Healthy OMS Breakfast

It can be a struggle to find interesting things to eat so I have decided to post some pics of what I eat in the hope of finding others who eat this way & being able to share!

 These are 3 vegan pancakes topped with strawberry, blueberries, backberries and passionfruit. Garnished with fresh mint and drizzled with rice malt syrup.

The blackberries my husband picked for me & the mint & passionfruit are from my garden. I used wholmeal flour in the pancake recipe but I normally use gluten free flour, this recipe uses little flour so, for me, it didn't matter.

It was a lovely start to my Saturday & certainly not my everday breakfast, it is more of a 'special thing'.

What is on your OMS menu?

Exercise woes

I was doing great with jogging I thought, I had been jogging intervals with walking & sprints. Then I switched to a more level track & found I could jog for 30 minutes. I was excited & proud of myself, I really enjoyed it too. So I jogged each morning until I notced my ankles hurt. At first I stopped & did some ankle rotations then kept on, determined to jog all the way.  When that didn't work I jogged & walked intervals for a day or two & the pain seemed to be gone. I had another go & after stopping for some ankle rotations I had a great jog & actually went further than I had been, I loved it.
The rest of the day my ankles hurt. So I had a couple more days resting them, I rode my bike instead & did kettlebell exercises. My knee twinges sometimes when I ride, so I had another go at jogging & walking. I felt good so I went for 70 mins. Later that day I did some kettlebell work & took a short bike ride with my son. The we went for a family walk. 
I slept poorly & was longing for a pillow to prop up my sore ankles in the night.
I made a plan to swim today. I even got my bathers & gogles out, but I find swimming a chore, so that didn't happen.
Next I blamed my shoes so I ditched my orthotics & went for a short gentle stroll, my ankles hurt part the way into that & are still hurting.
Do I simply need new orthotics or should I buy the over the counter ones? My ones seem to be tipping my foot outward, the same foot with the sore ankle.
Are my new shoes part or all of the problem?
Is it simple that I am new t jogging & my muscles & tendons are adjusting & its a bit painful for now?
I want to know but I don't want to go to the usual chain of appointments to find out.

Today I went for a short stroll, had a lie down with a book & have rested some. I am tired from a poor nights sleep & a worn out body that has a few overuse pains right now.

Tomorrow shall be a better day & yes, I actually plan to get to the swimming pool.

Be well!

OMS at 3 months

I've been on OMS for 3 months now
 I am still adjusting to the program & find myself having to work at fitting in my meditation, sunshine, exercise & eating well daily. But it is not without reward.

Meditation is something I took up 3 years ago & I had found it to be invaluable as a pain management tool from the beginning. I love meditation and rarely miss a day. I rarely miss it as I crave it, need it & want to do it & always feel better for it. It is a daily habit now & I will drop other things to rest/meditate as I found I function so much better when rested. I am listening to Ian Gawler audios in the car which I have found to be really encouraging and so helpful. I used to pray a lot but find meditation helps resolve emotional issues more effectively, I am totally hooked!

Sunshine! I have been supplementing Vitamin D for about 5 years. My level was checked after I started and was between 30 - 50, I think. I was tested earlier this year & after sunbaking last summer & upping my supplementation I got to 97. Fairly slow progress I thought. Then I had it checked again this month & was delighted to see it had gone up to 137! I love to lie in the sun on a bbig pillow read in my back yard, I find it relaxing & a little addictive. Still aiming for 150 & hope to get there soon.

Exercise. I have had to exercise for pain management for the last 9 years, my body feels better when it moves. I have trouble sitting & this year my back went bung & I am left with a dogy left hip thing that twinges at times & had me sitting on a exercise ball, the only comfortable way to sit for a resonable lenth of time.When I adopted OMS I read that exercise was important & have increased my efforts accordingly. I jog now, I have added in kettlebell workouts (short ones) and like to spend at least 1 hour a day jogging and or cycling. I love it! Time constraints are an issue but as it is Summer I have been rising early & going before the family arise. My best effort has been a 30min non stop jog, proud of my efforts there! Initially I couldn't jog as it hurt my hip thingy, so I modified my technique & have worked with my body & walked when I got sore.

