Dos and Don'ts...

It seems my life has become a rigid structure of rules and regulations.

Between the limitations of not having platelets and the new weird diet restrictions I'm on to boost my platelets back up... it's pretty fun. (Note this is where I would use the sarcasm font if it had been invented.)

On second thought screw that note... you can pretty much assume anything I typed is veiled in some form of sarcasm. It's just easier that way.

I decided it was easier to break it down on what I can and can't eat... can and can't do... at least until I have platelets now.

No dairy, meat or flour can cross my lips. Sugar is also a no no... but I have a bit now and then. Fairly certain I'd kill someone if I didn't. And a bit of chicken once in a while... but mainly vegan diet.

In order to avoid looking like a battered woman I've also had to make some adjustments in my low-platelet world. No "risky" activities... i.e. rock climbing, tattoos or piercing, heavy lifting or road trips. My doctor actually yelled at me when I told him I had a road trip planned despite my low platelets. It's like he knew I texted while driving... and also sang to the radio and applied make up on the highway.

Of course, I'm already covered in bruises from breaking up dog fights and tripping and falling over myself. I once broke my nose in ballet class so this is really not the best disease for me to have. Man that tutu looked creepy covered in blood.

I'm also downing tons of vitamin C and B12... to combat the exhaustion brought on by my overrachieving immune system.

The plus side of all this is that I've gotten alot of stuff done around the house... and become quite the library whore. I'm seriously going through 3-4 books a week. It's an addiction and not one of those good ones that leads to being skinny... like all those super skinny models addicted to cocaine in the 80s.

In the long run I'm sure I'll be healthier, but I really miss cheese.

Last Meals...

I've been on the Macro for a little over a week. I'm not sticking hardcore to it, I'm following the basic tenets and am avoiding all meat and most dairy. I've had a bit of flour and cheese once since I switched. But the switch is pretty much in place.

Now before the switch I made sure to have one last meal including all the foods I was going to have to give up. It lead me and Mems to Denny's one Sunday afternoon, so she could eat breakfast and I could have a greasy club sandwich with some fries. I've mentioned my love of club sandwiches before... so it was a perfect last meal.

So as I sat digesting all the meat and bread and cheese I won't be able to eat for some time I started thinking of last meals... which led me to this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_meal

Some of my fave meals are the convicted killers who just ate tubs of ice cream pre-execution... like a pre-menstrual girl would while watching chick flicks (see Timothy McVeigh).

And I wonder if the ones that skipped the meal altogether meant it as a "Fuck You" to the system... like anyone cared.

I'm also fairly certain KFC would go out of business if prisons stopped offering final meals.. fried chicken (which I hate) is well represented.

So my last meal theoretically would be a Denny's Club... what would you want to eat one more time before you leave this mortal coil?

No diet rules apply... balls to the wall. I mean did you see the guy who ate 3 pizzas and some ice cream?

Be creative!

It's time...

The time has come for me to say farewell to meat and dairy. Come Sunday both will reside in the "forbidden" zone along with white bread and flour.

It is the final phase of Macrobiotics. The phase that will allegedly control my immune system and supposedly melt away pounds. While the weight thing will be an added benefit, I'm more concerned with my platelets for you know wanting to feel normal and not at risk to bleed to death.

So, one more weekend of eating my fave foods then strictly rice, quinoa, millet and beans and veggies. I'm not too worried about it. I just know I will miss cheese.

I love cheese like a fat kid likes cake. I'll just have to think of all the things I'll be able to do when I have platelets when I feel especially hungry for dairy or meat.

Like maybe a ceremonial tattoo? Or a dangerous rock climbing excursion when a bump on the head is no longer lethal.

Or maybe a pint of vodka to drink when my blood isn't too thin for alcohol.

Going Macro 2: brown rice boogaloo

So... I'm about 10 days away from phase 2 of going Macrobiotic. That means in addition to the no flour or processed grain I will be adding Dairy and potatoes to the list.

I've been going through my pantry and cookbooks and getting things ready. This has meant some trips to the grocery store... some new jars for storage in the cabinet and some adorable labels. I'm like Martha Stewart if she said fuck a lot.

I've also broken out my wok again, made some delicious stir fry the other night. It's much easier to get back into the macrobiotic eating now that I've done it again. It's really just a matter of looking up recipes and remembering what I can and can't eat. I think it helps that I've been cooking more too.

On the plus side, the diet is putting me in line to being the next Gwyneth Paltrow... minus the pretentious accents and the weird kid names. Basically just blonde and a wierd eater.

Maybe macrobiotics will help me land a rock star?

Signs of Progress

So the platelets are up a bit... and I'm on day 3 of phase 1 of Macrobiotics.

I miss bread and flour based foods... but I cheated today for one of Emily Sinovic's amazing brownies. I'm sure I'll pay for it later.

Homemade veggie soup with brown rice for dinner. I'm also slowly working my way through the food I have that I won't be able to eat when I go to phase two of macrobiotics.

I'm also doing well with the new mindframe "Looking good is feeling good." I've worn make up and non-sweats to work everyday this week and I haven't snapped at anyone or made them cry. So that's a win.

Also working on getting more organized and managing time better. It's not good to keep being distracted by shiny objects.

