Psoriatic Arthritis Journal 2- Equation for Change

[Starch Chick]

Just found out an old friend died today. We had lost touch, but only through the circumstances of me moving across the country.

Hitting me hard.

So sorry Nicole

[nicoles]

Thanks Michelle and Beth

[PeripateticDanielle]

I'm sorry about your friend, Nicole.

[nicoles]

Thanks Danielle

[nicoles]

This made me laugh - foul language alert!

[lmggallagher]

Me too - you find such cool things - thanks for posting

[eri]

Hey Nicole! Just popping by to say hello before bed. Hope all is well! *hugs*

[chewy]

what are you currently eating daily nicoles to keep you PA under control?do you eat beans daily?nuts/seeds?do you eat grains ?

[nicoles]

what are you currently eating daily nicoles to keep you PA under control?do you eat beans daily?nuts/seeds?do you eat grains ?

Pretty much like I have been. I eat grains sometimes but not much. Mostly sweet potatoes and squashes, green veggies, some seeds, very little buts and beans and fruit. It's hot here in LA now so I am eating more salads and fruit than in SoCal winter and fall.

[nicoles]

Been awhile since I posted, much has happened.

Still in good health and enjoying all the yummy summer fruit!!!!! Apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines: I love you.

Still working, yay! Keeping up on all the walking and exercising, added meditation back into my daily schedule because at this point I think the remaining potential trigger for my inflammation is stress, so I am learning how to deal with how I react to stress. Reading a book called Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom which is very informative and enjoyable.

The Huzz had a six-week hiatus from work, so we went on some trips! First to Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks for our anniversary, and then to NY, NJ and Massachusetts to visit friends and family. Been back a couple of weeks and though it was a bit exhausting to be travelling for several weeks, I stayed on plan and did lots of waling and hiking and did not have pain! Hooray!

With the exception of meditation, all of the things I have been doing in the last couple of months would have been impossible to experience without crippling pain and devastating exhaustion had I not changed my diet. I am so grateful to Dr McDougall and all the other plant-based people sharing their information online, and for the fact that the internet exists for me to look and find them, and for the fact that I have access to a variety of good and healthy foods.

May I never forget how very lucky I am

[MSNomad]

I'm so glad to see your update and to hear that you are doing well. That is indeed great news!

[jamietwo]

That is so great, Nicole! I'm so happy for you! Thanks for sharing your updates!

[lmggallagher]

Hey Nicole:

I am so glad you dropped in to update us. It is fabulous all that you can do now. I remember when you were worried about a wedding trip and how you would handle that. That was a long time ago - but you had been eating well for a while and you made that work. Now you can do all these back to back trips all over the place and fare well! I am so glad you two got to spend this time together and with friends and family too. Wonderful!!!

Fantastic you can now add meditation to the mix. I have and loved "Buddha's Brain" too. I am still getting about 40 minutes in a day. I really don't need it for stress anymore but it keeps my brain function even when the fibro fatigue is trying to mess with me

xoxox - Michelle

[nicoles]

Hi MSNomad, Jamietwo and Michelle!

I must apologize, I did not check this for so long I missed your messages! Sad for me as you are my friends Thank you!

Michelle, that is a good perspective! I was very worried about that wedding trip and it was not so long ago, either! It it easy to lose perspective on these things.

Now I feel like I am going forward at a fast clip trying to make up for lost time when I was sick, but very recently I have been thinking that I need to cut back a little. I feel OK, but I don't want to burn out. Maybe I am in the midst of the beginning stages of burn out since I am even contemplating it.

Meditation has been great! I loved Buddha's Brain and have kept at the daily meditation. I am more concerned now with making it a permanent habit than any great advancements, since I am now a firm believer in consistency over all things. I am so impressed that it helps with the brain function in the fibro fog, Michelle- it is truly remarkable! It has helped me a lot too, even more than I realize.

It's like there are all these things we can do that we've always known about (meditation, eating well, sleeping, exercise) that seem so simple they are almost dismissed, yet once you actually DO them, the benefits are truly outstanding and astounding.

[lmggallagher]

Hi Nicole:

So glad you updated us and that things are going well - including the meditation! It is hard to stick with for sure. I have been best at it when I drop in on a meditation group and I even lead a day of meditation online (how weird does that sound) in Second Life a virtual reality. So sometimes I meditate with Buddhists, sometimes with Christians and sometimes with people (actually avatars) from all over the world. anyway I am glad you are receiving benefits - I know I do too

Best to know that you are living a very normal life - but are having the smarts to realize making up for lost time can be a double-edged sword. It's good to hear that you are contemplating slowing it up a bit to conserve the benefits of all you are doing to keep yourself healthy, happy and productive.

I have been struggling a really long-time with insomnia and have made all kinds of changes to turn that around to no avail. I have a sleep Number Bed now that tracks my sleep and tells me how I am doing. It also tracks trends or factors that are the best/worst for your sleep and gives them a numeric based on your sleep scores. The best things for me are McD and exercise. So absolutely you know that sleep, exercise, meditation and eating well are the tickets but now I have a real expensive bed that quantifies it for me, hehehehe.

The other best thing I have procured is an Instant Pot - you've got your cooking down for certain but you are likely not having as much time. If you don't have one of these consider it - it's helping me tons recently. I love it so much I am cooking everyday, as opposed to making recipes stretch, stretch and stretch some more and getting tired of them. Plus, you can do a whole squash in one. Wow.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLYWNYQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00FLYWNYQ&linkCode=as2&tag=fatfreevegank-20&linkId=SJOUMLBIF7YR3FCS

Wishing you and yours the very best, as always - Michelle xoxoxo