I'm back...

What's this? A Full Well post? But Olivia, you haven't posted here in almost a year!

Yeah, well, a lot has changed in the last year. I was doing so well while I kept this blog, and then life happened, and I just didn't have the stamina to write on here. Not to mention, I would've felt like a big, fat hypocrite, as I pretty much let my health take a nosedive.

Last summer, my health was in crisis, and I used all the resources I had at my disposal to "solve" the crisis. I did a pretty good job, if I may say so myself. Well, lo and behold, it's summer 2009, and my health...sucks. Er, sucked. Just over a week ago, I was in tears at my desk because I felt so awful and didn't know what to do about it. I had, to use a buzzphrase, reached my tipping point.

The great news is that all that (expensive) hard work I did last summer to figure out how to be healthy was applicable now, too. I was in a much better position this time around because this time I didn't have to solve anything (though I thought maybe I did), I just had to implement what I already knew. So here's what I did:

1. Called on the collective wisdom of the forum over on crazysexylife.com. Boy do those folks know their stuff and have a giant, heaping portion of compassion to serve along with it.

2. Placed an order with www.iherb.com, which happens to have amazingly inexpensive ($5!) shipping to Seoul. If you're curious, I ordered chlorella powder, wheat grass powder, and a super duper amazing multi.

3. Trekked -- it may have been a block and a half, but with how awful I felt, it seemed like a trek -- to the overpriced department store, which happens to have a great produce section, and bought all the produce I wanted: sprouts, mixed greens, bell peppers, bananas, cherry tomatoes, a massive-and-juicy apple.

4. Ate the produce. Not all at once, but bit by bit.

5. Logged on to Raw Fu , and signed up for the 100 day Raw Fu Challenge, which started this past Monday.

6. Drank my enzyme/protein powder.

7. Drank a TON of water.


The next day, I woke up, exhausted, and got some pissy news I don't feel like getting into here. It's all fine now, but sent me into quite a tailspin for the next few days. In the past, a super high stress event like this would have led me to "screw it" mode as I inhaled Snickers bars and french fries. But not this time.

Why? It can only be because I was ready for this change. Physically, emotionally, spriritualy ready to do it. The kicker is, it's been easy. Caffeine, gone. Sugar, gone. Meat/dairy/eggs, gone. Cooked food, gone. (Aside from two little incidents, one of which I regret, the other I don't.) But I don't feel deprived.

I feel good.

In fact, today, I feel really good. For the first time in who knows how long, I had energy and took a (short) walk. My body needed to move so badly that I started doing a little yoga...at work. (The iherb shipment arrived yesterday, so I've had my multi and chlorella. Coincidence? Maybe. But I'll take it.)

I'm not ready to declare that I'm a raw foodist, and I'm certainly not being super strict or limiting myself. I'm working on being gentle with myself, and forgiving, and just listening to what my body needs.

The health kick is back -- though this time I hope it sticks around -- so stay tuned. I've got lots to blab about.

Celiac Disease and Enzyme Deficiencies

One of my favorite people in the entire world, my friend Mo, is in med school right now. I would say she's pretty old school Western medicine, but she always listens with an open mind when I talk about my latest health and medical findings, regardless of whether it's from an Eastern or Western background; so long as the science is there, she's all for it. She's infinitely better at science than I am (I think I scraped out a B- in 9th grade bio; she's, um, in med school), and sometimes my attempt at scientific explanations fall a little (or a lot) short, which leaves me frustrated. Every once in a while, though, something I've read or experienced will come up a few days later in one of her classes, which causes us both to geek out a little bit. I'm also happy to report that Celiac Disease gets a semi-regular mention, so with any luck, future doctors will be even better equipped to help patients navigate that lifestyle.

Mo and I grabbed dinner towards the end of my elimination diet, and we talked a bit about what I'd uncovered about how my body processes food. Yesterday, I got a pretty awesome e-mail from her. Here's an excerpt:

As for the celiac tidbit, I learned that the disease affects primarily Caucasians, esp. Celtics and Swedes! So yeah, you know... you! AND that virtually all Celiac patients have a disaccharide deficiency, which is an enzyme that breaks down disaccharides into monosaccharides, and therefore often have an intolerance to lactose and sucrose. Which makes your elimination diet results you were telling me make TOTAL sense! It was sugar and milk right?? (I don't think I made that up... haha)

So there you go -- it turns out I might not be quite the medical mystery I thought I was. Man do I love when all the little pieces start to fit together.

