31 January 2013

What the SMELL?

I have to say that doing AIP doesn't seem to be eliminating whatever is causing my sneezing and nasal congestion.  Which is really disappointing.  I miss a LOT of foods.  But I'm sticking it out.  I started on January 6.  It is now January 31.  For the most part I've made it 25 days (I did have a couple slip ups Sushi and Manhattan Chowder).

My sneezing is less than it was when I started (this is a REALLY HARD thing to quantify), but with the deprivation I feel (it's all psychological - I don't like being told I can't have/do something) I had really hoped for better results.

On the up side, I was down close to 10 pounds the last time I weighed myself (almost 2 weeks ago, which was 2 weeks into it).  I pretty much only weigh myself when I go visit my mom, so I have no idea what my current weight is.  I can tell you my jeans are considerably looser than when I started this.

The other night all I could smell was the Dial hand soap from our bathroom after Justin had washed his hands.  There are a lot of smells that once they hit my nose, they don't go away.  I can taste them. Every breath I take is tainted by these smells.  They linger no matter how long it has been since I was exposed to them.  Dial soap happens to be one of them.  (I think the list could go on for days, but one of the worst offenders are the garbage sold by Victoria's Secret as fragrance)

An idea struck me as we were sitting on the couch.  Maybe I could replace that smell with another!?  I ran downstairs to my drawers of essential oils (for my witchery as Justin calls it), grabbed the peppermint oil and started sniffing it.  Never mind that I felt like a junior high kid sniffing markers or glue.  My nose had just started the sneeze tickle as I was in the process of doing this.  After a few strong inhalations, I felt the spasms  that I was on the verge of subside.  While I didn't have a lingering scent of peppermint stuck in my nose, I no longer had the Dial stuck there.


Is it possible to "reset" my sense of smell?   Really, scents have caused me to feel overloaded and overstimulated for years.  I despise most things scented (natural occurring scents tend to be okay in moderation) because the overwhelming smell and resulting taste are unbearable).

I've been testing this "reset" idea for the last few days.  When I can feel the "tickle" or spasms creeping up on me, I inhale a few times with the bottle of peppermint essential oil right below my nose.  It doesn't work 100% of the time, but it seems to cut down on the frequency and severity of my sneezing attacks.  Again, it's super hard to quantify unless I start counting the number of times I sneeze each day.

My next question to resolve in this "reset" idea is the scent itself.  Is there a specific scent that is going to work?  Is it just any scent that is more pure and not artificial?  I started Sunday night with peppermint (it was the first bottle in my drawer).  Would Tangerine work?  Thyme?  Cypress? Clove?

I plan to switch it up to and test other oils.

Another question is will I become dependent upon a scent in order to control my sneezing?  Will I have to "wean" myself off of this method?

Does this all mean that my sneezing is purely psychological in nature?  Perhaps it is a neurological dysfunction?

I don't know.  All I know is that I can't wait to add foods back into my diet.  I really miss eggs, nuts and chocolate.

27 January 2013

Apples and Alpine Mail

I woke up this morning stuffed up, sneezing and my nose running (I know it sounds weird to be stuffed up and running like a faucet at the same time, but that's how my nose chooses to behave some days).

I've been doing AIP for 21 days now with 2 set backs (the sushi and Manhattan style GF chowder last weekend and I had a single cocktail on Friday night when Justin and I went to dinner).  For the most part, I've been doing pretty good.  Blowing my nose only once or twice in the mornings or actually even waking up clear headed.

Well this morning was the suck! I had a mound of tissues next to me and my nose didn't stop running until I had been out of bed for 2 hours.  I tried really hard to enjoy a Sunday morning in bed with Pi and Justin (Pi was trying to "help" me read 1984 by turning the page on my Kindle.  Not very helpful.)

I can't think of anything out of the ordinary I had yesterday, other than apples.  I haven't had an apple in a while.  I really wanted something dessert-y.  I had some AMAZING toasted coconut sorbet at LuLu on Friday, which really made me want dessert.  (By the way, the food there is amazing. I had Flat Iron Steak with mashed sweet potatoes and chard with bacon).  I had a couple of granny smith apples in the kitchen and made some tasty baked apples last night.

I totally didn't think to photograph the apples, but the recipe was simple.  
3 Granny Smith Apples, sliced
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Cup shredded coconut
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Cloves
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Melted Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil Extra-Virgin 29 oz. 218566 (Google Affiliate Ad)

Mix all ingredients together.  Bake at 400 until apples are soft and coconut is toasted.

