This post was here, there, and everywhere. Until next time- love and light. Be your own light :)
As of my last post, a few things have changed in this sensitive life of mine. For one, my B12 levels are solid despite what I had anticipated, so that's good news. Secondly, I've decided to go ahead with retesting my food and food chemical sensitivities using LEAP MRT. I've said it before and I'll say it again- my test results from March are completely out of date. I need a new roadmap to work from and this seems like my best bet right now. It will be really interesting to see how much has changed from March until now. Some of my previous highly reactive foods could end up being some of my lowest reactive foods now. I'm kind of excited about this to be honest. There's a possibility that I'll be able to eat foods I haven't eaten in months- foods I thought I'd never be able to eat again (worst case scenario). I have the highest hopes for the best possible outcome with my test results. I'm looking forward to keeping the sensitive life community posted about what has changed and what I plan to do with the information moving forward. In other news, Halloween was a fucking blast this year. In my opinion, as a sugar/candy addict on healing journey, nothing says a bitchin' time like putting me in charge of handing out the candy. I will admit, I was quite the Scrooge on Halloween- but only until I opened my door to find two of my loving students looking positively adorbz and wide-eyed with their candy bags held open. Kids are hilarious. They think that teachers live at school, don't have families, and can't function like normal human beings in society. I love it. One of my kiddos said, "Ms. Howe is that you?!?" Nope, no it's not. JK yes, it totally is. I love what I do. There's nothing better than being surrounded by hilarious little people all day who know how to pick you up without even trying. All in all, I suppose I was happy to be the candy passer-outer, even if I couldn't eat half the bowl before anyone arrived. Don't pretend like you haven't been guilty of this at least once in your life... Totally switching gears. I know that from time to time I tend to get all preachy on you all about self-love and manifesting your reality, but I feel I'm overdue. So, here I go with my positivity rap: When you focus on the lack of something in your life, the universe responds with perpetuated lack of that something. Instead, visualize yourself enveloped by whatever it is you think you're "lacking," and you'll find that your thoughts were the only thing standing between you and your souls desires. Your reality is exactly what you make it- how you perceive your everyday experiences, the company you keep, and the larger world around you. By choosing to change your perspective and abandoning any expectations or thoughts that external factors should change, you begin to create a new reality filled with more peace, acceptance, and understanding. Let go of the shit you cannot change or take back. There's no sense in choosing to hold onto something that only lowers your vibrations when you can choose to surrender to anything that weighs you down. Love yourself enough to believe you deserve happiness. More importantly, love yourself enough to believe that you owe it to yourself to create your own happiness. After all, you are the only person who can give yourself the gift of genuine happiness. Don't attach your happiness or sense of peace to anyone or anything else. Let whatever you do today be enough. You are perfectly enough just as you are.
