A few years ago I started being plagued with serious stomach aches. I never knew when it would strike but it was always after eating. Years later, after many many tests, I was told without any having had results from any of them, that I had IBS. This plagues thousands of people in the United States, and now I was one of them. Slowly since this discovery, I have figured out what causes outbursts and what to avoid. Of course the things that cause outbursts are thing I love (i.e. cakes, cookies, basically any high fat foods, and coffee).
It's so hard to stay away from the things I love but I've become better at it, making substitutes, so that my stomach isn't always causing me pain. Here are some tips that I am promising myself to improve on:
1. Eat more fiber - Whether it be in pill form or just more fibrous vegetables like spinach and kale, and whole wheat bread.
2. Avoid the "bad" things - I'm trying my hardest to do this but I am not Ms. Willpower by any means.
3. Drink decaf coffee - This is a change that I have made already, even though it makes me sleepy at work. =(
4. Less stress - My work can be extremely stressful sometimes. I need to keep reminding myself that things will never be THAT bad. And will always end up alright.
5. Drink peppermint tea/peppermint extract - Peppermint has been shown to improve stomach reactions to foods and this would be nothing but good.
One of the things that comes with growing up and going to a real doctor, (aka not a pediatrician who also sees 2 year olds), is that you get a ton of blood work done and results are read over the phone in a list form. I was completely overwhelmed by this process. Not ready to write down anything, I tried retaining everything she was telling me, which was fairly impossible. What I did retain was that I was extremely low in iron. This wasn't surprising, as my mom is as well. I promise I will also take iron supplements, as without it, I get very tired very easily.
So here is my first change and first promise.
<3 S
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
What S Wants
I'm sure everyone has a role model. Sometimes you don't have one right off the top of your head, and other times you quickly know who yours is. Mine is my younger sister. Yes, younger sister. My sister is one of my favorite people. She is SO self-aware, way more than any other 20 year old I know. She doesn't succumb to peer pressure and does what her heart tells her. She has always been more mature than her friends, spending less time on petty drama and more time trying to change the world. In college she worked for Presidential campaigns and Howard Dean's pet project Democracy for America.
This summer she spent at our old sleepaway camp, something that I never would have done during a summer back from college, always too afraid I would miss too much with friends at home. In the fall she'll be in Scotland studying abroad and in the spring in DC for another internship in the political field. Even though sometimes her nerves get the best of her, she knows that these experiences will shape who she will become. And so she pushes herself to try new things even if it can cause some discomfort at the beginning. I have always admired and yes sometimes been jealous of her cavalier attitude towards being away from home.
I visited her at camp this past weekend, and fell back in love with her joie de vivre. I turned around and looked if I could find my own. I found very little. Commence, breakdown. Her love of all experiences good and bad in college, camp, love, and life, made me question my own. I graduated 2 years ago and fell into a job that I quickly realized wasn't for me. It was heartbreaking, I loved learning in college, I loved my major. And what had it been used on? An office job where I am sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day. About a year in, I found the Natural Gourmet Institute, a culinary school focused on nutrition and health supportive cooking. I knew this had to be my next step. After a year and a half, I applied, got in and starting going part time alongside my full-time job.
Now here I am, a quarter into the program, and looking for more. I live outside NYC one of the greatest cities in the world and am looking for more. From this breakdown, I decided I need to make changes, some small and some large to make my life more enjoyable to capture back my joie de vivre. This is my journey.
-S
This summer she spent at our old sleepaway camp, something that I never would have done during a summer back from college, always too afraid I would miss too much with friends at home. In the fall she'll be in Scotland studying abroad and in the spring in DC for another internship in the political field. Even though sometimes her nerves get the best of her, she knows that these experiences will shape who she will become. And so she pushes herself to try new things even if it can cause some discomfort at the beginning. I have always admired and yes sometimes been jealous of her cavalier attitude towards being away from home.
I visited her at camp this past weekend, and fell back in love with her joie de vivre. I turned around and looked if I could find my own. I found very little. Commence, breakdown. Her love of all experiences good and bad in college, camp, love, and life, made me question my own. I graduated 2 years ago and fell into a job that I quickly realized wasn't for me. It was heartbreaking, I loved learning in college, I loved my major. And what had it been used on? An office job where I am sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day. About a year in, I found the Natural Gourmet Institute, a culinary school focused on nutrition and health supportive cooking. I knew this had to be my next step. After a year and a half, I applied, got in and starting going part time alongside my full-time job.
Now here I am, a quarter into the program, and looking for more. I live outside NYC one of the greatest cities in the world and am looking for more. From this breakdown, I decided I need to make changes, some small and some large to make my life more enjoyable to capture back my joie de vivre. This is my journey.
-S
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