Breaking The Vicious Cylcle

SCD.       

Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

No Starch. No Lactose. No Sugar.

Not as hard as it sounds.

I have had luck on this diet in the past after I was first diagnosed, and after all the crap (Pun-Intended) I have been going through the last two months I’m ready to give it a shot again.

This actually all came about after a conversation with my mother over a week ago, (after a night of heavy partying on my part – I don’t recommend that for IBD patients).

Mom: “Call Dr.Cohen and refill your prescription”

Me: “All Dr.Cohen is going to do is want to see me and I don’t have the time to go in there.”

Mom: “But you have the time to spend all day drinking, the next day hungover all while in pain running to and from the bathroom. Makes sense.”

Me: “Well when you put it like that it sounds bad.”

Mom: “Is it worth it? Is it worth all the pain and the diarrhea? You should call your doctor, refill your script and go back on your diet.” Period.

Mom’s right. It’s not worth it. And then after talking to some team mates who are on SCD I put myself back on it. Now, I know dark chocolate isn’t on the “legal” list, but besides my 1 square a night, I’m pretty much lactose-, starch- and sugar-free for over a week.  My frequency has dropped to 5x a day and things are starting to look more normal. I’m still in pain and bleeding, but one step at a time.

My new food bible 

I ordered an SCD cookbook and tried a recipe from it the other night and it was wonderful. As soon as Whole Foods gets some almond flour in, I’m planning on trying to make SCD bread. But that’s another post for another time.

Dear Heartbreak Hill,

Pre-workout stretch
Dear Heartbreak Hill,

You don't scare me.

True I may not have just run 19 miles to get to you, but you aren't as tough as you think.

Last year, I ran Blue Hills.

Top that.

Love,

KerriAnn

Yes, I truly mean that. We ran Heartbreak Hill this past Saturday and it was not as difficult as I had imagined. Now granted we had only run a mile previous to the start of heartbreak hill, so I can imagine what it was like for those who have run 19+ miles to get there. That would have been bad. But I still think the Blue Hills/ "BOSTON13.1" we ran last year during Team Challenge was way worse. Not just Chickatawbut (the overlook that looks down upon the city of Boston) - up and down twice, but the 1.5 steady incline beginning at mile 10. That one was the killer. Slow and steady and I think it took my 14 minutes to finish that mile.

Victory
I may have completed heartbreak hill, but it kicked my butt. After struggling with diarrhea all week running was not something i should have done. I was weak, dehydrated and I could tell. The 3 miles back I ran slower than normal and even threw in a few walking breaks. I am not superwoman and when i am sick I need to remember to slow down.

I have not run since Saturday as I am still struggling with symptoms. I am signed up for a 6k on Sunday so running on Saturday is out of the picture. I'm hoping I am better by Friday, or at least good enough for a decent run.

Pray for Nana.

Over a week ago I complained of continuing flares, C-diff, and another ear infection.

Nothing has changed. Well, my ears are better (thanks to a lovely Dayquil/Nyquil combo prescibed by my Primary DOC since antibiotics are out of the picture).

*Note - my Prime-Doc then proceed to ask me to stop emailing him and come see him - sorry, I like email*

I got to see my GI-doc Friday afternoon. Because he "wanted to see how I looked and if I needed hospitalization." C'mon Doc, we all know I look good no matter what, what kind of question is that!

So after his approval, a new script for Vancomysin and a request for more lab work I was on my way.

The plan is to check for C-diff or see if what I am going through is a C-diff brought on IBD flare.

Still not too sure why my doc only requested c-diff cultures and not SED rates or anything, but I'm sure he is up to something.

All while I am trying to heal and figure out the best course of action for myself, I'm still training. But Thursday night's run was just not on the agenda for my body. After two stops again, Shira and I decided to head home. To cheer ourselves up Shira and I went to dinner that night. (Now remind you all this time I do not have my cell phone on me as i left it at my apt.) When I finally return home around 9 pm I have 3 missed calls from my mother. (And I thought she was just concerned about my health).

My Nana was in a bad car accident on Thursday afternoon. She has 5 broken ribs, a broken pelvis and a broken tibia right below the kneecap. She is 82. But broken bones heal. She was moved from ICU yesterday afternoon and is on the long road of recovery but we have a great family who will support her through it all. So that is why my normal Thursday & Saturday posts have been missing.

(I'm actually writing this at work in between inspection reports - to be posted later tonight)

Me and Nana Playing a game Easter a few years ago.

So I'm gonna close with how she always says goodbye to me. "Pray for Nana" and "Be good."

(where I say "I'm always good Nana" and she say "I know Kerri, you're a good girl.")
UPDATE: I talked to Nana over the phone and as I said goodbye - she told me to be good - she must be on the road to recovery.

A 5k and an update.

This C diff has really messed me up. I swear I have yet another ear infection.

I had to stop twice on a THREE mile run today.

And I'm almost alway in some sorta pain/cramping.

Oh yes. And I am still bleeding.

I hate really hate I.B.D.

So right now, I have two options. Diet. or Steriods.

And i know it may sound selfish and conceited, but I am finally below the pre-prednisone weight from over a year ago - I DONT want to go back on steriods.

