MSNomad's journey

[MSNomad]

Well, it seems it is time to start my journal. I started this way of eating a little over 3 weeks ago.

Here’s a bit about me:

* I’m female, 47 years old
* I have multiple sclerosis and was diagnosed about 10 years ago
* I stopped working last year and retired early because of the MS
* While I have already lost 7 lbs in 3 weeks, weight loss is not my main goal – stopping and reversing MS symptoms is my goal
* I’m a gardener, a writer, a wife, a cook
* I love to float in the pool at the Y
* I've been vegetarian for about 18 years, and was recently living the life of a "muffin vegan" as Kris Carr calls it (the “muffin top” is slowly shrinking)
* I am a nomad, a traveler, a wanderer

I’m on board with Norm’s approach to this plan, quoted here from morphine’s journal. Even though I had less foods to give up coming to this from a vegetarian life, Norm's approach is really working for me.

Write out a list of ALL the non-plan foods you have problems with. Then divide those foods into three categories. The three categories are: Foods you will eliminate entirely, Foods you will reduce intake of by some percentage, and Foods you will continue to eat as normal for the time being.

Here is what I documented 3 weeks ago when I started.

Foods I'll eliminate:
eggs, soy milk, oil for cooking, coconut oil, butter, coffee (had already given up cheese)

Foods I'll reduce by 50% in the next month:
avocado, tofu, oil in salad dressing, chocolate, coconut milk, nuts, olives, almond butter, peanut butter

Foods I'll continue to eat as normal:
honey (I probably eat more than I should, but my husband is a beekeeper!)

I'm not 100% McDougalling. In fact, I call this new plan "McSwankl"ing - Mc for McDougall, Swank for Dr. Roy Swank, and the "l" for Dr. Terry Wahls, who has reversed the progression of her MS with more of a paleo eating plan + exercise. More another time about what I learned from Dr. Wahls.

For those of you who journal here, thank you! You are inspiring!

[moonwatcher]

Welcome aboard and best of luck, MS Nomad!

moonwatcher

[MSNomad]

Thanks for stopping by my journal, moonwatcher. I appreciate the support!

More about me:

• I am gluten free, not because of celiac, but because I feel better when I don’t eat gluten
• I’m a data geek
• About 2 weeks in to my McSwankl’ing, my husband (a 20+ year vegetarian) also decided to go vegan. Yeah!
• I have a crush on Dr. Neal Barnard, and my husband approves!

What I learned from Dr. Wahls

Dr. Terry Wahls has had an amazing reversal of her Secondary Progressive MS. She wrote a book called "Minding my Mitochondria." In that book, she details the nutrients that we need to feed our mitochondria, which are the energy producers for our cells. Dr. Wahls promotes more of a paleo lifestyle, and eating grass fed beef and organ meats just didn't fit with my long-term vegetarianism. However, her advice about eating veggies that have more micronutrients really made sense.

In her book, she lists all of these micronutrients, why they are important, and what foods you should eat to get them. Data geek that I am, I started an excel spreadsheet with foods listed across the top, and nutrients down the side. If the food contained that item, it got an "x" in the cell that corresponded to that column and row. A quick formula at the bottom to count if there was an "x", and I was in business. So, what should I eat that had the most micronutrients? Kale, closely followed by chard and spinach.

I had never eaten kale or chard, but was inspired to try them. I bought kale at the store, searched the internet for easy recipes, and I loved it! Kale and chard are now weekly regulars at our house, and this past year we planted chard and several varieties of kale in our garden. What this did for me was to make me more curious about other veggies I hadn't ever tried. In the past few years, I've tried kohlrabi and fennel. While they haven’t been regulars on the menu, I liked them both. Now that spring is here, maybe it is time to try a few more veggies that I've never eaten. Who knows. I might find a new favorite!

One last thing that really made sense to me from Dr. Wahls book is to include fruits and veggies that have really deep colors. For example: beets, red peppers, berries, dark greens. I try to have a very colorful meal, knowing that I’m getting a great complement of micronutrients in all of those colorful foods.

