Lorraine's whole30 log.....fighting pneumonia at same time

[Quiche4u]

So as i lay here....for what feels like I'm drowning in fluid (quick someone throw me a life preserver), I have nothing but time on my hands right now. Which brought me to HERE!!!! For as miserable as I have been for almost a month did I finally find out I'm dealing with bacterial pneumonia...... Can barely get up to go to the bathroom much less cook anything.......but I am a fighter and plan on giving this a REAL EFFORT......

SO IM AT THE STARTING GATE AND WELL........IM OFF LIKE A HERD OF TURTLES. BUT nevertheless we must press on...... What's that old saying " slow and steady wins the race"????? GOD help me, I PRAY THAT ITS TRUE

Ive been snooping around and reading.....and I probably am not 100% (ONLY because of medications)....meaning the toxic narcotic cough syrup I'm prescribed I'm sure has sugar in it. Other than that, the other meds I'm on I'm sure are okay for now.(Advair, Singulair, prednisone, bactrim/antibiotic)....they'll have to be or I won't be able to breathe. Which I KiiiinDa think is pretty important. SO I GUESS, I'm considering myself to be 100% with all the actual dietary components.

My diet history? Oh let's just make this the "Reader's Digest version" cause I never know when I'm gonna just drop off to sleep over here.......THE PITS!!!!!!! That's right ........you heard me THE PITS!!!!! I have spent my entire life dieting, watching this and that, TRIED EVERY SINGLE FRICKIN THING THERE IS...... And yes my medical history is a bit complicated, but nonetheless, I don't think I've ever lived a day in my life since the age of 6 where I wasn't thinking about the good the bad and the ugly where food is concerned. OF COURSE I haven't tried this whole Paleo thing so technically I haven't TRIED EVERYTHING.

looking forward to this new journey......it's a VERY VERY rough beginning especially when you are delirious from medication and high fever.......not a smart move to attempt to go grocery shopping....... That was an adventure!!!!! By the time I made it to the check out.......I had looked like maybe I went for a swim in the lobster tank or something. I was soaking wet, and yes, out of breath. THANK GOD FOR SHOPPING CARTS- they make for the best support, so i could lean on and pretend I'm focusing intently on the ingredients list, when in actuality, I'm quite sure I was probably taking a mini nap right there in the whole Asian section of Whole Foods. Like I said earlier......."a herd of turtles" ...... Made it home...only to then stare looking straight up at my apartment building saying or rather talking to myself, "HOLY CRAP WHY DID I MOVE TO THE SECOND FLOOR". And WHY DOESN'T THIS COMPLEX INSTALL ELEVATORS!!!! oh that's right at the time when I COULD ACTUALLY BREATHE AND FLY UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS ...... It didn't make a ratz patootie......silly me. I digress........where was I .....oh so I opted to "call in the troops" shall we say and "phone a friend", this would be the staff in the leasing office. Embarrassed for having to ask, but in the end they were happy to help......I guess 5 years of living here and paying what seems like an enormous amount of rent they were okay with sending someone to come to my rescue in the parking lot and carry my groceries into my apartment. Thank you JESUS!!!!!!

So everything purchased, I think, on Sunday, my first day was yesterday on Monday, and I feel that I did pretty darn good. My sleep is so all over the place so I find myself up watching old I love Lucy episodes, Frasier, and Golden Girls"........until a good movie comes on or something.....when I'm not trying to read. With that said, I made myself eat, I was eating bland tummy settling comfort foods which lets face it.....I was shoveling in the creamy mashed potatoes, chicken noodle soup, grits etc. well actually it was more like pick here pick there then back to bed. Only ate because it was "pill time" or something.

