Food Journaling Make Over

My handwriting is awful. So bad that I can hardly read it. I had an intervention with myself. That it was time I cleaned up my food journal hand writing. As you can see from the image below, the left side is my previous illegible version. The right side is the new cleaned up, easy to read version. Hopefully.

I took both with me to see Dr. Firshein today. My homework was for me to track everything I ate along with any symptoms experienced. Honestly, every single day I experience light wheezing and gross, thick mucous draining down the back of my throat. As bad as this sounds, this is a vast improvement. A year ago I ran a fever daily, had zero sense of small, used my emergency inhaler about five times a day and spent my days choking on pistachio colored mucous. 


These days I can smell my fresh veggie juice, perfume and the subway. With good comes some bad I guess. I haven't used my inhaler in almost two months. I drink green tea constantly which some how relaxes my airways. I've also almost gone a full year without ingesting any oral antibiotics or steroids. Can't wait for the anniversary party.


As my doctor scanned my food journal he brought up some interesting points. He said many of the foods I'm eating are not the most easy to digest. One of my latest issues is a lot of bloating and belly rolling after eating certain foods. He asked me what my family and relatives eat. I mentioned my dad's love for meat and Wendy's. The doctor said items like goji berries and cacao nibs, while healthy, are somewhat foreign to my body. Foreign things are harder for my body to digest. He looked at a long list of ingredients I threw together to make a smoothie: banana, blueberries, flax, spirulina, maca, rice milk, vanilla and stevia. He suggested I simplify. Remove goji berries and spirulina. Try a different brand of rice milk. And so on. He said my goal is to find a small group of ingredients that cause zero reactions. Then I can mix and match these when creating meals. 


The doctor commented that my diet is perfect for prevention of cancer and heart disease. But a challenging one for someone with food sensitivities and digestive issues. Prevention is good. And continuing to track my eats, while tedious, should lead me to a safe eatery haven. 


I also had a bone density test. The nurse had me remove one boot and sock. Then I placed my naked, freshly pedicured foot into a machine. She turned on the machine which gently squeezed my heel and then released. Done. The doctor read my results. He said I was in an ok place, but borderline bad. He said if I were to maintain my current level of bone density into my seventies, then great. He plans to give me a super duper bone-building supplement after my next visit. He didn't want to throw another supplement into the mix since I'm having some digestive issues.


He had the nurse do a full panel of blood work. Last April when I had this done, one test for ANA, showed slightly elevated levels. An ANA (antinuclear antibody) blood test is used to help screen for autoimmune diseases. I'm really curious to see where my numbers pan out this time around. Here's more info about the test: http://www.sclerodermatt.org/articles/better-health/315-explaining-the-ana-blood-test-normal-range


Any one else keeping a food journal?