"Good news -- you're missing an enzyme!"

Yesterday I had my first appointment with the Women to Women clinic in almost three years. Of all the pieces in my recent Health Crusade, my appointment with Marcelle might be one of the most critical components. (Though I don't know if it would have been quite so productive if I weren't already taking care of a lot of other pieces: following my new sleep regimen, doing an elimination diet, getting regular acupuncture, making sure I get a nice dose of sunlight (and sweat) every day, and being mindful of trying to keep only positive influences in my life. It's a system. It's always a system.)

So what great insight did Marcelle have to offer?

1. "Love your job. As it is, right now. Look at everything else it lets you do."
I like my job. I do. The people are wonderful, the environment is stimulating, and I feel valued. The work I do, though, isn't exactly exciting. But Marcelle pointed out that this is a good thing given everything else going on in my life. I'm fortunate--my life is very full, but sometimes this means I don't give as much focus to things I should. Like, oh, say, my health over the past year. This job has given me the space and mental energy to refocus and really work to solve my health issues. It's working. And now, rather than lament the fact that I spend most of my day managing calendars and assembling contracts, I'm grateful for everything this position gives me.

2. "No, that's not normal. That's because of the enzyme you're missing. You do remember that you're missing an enzyme, right?"
Nope! I'd completely forgotten! I'm going to go ahead and assume that I did actually listen when she first told me I was missing an enzyme three years ago. That is the kind of thing that tends to get lost in the shuffle when you're hearing that you'll never get to eat pasta, bagels, pizza, cake, or beer ever again. (Of course, the other great news is that with more of us Celiacs around, the gluten-free market is taking off. I'll link to all my favorite gluten-free goodies soon.) So, when I mentioned to Marcelle that I've been eating like a saint and my tummy's still a little off most days, and is that just a function of changing my diet to 75% raw fruits and veggies, I was relieved to hear her say this wasn't normal. I was even more relieved when she had the solution for me in the very next sentence: you're missing an enzyme, but we can work around that. She's sending me the necessary supplements, and, with any luck, I'll be able to report back shortly that they're working. After all, I felt great when I took them three years ago. (Honestly. How did I completely forget that I'm missing an enzyme? Who forgets something like that?)

3. "You're on the right track."
It was just nice to hear it from an expert. I don't know the last time I've worked as hard at something as I've worked at getting healthy lately. Yes, I'm feeling better than I ever have, but it's still really nice to get a little proverbial pat on the back from someone I admire.

4. Homework!
Ah yes. No hiding my (not-so-)inner nerd now. Knowing that I like to read everything about health and nutrition that I can get my hands on, Marcelle made a few recommendations. I tried to split my practicality with my desire for instant gratification, so I bought one book at the bookstore, and then ordered the DVD Marcelle recommended and a cookbook I'd been meaning to buy from Amazon.

The latest addition to the bookshelf is Digestive Wellness by Liz Lipski Ph.D., CCN. I really appreciate the quote at the start of the introduction: "If the patient has been to more than four physicians, nutrition is probably the medical answer," Abraham Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D. I know that's not always true, but for me, it's certainly been the case. This might be one of the major things I love about nutrition -- you can heal yourself with your kitchen. How cool is that? Kris Carr likes to call Whole Foods her pharmacy. I still visit my CVS, but I have to say, for the most part, I agree.

I'm waiting for a DVD called You Can Heal Your Life, by Louise Hay. My sister raves about Louise Hay, but I've always been a little skeptical. Some of her ideas seem a little out there, even for me, and I love alternative healing. I think -- if taken with a grain of salt -- there's probably a lot of really great stuff in this series. Apparently I'm supposed to "work with the DVD" every day. We'll see how I do.

And last but not least is the cookbook I was supposed to buy when I first started the FareWell elimination diet. Whoops. I was too preoccupied with my new juicer (carrot-beet-celery juice and carrot-apple-fennel juice. YUM!) to even think about cooking. Of course, now that the order's been placed, I want Marjorie Hurt Jones, R.N.'s The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook to arrive, oh, today.


There were lots of other things that came up in the conversation, but those were my big take-aways. Now, back to work. At the job I'm grateful for because of everything it lets me do.