Living la Vida Lupus

My test don’t guess project isn’t going as planned, results wise. I am learning some valuable things from the experiment though, so it’s not all bad.  

Doing the unthinkable is my daughter Michelle’s fault. She is a “middle” child. I will have to admit I was shocked when she had the audacity to suggest that I post “progress” photos. I have really been in denial about the fact that I actually needed to lose 40 pounds and this “brat” thinks I should post a photo of myself at my absolute all time heaviest weight. Hold on a second while I take a sip of my Pinot Noir.  

Ok, that’s better, so, I was at a Zumba Toning workshop last year when my photo was taken by another instructor. Did I mention I don’t do “candid” shots? That’s my new policyJ and I am sticking with it!  

　

Before I dive into my update I would like to acknowledge that I have quite a few “comments” in my spam folder <eyebrows raised>. Not sure if they are really spam or not <sad face>, but Akismet says they are. Anyway, just for giggles I thought I would copy and paste a few in today’s post <big grin>! 

The first one is from Jerome, thanks Jerome.  

Hey, thank you so much for the entertaining post. Wanted to add your RSS feed. However unfortunately it never seem to be working at all for me. Anyone having this difficulty? I’ll come back in a little while to check back. Regardless thanks again for this good read. 

I don’t know if anyone else is having difficulty with the RSS feed or not. Hello??? Anyone out there having this problem, please let me and Jerome know <sheepish grin>. 

Wilson wrote, I hope you will be updating your content constantly as you have one dedicated reader here. 

“High Five”, Wilson, thanks so much for the encouragement.  

John is a real smooth “commenter” is that even a word? He wrote, ha,ha, I think Zumba it’s so fun exercise! 

Yes, John, Zumba is very fun exercise…exercise in disguise…or so I have heard<cupping hand to ear>. 

If anyone other than my family and my friend, Mary, is even reading these ramblings of mine, please bare with me here, two more, then I promise to get to work. 

Timothy wrote, brilliant blog posting, I found your post very interesting, I think you are a brilliant writer. I added your blog to my bookmarks and will return in the future. 

Thanks Timothy…Ruby’s are brilliant…ask any jeweler<blushing>.   

And now for the best comment yet, ta, da, da, da, from Aspergers Syndromes Symptoms, Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! 

Aspergers, that’s what I’m talking about, those dang search engines! 

Ok, enough of that, on to the update. I have to share this tidbit with you. I was listening to a tele-seminar this week and the comment was made that someone had been on a diet plateau for three years. Yes, I spelled that right…three years, forgive me for laughing, but here in Texas that is considered maintenance! Well, with that lead in I have to announce that, yes, I am still maintaining my four pound weight loss. But I am really thinking this next week is going to be different, I am tweaking one of my supplements this week and I expect to see a lower digital reading on my bathroom scale <smile>. 

You know what the best part of this project is? The maturity I have reached in my weight loss efforts. Just a few short years ago, what am I talking about, last year I would have totally thrown in the towel by now. If you don’t get anything else out of following along with this project I hope you get that your weight is only a sliver of who you are. I have spent so many years letting the number on the scale dictate my happiness, my confidence, my sexuality and more I am sure. So, all I have to say today is “don’t throw in the towel, the woman who was on a three year plateau finally broke through it and reached her goal weightJ ”. 

Thanks for following along as I face life with lupus, 

XOXOXOX Ruby 

Yep, that’s life, so, please bare with me on the days that “life” gets in the way of our conversations. You know how guilty you feel when you “cheat” on your diet or exercise plan? That’s how I feel when I don’t meet my “post” goals. And you know what? It’s stressful!

Do you sense the shrillness of my voice?

Stress is the evil culprit of cortisol.

You do know that cortisol has been shown to have negative effects like:

Impaired cognitive performance

Suppressed thyroid function

Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia

Decreased bone density

Decrease in muscle tissue

Higher blood pressure

Lowered immunity

And inflammatory responses in the body, this is the “short list”, can you believe it?

The only item in the above list I don’t have is “High blood pressure”.

So, taking all this into consideration, I decided to cut myself some slack. Just like feeling guilt ridden for eating off your diet plan isn’t an excuse to ditch the whole diet, missing a “post” goal (or two) isn’t an excuse to throw in the towel and stop conversing with you guys.

