Allergy testing!

I finally had my allergy testing done on the 2nd of April, I called yesterday and got the results, not exactly what I expected, but lots of stuff to learn and research on. I even ordered 5 books off amazon.com to help me with this new venture in my life.

So the results are........ my top 5 allergens that I need to stay completely away from for a minimun of 6 months are; rice, barley, sesame, lima beans and string beans!! Seriously, I think I have never reacted to lima beans, cause I stay as far away from those as possible cause they are just nasty!! I was rather shocked about the rice allergy especially since I took wheat out of my diet and replaced it with rice products - rice pasta, rice milk, rice syrup, and brown & white rice. The barley is actually a challenging allergy since it manifests in different ways, like as malt in cereal or as beta fiber, and it is actually in regular white flour. So that one will be my difficult one out of my top 5. So I actually have 10 more food allergies, they are not ones that will produce an immediate reaction, but will still make me sick, bloated and yucky feeling. They are eggs, oysters, SUGAR and 7 dairy foods, casein, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, milk, goat milk, whey and yogurt. Although mozzarella cheese did not come back as an allergy. Since I have taken all dairy and eggs out of my diet since January, they did not appear up with the top ones, so the longer I stay away from these foods, the better the chances of me splurging later on in life and not being so sick with the treats! So my biggest shock of all is the sugar cane allergy!! How can one be allergic to sugar? I have been doing a lot of research on that and have come up with some forms of sugar that I could possibly tolerate; honey, beet sugar, agave, corn syrup, maple syrup and xylitol. So I do have options, it will just continue to be a challenge to see what foods are my enemies!!

So the doctor is still unsure since I did not come back allergic to wheat if I could have Celiacs (gluten intolerance) so I am going to begin to add wheat back to my diet and then see if I still get sick. I am finding so many things with wheat in them have either barley, dairy or sugar in them too, so it could possibly have been the other things I was reacting to not the actual wheat.

So my journey continues!! But what a better way to cut the sugars out of your diet than to find out that you are allergic to them!! Crazy!!

Can we say, "Tired of being sick!!"

Well, since going off my anti-biotics last week for my gut-bug (intestinal infection) I have been so sick with stomach issues and headaches. I will just attribute the headaches to spring allergies, but the stomach stuff is no fun!! Not to sure what is going on since the anti-biotic should have cleared all this up, so I am off the the naturopath doctor tomorrow to see if I need another round of anti-biotics. I am a little bummed out that I will not have my allergy testing done yet. Until we get my system back to normal, we will have to put that on hold. We will hope for allergy testing at Aprils appointment!!

I never posted this, sorry

Well, I now know what happens when you take all the possible food allergens out of your diet for 5 weeks and feel great, then splurge and have Taco Bell with both dairy and wheat in it -- you spend a lot of time sick!!! It has been over a week since I have been on here, I had finals for school due last week, and all the stress of finals lead me to stress eat and eat my favorite food -- Taco Bell. It was great, it tasted wonderful!! But I ended up sick on my stomach and puffy all over!! Oh, and I downed a fair share of Dr Pepper too over the weekend. So I am now in the detox mode, drinking lots of water and eating only food that is on my diet. I finally felt better last night, but woke up with a killer of a headache this morning. The headache, I am sure, is from caffeine with drawls.



So I went to the grocery store last night, came home and as I was putting all the pantry groceries away this morning, I realized that my pantry is now full of organic foods and plain foods with no allergy foods in them. I have fallen over to the healthy food way of life. My family is starting to get on board. Chris eats pretty much what I do, Zach could care less, as long as I feed him. Katelynn is the one with a little resistance, but she is coming along!!



I am looking forward to having my allergy testing done in a few weeks to see what foods I am actually allergic too. Today is my last day on the anti-biotic to clear up the gut-bugs (bacteria in my digestive system) I have only had minimal allergic reactions to the anti-biotic, nothing some benedryl didn't curb. So I am still on several herbal pills to help clear up the gut-bugs and also to cleanse my liver!! So off to get the little ones to school!!