Taking it easy tonight... setting the alarm early to get back on my morning workout schedule.

I've found working out early makes me less bitchy. It's that or hit the Vodka with breakfast.

Flour Power

Have you ever read the ingredients of everything you eat before you eat it?

I'm in that zone this week. It's day one of flour free in the macrobiotic zone. No white or wheat flour, no baked grain. The bulk of my diet is now rice, quinoa and millet. I have rice soaking now to cook tomorrow night for dinner.

Dinner tonight was some roast and fresh peas and corn. Tomorrow it's rice and black beans and veggies. Gotta get used to planning meals and cooking ahead. I'm getting there.

I'm also starting now to incorporate more macrobiotic recipes and foods into my diet. I had Polenta for dinner last night, whcih was interesting. Holly and Brigid gave me some other polenta suggestions so I'm going to try it again this week.

I will say just in one day of not eating flour or processed breads I feel a difference... it's weird. The book warned me about different detox through every phase of making the macrobiotic switch.

Also... jumped back on the treadmill tonight. Got a good run in, got really sweaty and gross.

I know, I'm making you all jealous of my sweaty beauty.

Back to the doctor tomorrow for more lab work... so they can take vials of blood and see if my platelets are back.

Think good thoughts dearies.

First Steps

Broke out my "Hip Chicks Guide to Macrobiotics" to get preparations underway for the big switch.

So the first step starts tomorrow with the changing of the grain. So I've dug out the rice cooker and my bags of brown rice; and started digging through recipes. Hit the grocery store and got my supplies.

Tonight I had an almost entirely macrobiotic dinner. Italian herb polenta, steamed broccoli and spinach salad. My ranch dressing was the only non-macro food item. It was pretty yummy, but I'm going to have to get used to the polenta texture.

Tomorrow I'm off the feeling sorry for myself parade and hitting the gym, ditching the sweats and raiding my own closet to look good, I'm a firm believe that if you look good, you'll feel good.

I'm a bleeder!

18 months of remission be damned... I have no platelets again.

So my fitness has taken a backseat because of the restrictions I'm under because of that... no risk of straining muscles, no lifting, no pain relievers, no alcohol.

I'm also being urged to avoid being shot or getting in a car crash.. you know any major trauma. It sucks. Bella is mad I can't pick her up and she's forced to spend time in her dog bed instead.

The real joy for you dear readers is that I'm being forced back onto a strange and wondrous diet in hopes it will help boost the platelets. It's an alternative treatment for a disease that has no real treatement.

I mean that, the only thing the doctors can come up with is to put me on steroids, which I have refused for seven years now. Instead I troll message boards for experimental treatments that have worked for the other few people that have this crap.

You know I always wanted to be special... would have preferred to not do so by getting a bizarro disease a million people in the world have.

Anyway, back to my new diet. Macrobiotics baby. I don't get to eat anything that tastes good, but I'll lose weight and hopefully have platelets again.

I also take 4 times the recommended dose of Vitamin C. Two experimental treatments at once.

I'm daring like that.

Taking Control

Originally this was going to be a blog about taking trips and staying within some parameters of being healthy... not gorging yourself cause you're in a new area code.

You see I had planned on hopping in my Jetta and heading to Kansas City last night to visit my long lost BFF who now lives there. Instead my doctor told me my platelets were kaput and I needed to take it easy this weekend.

Yes readers, the autoimmune disease I've referred to in the past chose the one weekend I had big plans to flare up. I'll let wikipedia break down the nitty gritty of ITP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiopathic_thrombocytopenic_purpura

So I got the call about 10:30 that my body had for no apparent reason decided to start attacking itself again and started feeling really whiny and mopey (sorry to those of you I snapped at in person, and the ones I whined to via Twitter you were all lovely to my moodiness) and immediately felt the need to eat something sugary and unhealthy.

Good old emotional eating, it's the reason I need to lose this weight in the first place and it's always a crutch in the back of my head. Boy doesn't call, show doesn't go well, reach for empty calories. It's been my biggest challenge with this project.

Instead of reaching for the chips or candy I went home and rolled around in the floor with my dogs. It helped a lot, of course, they're the most adorable dogs ever.



And I'm working on becoming a stress runner instead of a stress eater, instead of wanting a pizza when I'm stressed or mopey I want a long sweaty run.

We'll see how that goes.

Immune System

Let's talk about health.

I mean this blog is kind of about health, in the sense that I need to eat less junk and more healthy things.

But as I write this I am sick again. This time a sinus infection in my respiratory tract. I sound like a phone sex operator and cough like a trucker.

I mentioned in an earlier post about my autoimmune disease, ITP. It has a much longer more convoluted name that translates from latin to mean "we don't know why you don't have platelets."

Basically my immune system is constantly busy attacking my platelets and fairly often ignores the lovely bacteria in my body. Like now.

The doc recommends upping my vitamin C and making sure I sleep enough... all the normal stay healthy stuff. But I tend to get caught up in too many projects and crash. Oddly enough it's always midspring. I blame pollen and mold for that as well.

So I just took a horse pill sized antibiotic, sprayed my nose and downed some vitamin C. Consider this your PSA to make sure you're taking care of yourself. Unless you want to honk like a goose when you laugh like me.