Well, I wasn't really thinking about the fact that Nutmeg isn't AIP (This angers me - I love nutmeg).  If it was nutmeg that made me all sneezy, I might cry.  It could have been dust as well.  We're cleaning and reorganizing the Gnomery and the HEPA filter has apparently been doing it's job.  The back intake was covered with dust bunnies.  Which then got on the bed.  We did our best to brush them off.

One of the more exciting (well, exciting for me anyway) was getting my Brown Bag Company Alpine Mail Bag.

I saw this bag at Cole Fox Hardware and immediately wanted it.  I've been waiting for weeks to see if I still wanted it.  Well, I did.  I have been looking for the perfect messenger style bag for ages.  I had a laptop bag that was cute, but my laptop barely fit in it.  I started looking at canvas/nylon messenger bags (think Timbuk2).  Well, they are $100 + and I've never had anything canvas/nylon last longer than a few years.  Plus, I was sort of disheartened at their "designed in SF, made with pride world wide" spin for "Made In China".

Well, the Alpine Mail Bag is made in Incline Village (Tahoe) from American leather (Milwaukee).  Apparently this company makes made to last tool bags.  This bag appears to be made to last as well!  It's heavy duty leather with quality stitching and brass fittings.  It has two compartments (one zippered and a main compartment divided into 2) with two pen holders and a business card holder.  It does not have a billion places to lose something in (I've had purses with so many pockets I could lose things for years in them.  Wallets too for that matter.).  I have a 17" laptop which barely fit into laptop bags designed for a 17" laptop.  Well, it fits wonderfully in this bag with room to spare.  It's more than enough for my commute to work on train days AND it fits my rain boots in it!




I'm excited to finally have a well made bag!  




25 January 2013

Armpits aren't supposed to feel that much pain!

I've been looking for a massage therapist that does orthopedic massage for over a year now.

Getting a regular "relaxation" massage only exacerbates my shoulder issues.  I've had a Massage Envy membership for a while now and once the therapist I had been seeing in Folsom was unable to keep working, I hadn't used many of my prepaid massages.  In fact, I gifted most of them over the holidays and had planned to cancel.

I had called the Massage Envy near my place (at the Metreon) several times asking if they had anyone who did Orthopedic massage and was told no every time.

Well, Massage Envy didn't process my cancellation and charged me for another prepaid in December.  I really didn't want to get a massage that was going to increase my pain.  I scheduled a facial instead.  While I was waiting I took a look at their therapist bios.  Wouldn't you know, they had TWO therapists that do orthopedic massage.

I booked an appointment with Kim for the next evening when I saw that!   I figured I would give her a shot and cancel the next day if she didn't work out.

A thing to know about orthopedic massage: it is NOT pleasant. It is not a relaxing massage that relieves stress.  It is painful. VERY painful.

Kim poked and prodded and pushed and pulled.  In fact, most of my one hour session was spent on my left shoulder's inflamed connective tissues and scar tissue.  But I didn't mind.  I knew I was there for specific body work and Kim seemed very knowledgeable. It hurt like hell though.  After 13 years of physical therapy, surgery and discomfort, I knew it would be.  If you've never had anyone "poke" you in the armpit, the armpit is capable of feeling intense pain.  I don't recommend testing it out though.

She had a few recommendations for me diet-wise (most of which I have already adopted, she was impressed with my natural health knowledge).  One of which was to make a super strong ginger tea using about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches of fresh ginger and 6 cups of water.  Let it boil to reduce it to about 2 cups of "tea" and drink that throughout the day.  I'm going to give that one a shot since I'm not taking any supplements during this phase of AIP, including turmeric.

I know that the amount of inflammation in my shoulder is less than usual, but I had hoped that AIP would possibly eliminate it.  On the plus side of AIP, I think my nasal allergy symptoms are improving.  They are not gone yet, but they are improving.  I was able to have a massage laying face down and not sneeze or have my nose run.  I was even able to mostly breathe through my nose during the entire session (the right side of my nose still gets "stuffed up" when I lay down. It is really bothersome, but it seems to drain faster when I change positions than it used to).

I did find a resource that would have helped immensely when I started on my AIP journey almost 3 weeks ago.  Paleo Plan is a fantastic website that helps make the paleo lifestyle easier and more convenient.  I've gone there for recipes and info over the last year.  What I didn't realize was how comprehensive their 21 Day Paleo Cleanse eBook was.  I purchased the Toadally Primal Wellness Bundle and the 21 Day Paleo Cleanse was included.  