2 doctor's appointment & lots of info!!

So this past week I went to both of my doctors. On Monday I went and saw my new doc and the Vancouver clinic. She was good, my cholesterol is making progress. I still have some hard work to do, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My triglycerides have dropped down to 114 from 250 three months ago! My ratio is also with in the guidelines, but my HDL and LDL are still out of balance. So continuing on with my new diet and going to get motivated to make it to the gym again. I also found out that my Vitamin D levels are pretty low (that would explain a lot) and my liver functions are way out of wack! I have new vitamins to take and back there in 3 months.

On Saturday, I went back to my Naturopath doctor. Some test results came back showing I have 3 bad bacteria living in my digestive system. One of them is pretty rare and is fund in burn patients and also can be found in those working in hospitals. Very interesting, I have been reading on the Internet trying to figure out how I could have contracted that. I am on an antibiotic to clear that up, which is quite a challenge since the top 2 antibiotics to treat it I am allergic to. So we are trying a sulfa based drug, plus some herbal stuff in hope that I do not have an allergic reaction and that it clears up this nasty stuff going on inside of me. I just cant imagine that could be what has been causing my stomach issues for years!! I am also on some liquid vitamin D drops and some liver cleansing pills to try to regulate those. Next month when I go back, I will have allergy testing and find out which foods I am allergic to, until then I will stay away from all the common food allergies. Also she is concerned that if my liver levels do not come down that I could have Celiacs Disease. So much more options to look into, but in the meantime I am plugging along.

So in conclusion to the end of my 4 weeks with no dairy, wheat, eggs, soy or corn, I splurged and caved in to some pizza, not the crummy gluten free stuff, but the good real stuff!!! But after the afternoon of being sick on my stomach I have decided that if I splurge again I will have to make it Papa Petes pizza!!!!

Also, for those of you that know me well, know about my adversion to green veggies, well I braved it and made asparagus for dinner last night! It was not so bad, I even had it again for lunch today, call me crazy but I think I am going to make it on this journey to health!!! Now on to month 2!!!

HELP, I lost something and can't seem to find it!!!

I am missing a fat roll that used to reside on both sides!!! Can't seem to find it, but I think I will quit looking and be content with it gone!!!

Going to the doc tomorrow to find out the results of my latest cholesterol check and also see if she will run some labs to determine my risk for heart disease. Will post tomorrow how it all goes

In the mean time, dinner of kettle chips and maybe some coconut ice cream!! A super big thanks to my friend Amy for introducing me to the yummy ice cream that Chris wont even touch because it says coconut on it, even though it does not taste like coconut, but I don't guess i need to tell him that!!!

Unbelievable!!!

So my new steady diet of kettle chips and organic root beer has caused me to drop another few pounds and I even had to cinch up the belt today!!! Oh, and the rice noodles with spaghetti last night was actually pretty good. I think I am finally adjusting tasting no flavor!!

Simple pleasures in the life of one who can not eat anything good!!!

Still wondering what I ate at Burger King that gave me a terrible tummy ache today, was it the plain hamburger patty or the french fries? Will stay clear of there for a while.

Got my bloodwork done today, now to have to wait till Monday to find out the results! Patience is not a strong point of mine!!

2 weeks down, now for the rest of my life!!

Well, I have officially made it 2 weeks with no wheat or dairy in my diet! Tummy aches are much better!! I have slipped up on some of the other foods the doc suggested I stay away from, and crazy thing is that when I have had soy or corn I have experienced tummy aches. Interesting, I sure hope that does not mean that I am allergic to those as well.

It is still amazingly frustrating to go to the store and find foods for me to eat. I did order a case of snickerdoodles from Whole foods today, no egg, wheat, soy, or dairy!! I am pretty safe with meat and cook veggies, but there is only so many times in a week that baked potatoes will satisfy you. Who would have thought that rice cheese would have dairy protein in it, it must be such a small amount of dairy that my body doesn't go into tummy ache fits!!

