Thursday, April 26, 2018

Thursday Three

Things are starting to get crazy with school work ie essays. I have three large essays all due on the same weekend and it is getting hard to balance them. I feel like I am struggling with all of them which is frustrating. That being said, that is the main negative part of the week. This was another pretty good week, so here is why. 

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Best part of the week: Mom's Weekend. It was my sororities mom's weekend so my mom came and we were able to spend time together. It was a nice break from school and even nicer to spend time with my family. We were about to go out to dinner (a treat considering my diet), and just spend quality time together. I also got to see my dad and brother later in the weekend for a soccer game which was an unexpected but great surprise. 

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The weather sucked last week but now it is so nice out. Everyday is around 60 degrees. Tuesday was especially nice outside. I was able to wear sandals, try some ice cream and just enjoy the fresh air. One thing though, how do people like Chunky Monkey ice cream? It tastes so weird, like I knew it would taste like banana but it just felt wrong. I don't know if anyone feels like this but banana and real ice cream just doesn't mix. 

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Every Wednesday I like to go out for coffee and do homework. I find the break from the library and student union is exactly what I need to stay productive throughout the week. I tried a new coffee shop, and it just happened to be next to Bloom Bakeshop. I already loved this place, but now that I am gluten and dairy free I love it even more. I got a chocolate doughnut and wasn't able to wait more than 5 minutes before devouring it. Sweets are definitely what I miss the most with this diet.  

How was your week?
xoxo,
Maddie 

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Thursday Three

This was a really stressful week, but it wasn't bad at the same time. It's mainly stressful because I now am working on my final papers and am having difficulty starting them (or in one case, I had to re-find all of my data). Even with the stress of the end of the year, figuring out what I am doing this summer and other random things, it was still a good week. Here is what happened:

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I knew it would be a good week since the Farmer's Market started Saturday. If you have read my blog at all, you'd know how much I love any market. I was a little worried this time if I would find any breakfast for myself (I typically by breakfast for Saturday and Sunday there) since I am not gluten free among other things. Thankfully there was this amazing blueberry-banana scone!

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Alright, this is decidedly the worst part of the week: the weather. Let me just ask what in the world is going on that there was a snowstorm this weekend. In Madison, we didn't get too much snow (mainly ice), but at home, it was over a foot of snow. My siblings had a snow day in April... let that sink in. We then had another one Wednesday, and this was taken an hour in. All I want is warm(er) weather, honestly anything that means I can put my bean boots and winter parka away would be great. 

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 I am on the low FODMAP diet as I explained last week (see here), but now I have started a new stage. I slowly test different food groups to see how I react. This week was testing lactose, so I knew that I was going to start with ice cream. I have thought I was lactose intolerant for about a year, so I figured if I'm going to get sick, might as well do it with ice cream. To my surprise, I didn't have any symptoms.... so I guess I am not lactose intolerant. Knowing I can eat ice cream again has made me so happy. 

How was your week?
xoxo,
Maddie 

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Why My Mind was Elsewhere

  

