Acupuncture Update

I haven't kept up with my acupuncture session reports so here's an update:

I went almost 2 weeks without a migraine but then I had one this past Saturday on the left side, then Monday on the right side.  The interesting thing is that the pattern has changed.  I used to always wake up with a migraine if I was going to have one.  Now, these past two started in the late afternoon/night.  (Which I actually prefer because at least I don't have to take off from work.   But I still would like to not have them!) 

Today, I told my acupuncturist about this change.  He said that there is a Yin and Yang balance and that Yin is associated in the morning, but Yang is associated with afternoon.  (Or maybe it was vice versa.  I don't quite remember, but it was interesting to me.)

Anyway, I am having crazy allergies lately and have developed a rash on my arms.  Apparently, the cold weather we had earlier has caused the oak trees to produce WAY more pollen than usual.  This sucks because I'm really allergic to it.  Oh well.  Anyway, the needles stung a little today.  It's probably b/c my skin is more sensitive these days.

I did feel much more relaxed after today's session.  The relaxed feeling even lasted through my orchestra rehearsal.  We'll see how it goes.  One cool thing - my acupuncturist digs classical music and may come to our upcoming symphony concert.  I love it when people are enthusiastic about symphony!

What's so bad about gluten anyway?

I'm still recovering from a busy week so I'm only going to share a blog that I find helpful.  Here is  Dr. Mark Hyman's blog.  I like this post entitled, "Allergies: are they making you fat?"

Click here to see an article by him about why gluten may be a problem for you.

Rotating Menus

Another tip for finding allergies?  Rotate your menus!  What I mean by this is have a set menu for each day of the week and stick to it for several weeks.  For instance, I always eat nuts as a snack but on Mondays it's Brazil nuts, Tuesday is almonds, Wednesday is pumpkin seeds, Thursday is walnuts, Friday is sunflower seeds, Saturday is pecans, and Sunday is hazelnuts.  (Yeah, it was expensive to buy all these raw nuts at once, but  they have lasted several months now.  I keep them in the fridge.)  I write out my menus for the week and keep it on the fridge.  That way, I never have to guess what I'm eating and it helps me when I'm making the grocery list too. 

I also rotate my meats, veggies, and grains.  Once  you write out your whole menu, it's not hard to implement it.  There is a book called "If This is Tuesday, It Must Be Chicken".  I haven't read it, but I was told it has some helpful ideas about how to rotate your food.

The benefit of doing this is that it helps you identify other, less-common food sensitivities you might have.  For instance, this is how I found out I had a problem with chickpeas.  I eat Greek food every Friday for lunch (as a treat), and I used to eat the hummus with my meal.  Every Saturday morning, I had a splitting headache and had to be in bed for most of the day.  (Boooo!)  I knew it had to be something I was eating on Friday so I replaced one thing at a time.  Once I stopped eating hummus, bingo!  No Saturday headache! 

For the past 3 weeks, I have been having a headache every Tuesday morning.  (Today was no exception.)  I haven't figured out what I'm eating on Monday that causes it, but I suspect Brazil nuts (which is sad because I LOVE them!)  Next Monday, I'm going to eat macadamia nuts instead and see what happens.

Oh, I forgot to mention to keep a food journal.  I write down what I eat in one column, and how I felt in another column right next to it.  (I do this during the commercial breaks when I'm watching TV at night.)  That way, you can see what works and what doesn't.  I found that eating salmon and broccoli makes me feel fantastic while eating corn makes me feel bloaty. 

I know this is a lot of trouble, but it can be done and it's not forever.  I think of it as an investment.  Invest some time now, so you can feel good and focus on other, more fun things later!  Of course, if you feel okay all the time, you probably don't need to do this.  I'm just SO tired of feeling like crap all the time and am really motivated to do all this stuff!

Wheat, dairy, and sugar

After giving up the "bad stuff", and adding in the "good stuff", the next step on my journey was to figure out if I had any allegies or food sensitivities.  There's a difference between an accute allergy, in which you have immediate symptoms, and a sensitivity in which the symptoms may appear later on.  (As much as 3 days later sometimes.) You may not be able to pinpoint certain foods, especially if you eat them every day.  It is estimated that 75% of the population may have a gluten and/or dairy intolerance and not even know it!  The most common allergens are:  wheat, dairy, eggs, citrus, nightshades (tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers). 