So Monday I did good......all I know is, I ate some super delicious eggs, bacon (the right kind), poached salmon with curried cauliflower, some coconut flakes to snack on, olives, some steak, some guacamole (hey normally I add lots to it, but avacado, lime, salt and cilantro is all I could muster up and it was DELISH!!! ) I spread the guacamole on romaine leaves, dipped some carrots in it and some cherry tomatoes, and that was my shall we say salad sans trying to chop or slice anything. I already cut the tip of my finger off two months ago trying to fancy slicey dicey my veggies to make myself feel " oh sooooo good about eating such a beautifully created masterpiece of a salad" yeah we'll, a trip to the ER AND a pool of blood later.......that blew that right out of the water......when i came home to the after math, my so called "Masterpiece" was shall we say a lovely Jackson Pollack ( forgive the spelling ) of shades of red all over the place with lovely textures displayed by lettuce leaves, julienned carrots, thinly sliced fancy edged cucumbers etc. all over the place. Definately wasn't a van Gogh blue period moment.......hahahaha. I know bad joke. But really, I made it through. And well......

today is day 2 and so far so good.......I had bacon and eggs at 5 am ish and a few naps and I will continue my logging as I go. I am anticipating me getting to feel better by reducing all this inflammation etc by eating the right foods now. Im sure i will one day at a time. I feel another nap coming on......

Turtle signing off...... Till ?????? :-)

Actually it's Lorraine and I'm out for the count..........

[Quiche4u]

Day 3 coming to a close and I can't believe how crappy yet good I feel. If that makes any sense. While I've been suffering with the aches and pains that go with pneumonia, I have to say that I slept for the first time in like two weeks or so last night. I actually slept for 8 hours without waking myself up from a coughing spasm, or because I can't breathe etc. Still in and out of fever flashes/hot flashes. I have had a pretty hardcore HEADACHE ALL day today, which I am gonna guess is a good sign......the toxic crap dumping out? Fluid is moving like crazy in my chest which before it felt weighted and stuck. I feel that I'm beginning to breath a bit better.

Today's menu:

B: scrambled eggs with mushrooms and bacon ( yes the good hippie chickies & piggies)

L: poached wild salmon with shroomies and Brussels (poached in imagine organic chick broth, with curry and coconut milk and then added a can of sweet potato purée to thicken for a yummy sauce)

D: coconut shrimp with a kale tomatoe avocado salad.

Today I felt better than I have since I first got sick 3 weeks ago. A bit of brain fog today with headache and very sleepy today. Which I allowed myself to rest as much as possible.

Hoping for another full night of uninterrupted sleep!!!!! :-)

[Derval]

Get well soon!

[Quiche4u]

Thanks Derval for the "Get well wishes"......... Working hard at it too......it's hard to have to stay confined to my apartment and not go anywhere. But each day I am feeling better....

So today went well food wise......I am sooooo proud of myself. Being stuck inside, and knowing that my boyfriend was planning to visit right before I started my new "Whole Life" journey on Monday (labor day) I had baked him his favorite - homemade from scratch including the all butter crust........deep dish apple pie. Well due to the nasty weather the visit got postponed plus I was cranky anyway from being sick. So low and behold an entire pie just sitting there. Down in the dumps feeling sick and miserable normally I would have eating at least TWO SLICES of that pie. Instead I wrapped it up & put in the fridge. Been a good neighbor and sharing the pie doling out pieces here pieces there. Thank GOD it's almost all delivered. While slicing the pie I did what I normally would when I got some on my finger and that would be to "lick my finger off" ...... Just as I raised my finger to my lips it was like " shock therapy" or something that hit me hard...... Which was in actuality, my brain kicking and with a shrieking and yelling of SSSSSTOOOOOP .......NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING" .....and yes that was an aha moment of how blindly things cross our lips into our mouths. Had I gotten a taste of that sweet yet tart apple goodness it would have been a real let down to have to begin my whole30 over again. Habits are hard to break I see of mindless eating.

So I made it .......yay!!!!!!!!!

B- hippie chickies & piggies

L- steak salad with citrus vinegrette

D- chicken salad on celery (made with yummy love mayo)

And a few dill pickle spears and Moroccan olives

Yummy!!!!!!! Woo Hoo another whole healthy day......YIPEE!!!!! Got some hippie Chicks "rockettes" ( that would be legs and thighs) marinating for a yummy dish for tomorrows dinner. Should be tasty.