Eating well! My biggest hurdle. I first encountered this program after a dietician told me about it some 5 years ago, maybe I knew about it before then but I felt that it wasn't for me. I was following a diet for SIBO, the low FODMAPS diet & I found that really constricting. I wasn't about to take on a new and even more limiting diet unless I had another relapse. I didn't have another relapse the MS just progressed & invaded my life, making it difficult to plan or shop and made thinking really challenging. When I saw the MRI of my brain I had to act! Once I read Hapy Healthy Gut by jennifer Browne I changed my diet overnite! I am still learning but I am loving this way of eating. Someone asked me if I found it hard & I siad no, being in pain & feeling lousy for 9 years is hard. That is my truth! I enjoy all the vegetable & they taste better & better. I am wheat free still but am open to that changing in the future. I can tolerate most fruit well, yesterday I ate 500grams of cherries (oops). So eating this way I actually have more variety in my diet than before. It is opposite to how I thought it would be & I am noticing benefits of this lifestyle already.

10 benefits so far!

1. No constipation.
2. More energy
3. I am off bactrex, fish oil & laxatives, hooray!
4. I am thinking clearer & have noticed my memory improve somewhat.
5. I have lost 12 kilos
6. I sleep really well
7. I have identified problem food that give me fatigue, instant coffee & soy products which are easy to avoid.
8. My feet are feeling better 
9. I am beginning to express my feelings in appropriate ways rather than keep them in & have them affect my body.
10. I enjoy cooking and eating a whole lot more & still get to be creative.

Merry Christmas.

Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis

I was at the nuerologist for my annual checkup recently and was being checked over thoroughly by the registrar. She found some altered sensation in my right leg that did not impact function at all, unless you included my bad attitude that came with it. I was strongly urged to commence yet another MS drug, my best effort was to say I would think about it.

I took the brochure to read. What is with the pictures in thoe brochures & what do they have to do with MS? Anyway, I'm not going to take the drugs.

I was in the library the following week & a book caught my eye called Happy Healthy Gut by Jennifer Browne.

I had a copy of Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis by George Jelinek and had read Recovering From Multiple Sclerosis too & had promised myself that I would switch to the program if I had another relapse. The problem was that I also had digestive issues, which is why I was so excited about Happy Healthy Gut when I picked it up. Jennifer Browne said in her book that a vegan diet could correct digestive issues & the book is full of personal stories.

I went to the nuerologist Tuesday,  the following Wednesday I read Happy Healthy Gut then switched to the recovery program Thursday! It is now a month and a day later & my digestive issues have settled right down. I have had them for 9 years & after so much pain & trouble I am still scared, but I am trying something new every few days & so far it has all been good.

So far my improvements have been

• More energy. As long as I don't overdo the snacking I have had heaps of energy and enjoyed exercise much more than I had been.
• No constipation. I stopped laxatives after 1 week & all has been well!
• As I have stopped coffee, I drank copious amounts of decafe, I am no longer looking for the loo everywhere I go. That is pretty awesome too. My new favourite drink is licorice tea.
• No boils. I was getting them with my menstral cycles and this time I got no new boils which I am also excited about. 
• General improvement in cognitive function. Its early days but I am able to recall things quicker and with more clarity I feel.

• Lessened MS symptoms. My relapse was minimal but the tingling in my right leg is greatly decreased and is now barely noticeable unless I really focus on it being there, which I don't of course.

I look forward to even more improvements and no new relapses.

Healing SIBO

I have been reading and applying You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L Hay, listening to her audios (a lot!) and in my mirror work I found that I really wanted to be cured of SIBO.

That was Tuesday morning & I was on my way to a Kinesiology appointment. It did come to mind to mention the SIBO during the appointment yet I was fearful that my muscular issues would then not be resolved, I needn't have been. In hindsight maybe muscular issue also caused SIBO.

That night I came home & wrote out the relevant affirmations. I have done this daily & will increase it to twice daily.

I began EFT & shall tap on every emotional memory (or movie) that comes up.

Huge bonus for me was that yesterday I talked with a lady I know & she was healed of SIBO. It is possible & my healing is on its way!

I have this weekend to get right into it & I'm looking forward to it!