[moonwatcher]

HI MSNomad,

Thanks for the context. I've not read her book you mention, but read some of her approach on the internet and feel as you do. I do it more intuitively, though, but yes, tons of dark green and dark colored fruits and vegetables are an essential key. I am attracted to them for how I feel as I result of eating them, and I do eat them voluminously every day, and grow greens in my garden as well. Kale is awesome. I have red russian kale volunteering in my garden, red mustard, broccoli rabe, arugula. I also have blackberries and raspberries growing.

I am glad you are on your way to eliminating all coconut. Dr. Swank labeled that as a forbidden food because of its high saturated fat content. I used to love coconut everything before I started this five years ago, but I am SO MUCH better without it. Well worth the giving up for me.

Need to get going, but thanks so much for sharing more.

xo

moonwatcher

[JuicerJohn]

Hi MSNomad,

I'm glad you decided to start a journal here, I'll look forward to reading it. Thanks for sharing some of your background and tidbits of knowledge. I read with interest.

I look forward to your future posts.

I'm curious, what have you been using as your primary starch source? Or do you eat from a variety of sources?

[MSNomad]

moonwatcher, thanks for the insight on the coconut. I've also been occasionally eating Lara bars (I know that they should be considered a treat) and the one I had today had coconut. At the end of week 4, I'll review my items that I've cut back on, and do a new list of what to cut out completely. Coconut (in any form) will be the first thing on that list.

JuicerJohn, thanks for stopping by. I eat a wide variety of starches. Oatmeal for breakfast is typical, and then a day may include potatoes (usually mashed with veggie broth added), brown rice, lentils, or other beans. I also have defrosted some cooked pumpkin and made a soup. We had a huge pumpkin harvest last year from our garden. I like to cook, and like a lot of variety.

[Chile]

We had a huge pumpkin harvest last year from our garden. I like to cook, and like a lot of variety.

I love to cook and love variety, too. I would not be able to stick to the very simple and plain menus that some people seem to thrive on.

We hoped to have a good pumpkin harvest last year but the javelina (wild peccaries - not pigs or boars but look similar) found them and cleaned us out. Maybe this year ... with better fencing.

[MSNomad]

Hey, Chile, thanks for stopping by. I had never heard of a peccary, so that was a fun google search and web excursion for a few minutes. Thanks!

The main critters that try to eat our garden here in Western WA are deer! Fencing solves it, but we had to go to 8' high where they can see through, and 6' solid fence in other areas. That has kept them out.

[fulenn]

Hello, MSNomad!

Just wanted to welcome you and tell you how nice it is to see another MS'er keeping a journal. I am excited for you as I know that you will see positive things happening and MS symptoms quieting down as you eat healthier. It is a good thing to see someone doing this and know how much benefit it has.

Fulenn

[MSNomad]

Hey, Fulenn, thanks for stopping by! I appreciate the positive words and encouragement!

[MSNomad]

Documenting my MS symptoms

I'm making a list of my MS symptoms, as of today, so that later I can look back on this time and look for any changes and improvements:

• Fatigue and lassitude, both physical and mental (this is my main symptom that caused me to retire early)
• Left side weakness, mostly in the leg. Foot drop in the left foot, some weakness in the left arm
• Numbness in both feet, which sometimes increases up the legs and into the right side trunk
• Muscle stiffness/spasticity in my legs
• Bladder issues (hesitancy mainly, but sometimes urgency)
• Poor balance
• Leg jerks when seated with feet up, or when lying down
• Cognitive issues like using one word when I mean something else (also happens when typing), poor short-term memory of conversations, can't find the right word when talking

I mentioned in a previous post that I am gluten free. I tried this a few years ago, and found that within 3 days I had better digestion (less constipation), less stiffness in my legs and more energy. I wavered from it here and there, but when I consume gluten, and especially gluten and dairy together (think cheese pizza back in my junk food vegetarian days) the effect is quick. I wake up the next morning with my legs much more stiff, and it subsides throughout the day. If I don't consume any more dairy or gluten, it goes away. More gluten, more stiffness.

I had already removed gluten from my diet (again) a few months ago, and am now also refraining from any bread products, even if gluten free. They have added oil and eggs.