Also this past week I have ventured out to the real world of eating out!! So I have discovered that when all else fails, order a large side of fries and loads of ketchup and all will be well!!

So I have learned that changing your food habits is such an emotional journey!! Resisting foods you would love to eat is so hard!!

So Wednesday is the day, I go in to have my cholesterol checked. Lets see what my body has been able to do with natural remedies. Cant wait till next Monday to get those results!!

10 days down!!!

I can not believe that it has been 10 days of this diet!!! I have an easy way for any of you that want/need to loose weight ---- find out you are allergic to wheat and dairy, then try to find something that will feed your junk food cravings without any wheat or dairy in it!! You are bound to starve yourself skinny. That is what I feel like I am doing.

10 things I have learned in the last 10 days..........

1. Even when you tell yourself day in and day out that you are in this to feel better and to live a longer more active life, it still does not make this journey to health any easier!

2. What really stinks is that most munchies have either wheat, dairy, soy or eggs in it!!!

3. Try going to the mall and find some lunch that fits with-in my diet. Thai food!!! I am in love with this place in the Vancouver mall, as I walked by there was a guy handing out samples, I started to tune him out thinking that I don't need that temptation till I heard him say "try this, it is wheat free" I was like, "what did you just say?" He said in broke English, "this is wheat free" I was like, "can I have it all!!" I was so happy!!

4. Even shopping at health food stores, it can still be pretty depressing finding food that I can eat!

5. Mexican food rocks!!! I met an old friend for lunch on Monday, I did great, no wheat or dairy. But I did fudge on having tortilla chips (not suppose to have corn) had salsa (not suppose to have raw veggies right now) and I splurged big time with a root beer!! It tasted so good!! That was my 1 week mark on my diet, so I got to have a little treat!

6. For the first time in 10 days, everyone in my family ate the same thing for dinner. Yes, I said it right, but we did have something a little different. I got some organic spaghetti sauce (no wheat fillers in it) and the family had spaghetti with regular noodles, and I had spaghetti with rice noodles. So rice noodles are not the same, but they are growing on me. OK maybe not, but I ate them.

7. So gluten free pizza is not the greatest, but leftovers are even worse. Could not even swallow it on day 3!!! YUCKY!!! I am going to have to wait a while to try that one again.

8. So in the last 10 days, I do have to say my favorites are still what they were before starting this journey to health. I may have altered them a little, but not too much. My steak and baked potato, although no bacon bits on the potato and I am able to stomach the rice cheese and the dairy free butter.

9. For the record, dairy free chocolate chips are pretty good!! They still fulfil that chocolate craving and make me not want to harm anyone!! just kidding!

10. I found some snickerdoodles that ROCK!!!! I am not sure how they can be egg, dairy, wheat, and soy free but they are and they are GREAT!!!

**So I think I am going to make it**

Day 6

Saturday mornings in the Vasilas house call for a slew of pancakes!! I make several batches so I can freeze some for a hot breakfast during the week. Normally I get my fair share of pancakes too by snacking on them as they are nice and hot. Well I did it!! I managed to make a zillion pancakes without even trying one!!! I was quite proud of myself!! I am excited for my friend to get back into town this week so she can give me a gluten-free pancake recipe, then I can alter it for no eggs or milk. Instead of pancakes, I ate my yummy apple cinnamon bread, not quite the same but it was fine.

I had to run over to the mall today to do some exchanges around lunch time. So in the process I ran by Burger King and got me a large fry and then a hamburger patty (who is crazy enough to order that?) But it was fast food and it was in the guidelines of my diet!