Ok, now for my update. I am not defeated, do you hear me, body, I am not defeated!!! Again, nothing to report except that I am on week 5 of my vitamin D and increased Synthroid dosage. Even though most days I am still feeling extreme fatigue I added some exercise this past week. Last Thursday I did on interval of stair climbing. Survived it. High five! So on Friday I decided to go for four intervals. Made it through two intervals. What ever. When I woke up Saturday morning, OMGosh can you say “excruciating pain”? My glutes, calfs, quads, and hamstrings were intent on disabling me. So, what did I do to alleviate my pain? I went dancing, two step, polka, west coast swing, and waltz. How did that work for me? Sunday was “EXCRUCIATING”!

Well, I can report some good news…my clothes are getting looser…how can that be when the scale is stuck? Who cares? I say “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”, what ever that means. Maybe I should Google that …

Thanks for spending your time with me,

Ruby

Facing life with lupus

Whatever! Do you have trouble losing weight? Most autoimmune patients do. And if you are currently on medication, don’t throw in the towel, be patient with yourself. Do you stick to your program faithfully with slow to minimal results? My weight loss is coming in small drops, plateau, small drop, plateau, but I am not complaining because for over a year I was not seeing any weight loss at all no matter what I did. At least now I am going in the right directions. My quest for better health and weight loss is a science project. Funny, I didn’t like science in school and now I find it quite fascinating.

I am a life time Weight Watcher’s (WW) member, but I am not following the WW program. Please don’t think this conversation is in any way negative towards WW, this is simply my personal experience with weight loss. WW is not the only weight loss plan I have tried over the years. I will address others in future conversations. I will start by stating that I love the WW program and have many friends who have been successful on the plan. Hello, I said I am a life time member! So what happened between my body and the WW program? I crashed and burned on the Points system and the concept that I could eat any food as long as I ate within my points allowance. I did really well on the Core Program, but “points”, hay caramba! I just couldn’t make it work for me <sad face>.

Currently I am not counting calories, fat grams, sugar grams, points, nada. I eat well balanced meals designed to nourish my body and sustain me from one meal to the next without the need for “snacks” between meals. I follow a food plan designed to decrease inflammation in my body. In recent years, the effects of diet and lifestyle in autoimmune disease have been studied intensively. Regardless of the cause, certain diets, particularly those based on foods with a low glycemic index, are known to reduce inflammation and help prevent flares in patients with lupus and related conditions. Studies also show that certain lifestyle factors cause flares.

Ruby

Facing life with lupus

6/24/2010-better late than never

Did You Do It?

Did you Google “Food Sensitivities”? It’s ok if you didn’t because we are going to talk about them right now.

I have a food allergy…shrimp…they are lethal to me. I break out in hives, swell up, itch, and have difficulty breathing when I consume shrimp. One of my son’s friends has these reactions from just touching shrimp!

I also have some food sensitivities that fortunately are not lethal, but they do cause symptoms that before being tested I had no idea were food related. I can assure you in the past I have taken over the counter and prescription medications for these symptoms. It is such a relief to get to the root of their cause.

Are you paying attention? This is important. Delayed food reactions can cause a variety of chronic symptoms. Now here is the part that really caught my attention as someone who suffers from lupus. Food sensitivities can cause inflammatory reactions at various sites in your body, including the small and large intestines, skin, kidneys, ears, sinuses, head, lungs, and joints. OMGosh!

So, what foods are people most commonly sensitive too? That would be eggs, dairy, gluten, soy and peanuts. I have never been fond of eggs or soy, maybe a little edamame sometimes. I crave dairy, hmmmmmm a nice cold glass of skim milk, cheese, ice cream…I eat peanuts, but it is no big deal to eliminate them. Gluten? What the heck is gluten? It is a protein found in wheat and some other grains. Great, no bread! And what about all the grains I have been consuming for “fiber”?

When I began my quest to lose my extra poundage by eating healthy and exercising smarter I decided to eliminate the eggs, dairy, gluten, soy, and peanuts. A much harder feat that I thought. Anyway I was doing quite well. Lost a few pounds. I was feeling fabulous, sleeping better and not feeling so bloated. But the weight loss came to a stand still after couple of months into my program so, I decided to actually be tested for food sensitivities. It is a simple test, I performed it in the comfort of my own home. My results arrived a few weeks later and guess what. I am not sensitive to eggs, dairy, gluten, soy or peanuts!

