Food

Food has been on my mind a lot the past few days.

I suffer from Fibromyalgia.
It stinks.
I wouldn't wish this disease on my worst enemy.

Once in a while I get really tired of feeling yucky
and decide that I am going to be more proactive
and do something about it.
I start reading books and looking for possible solutions.
This usually leads to feeling worse instead of feeling better.
There are so many unknowns associated with this illness
and it affects people in many different ways.
Most of the suggestions in most of the books
end with the disclaimer -
this has been proven to help in
about 2% of the subjects who tried it.
2% isn't very high, but I guess if
I were in that 2% it would be worth it.

The past month I have been reading a book entitled
The Fibromyalgia Solution
by David Dyland.
A lot of what he has to say makes sense to me.
One of his opinions is that the symptoms of Fibromyalgia
are made worse by certain foods and food allergies.
His suggestion was to go on a 3 week elimination diet.
The idea is to eliminate ALL the foods
that might possibly be increasing the problem.
It's a pretty long list.

I decided that I needed to
at least put his theory to the test.
Of course I couldn't do it during my birthday month
so I decided to wait and begin
after my fast on September 7th.
I knew I was going to need all the help I could get
so beginning with a fast made sense to me.

For the next 3 weeks my diet consists of

Fresh Fruit - except citrus and strawberries
Dried Fruit - unsweetened in limited quantities
Fresh or Steamed Vegetables - except corn and peas
Chicken (not processed)
Turkey (not processed)
Fish (wild only not farm raised)
Nuts and Nut Butters - except peanuts
Seeds
Beans, Lentils and other Legumes
Wild or Brown Rice
Quinoa, Millet, Amaranth and Buckwheat
Rice or Almond Milk (w/o sugar)
Water
Vegetable Juice (except carrot)
Coconut, Palm or Olive Oil
Spices - except red and black pepper

Now, perhaps you can guess
that this is not the way I usually eat.
Where's the Diet Coke?
the Chocolate?
the Dairy Products?
the Bread?
the Red Meat?
the Oatmeal?
the Eggs?
Pretty much where's anything
that sounds remotely exciting?

This has been kind of hard for me.
I have dreamed about food the last two nights.
I have been having a bit of a
"poor me" attitude today.
Life is so hard and I can't even eat anything good.

I decided to clean out my e-mail box
to distract myself from wanting to eat.
While I was deleting messages after messages
(Let's get rid of chocolate and
unread messages all at the same time.)
I ran across this e-mail I received a while back
from one of my friends.
It really helped me to put things in perspective.

It's entitled a Week's Worth of Food

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week $341.98

Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan: The Namgay family of S hi ng khey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum o r $5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

All of the sudden all that food
I get to eat for the next 3 weeks
looks pretty darn good.

After 3 weeks I get to start
adding food groups back
one at a time.
If I don't have increased symptoms
after a couple of days
I can keep eating that group
and add another.
Some "food" groups are
suppose to never get added back.
I bet you can guess which ones.
Hmm,
I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

For now I'll just work on appreciating
what I have.

Today I am thankful for

an abundance of food.
Friends who send me e-mails to remind me how blessed I am.
Possibilities.

The thing I learned today was the origin of the cliche "Going Cold Turkey" which means to quit something abruptly. This expression originates from the goose bumps and pallor which accompany withdrawal from narcotics or tobacco. One's skin resembles that of a plucked, cold turkey. I am feeling a bit cold.