[Quiche4u]

Okay so it's been several days but I'm happy to report that I've remained perfectly compliant to my whole30. And today makes day 9!!!!! Wooo Hooo!!!!!! Some GREAT things to report .........several actually. So as you know I was on my second week of pneumonia recovering here at home when I started on LABOR DAY, well after only a few days I was able to

1) let go of the narcotic cough syrup at night (before I had to have it along with other things so I wouldn't end up with a half dozen coughing spasms during the night while trying to sleep)

And now I'm as follows:

2) I'm on my 3rd day without the steroid pills and

3) no more antibiotics

4) no more Singulair at night (trying this week without it)

5) down to only taking the Advair only once a day

6) can walk my dog now ( couldn't because of going up and down the stairs) I would be shaking in my legs and wheezing and sweating profusly by the time I got to the top of JUST ONE flight of stairs, thank GOD I only have one to flight to contend with.

7) not back at work yet but the plan is to be next week. Which will be a full 2 weeks of being whole 30 by then.

8)starting to regain strength

9) no swelling in my ankles from eating any salt (olives pickles and the like ) which I'm shocked seeing as how I take bp meds and from taking all those prednisone pills

And the last thing to add to the list...... Which I have to say is pretty incredible (okay two things)

10) my joints are feeling REALLY GOOD the finger that got the tip cut off of two months ago doesn't ache all the time like it used to AND I CAN ACTUALLY CLOSE MY HAND TO MAKE A FIST. it was my index finger that was cut so I haven't been able to curl it in to make a fist. AND AS A NEUROMUSCULAR MASSAGE THERAPIST THAT WAS HORRIBLE FOR ME AND MY WORK. I had made adaptations to how I work, but now I'm able to close my hand and I don't have the nerve pain. Orthopedist expected me to have at three more months of nerve pain/issues. HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!!!

11) and another MAJOR MAJOR improvement...at least thus far......I started my menstrual cycle this morning and only knew that from having the need to go pee this morning) usually I am doubled over in pain abdominally and my lower back in so much pain I have to lay down for a couple days and get some major therapy done on myself to get the spasms to release. As for WHY I have so much trouble with my menses is because I have PCOS I have had cervical cancer twice. ( first time I was 19 yrs old and the second I was 30) so its been 11 years) but I had always been suffering with all the hormone issues along with it and the terrible bleeding. So Now what will be interesting is to see how long my cycle will last now that it's here. Anything less than 2 weeks will be fantastic and hopefully not painful like usual and well not to be graphic, but usually I pass these blood clots the size of silver dollars. Yes the big ones. Anyway, I am praying that this doesn't happen. THAT WOULD BE AMAZING AND A MIRACLE!!!!! Keep ya posted on this one for sure.

As for what's for good eating ?????

Been having some yummy dishes. All whole 30 compliant. Was able to place an order with US WELLNESS MEATS which is due for arrival today. YAY!!!!!

Been making yummy things like a giant batch of chicken soup!!!! With a side of "Mom love" . Yup you guessed it. Mom made the soup while here visiting. Bought a pasture pampered hippie chicken and used leeks, onion celery, carrots, garlic salt and pepper and stewed that bird till its meat fell right off into the soup pot. (kept the carcass in the freezer for another batch of broth in the near future). OH MY GOODNESS TALK ABOUT LIQUID GOLD MEDICINE IN A BOWL. I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW DELISH AND SAVORY THIS SOUP TURNED OUT!!!!!

Let's see....oh we had hamburgers one night where my mom made them Moroccan style by adding the following to the ground beef....(we had 1lbs of hippie ground beef), to that we added

1/2 of a medium sized Red onion FINELY MINCED

1 Tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper (we like a bit more so we typically use 1.5 tsp)

1 Tsp of cumin (one level tsp but here you can add a smidgen more if you like)

1/2 tsp paprika( not the smoking one.... Use regular Hungarian)

1/2 tsp ground ginger (a little tiny less than half actually )

2-3 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro

Mix thoroughly with hands in a good size bowl and then cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least an hour. When ready make into small patties like slider size. They cook better this way. Anyway, use olive oil in the pan, my mom does it with olive oil and the Kerrygold pasture butter. DO NOT cook on high heat. Cook them on medium. They tend to cook super fast.