So that leaves diet. And I have no self control.

Team Challenge ran their first 5k's over the weekend. There was a huge alumni precence at the Attleboro race. Kind of made me sad I missed it. But I decided it was the perfect week to take the Friday night to hang out with my bestie and catch up. Of course that included wine and martinis (remember the lack of self control from earlier?)

Cheesy Burger Pasta

Holy.Sore.Muscles.

Yesterday I was hurting. I'm still hurting today. I guess I wasn't ready for the 60+ lunges I did Sunday morning. So yesterday since Shira was resting her foot (inflammation in her big toe) I decided to hit the elliptical for 40 min then do some core work.

It also reminded what I love (hot guys/good sights/good people watching) and hate (only one elliptical free and no room on the mats) about the gym. But the sights were definatley worth it ;)

Last night I woke up at midnight with a migraine. I was able to take some meds and I was back asleep within an hour. But this morning I woke up with more then a soar throat. It just got worse. All afternoon I was sucking on peppermints in my office because it just hurt. Then my ear started throbbing (I'm probably the only adult who still gets ear infections) As soon as I left work I hit up CVS for soar throat drops and some nyquil.

Tonight I made one of my fav. dinners - Cheeseburger Pasta. Yummy :) I enjoyed Hamburger Helper as a kid, but as an adult I like to recreate meals like hamburger helperbut make them better for me and my body.

Cheeseburger Pasta

Serves: 2 or 3

1/2 lb Ground Turkey

1-8 oz can Diced Tomatoes

1/2 C Diced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

salt & pepper to taste

2 or 3 Cups Whole Wheat Pasta (Rigatoni)

1/4 C Kethcup

1/8 C Mustard

1/4 C Relish

1/2 C Mexican Blend Cheese

Cook pasta per instructions

Saute onion in Olive Oil for approx 5 min

Add ground turkey, garlic, salt and pepper

Cook until no longer pink

Add diced tomatoes and juice

Add ketchup, mustard & relish (amounts are estimated - make to taste preferences)

bring sauce to boil the reduce heat to simmer

simmer for about 5 min then add cheese

stir until cheese melted

add cooked pasta, stir to completely coat pasta

serve&enjoy.

(I chose to serve mine over spinach - i also saved about 1/3 of the pre-cheesed mix of turkey, tomatoes and condiments for tomorrow's dinner - cheeseburger pizza!)



Now, I could have sworn I wrote another blog post sometime this week besides Monday. I must be dreaming that. Well, maybe its because nothing really exciting happened. Tuesday I ran errands. Wednesday I ran a 3.1 mile loop. Had trouble with my Garmin not locating a satellite so I didn't even bother with it. Thursday was a 4 mile run in 39:53. My faster 4 mile. Seriously.

Saturday was another amazing run at Carson Beach. This week we did 6 miles around the baseball field and Castle Island. As usual, I hit the potty at L Street Community Center so I wound up running with my teammate Gianna this week. We finished the 6.1 miles in 64 min.. Averaging about a 10:30 min/mile. A little slower than I have been running lately, but I wanted to run slowly this week (I may of had  a little too much wine at Momma Alice's the night before!) and I wanted to meet a new teammate. I was also happy because Gianna said when she runs by herself at home its about a 12 minute mile, where with me she was running much faster. The perks of group running! I was so proud. I also won a raffle for setting up a fundraising event - and got some lovely TC gear.

Today I hit the gym for a much needed strength session. One thing I always say about half training, I always slack on my strength training. I maintain my weight, but my body fat goes up, and I don't like that one bit. So I hit the weights today. Followed by my Sunday routine - coupons, shopping, open houses, catching up on the paper and my maggies. I love my Sundays.

Soy Milk - after my workout.

Lunch - egg & cheese on a whole wheat bagel before two open houses and grocery shopping/walmart run.

Dinner - roasted beet and goat cheese salad with chicken.

That's what I love about Sundays... :)

SPEEDemon

Holy cow! Today Shira and I went for a four mile run up behind her house where there is a fairly decent sized hill that I wanted to tackle. Last week we only went part-way up and  I know I was soar the next day. This week i told her I wanted to go all the way up it. It was so hard. And we didn't slow down our pace that much either - which I'm not too sure if its a good or a bad thing. Here is our splits:

Lap 1 - 1 mile - 10:04
Lap 2 - 1 mile - 10:06
Lap 3 - 1 mile - 10:20
Lap 4 - 1 mile - 10:20

Funny how the major hill I talked about was the last part of mile 2. But I'm not going to complain. 40:50 in total and it was awesome.

Saturday's training run was 5.22 miles at Carson Beach again. LOVE Carson Beach. I ran with Super Dave and Will. I tried running with Amanda, but I couldn't keep up. She is fast. Although Dave wasn't going as hard as he normally does, I know I was totally going faster than I normally would. My legs were feeling it yesterday. My legs will be feeling it again tomorrow.

Following our training session we had a short yoga session taught by Coach Jenny. I love yoga, and love the stretch. But it was freezing. We totally needed it though.

 (Please note Shira in the right hand corner slacking off).