I am pleased to say that in the last 3-1/2 weeks of McSwankl'ing, I am seeing even less stiffness in my legs. Now, mind you, it isn't gone. I still have a funny, stiff-legged gait from both the spasticity, and the foot drop and left leg weakness.

Late last year I went to visit my mom in California, and an old family friend saw me, and as I walked toward him to greet him and visit, he said, "Well, Pam, you have a hitch in your get-along. What's that from?" I no longer call it a limp. I have a hitch in my get-along.

(edited to a add a few symptoms I forgot )

[MSNomad]

Garden meditations

We are finally having some warm, sunny weather here in the Pacific Northwest. The past few days I've been working out in the garden. I realized that weeding in the garden is really just like what I am doing with my eating. I’m clearing out the bad stuff, making way for the new. In the garden, I’m weeding to make way for the new seedlings started in the greenhouse. In my eating, I’m clearing out the junk to create new habits, and a healthier me. It all feels really good!

[moonwatcher]

Wonderful thoughts, MSNomad--thanks for sharing.

moonwatcher

[MSNomad]

Thanks, moonwatcher! I appreciate that you stopped by!
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I will not likely post my menu here every day, but I wanted to post a few days. I am not 100% on plan, still working on cutting out some things. Tomorrow is weigh-in day, and it will be 4 weeks since I started. I'll be reevaluating my list of things to eliminate and things to cut back on. Here are my foods for Tues & Wed of this week. Yesterday and today look much the same:

Tuesday
B: Oatmeal with kiwi
S: Mashed potatoes with peas (mashed with a bit of oat milk & veg broth)
L: Lentil soup, 1 lg piece tofu, zucchini with beans & tomatoes over rice
S: Lara Bar
S2: Rice & 1 lg piece tofu
D: Mashed potatoes, spinach, large salad with no-oil dressing
S: Apple with almond butter

Wednesday
B: Oatmeal with baked apples
S: Green smoothie
L: Lentil soup, greens on rice
S: Mashed potatoes
S2: small serving no-dairy chocolate chips (about 16 chips)
D: Collards over rice, zucchini with beans and tomatoes, large salad with no-oil dressing
S: Rice pudding (with soy milk & coconut milk) and baked apples

I'm amazed that I'm eating this much, feeling good, and losing weight! I'll be back tomorrow with my 4 week weight loss.

[MSNomad]

4 week update

Weight on start date (4/6/13): 159
4/13/13: 156
4/20/13: 154
4/27/13: 152
5/4/13: 150

I am thrilled with my weight loss so far. I had gained about 30 lbs last year, so getting that extra weight off is a great and healthy thing to do, and gives me something to focus on while I wait for longer term improvements from the MS symptoms.

Four weeks ago, I made a list of things to omit completely and things to cut back on. Today, I’ll refine that list:

Additional things I’ll eliminate from my diet

• Coconut, all forms (coconut oil, coconut milk, Lara bars with coconut)
• Chips – didn’t think to mention these previously, but have had a handful here and there of organic tortilla chips.
• Salad dressing with added oil
• Tofu
• Chocolate

Continue to cut back on (by at least 50%):

• Avocado
• Almond butter, peanut butter
• Nuts
• Honey
• Lara bars

This was a really interesting experiment on easing into an eating plan. Because I didn’t cut out all of my favorites at once, I didn’t feel deprived. The things that I said I would eliminate were gone. I didn’t eat them in 4 weeks. The things I said I would cut back on by 50% were in reality reduced way more than that. It was nice to know that I could have a small piece of chocolate when I wanted it. However, this method took me from eating chocolate daily to only having it about once a week and now I’m ready to cut it out completely.

I’ve added in oat milk as something new. I don’t use a lot of it, and don’t drink it by the glass. I’m finding that on some days I like just a splash added to my oatmeal, and I also like a splash in the mashed potatoes along with veggie broth. I think it is a reasonable substitution for the soy milk.

Overall, I’m feeling better eating this way. I have had some days of extreme fatigue, and that is just how MS is. On those days I adjust my plans and get a bit more rest. However, I’ve noticed that on the good days I’m feeling a lot better, and that is great!

Four weeks down, rest of my life to go!