Then we plate ours up on a bed of arugula with diced tomato and avacado and a little ( wine free Dijon mustard) YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!!!!!!!

Well on with my day today. I'll post again later for today's yummy delights.

:-)

[Quiche4u]

Okay so another day completed. Yippee!!!!! I'm feeling sooo much better and off all my meds for the pneumonia. YAY!!!!! So far so good. Now I just need to start getting outside and trying to get in a little exercise. I can't believe how much I slept today. I guess I really needed it. As for my diet I ended up only eating twice today. Due to me sleeping all afternoon

B: hippie eggs and piggies with sautéed spinach

L: nothing. But when I woke I had a bowl of fresh strawberries with shredded coconut and a little coconut milk and chopped macadamias

D: hippie ribeye with a baked sweet potato

Evening snack of some olives a a dill pickle spear

Made myself a batch of chili this evening so I'd have something quick to heat up when I don't feel like cooking. Mmmmmm smells yummy. :-) made this batch with lots of mushrooms and red and yellow peppers and onions and of course some hippie ground beef. Looks DELISH and the taste test was pretty darn good. Such an easy thing to make. I think this may be my easy go to protein whole meal when I am in a pinch or just don't feel like cooking.

[Derval]

Glad you are on the mend

[Quiche4u]

Thanks Derval!!!!!! I am doing soooooooo much better!!!!

[Quiche4u]

Two weeks completed! WOOOO HOOOO !!!!!! Well I started back at work today. I have been out of work recovering from pneumonia for just a little over three weeks. Seven years ago I had pneumonia and I was out for two months almost three. So this recovery has been waaay better! I know that changing my diet has been a great contributing factor to my rapid healing. And especially the WHOLE30. I've been 100% compliant. Even when I had some visitors over the weekend. My boyfriend and his son love my homemade from scratch apple pie. Made it, all butter crust, served it and sent that bad boy home with the two of them. I had no desire to even taste it. I didnt have to cause i knew it was gonna be great. My yummy treat is strawberries with some slightly melted coconut butter. Yummy DELISH! it's amazing how sweet fresh fruit tastes to me now. I didn't eat any fruit my first week but now I started. I grab a few strawberries here and there from the fridge.

Moving onward and upward!

[maggief]

Lorraine, what an awesome log!! I love your enthusiasm and humor, which is seriously amazing given the circumstances. I'm so happy you're feeling better and doing so well on the W30. Keep up the great work. I can't wait to see what you accomplish once you're fully healed!

Also, the phrase "hippie chickies and piggies" totally brought a smile to my face

[Quiche4u]

Thanks Maggie! You know sometimes when all you can do is stay put and your forced to heal its amazing how much time I had on my hands to really get in touch with my emotions in relation to food. Of course once I could muster up the strength and taste buds to eat REAL FOOD.

I did start back to work. YAY!!!!!! On seeing a few clients instead of several in a day. Plus I'm not starting at O dark early ( 5:30/6 am ) it was a bit rough, but made it and came home to crash and take a nap. 8-12 is all I can handle. As a neuromuscular massage therapist, my job can be pretty physical. I think next week I'm gonna start using the pool and do some water walking to help strengthen my legs and then begin swimming to see if I can get some strength back in my lungs. Slowly of course. Turtle turtle turtle here I come.

One thing I am looking forward to is getting a complete nights sleep. I mean SOLID SLEEP. Today's whole30 Daily inspired me to finally hang up my blackout curtains that I LITERALLY HAVE HAD FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR. Yes an entire year and FINALLY I HUNG THEM UP TONIGHT!!!!! Of course the excuse was always because I didn't have a curtain rod that was niiiiiice and preeeetty and all that, so screw it, I dug through my " fix it bin" and found a hammer and some nails and foregoed the uh perfect hanging job and just pounded away. I did at least make a few pleats so they would hang right, all in all it'll do. After all, I didn't want to spend too much time hammering cause I knew my neighbors were probably trying to RELAX in their abode. SO I AM HOPING AND PRAYING FOR A WONDERFUL NIGHTS SLEEP NOW THAT IT'S PITCH BLACK IN MY ROOM. LET HOPE THE CATS DON'T DECIDE THAT MOM HUNG A NEW TOY JUST FOR THEM TO PLAY WITH ALL NIGHT LONG.

