Just Keep Swimmin' Swimmin' Swimmin!

Nuerological Check! This is something Corey and I have been doing since I was in the hospital. He would come in to check on me every morning and start doing the neuro tests he had seen the doctors perform to check my progress. When I'm having a good (or sometimes bad) day I always shout "Neurological Check!" and stick my feet in his lap. He very patiently goes through the motions to let me show off whatever new-found feeling I've acquired. 

Well, my neuro checks haven't been improving as quickly as I would like. I have been experiencing a lot of numbness and nueropathic pain in my left leg and hand and my right leg is still experiencing motor damage. My vision still gets blurry every now and then but has stopped for the most part. But the numbness in my right foot is waning and I have recovered a lot of my balance. When I get tired I still look a little drunk walking down the hall but overall I am improving! As happy as I am about ANY improvement these days, I still feel that I could do something to make myself improve faster. I had read a lot about the importance of exercise for my overall health and improvement of my symptoms but my favorite workouts- volleyball, treadmill and yoga- all required something that I was seriously lacking... Balance! And all of these workouts started out fine but as I got warmed up my symptoms would flare up and make things difficult. I can't tell you how many times I have "walked off" the treadmill!

So how do you get a good workout without getting hot or needing balance? Swimming! I am pretty much the worst swimmer in the world but I have started swimming at least 30 minutes every day for a week. It's an amazing workout and the water keeps me cool and supported! I know it is early but I swear I feel better already. I don't know if my symptoms are getting any better but just working out makes me feel better mentally and it is giving me better stamina. I can get through most days without naps now! Next week a girlfriend and I are planning to start a yoga class and last night I played my first volleyball match since June! I got a little worn out by the last game but I played all the way to the end. And afterwards I stopped by the rec center and swam for 20 minutes or so to cool myself down. I probably won't be running any marathons any time soon but I am elated to have found a routine that works for me for now. :)

No recipes today (though I have a vegan cupcake recipe that will be coming soon!) but I thought I would share some of my favorite allergy free snack bars. After I started the diet my mom bought  me one of every allergy free snack bar she could find at trader joe's and whole foods. I taste tested away and only approved of two! I often grab one of these before heading to the gym (theme intact!). 

My first fave are Pure Bars Chocolate Brownie. Ingredients: Organic dates, organic walnuts, organic agave nectar, organic almonds, organic cashews, organic brown rice protein, organic cocoa. OMG These guys are great!

 And my second choice is Kind Bar Cranberry Almond. I ate these before I'd ever heard of allergy free! They have a bit of soy in them so I try not to eat them as often as the Pure bars. but they are a fabulous treat! Ingredients: Almonds, dried cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), macadamias, honey, non GMO glucose, puffed rice, chicory fiber, soy lecithin, Vitamins: Vitamin A Acetate, Ascorbic Acid (Vit C), D-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E)

 Go find some and enjoy! :)

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Legume Free, Corn Free, Egg Reduced Diet- Yum!

Well it has certainly been a long two months! For those of you unaware I was hospitalized after July 4th weekend because I lost feeling in my legs (it sounds much worse than it was! more awkward than anything!). After LOTS of tests and some serious steroids (I can now say that I have had ROID RAGE!), I left the hospital with some feeling in my legs and feet and no diagnosis. Though the most likely cause is Multiple Sclerosis, only time will tell.

I was extremely blessed to have my mother visiting for the first two weeks of July. She didn't get to enjoy the Michigan summer quite the way we had planned but I don't know what I would have done without her here- especially after my spinal tap led to some complications. Before she left for Texas, she made sure she felt comfortable about my health. First, she bought me a few $100 worth of vitamins and supplements and made me pinky promise to take them twice a day. Next, she installed a land line in my apartment because she hates the sketchy (at best) reception my cell phone gets inside the building.

And finally, she very seriously sat me down and discussed an Allergy Free Diet. Since MS is an autoimmune disease that causes lots of inflammation, it is believed that removing other sources of inflammation (ie. stress, heat and allergens) can alleviate frequency of flares and severity of symptoms. Normally, removing one or two things from my diet wouldn't be very bad. But let me give you an idea what my diet looked like before. I was ALWAYS exhausted so I started to hate cooking, especially cooking meat. It took too long. By the time it was defrosted, seasoned and cooked I would have already eaten half a package of hummus or a block of cheese and be passed out on the couch. My diet consisted of: every kind of cheese imaginable, hummus, bread, yogurt, edamame, sauteed chickpeas, prepared salads and lots of TakeOut. So as my mother started ticking off the things that I could no longer eat I began to despair.

No gluten? There goes bread and pasta. And all the things I love to bake.

No dairy? I almost refused. Cheese is pretty much my life. I had been seriously considering using my Microbiology degree to run a goat farm and make cheese. Why would she do this to me?? But I still had some of my favorite foods including chickpeas and soybeans!

And then she said No Soy or Legumes! This is where I very sarcastically asked her what exactly I COULD eat.

And so we began the list of Allergy Free Foods: all lean meats, all fruits and veggies, tree nuts and brown rice. The list sounds short. But I've learned that my very sarcastic question What CAN I eat? was exactly on point. Living this lifestyle isn't about focusing on all the things I can't eat but identifying things I CAN eat and making sure I keep those things available. Shockingly, I have transitioned fairly well to this Allergy free diet. It doesn't hurt that it makes me feel much much better. My energy level is so much higher when I follow the diet and my symptoms seem to me waning. Many would argue that there are multiple factors that could contribute to this, but I will continue on my allergy free path!

This is where EatDrinkBeMary takes a slight turn! The blog is going to start discussing my journey eating Allergy Free. I've found that there are many sites that discuss gluten free OR dairy free OR soy free cooking, but it is hard to find true allergy free recipes. I'm hoping this will be a home for the products and recipes that I discover along my journey.  If you are looking for yummy cheesy bread and ooey gooey desserts, you are on the wrong page. But if you too are searching for great allergy free options (or just want to hear about the journey!), welcome to the new EatDrinkBeMary!