You want to know the results right? I was shocked, dismayed, and a little confused. I had no foods that I am severely sensitive to. This is a good thing. Now for the shocking part…I am sensitive to “chicken”!?! My main source of protein. How will I survive? So why am I dismayed? I am moderately sensitive to crab meat. I don’t eat crab meat often, but it is a favorite considering my shrimp allergy. I will miss crab meat, but it doesn’t rank up there with chicken. Now for the confusing part…green peas, what? I don’t eat green peas. Or at least I didn’t think I did. I told you I have a protein smoothie for breakfast “every” morning and sometimes for dinner too. I was using a rice protein powder instead of whey because I was not doing dairy, remember? Well the rice protein powder contained hemp and GREEN PEAS!

To be continued…
Ruby
Facing life with lupus

I hope I am not developing a pattern here…Tuesday posts becoming Wednesday posts! I had a follow up with my rheumatologist yesterday after work. My appointment was at 4:15pm. I left the doctor’s office at 6:00pm. They were behind schedule…I had an hour commute home from the appointment. No excuses, just “sayin”, there aren’t enough hours in a day!

So, on with today’s conversation. No loss of additional poundage since my last update. And actually no inch or body fat % loss either, but “stop the presses” I had three comments from co-workers that I look like I have lost some weight! Can you say “motivation”?

My custom blended amino acids were delivered today. The instruction pamphlet says I should notice improvement in 3 to 14 days! I still need to order my B vitamins and a couple other supplements in order to blaze ahead with my full arsenal of weapons.

I would like to share with you a food experience I had this weekend.

Father’s Day dinner at my in-laws. Lots of healthy food choices, but also a lot of foods that I have not been consuming. Because of inflammation issues with autoimmune disease I have been eliminating gluten and dairy, well about 90% anyway, it is really hard and sometimes these two items are in foods that you least expect. Example…I was looking at the nutrition information at Freebirds, a tex – mex fast food restaurant close to where I live and can you believe it, there is freakin’ gluten in their salsa! How ridiculous is that!

So, what was my experience? I had my signature smoothie for breakfast, went to church, early service, lunch was to be served around 1pm. Got to our destination and my husband poured me a glass of red wine, yum, nothing wrong with that except it may have triggered my appetite a smidge and then out came the chips, Doritos with a hint of jalepeno, ok, just a few, yum, Ruby you really need to stop, this could get out of control real quick, ok, mixed nuts, better choice than chips, oops, how did that chip get in my mouth? Fruit! Cherries and pineapple, that’s better than nuts or chips. When is lunch being served again? Lunch consists of roast beef, green beans, salad, bread, warm buttery bread, luckily it is sliced thin because I indulge in two pieces. Oh yea, red potatoes, I ate one, yikes, then it’s time for dessert, marble cake with chocolate frosting. I had a small, really small piece. The frosting was decadent. Not really, but it had been soooooooooo looooooong since I had indulged, trust me it was decadent! So for about two hours I grazed on foods that have been foreign to me for some time. I didn’t stuff myself, but I felt like I had eaten an elephant. But I haven’t even told you the real experience yet! I almost went into a coma after consuming this food. I am not kidding, I sat on the sofa and could not keep my eyes open, I felt as if I had been drugged. We had to leave, it was really embarrassing. It didn’t end there, I nodded in and out of consciousness all the way home, about an hour’s drive. I was nauseated, I had a headache, I felt bloated, and it lingered on until the next day. Do not do this to yourself. There is no food, do you hear me? No food is worth the symptoms I experienced.

Do yourself a favor and Google “food sensitivities”. I believe that nurturing my body with healthy food is key to my lupus success. If you have an autoimmune disease you know there is a fine line  you have to walk to keep yourself off medications and out of the hospital. Make up your mind that you are worth it, please. Don’t take my word for it, I am my own guinea pig, feel free to learn from my mistakes. I know there is someone, probably many someones who need “you” to hang around and be as healthy as possible. I promise you if it weren’t for my husband and kids I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you. Disease is the hardest thing you will ever fight.

