Month 1, Day 21

This morning, I woke up on top of the world.  I dug out my old Tom Petty Wildflowers CD and blasted it on my way to pick up my son from Grandma's.  With the windows rolled down, the heater on and blue skies ahead, all of my problems seemed trivial.  I kept quoting a line from Tom Petty to everyone I saw:
People come, people go, some grow young, some grow cold.

Tonight, I'm tired, nay- exhausted - my hands hurt and I'm ready for bed.  Got up at around 8 and it's 9 at night now.  So much for long days.

The fatigue is really getting to me.  I'm not sure I can blame it all on INH, but certainly the aching hands and some tiredness is feasible.  The one variable today is that I had a big bowl of Mac N Cheese.  The cheese was fake so it was all still Vegan (here's the recipe, and yes it's YUMMY!) but not gluten free.  I gobbled the pasta down like there was no tomorrow.  It's possible that I'm having a reaction tonight to the whopping load I've put on my digestive track tonight.  Or, maybe I'm having a slight allergic reaction to gluten and my body can't handle the histamines.

But that doesn't explain my usual fatigue of late.  Either way, back to gluten free.  If it makes me feel better, then I'd like to keep it up.  Now, if only I could find a way to help my hands...

Month 1, Day 10

Goji Berry Heaven!  I am addicted to Goji Berries, or wolfberries, or whatever you want to call them.  I don't care if they are the latest craze, or fad, but I love 'em!  I bought some from my next door neighbor who sells Young Living, but think I may go through this place and buy 9 pounds!  My favorite drink of the week:

Darcy's Goji Berry Tea
Handful Goji Berries (good handful)
Hot water
1/2 lemon
1/2 packet Stevia

YUM!

Goji Berries are actually great for the liver.  There's a ton of marketing hype out there, and several unsubstantiated claims, but I think the biggest evidence is how it makes me feel.  Whatever the claims, studies or hype, I've noticed that I actually have more clarity, and feel warmer.  I sometimes have a slight flush which could be from the large amounts of Niacin in the berries.  The berries are a great snack too, and I have no problem eating a handful to satisfy the munchies.

Speaking of Niacin or B3 - INH depletes levels of Niacin in the body.  I'll go more into this tomorrow!

Last night I worked out on the elliptical at the gym.  I spent about 30 minutes cranking and realized, again, how out of shape I was.  However, this morning I'm not really musclesore...I was concerned that I'd have a repeat of my lactic acid fest from a few days ago, not other than some arthritic symptoms, I'm fine.

For breakfast this morning I munched on some of my bluberry-banana loaf, which is incredibly filling and some pinion nuts.  Hopefully this will tide me over to lunch - I have green beans, potatoes and chickpeas in a cauliflower sauce - a little bland but still delicious!

I noticed last night that the pill is becoming a habit to take before bed.  I almost (but not quite) didn't have to think about grabbing it.  My steps just led me to the counter to take my pill.

Month 1, Day 9

Fatigue.

For the most part, I'm been fine.  But I've been noticing this low-grade fatigue over the last week.  I don't think it has anything to do with being lazy, sick or overworked.  I think it has to do with INH.

It's not exhausting me or making me keel over at the end of the day into a pile of bones.  It's just a feeling of lethargy.  Like I need to push a little harder to make things happen.  I need to psych myself up more to do active things. After last week's experience with the Lactic Acid, I realize that I don't want to have another episode of that.  What would be ideal is daily exercise to avoid anything dramatic.  But of course, that is difficult for me, since I'm out of shape.

So, work into it, they say...and so I must.  And most likely, the daily exercise will give me more energy!

On a different note, someone told me today that I look really healthy! I guess going from zero pills daily to 8 pills, better diet, lots of water and better nutrition daily says something, even if one of those pills are INH.  I think that when the body is clean, it makes it much, much simpler to process out toxins in the body.

Last night I made a Blueberry Banana Bread (Awesome Source) because I wanted something yummy.  It was absolutely delicious:

3 large over-ripe bananas
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup (80 ml) vanilla soymilk (or apple sauce)
1/2 cup (120 ml) agave nectar
2 cups (240 g) white whole wheat flour (or regular whole wheat flour) (Note: I used Brown Rice Flour instead of whole wheat to avoid gluten. 
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (240 ml) blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or wipe a 9x5-inch loaf pan with oil (I used a silicon loaf pan).

Mix the soymilk with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and let stand until it curdles. (If using apple sauce, skip this step and add the lemon juice to the bananas.)
In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the remaining lemon juice, soymilk, and agave nectar. Stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, and stir just until the mixture is well-combined. Fold in the blueberries.
Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.
Servings: 12

Month 1 - Day 4

Felt great this morning. 1 side-effect, diarrhea - ick. Luckily, I just bought from the store yesterday a hardy probiotic (acidopholis/lactobacillus friendly bacteria mix). Antibiotics usually kill friendly bacteria in your colon leading to symptoms like gas, diarrhea, etc. So this morning I took my probiotic 20 min before breakfast.

Drank 32 oz of water first thing.

B - Cut up banana, raw almonds, dried strawberries, hemp seed and coconut milk
S - Carrots and hummus
L - Salad and dressing
S - Banana chips (a lot)
D -Butternut squash soup with cauliflower, chocolate brittle

By the way, I love chocolate, so need to make a healthy, yummy alternative to the chocolate you usually buy...

So, here's what I do:

1/2c Coconut oil
1/2c maple syrup
1/2c cocoa powder
dash of vanilla
1/2c chopped almonds

Blend the top 4 ingredients until smooth, then add in almonds. Smooth it onto some plastic wrap and let it harden in the freezer.

It tastes like fudge, is raw and healthy!

Pill:
Totally forgot - woke up at 5am and remembered...will talk about on next post.