I highly recommend checking it out.  The $25 price is a drop in the bucket when it comes to the ease with which you will be able to make the transition.  It has 3 weeks of menus, shopping lists and even tells you what days you need to do prep work for another meal.

Even if you don't think you have allergy or autoimmune issues, give it a shot.  I have to say I'm down 8 pounds since the 6th of January and almost down to my goal weight.


22 January 2013

Weekend Cheat

I've made it through about 2 weeks of the AIP diet.  I've had a couple of set backs, but I won't let those deter me.

I made it through 12 days without any cheats.  Until I went shopping for my wedding dress.  I went back home to look for a dress with my mom (and found the perfect one at the first store!).  After looking for my dress, my mom and I were starving.  Old Town Grill was the first option (they used to have Emu burgers, which were awesome!), but I was feeling a bit burned out on bunless burgers.

I love sushi a lot, so my mom and I went to Amerikan Ichi.  I was going to go for sashimi to stick to the plan, but I couldn't really pass up all you can eat sushi!  Oh sweet saba! So I ate rice.  Quite a bit of rice.  It was super delicious.  I stuck to only nigiri, not that that makes a huge difference when I'm not supposed to be eating rice.

I was pretty phlegmy the next morning and sneezing more than I have in the last 2 weeks.  I was also achy, but I think that was more due to my spill down the stairs the day before. I was super sore.

We drove to the coast on Sunday to remember my brother.  I made a tasty breakfast of kale and GF sausage before we hit the road.  I stuck to it and had a couple of sausages as a snack, but was still starving.  We stopped in the tiny town of Bodega, where they have crab mac n' cheese.  Justin tried it (and it smelled delicious!).  There weren't a lot of options and I was hungrier than a small piece of smoked salmon would have taken care of.  The store had an amazing number of gluten free items (so surprising), even their chowders were gluten free.  They had several options.  I would have loved to have had a traditional chowder, but sort of figured that dairy and nightshades would have been worse than just the nightshades in the manhattan style.  It was super tasty!

But I've been sort of congested and runny nosed for the last 2 days.

I'm not giving up yet, though.  Several of the real food bloggers out there claim to have reversed food allergies by following an elimination diet.  Hoping it can happen!

On the up side of this diet, I'm down 8 pounds in 2 weeks.  I'm down 24 pounds since moving last August.  Even though I was making tasty treats throughout the fall, the weight was staying off.  I'm not having any treats at the moment though and my starch consumption is way down (no potatoes, which means no fries!).  I do walk more, so I think I'll bust out my pedometer and track it.  I know one or two days a week, I walk to the train and then walk from the train to work (about 2 miles).

Weight loss wasn't really the goal of doing AIP, but I'm almost down to my goal weight.

10 January 2013

AIP - Intro/Day 3

Okay, so I found a blog I can't get enough of: The Paleo Mom.  I know I'm not a mom.  I'm not even entirely paleo most of the time.  But if you really want to get down the the how and why of paleo or AIP paleo, this is a good place to go.

I had been toying with the idea of the GAPs diet for a really long time, but couldn't commit.  I hadn't heard of  AIP (auto immune paleo protocol) until a couple of weeks ago.  I don't know why, but the idea of an elimination paleo diet seemed so much easier for me to commit to than GAPS.  I some how stumbled upon an auto immune paleo group on facebook, introducing me to the concept of AIP.

AIP eliminates the following from your diet:
Eggs
Nuts
Seeds
Nightshades
Alcohol
NSAIDS

These are in addition to the already eliminated gluten, grains and dairy.

So what's left you ask?  Good quality meat, fish, veggies, and healthy fats.  Oh and plenty of fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kombucha. Some of my normal seasonings are out (no peppers!) but I've made due so far.  (granted I'm only on day 3)

So to see if this actually works, none of the above for at least 30 days.  I'm also NOT taking my turmeric supplement to see if there is any improvement in the inflammation of my joints if I make additional dietary changes.  Also, no Nasal Specific Technique treatments.  No matter how terrible my sinuses feel during this time.  I need to see if changing my diet really helps.  My nasal allergies are the real reason behind this experiment.

I have to say after three days, my sense of smell seems more acute.  Not sure if the two are connected, but holy crap it seems like every smell is amplified.  I'm not exactly sure when children needed to start reeking of cheap perfume, but they do these days.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Ask anyone who has had a cubicle, desk, office etc., near me in the last 10 years.  Ask my poor Justin.  My nasal allergies aren't just miserable for me, they are miserable for everyone around me.

Oh, I'm also starting a separate blog to share my art and other fun stuff, including 3D printing!!!!!!!