     I haven't been able to focus on blogging a lot recently because I just couldn't focus on it. My life was taken over by school and my health. For most of this year I have been having stomach problems, and February and March is where it peaked.
     Starting in early October, I would find myself randomly bloating and having days where my stomach would just feel sick all of the time. I thought this was just stress related or something similar so I just tried to keep going. My symptoms kept getting worse until I decided (after a lot of persuasion from my parents) to visit my doctor over Thanksgiving. I chatted with her, and after having a negative Celiac Test, we decided I should visit a GI specialist in Madison. Throughout this time, I was never really sure how I would feel. Somedays were completely normal and other days meant I was curled up in bed with a massively bloated stomach after barely eating all day. The idea of eating had become scary, because I never knew how I would react. Winter break was weird because I went a full week feeling fine, but then every other week I would have a different set of symptoms.
       It was after break that everything started to go downhill. I began losing weight quickly, bloating abnormally everyday and after almost every meal, burping all of time (it made the library a place to avoid), and I began getting headaches almost daily. The bloating was getting so bad and common that I pretty much started only wearing leggings because jeans would hurt. On top of this, there were a couple occasions where my stomach would be in so much pain I could barely walk.
       This began to effect my social life because I would feel sick every night and not want to hang out with people, let alone go to a party. It felt like each moment I wasn't doing homework was consumed by trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I spent hours on the internet looking for causes, went to numerous appointments and test, and if nothing else, the constant bloating made sure it was never far from my mind.
      At my next appointment with my GI doctor, it was decided that I would go see a nutritionist and also get a CT scan to see what could be done. Thankfully the CT scan was normal, but that still meant I didn't know what was wrong and continued to feel sick almost all of the time. It was decided that I probably have IBS, which can only be determined through the elimination of other health issues. There is no test for it, it is just having all other tests come back normal. It was at the nutritionist that it was decided I would start the low FODMAP diet, while emphasizing eating a lot in order to at least regain some weight.
     Since starting the low FODMAP diet at the end of March, I have been feeling a lot better. The goal was to be 50-80% and I am definitely in that range. Of course, there have still been some days where I bloat like crazy or have these weird burps but it is no longer a daily occurrence.


What is the low FODMAP diet?
    FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharide and polyols. If you want to know more about it, check out this blog by Kate Scarlata. My dietician has worked with her so a lot of this information is exactly what I have been told. The goal of the diet is to remove FODMAPs consumed as they are typically malabsorbed. The easy way to describe it is that it is Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free, with no onions, garlic and a lot of fruits and vegetables with the fruits I can have being limited in portions.
     This has made cooking for myself a lot harder. I struggle with making big enough meal as you can't "layer" FODMAPs because then it will make a high FODMAP meal. I have had to be creative in my meals and I also need to eat a lot more often because even with the small meals, I still need to gain back the weight I lost. You should see my backpack when I leave for classes, it is always filled with snacks because I can't eat anything sold around campus.
     This is a temporary diet so soon I will be starting to add foods back in order to see what I react to. This will then structure how I eat in order to be healthy and feel my best.

   For now, this is where I am. I spend a lot of my time planning what I eat. keeping up with homework and trying to still enjoy myself. Feeling better has allowed me to focus more on other things in my life such a blogging. I am hoping I can get back into the swing of things and post more often. Of course, that being said we are headed into the time when finals are starting soon and projects are due so we'll see how this goes!

Have you heard of the low FODMAP diet before?
xoxo,
Maddie

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Thursday Three

I'm back! (hopefully for good) This past month has been absolutely crazy for me. I have been dealing with stomach problems (more on that later), a ton a school work and then last week was spring break. I had been under so much stress that I needed spring break for what it was... a break. I took a break from almost everything school related, and while I am still tired and stressed, I know I can get through the next 6 weeks. Here was my past week:

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 I knew over spring break I needed to go to Door County. This is always where I go to refresh, and that refresh was greatly needed. It is always so nice to be there in the winter. There are no tourists, everything is beautiful and I can just sit by the fire all day reading. I've said time and time again that Door County is my special place, and nothing reminds me of that more than when I go back after being gone a while.

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Due to stomach problems, I have been put on the Low FODMAP diet by my doctor. I'm writing a post more about what it is, and why I am on it but more on that later. The hardest thing for me is to be gluten free. I love my baked goods, so I knew over spring break I needed to make myself enough to last through the semester. I made zucchini muffins, blueberry muffins, banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, and then for Easter, a gluten/dairy-free carrot cake. Nothing was the exact same as my mom's normal recipes but for the first time of gluten free baking I am proud of the turnout.

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The first day after break the weather was so nice, and I got to enjoy a beautiful morning run by the lake. Seeing the sunrise was a great way to start to the day. Sadly the nice weather needed right away and we got a snow and ice storm the next day. I keep waiting for spring to start but I've lived in Wisconsin long enough to know we go straight from winter to summer, spring doesn't really exist. 

How was you week?
xoxo,
Maddie