Better food, better health

The summer holidays are over and routine begins.  I am definitely a creature of habit (thanks to pacing)  so the return of routine is like welcoming back an old friend . I will miss having my husband at home all the time though,  now he’s back at work his absence is going to take some getting used to.

One reason I’m looking forward to routine is so I can get back to healthier eating habits.  The summer brought lots of fun,  but lack of preparation and a huge decline in energy meant that lots of our meals were take outs.  I also went wild and ate nearly everything I had missed whilst I had been dairy and wheat free for the last two years.

Needless to say  my mind and body are suffering the consequences.  At the same time that I was strictly wheat and dairy free I experienced a relapse.  People would ask me if I’d noticed any difference on the diet,  but there was so much going on that had a negative effect on my health that I couldn’t tell.  Now that things have calmed down it has been easy to see the positive impact going wheat and dairy free had on my health. Since reintroducing wheat and dairy I have noticed  I have become more lethargic,  the pain has increased and I am unable to tolerate as much activity before my limbs refuse to work.  I wake up in the morning like I have been trampled by a herd of wilderbeasts.  My brain becomes even more foggy,  I forget more, become impatient quicker,  struggle to understand or listen when people are speaking. Writing or talking become even harder too.

The end of the summer is a good time  to get back into a routine and introduce healthier habits.  It is time to concentrate on creating the health  habits that will strengthen my body for the looming winter. My aim is not only to cut out dairy and wheat again,  but to eat less processed foods and introducejuicing. The hardest task will be to cut out processed food. It’s so prominent in our diets, and yet who knows what it contains. Jamie Oliver , the celebrity chef, works hard to encourage families to be educated in food and start to cook from scratch. HisFood Revolution website is a useful tool if you’re wanting to make the change to real food. I love the infographics for spurring me on and motivating me. 

These changes seem a bit overwhelming all at once,  but making one change at a time I will get there!

Check out my other blogs on www.mecuperate.co.uk 

The importance of Being

That best portion of a man’s life,  his little,  nameless,  unremembered acts of kindness and love.  William Wordsworth. 

As a family we’re adjusting to my relapse quite well. I guess it’s easier to adjust to somewhere you’ve been before. It wasn’t so easy the first time around. My two little boys have been a great help.  They’re too young to know that mummy is poorly and that helps me to keep my mind off feeling poorly.

It’s not easy being a mum of two very young kids whilst being this bad with ME / chronic fatigue syndrome. But they are certainly worth it. There is nothing more healing than a cuddle from two chubby arms and a kiss from a dribbly open mouth. Nothing brightens the soul more than hearing ‘wuv you too mummy’.  

Being married with kids feels a far cry from when I was bedbound, unable to sit up and told there was no cure. I wondered if that truly was it for me. I was in my mid twenties, still living at home and although I had a boyfriend, when he proposed I couldn’t help but wonder ‘what could I offer?’ My now husband and family helped me see that it wasn’t what I did that mattered, but who I was.

Then when we took the leap of faith to start our family I worried how I could care for my kids when I needed so much help myself. With a good support network (husband and parents), I see once again that it’s not about all I do for my children but how much love, patience and happiness I show them. A childhood friend came round last month and as we talked she said she found it remarkable the closeness of the relationship I have with my children that she was able to see as she visited us. It was a lovely compliment to hear and one I remember if I ever start to feel guilty that I’m not the kind of mum I see on pinterest!

I realise more and more the longer I have ME / chronic fatigue syndrome that I am much more than what I am able to do. My self worth comes from who I am as a person rather than what I accomplish. This kind of self worth can’t be shaken as easily as one based on outward accomplishments. This kind sustains me through being bedbound or housebound when a good day isn’t measured by any to do lists being checked off or physical goals accomplished,  but rather mental victories of happiness over sadness,  positivity over negativity,  softness and calm over anger.


Take a look at my website www.mecuperate.co.uk 

6 Years of ME

t’s not the sort of anniversary I should really be taking note of, but I’m reminded every year as the anniversary of the day I became ill falls around four family birthdays.

I started to feel ill at a Saturday night birthday party then attempted to go to work on the Monday but I couldn’t go more than  5 minutes before I knew I had to turn around.  It was a steady decline of health from then. Six months on I  was diagnosed with ME / chronic fatigue syndrome. He we are, 6 years later. The prognosis at the time looked grim, and maybe I’m not cured, but I have a husband and two wonderful boys to show for it.

At the time I felt like my life had been taken away. Now I see, my life merely changed. Where ME / chronic fatigue syndrome takes away,  it also gives.

ME took away:

-Running,  dancing,  exercising,  walking long distances.

-My brain and ability to study,  formulate what I want to say,  think straight.

-A head and body free from pain, aches,  nausea,  tingles.

-Restful sleep.

-Having fun (or doing anything)  without paying for it with bad health after.

ME gives me:

-Patience

-The chance to work out my problems and calm myself down without needing distractions.

-The opportunity to find happiness from within,  regardless of anything outside.

-A lesson in putting myself and my health first to benefit my family and friends in the long run.