Here's the bit of info from todays Whole30 daily that gave me the " kick in the pants to hang those darn black out curtains"!!!!!

GOOD: You are falling asleep more easily and sleeping more soundly.

GREAT: Is your bedroom completely dark when you sleep? Research shows that even the smallest pinpoint of light in the room while you are sleeping can disrupt some of the hormones you've worked so hard to regulate. Invest in some room darkening blinds, unplug anything that glows or blinks, and help optimize your circadian rhythm.

So HERE'S TO GETTING IN SOME GOOD RHYTHM!!!!!! :-)

[Quiche4u]

As day 21 comes to a close. I AM FEELING ABSOLUTLEY FANTASTIC!!!!! Just finished my first week back at work. Took things a bit slow by only working with a few clients per day. I took off thurs to rest as well as Saturday. We'll see how things go this week. Each day I look forward to getting better and better. I'm gonna start getting in a little bit of extra walking this week.

Did some cooking today to help prepare for the week. Looks like my schedule is gonna have me up much earlier than I'm used to from being sick. So a made myself a DELISH frittata using some hippie SF bacon, leeks, mushrooms, and some compliant chicken & apple sausage from Applegate, fresh herbs of sage and thyme, salt and pepper. MMMMMMmmmmmmm YUMMY.

Then I rotated some spaghetti squash left it plain so I could toss in a pan and add whatever spices I feel like when I go to heat it up

Well, all in all everything has been going pretty good. I can't believe I haven't had any BREAD, HOMADE PASTA, FROM SCRATCH COOKIES PASTRIES, CROISSANTS, OH AND CHEESE!!! I am so proud of myself for not diving head first into a bowl full of disaster and disease!!!

Moving on......and loving it!!!!!! :-)

And the countdown begins....... In just 35 minutes I will only have 8 days left till completing my first WHOLE30!!! Woooo Hoooo

More than likely I will just go right into another Whole 30 and just keep going for a bit. One day at a time.

[Quiche4u]

Today is coming to a close........ Which means 25 days now completed...... OMG! Only 4 days left when I wake up tomorrow. Can't wait!!!!! Been a long day so I'm keeping this one short and will report more goodies and progress tomorrow.

......... And here comes turtle coming around the bend....... Making her way towards the finish line.......slow and steady.........

:-)

[Quiche4u]

Only TWO DAYS LEFT!!!!!!! My boyfriend came for a visit, and I made us fajitas, both steak and shrimp. Oh sooooo good. Of course my hunny bunny who is NOT EATING whole30 much less paleo ........yet that is ;-)

He had the rice, beans, tortillas, sour cream and cheese added to his oh and the chips and salsa.

Me I had the guacamole that I made, the salsa, lettuce cups in place of tortillas and some mighty fine flat iron steak and shrimp with the veggies of mushrooms, onions, red, yellow, orange and green peppers. I think from now on when I use ALL COLORS OF PEPPERS I will now refer to them as "my bag of skittles" NOW THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL TASTING A RAINBOW" not some bite sized sugar bombs with added color.

And I made dessert. I'm so proud of myself, I used to just CRAVE all those fixings with fajitas, and dessert. NOW, I just don't have a care or a crave in the world for it. Almost afraid actually. I am feeling really really good and almost completely recovered from the pneumonia. Off all the meds now. So i certainly dont want my body to go back to being so sick and unhealthy. So when I start my second whole30 it will be interesting to see what changes take place coming up!!!! Can't wait.

CHEERS EVERYONE!!!!! Yippee!!!! Almost there!!!!! :-)

[Quiche4u]

THIS IS IT.............DRUM ROLL PLEASE..............2 more hours and it'll be day 30!!!!!!!!

[Derval]

dum....de.....dummmmmmm

[Quiche4u]

YAY!!!!!!FINISHED MY FIRST WHOLE30 a couple days ago.........wooo hoo. Ready to ROCK round two. Pneumonia free. Sunday begins round two......YIPPEE