the fact that I missed that one was a real wakeup call for me to go back to basics and review everything to see what else might have slipped by. Two weeks ago I thought I must have had a slip up (though I couldn't figure with what) or a flare, because I felt sooooo sick for a couple of days. But after the rest of the family fell sick with the same symptoms one by one I realized it was an intestinal virus. So you may never know what caused a particular episode. Just do your best to stay 100% compliant, keep the food journal to help you reveal your problem foods, and keep your focus on healing. Also, beware that some nutritionists will tell you it is impossible to have a healthy diet without whole grains and will be very worried about your vitamin B levels. Hopefully you will find an open-minded nutritionist who can work with you. Good luck! in PAlifelong IBSgluten-free since 2004SCD since June 2008

--- FRUSTRATION - 3 month review

Date: Tue, November 04, 2008 3:46 pm

To: BTVC-SCD

Apparently, frustration is just a normal part of my life. So I've been on the SCD for a while now, maybe 3 months? I'm terrible at keeping track of things and keeping a food diary - bad, I know. I'm also TERRIBLE at taking things slowly and adding foods appropriately, which is obvious when I flare from things like raw onions in guac (which I KNOW I shouldn't eat, but dammit it tastes so good!) or coconut milk in curry. I'm FINALLY feeling somewhat normal after a week of hell. Today is the first day in a week that I haven't gone to the bathroom more than twice, or woken up during the night to go. I don't know what happened last week - I was doing fine and then suddenly, BOOM! It happened on Wednesday night and could have been caused by one of two things (IMO) - a flu shot I got on Tuesday afternoon or the curry I ate Tuesday night. Either way, I basically was having liquid D ALL DAY EVERY DAY for the past week, tons of G and C. Basically miserable. ****WAS THIS THE FAMED THREE MONTH FLARE????**** FINALLY today I'm okay (only went once so far, yay!) and I'M FED UP, with myself and my illness. I'm starting over with the intro and I'm going to do it right. Keep a food diary, introduce foods appropriately, etc. I already have a pretty good idea of most of my trigger foods but I'm going to follow the 4/5 day rule for introducing foods. My mom is freaking out because she thinks I weigh too little. I'm 5'2 and I went from 150 lbs preSCD to about 115 or 120 now. Obviously, cutting out the grains and carbs helped, but I personally believe it's because my body doesn't think it's malnourished anymore because I can actually digest what I eat, which has boosted my metabolism like crazy. I had a Dr appointment a few weeks ago (OBGYN, not GI) and she thinks I'm fine and height/weight proportionate. However, as a caveat for my mom, I'm making an appointment with a nutritionist and taking her a 2 week food diary, so we can identify problems in my diet. I think I'm fine, though - I eat tons of protein (eggs, chicken, beef, pork, FISH FISH FISH, cheese), tons of veggies, fruit, almond butter, and honey. Obviously my definition of an appropriate diet has changed, but I don't see problems with what I eat. Does anyone here notice anything immediately troublesome? I'm still not 100% SCD compliant. I do really well with foods, beverages, etc. I eat out more often than I should, but I'm really cautious and I harrass the poor waiters to death (but of course then I tip them appropriately) so I don't get any hidden illegals. HOWEVER, my meds are still my normal walgreen's pharmacy stuff, which I'm sure have quite a few illegals in them, as are my vitamins. I'm ordering a bunch of SCD compliant vits and supps from Freeda (now that I FINALLY paid my tuition, I have money to spare, yay!) but I just don't have the money to get my meds compounded. I take 3 gelcaps a day (UC/Crohns), 3 tablets (thyroid meds, birth control, UC/Crohns med), and 2 of these weird envelope things that basically contain what a gelcap would have if it were in an aluminum envelope thing (I bought them in Spain). SO I guess here are my questions - 1) How much of a problem are the meds? If I'm not totally SCD compliant with the meds, even if I'm 100% with food and drink, will I still heal? 2) THREE MONTH FLARE???? Is THAT what that was?? Or was it a reaction to either the coconut milk or the flu shot? If it was a reaction to the coconut milk, it was a lot stronger than any other reaction I've had. 3) Should I be worried about calorie intake? Does it sound like I'm wasting away (which is what my mom is worried about)? THANK YOU ALL! I've loved reading the posts over the past few months, they really make this diet easier to follow. I'm over to the GAPS website for some of the recipes for bone broth, although I've found that pho is a GREAT option (vietnamese bone broth based soup, which is traditionally made with noodles but my fav place will leave them out for me - we have a huge vietnamese community in Houston and some FABULOUS vietnamese food). Everyone here constantly provides me with inspiration and it really is wonderful to know that I'm not the only one. THANK YOU AGAIN!! Leah