-Knowledge of my body,  it’s limitations and the ability to listen to it,  know what’s good for it and how to manage it.

-Time to spend with the people I love most and who love me.

-People who have shown their true worth and love  through selfless service,  compassion,  understanding and just being there even though I can’t give back.

-The possibility to take leaps of faith and trust in my feelings.

-A knowledge of a higher power that lightens my burdens when they get too hard and knows my needs.

These lists aren’t extensive,  there’s more to each of them. Yet it’s easy to see from looking at them the gifts I’ve been given through this experience are far more valuable than what has been taken away. I still have faith and a hope that I will get better,  and I’ll be a better person because of this.

Take a look at my website www.mecuperate.co.uk 

Reflecting on a year of learning.

We went away to visit family just over Christmas. I enjoyed it for three reasons: 1) seeing and spending time with my family, 2) seeing my boys enjoy playing and spending time with their cousins and 3) having an excuse to clear my mind of the endless 'to do' lists and enjoy some free time.

With it being New Year as well I was free to ponder on 2012 and everything we experienced and everything I had learned. 2012 was a big learning curve for me. It was filled with opportunities to learn some really valuable lessons. As I contemplated on those experiences I realised that I had a fresh start in 2013 to put what I had learned into practise. I have learned that our experiences on this earth, whether bad or good, are for our profit and learning. Everything is a lesson and if we choose to see it like that we will be greatly benefitted because of it. We will become better people, and we will be able to be happy regardless of our circumstances.

I also realised that some of the things I have found really difficult have actually been blessings in disguise. For example, I have felt trapped by my baby needing me for sleep due to his acid reflux, but him needing me has forced me to rest when I wouldn't have. These rests have prevented a relapse in my health, which I know would have occurred as increase in my activity has caused me to suffer some setbacks which would have been worse if I wasn't having all this rest.

So my one intangible goal for 2013 is to accept what I'm given. In the immortal words of Joseph B. Wirthlin 'come what may and love it.'

Slowing down for Christmas

Website, blogs, school runs, Christmas preparations, trying new recipes, poorly kids, poorly parents ... It's getting a little bit much and boy, am I feeling it! I stumbled across this quote the other day and it was just what i needed:

“The average woman today, I believe, would do well to appraise her interests, evaluate the activities in which she is engaged, and then take steps to simplify her life, putting things of first importance first, placing emphasis where the rewards will be greatest and most enduring, and ridding herself of the less rewarding activities.” Belle S. Spafford

I think we can all, healthy and sick alike, do with simplifying our lives a bit, especially around Christmas time. There's no need for hustle and bustle, we'll enjoy it much more if we step back and allow ourselves to soak in what's happening, rather than whizzing around getting this and that done and missing the joy and peace that abound when we think of the real reasons we are celebrating. 

Check out my website: www.mecuperate.co.uk

Building palaces

Today is remembrance day. I never fail to be touched and humbled during the couple of minutes we spend in silence remembering the fallen and sacrifice they made for our freedom. The older I get, the more this means to me. I feel truly grateful for the freedom they gave their lives for.

Thinking of the horrors of war led me to think of the people i have heard of or spoken to this past year who seem to be going through the refiners fire. Some of their trials appear incomprehensible and my heart aches for them. At times I wondered was it really necessary?
I'd been pondering the purpose of this life for a while. Then I stumbled on a friends wall post on Facebook and some inspired person had quoted this from CS Lewis:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making court yards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. 

There it was, in words I could understand and make sense of. We are being made into palaces. Sometimes it feels as though we'd be content with a cottage if only the hard times would stop, but in those times we need to hold on to the picture of a palace and know we will get there!




My website : www.mecuperate.co.uk

Accomplishing goals: a new website!

A couple of posts ago I wrote about setting goals. I told you I would keep you posted on how they were going, and I'm pleased to announce I've accomplished one! Since I've suffered with ME I've had to rethink the idea of setting goals and very much had to follow Anne Shirley's advice in Anne of Green Gables. She says 'my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road... Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does.' Whenever I set a physical goal I don't know if I'll be able to accomplish it. ME is known for putting bends in roads in the form of relapses, or dips in the condition. It's not easy to find beauty in these bends, but even though at times I don't want to believe it, I know that these bends do happen for a reason.
So, with this in mind, I feel even more excited that I've been able to accomplish my goal of setting up a website to help those, like me, who suffer with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia. I did start with the lofty idea of developing it myself, but that was too taxing for my brain fogged, mummy brain. Instead, knights in shining armour, called Netheads (www.net-heads.co.uk) , came to my rescue and helped my dreams come to life.

My hope for my website is that it will provide an online community where people can find advice and support, a place to share recipes to help us eat the right foods to fuel our bodies, and a place we can feel inspired and share our talents. We've all got some talents or hobbies. Nowadays it might take us a lot longer to accomplish them than before, but I think it's so important to our self worth to keep on with them. There's also a forum for carers to find support too.

Please take a look at my site and join us: www.mecuperate.co.uk