So for some really cool reason, God blessed us here in the Northwest with a beautiful sunny Saturday, so after the little ones napped, we went outside for about 2 hours!! What a glorious day!!! I have missed the sun!! Since we were out later, we decided to make it a pizza night. So Garlic Jim's here I come....A Canadian bacon & pineapple pizza!!! Gluten free crust and no cheese. Sure it may have tasted like cardboard, but it sure smelled GOOD!!!! I added some of my special rice cheese when I got home so it was OK. They told me the next time I could bring in my special cheese and they will put it on for me before they cook it!! I am so excited!! so life on this anti-inflammatory diet is going to be OK!!

I googled 'anti-inflammatory diet' and was amazed at all the resources that popped up. This diet is a natural remedy for all sorts of issues, from asthma to fibromyalgia(sp?)!! I am impressed!! Now if only I could stomach the spiced to cleanse my liver!! I have got to figure that one out still!! That is some nasty stuff!!

Day 4 & 5

My dad informed me this morning that I have gotten behind on my blog. So here is a recap of Thursday and Friday.

Thursday (day 4) was a shopping day for me, off to find more goodies that I can eat! I was so excited when I found Cinnamon chex!! I figured since they were gluten free that they would be fine, well I was wrong. After eating 2 bowls of it I realized that they contain milk and soy! So that really stinks!! Chris likes them so at least they wont go to waste. I also took a stab at altering a recipe to try a different taste. I took my banana bread recipe and used applesauce and added cinnamon to it to make a loaf of apple cinnamon bread! It was pretty good! Although my dad's comment on it after he tried it was, "well, I guess if that is all you can eat then it is OK" So my verdict is if you are not gluten intolerant, you can not fully enjoy gluten free bread!
Another thing I also learned on Thursday was.....Never go to Costco hungry when you can't eat any of the sample food!!! What torture that was!!! Lesson learned.

Friday (day 5) nothing new and exciting to report today. Although I did enjoy some pretty amazing Salmon tonight!!! For those of you who do not know, Costco has the BEST fresh Alaskan Salmon!!! I just got to figure out something better to go with it than baked potatoes, Baked potatoes for lunch and dinner day after day is getting getting old.

Another great plus of this anti-inflammatory diet, it not only will I start feeling better soon, but I have dropped 5 pounds in just 5 days by just cutting out all the darn processed and junk food!!!

So 2 days left and I will have made it a week with sticking pretty strictly to this plan. I have made a few oops on the diet, but only out of ignorance, not because I couldn't stand strong. I will continue to give this a fair try. Since western medicine has failed in controlling my allergies and stomach issues I will give this a fair try to see if it works!!

Day 3!

No one told me this would be such an emotional journey!!! I want (no I need) a Dr. Pepper so bad!!! I almost got one too!! But instead I got large fries and a piece of hamburger meat from burger king. Today I have munched all day long, but I stood strong and maintained my Dairy, wheat, egg, soy free diet!! It is not easy, but I keep looking forward to the benefits that will come!! no more constant tummy aches, no more allergy issues, I will do it!!

So, I am thinking, what should I do to reward myself after making it 1 week?!?! Maybe a shopping trip!!

Day 2 --- done and off to bed with a full belly!!!

Today I found some good food for me. I was off to find Lingenberries, but never found it. I need to get better directions. Lingenberries has a lot of gluten free foods, so I will hunt it down another day. I did make it over to trader joes, I found some rice noodle bowls that taste similar to Ramen noodles (ok, not really, but I am getting desperate!) I also found some more pasta there and got about a 10 page print out of the gluten free food they have there. I did find some Salmon patties there with no fillers in them and there were GREAT!! Tonight dinner was pretty good, and my tummy is full and happy. Salmon patties and a baked potato with dairy free butter and parsley!!

My Naturopath doctor has put me on a pro-biotic to help build up the good bacteria in my system. She was concerned that if I had too much bad bacteria, that until she got the bad bacteria treated that my body couldn't tolerate the pro-biotics. Well, sad to say I took the first one yesterday and wow --- no good!!! I will try it again another day, but if I go from yesterdays experience then, I am unable to tolerate it. Yikes!!! There must be lots of bacteria growing in me!! Kind of gross thinking!!