I also saw on a recent episode of Catalyst called Gut Reactions, in the 2nd part they mentioned feacal transplants then how they hope to replace that with strong, targeted pills full of healthy bacteria. An oral treatment, much more appealing! I began a course of them last night (imaginateively).  I shall take them as long as needed, I'll take them daily during meditation and visualise they golden tablet doing gret restorative wonders in my gut.

I am looking forward to my new daily treatments & the awesome results they shall deliver!

Anxiety & Self Critisism

Heavy title huh?

I had a light bulb moment yesterday in the quiet moments after work.

It went like this.

I had corrected someone again, and was wondering why I did that. I teach cooking to primary students & the adult helpers are vital to the classes & thier success. I had noticed that I regularly correct the helpers & was mortified that I could do such a thing. We are in great need of all the help we can get. It just didn't make sense to me & I was pondering it.

Were this someone elses problem I would have said (& thought) imagine how it is for them, knowing their thoughts too would be critical of themselves. Aha...

I had also been pondering a boy in our basketball team. He joined this season & was instantly a great player who scored lots of points. He had watched lots of games on the TV and believed he could do it, then as the weeks went on he scored less & less, sometimes even not scoring at all. To me he is a living example of belief in action and also of doubt creeping in & seeing its unproductive effect.

I finished a series of sessions with a good psychologist on Monday & felt great. I was confident & breezed through the days even though my main support person, my live in partner, was away. He words of praise & encouragement bouyed me through the days easily.

Thursday is my work day & said partner was home again Wednesday, I was tired & had woken with anxiety driven thoughts in the night, very critical & oft repeated words of destuction inside my own head that had been going on for some 6 years.

I had also been listening to Eckhart Tolle on audio CD in the car. The audio quality is poor yet I enjoyed what I did hear and it bought me some peace & a new perspective.

Point is I am a thinker & always look for ways to fix my problems. Anxiety has been a problem for some years now, it comes with MS & SIBO & Graves disease. That is why I was back at the psychologist to get yet more coping stategies.

My aha moment...  So as I sat reflecting on self critisism the thought came to talk back to it, over the top of it & on purpose to myself in words of praise & encouragement rather than let the inner critic talk freely. I decided to be proactive & felt myself rise up.

I am seeing already the effects of the critic on my kids & I don't like it. I asked myself about helping my younger child & came up with extra touch & finding ways to laugh together. That gave me confidence in my inner wisdom.

Think positive. Speak words of praise & power to myself over & over on the issues that anxiety has raved to me on, it has ranted and sought to annihilate me. It didn't win. I am dusting myself off & regrouping to forge ahead with y new positive mindset. I can think positive, its the same as thinking negative only with a smile and worthwhile results.

I can do this. Anyone can.

I have been reading self help books for 20 years, listened to so many audio books & repeated affirmations. Now I simply chose to think positive as I finally have had enough of anxiety's unrelenting rants and destuctive voice that I am not going to leave it unanswered. I am a good person & a caring mother, wife, employee, daughter and I choose to think positive and believe in myself.

A book that helped make this real is the Farmers Wife by Rachael Treasure, its a story not a self help book. Yet is also a roadmap for change & now I am seeing it play out in scenes from Offspring to Winners & Losers. I love it.

Women rise up! Be your own greatest fan and cheer yourself on every step of the way. You are powerful and capable and have much to add to the people around you. You make a difference and you are an overcomer. You can do it.

There is an energy that comes with these empowering thoughts. I love it.

I read in overcoming MS about doing work on yourself, I didn't hink that applied to me. I was wrong. I began meditating in May 2012 and have been discovering things abot myself since then. Yesterday I was replying to a forum when I became aware of my limitations & how MS has been affecting me for the past 20 years or so. The times when I have put my heart into something and then been physically exhausted for long perios afterward. It is a pattern that has followed relationshop loss, job stress & church, family & becoming a parent. I was not really aware of my limitations until I wrote out a reply about me being a stay at home Mum & why I am. I think it is of great benefit to the children and I don't have the energy to work and be a wife, parent & housekeeper. I just don't and that is OK. This is where I am and I can do heapd but I can't do everything and I am OK with that. I don't even want to do everything, I need a lot of sleep and rest. That is OK and it is what I need not what I expect of everyone.
With the Olympics I am have been painfully aware that they are made of different stuff than me. I have tried in the past to push myself & it has not worked for me. I need to work with how I am made and not against it. I find that liberating.