What's the best way to find out if you have these intolerances?  Give all of them up for 2 weeks.  Also, you must get off of all the substances you're addicted to (in my case, sugar and caffiene).  Then, eat a lot of wheat on one day.  Wait 3 days.  You'll be able to tell if you have a problem with wheat.  Then, do the same thing with dairy, then eggs, then citrus, and so on.  It seems like a daunting task, but I did it even while I was working full-time.  It just takes some advance planning and you have to buy all of your food on the weekends.

How I did it:
After you get used to cooking your own food, it's much easier to replace dairy and wheat containing foods with alternative ingredients.  I would plan my whole week's worth of food.  That way, there was no second-guessing and I didn't have to think about it when I got busy during the week.

I did NOT give up all of these at once!  There's no way I could've stayed on it if I had. 

1.  First, I gave up dairy.  This wasn't that hard because I don't drink much milk anyway and I like the taste of soymilk or almond milk on my cereal.  (Cheese, yogurt, and ice-cream were harder, but they have such good alternatives these days!  Soy cheese, coconut milk yogurt and ice-cream, etc.)

2.  After 3 days, I gave up wheat (and all gluten-containing products).  Wheat also wasn't that hard because they make perfectly good rice bread and other gluten-free things.  I found some super yummy gluten-free ginger snaps!  (I was still eating sugar at this point.)

3.  Eggs, citrus, and nightshades were a little harder, but I found ways around them.

4.  After another 3 days, I gave up caffiene.  I got some decaf green tea and had it with soymilk in the morning.  This actually grew on me and now it is my drink of choice!  Caffiene wasn't as hard to give up as I thought it would be.  I only had a slight headache for 1 day and then I was fine.

5.  Sugar was the LAST thing I gave up, and by far was the hardest.  For 3 whole days, I felt like I had the flu!  I even had to take 2 days off of work I felt so bad.  (severe headache, sweats followed by chills, achy joints, crazy nightmares, nausea, depression, etc.)  I had no idea that sugar could do all this!  I am certain that sugar is an addictive substance for me.  These were withdrawal symptoms.  Before, I never could get through a whole day without sugar in some form (especially in the afternoons).

After staying off all of these for two weeks, I added them back in one at a time to see where I had problems.  (Not the sugar though.  I did not want to go through those withdrawal symptoms again!)

My Food Sensitivities:
1.  Wheat - wheat makes me SUPER sleepy!  I used to have to have a nap in the afternoons.  Sometimes, I literally could not keep my eyes open.  (Then, I'd have to have a Coke to wake up.)  When I don't eat wheat, I do not get sleepy during the day, I do not require a nap, and I don't crave Coke or sweets.

2.  Dairy - If I slip up and eat it, I get digestive issues and feel bloaty and fat.  While in Greece this past Christmas, I ate some Saganaki and had a terrible migraine within an hour after eating it.  (Saganaki is cheese, usually Haloumi, fried in olive oil until it gets crusty.  It's probably the best tasting thing on the planet so of course I strayed and ate it!)  Cheese is definitely off-limits for me.

3.  Sugar - I need to stay off of it.  I'm like an alcoholic, but with sugar.  If I have even a little, it unleashes the cookie monster inside of me and I cannot stop!  Also, I absolutely cannot lose weight as long as I eat sugar, even if I eat very few calories.  These days, I eat a lot more calories than I did when I was on Weight Watchers, but none of them are from sugar.  (I lost maybe 5 pounds with WW and gained them right back even though I never went above my allotted points!)

4.  Nightshades - I feel bad after eating tomatoes (they give me canker sores), eggplant (makes me feels sick and tired), and peppers (give me digestive issues).  Sometimes, I treat myself and have sauteed eggplant, but I take enzymes first which help my body deal with it.

I hope this has inspired you to do this for yourself and has helped to convince you that it IS possible!  (If I had told myself I'd be doing this before I started, I would've absolutely rolled my eyes at myself!)