Well, 2 days with no wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, and a lot of other good stuff. I am thinking I might be able to handle this. Might is the key word!! I am finding goodies that make me happy and that are OK for me. I am finding out as I talk about this, that other people are experiencing the same thing and are interested in natural ways of healing their bodies!!

So here we go....on to day 3!!!!

Day 1 ---done

So here was the verdict of day 1.

Home made mac and cheese with rice noodles and rice cheese -- GROSS!!!

Fish from out of a packet - not as good as the picture looks and GROSS!!!

Grilled chicken strips from Costco -- GROSS!!!

Wheat, egg, dairy free choc chip banana bread --WONDERFUL!!! That was my lunch, snack and dinner tonight!!

So time for some more researching on-line to find some quick and easy foods that taste good!!!

Day 1 here I come

OK here we go. No more Dr. Pepper, no more junk food, no more milk, wheat, eggs, soy and and and ......

The coconut milk was not so bad this morning, it will be a process of acquiring the taste.

Another thing I forgot to mention i my post yesterday is that my new doctor has me on a gentle liver cleanse to wash away all the toxins that have been building up in there. She is also very suspicious that my high cholesterol has nothing to do with my family history, but more to do with the allergies and the fact that the food I have been eating is poisoning my digestive tract. So I start today with adding some spices to my food that will flush my liver.

I go in 2 1/2 weeks to have blood drawn to check my cholesterol again, my goal is for no cheating on this diet to see what kind of progress I can make in 2 1/2 weeks!!!

I am very motivated, even though Chris thinks this is a bit crazy. I am at the end with no other options, so now besides the motivation for a healthy body, I am motivated to prove Chris wrong!!!

A new beginning!

Over a year ago when I went in for a normal doctors appointment to get refills on all my allergy and asthma meds, as the doctor was asking about my medical history, she decided that with my family heart issues that it would not hurt to check my cholesterol even though I was only 32. Well much to all our surprise, we found out I have really high cholesterol, especially being as young as I was. So that began the battle of finding medicine that would bring it down. After the first medicine gave me an allergic reaction, she began looking for another. The next one worked well, but not well enough. I did research on it and liver damage was a significant side-effect. then they wanted to double that, I said, "Hold on, I don't want to be in here years from now waiting for a liver transplant, I want off this stuff!" So that was the beginning of my journey to find healthy options for some serious medical issues I have -- high cholesterol and serious allergies!!!

After my friend Amy talked so highly of this naturopath doctor she is seeing, I decided to give it a try and see what she has to say about my allergies. So yesterday, Saturday, I was off to see this doctor. I walked in and she asked about what brought me there, I began to tell her about some of my allergies, only a little. She stopped me and began filling in some of the problems I was having. She was right on, she was talking about all the 37 inhalant allergies I had, she was very surprised that I had not passed out from those like she had at one point. She also explained how those allergies can rip apart my insides, poison my blood and cause some serious problems!!

So here is the low-down on what she is having me do. She is very suspicious that I have a dairy allergy since i have so much sinus issues, and a wheat allergy too. I am on a strict anti-inflammatory diet - no wheat, dairy, soy, and eggs. I am also having to cook everything I eat. My digestive tract is so messed up that it needs time to heal. So if I cook all my veggies or fruit, then it will give my body time to heal and prevent any bacteria to enter my system from food. Also no tap water, no ice cubes. Interesting. She is also testing to see whether I have a bacterial or fungal infection going on inside me so she can treat it too. Also no soda!! No Dr. Pepper!!

I have spent 2 days shopping, eating junk food and finding recipes of food that follows her guidelines and I am ready to start this diet tomorrow. I had my farewell Taco Bell and McDonalds meal today along with a couple large Dr. Peppers today. I am so glad that I have a friend that is gluten intolerant so she can help me with that part, and I have another friend of a similar diet, so I am not in this alone!!

I thought today, why not blog this journey. Why not get some of frustrations out on here, why not let others see what choosing natural health can do, so here I go..........