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