This post was here, there, and everywhere. Until next time- love and light. Be your own light :)
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Well, there are quite a few updates that I have to share this evening. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was planning to get retested for my food sensitivities, as I haven't felt very well over the past couple of months. Well, I haven't felt as well as I did back in April or May. After a long discussion with Deb yesterday, we have decided to try a new elimination diet instead. The fact of the matter is, I've been working off of a road map that was made for me when I was not well. Since then, my sensitivities have changed- I'm certain of this. It makes no sense to follow a map that's outdated- it won't get me from A to B when new bridges and roads have been built over the past few months. My new elimination diet isn't extremely different from what I was doing with the LEAP diet before, but it certainly has changed a handful of items on my "can eat" list. We decided that I should still completely avoid all of my highly-reactive foods and food chemicals from my LEAP MRT results. My new diet allows for some foods I haven't eaten in a while and actually eliminates some foods that I have been eating for a while. The good news is, I feel like I'm going to have a bit more variety in my diet, which is something worth celebrating. It's been really difficult for me to feel like I'm eating the same foods day after day after day. I'm not picky when it comes to eating food- I always enjoyed foods from different cultures and I was never hesitant to try anything new. I have a wonderful appetite and so, my restrictions have had me feeling like a caged animal for quite some time now. I came to realize how serious this was when I became wildly excited over the fact that I was going to be able to eat escarole, kale, kiwi, and artichokes on my new diet among other things. My life should be riveting now- agreed? :) I had some lab work done to check my iron, vitamin D, and zinc levels. They were all extremely low, which didn't surprise me much seeing as I don't get a whole lot of nutrients from my diet. There isn't enough variety for me to get everything I need out of my diet alone. If it weren't for my supplements, I'd be in biiiig troubs. I went and had my B12 blood work done today- I'm sure that this will be low, as well. I've been off of my B Complex vitamin for a week now because I ran out and had to order more. This actually worked out because I had to be off of it for a week in order to do the blood work. Unfortunately, I'm really feeling the effects of not taking it everyday. I'm miserably lethargic/fatigued. I really hope all my supplements arrive tomorrow so I can stop feeling like zombie. While I take a B Complex vitamin, I'm secretly hoping that my B12 is low enough that I can be considered for B12 shots, which I think would be more beneficial for me in the long run. So what does this blood work tell me? For one, research shows that hair loss is a sign of iron deficiency. So, I can link these two pieces of the much larger puzzle together. My fatigue, pale complexion (on some days), dry skin, random bruising, aching joints, and brittle nails can also be attributed to my low iron levels. Low vitamin D and zinc levels also play a role in hair loss and some of these other symptoms. Triple whammy. Thankfully Deb gave me two big lists of foods that are significant sources of iron and zinc. Only a few of the foods are some of my highly-reactive foods, so I have plenty to choose from to get my levels up. As for the vitamin D, I have to be ridiculously careful with how much of it I allow myself to take. My kidney stones are 100% related to my vitamin D intake- if I get too much vitamin D, you can bet your ass you'll find me curled up in a ball in the hospital, hooked up to an IV, convinced I'm hours away from my death. This sensitive bitch never has time for that. Another update, which I'm saddened to report: I'm breaking up with my beloved coconut oil. It has come to my attention that this "miracle ingredient" simply is not cutting it for me anymore. Yes, it did miraculous things for me towards the beginning of my sensitive journey, but I have come to terms with the fact that it is to blame for my not-so-flawless complexion right now. I blamed my diet, my lack of nutrients, and possibly everything else I could come up with- but I'm past the denial phase and I am no longer using coconut oil as a face wash and moisturizer. Even when I wasn't well, 10 months- a year ago, I never had issues with my skin with the exception of getting hives every time I would shower. I now know that the hives were caused from a sensitivity to basic body washes. I was fine using regular face wash and so, there's really no reason why I can't go back to doing just that. I was always very fortunate to have clear skin- even as a teenager. My friends would get so mad at me when I'd flip out over one blemish on my face and insist that I was "breaking out like crazy." I now know how ridiculous I must have sounded. I stopped using the coconut oil a few days ago and I'm now using Burt's Bees Soap Bark and Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream. For a moisturizer, I'm using Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion. I'm already noticing a difference, which validates my suspicions about the coconut oil. Don't get me wrong- I'm surely going to use it for other things, but not as a face wash or moisturizer on my face, chest, and back. I will stand by my claims that it works wonderfully as a deep conditioner for hair, a moisturizer for hands and legs, and it's GREAT to cook with! Check out these links for information on deficiencies and foods that are significant sources of iron, zinc, and vitamin D:
CDC- Iron Deficiency Top 10 Foods High in Iron Dietary Sources of Iron Iron Rich Foods Mercola- Zinc Deficiency Top 10 Foods High in Zinc What Can Foods High in Zinc Do For You? Vitamin D Deficiency Vitamin D Fact Sheet Top Foods for Calcium and Vitamin D Top 10 F00ds High in Vitamin D |
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