Thanks for listening,

Ruby

Facing life with lupus

Well, friends, I began my increased dose of synthroid this past Saturday and added the supplement for my cholesterol, recommended by my physician. My food plan (I would love to share, but you have to ask) remained the same. You are not going to believe it…I lost 4 pounds this week…you heard me right, 4, 4, 4, 4, sorry I can’t quit saying it, 4 pounds, 4 pounds, 4 pounds. Not only did I lose 4 pounds I broke through a major plateau that I have been trying to overcome for about 6 weeks.

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you I have pretty consistently carried about 10 extra pounds since my years of steroid therapy. Then I hit menopause this year, OMGosh it seemed as if I woke up one morning with an additional 20 pounds, that’s, you know….30 pounds overweight. This could not be happening! Well, in February of this year I decided I had to muster up all my strength and determination to somehow lose the extra pounds. I got off to a good start lost 8 pounds in a couple of months, stalled a few weeks, lost 4 more pounds, came to a screeching halt. Mick on the other hand lost 30 pounds in the same time frame (grumbling under my breath).

Of course I now know why I was having such a hard time…test don’t guess! It is the secret to my success<smile>.

At this time I am only concerned with my waist and hip measurements. So what do you think the ideal waist measurement is? I just read that under the guidelines of the International Diabetes Federation, a normal waist measurement for a woman is 32 inches or less, and for a man it is 38 inches or less. Some doctors even recommend 30 inches or less for women and 35 for men. Great balls of fire! Well, my first goal is going to be to lose 5 inches in my waistline. Please send positive energy my way…scratch that…please pray for my success.

No, this is not a photo of me <sheepish grin>
My body fat % is 41, hay caramba, I need to feel some love people. According to a chart I found online that is not acceptable. In fact I am in the obese category!!! Say it isn’t so. Forgive me, but I am going to give that chart the same acknowledgement I give the BMI chart…not very much.

I ordered my “custom blended” amino acids today. Another important piece of the puzzle known as Ruby’s body. Lupus, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc…you better look out, I am fighting back.

Ruby

Facing life with lupus

Please allow me to explain, I mentioned “testing” in my “Throwing Down the Gauntlet” post because I had a number of lab tests done recently. Some of the findings of these tests were low thyroid levels, low adrenal hormone levels, I am deficient in B vitamins, and low levels of 5 amino acids. I am still waiting on my vitamin D results. Any one of these deficiencies can compromise energy production and cause chronic fatigue. And to make matters worse I haven’t been sleeping good for a couple of months, quality or quantity. I know, wah, wah, wah, but really, I share these details with you so you will understand how it is that I fell asleep on the sofa after dinner on Tuesday night, thus no post <insert embarrassed face>.I thought about writing Tuesday’s missed post yesterday, but I decided to work on techie stuff instead. I am finding that a Bloggers work is never done.

Thanks for joining me as I “Face Life with Lupus”.

Ok, before I bore you to death, on with project “Test Don’t Guess”. Saturdays will be my official weigh, measure, and calculate body fat percent day. So without having to bare my most intimate details aka actual number on the bathroom scale let it suffice to say that my 3 month weight loss goal is to lose 26 pounds. I will post my body fat percentage and inch loss goals on Saturday, “Sport’s Page Day“, I don’t think he will mind sharing a little of his online presence with his mom. And this isn’t just about fat percentages and creating a muffin top out of a pound cake people, my triglycerides are 555, yikes, my goal is to get them under 150. Total cholesterol needs to go from 276 down to between 125-200, Success in these two areas will ensure my total ratio will hit it’s target.

So, how does this all tie into autoimmune disease? Keeping yourself as healthy as possible at all times is invaluable. I never know when I might have a little flare or an extremely severe flare. My best chance for survival is a strong immune system. And even though today’s conversation is focusing on numbers, another component of strengthening my immune system is exercise. We will talk more about the value of exercise to autoimmune disease in another post. Always be prepared, scouts honor. I am important to a lot of people, so I do everything I can to be healthy for them. Who knows maybe you can find some benefit from my personal experiences.

On a lighter note…still struggling with inserting photos so I will share a picture of Mick and Sport.