37 days into Topical Steroid Withdraw and 7 days on Elimination Diet

I stopped using all steroid creams on September 30, 2013 (37 days ago) to treat my nummular dermatitis (eczema). Nummular eczema occurs in localized, rounded (though not uniform) patches rather than distributed over large areas of skin.

Before then, this was me:

"I take 3 hot yoga classes a week, and 2 spinning classes (which include a massively awesome disco ball). I travel 3 days a week for work. I make all my husband's meals (breakfast, lunch, supper). I tidy the house, do the dishes (occasionally- bless that man's heart). I have a richness in friendship and a super fun social life. I'm independent, driven and really really happy!"

And now...I can't do a lot of that. Because I'm healing from Topical Steroid Withdraw and I'm on an elimination diet.

I no longer go to yoga. I no longer dance in spin class. I don't see my friends because getting dressed hurts. And I can't eat much because of my allergies. So yeah, I feel a little less like me. But I'm still driven, and happy!

Topical Steroid Withdraw:

Topical Steroid Withdraw is really well documented. And for any of you who have children on topical or other steroids for skin reasons, like eczema or rosacea...or who are using it yourselves - take a look at this:

http://mototsugufukaya.blogspot.ca/ and
http://www.reddit.com/r/TS_Withdrawal

The skin gets addicted to steroids, and then the steroids start causing the skin condition. And then when I stopped using Steroids, my skin started kicking my ass. Hives, spreading of the eczema, worsening and enlarged areas of skin affected. Oh, and yeah I feel pretty unattractive with weeping, oozing red sores all over me.

Exercise, or anything that creates heat in my body creates swelling and pain - worse than I've ever had before.

Elimination Diet:

I went to my doctor to help cure my eczema after stopping steroid creams. She did allergy testing- I'm allergic to:

Casein (Dairy)
Cow's milk
Whey (Dairy)
Banana
Cranberry
Pineapple
Eggs
Coffee
Sugar Cane (wha?)
Yeast
Almond
Hazelnut
Peanut
Sesame
Soy
Wheat
Mushroom

I've stopped eating all of this in the last week. The premise is that since my body reacts to these like they are toxins, when I stop eating them, my body can start healing rather than fighting toxins. My body has to clear out the steroid toxins in addition to any created by exposure to allergens like these.

More about the detoxification process: http://eczema-natural-healing.com/eczema-healing.html (Find out why symptoms get worse during an elimination diet, and why that's a GOOD thing).

All of the forums and blogs I've read recently have helped keep my spirits up. Here are a few:
http://www.itsan.org/about_eczema_Letter_from_KP.html
http://www.xtosis.com/chapter13.htm
http://antisteroid.wordpress.com/about/
http://oregene92.wordpress.com/
http://topicalsteroidwithdrawal.blogspot.ca/


They all mention how encouraging a picture journal can be. So fearlessly, here are a few photos of my skin today (about a month into Topical Steroid Withdraw (TSW) and 1 week into the elimination diet.) It's progressively worse since stopping steroids, and even worse since the elimination diet started.

Right elbow

Left elbow

Right leg

Right hip - the orange is an iodine cream I use to keep infection at bay

Other affected areas: Neck, back, armpits

Since stopping steroid creams entirely on September 31, 2013 (currently on day 37 or about 1 month) my quality of life has gone down considerably- exercise used to be my #1 stress relief and social outlet. Self-esteem drops when you feel like you look like Frankenstein's monster (oh I know that's not fair, the poor monster was so misunderstood and lonely).

So what? It's temporary!

I have amazing support at home, I am strong in spirit- and am relentlessly optimistic. Positivity will always create a better environment - at work or at home to heal in.  I am healing. I am going to be a better, healthier, stronger person after all this. And in the meantime, put on some comfy cotton clothes, get the rest my body is telling me it needs and look on the sunny side of life.

Weekly Training

The spreadsheet in the New Tracking Spreadsheet post outlines calories burned in each activity, for each day of the week. When I made that spreadsheet, this is what I envisioned for those activities:

Monday	Off (recovery from Sunday workout!)
Tuesday	45min Treadmill, including 15min upper body weights
Wednesday	20min 30 Day Shred (maybe Level 3?)
Thursday	45min Treadmill
Friday	75min Vinyasa Flow (Hot!) with my fave teacher, Tracy Mann at Hot Yoga on 17th!
Saturday	45 Treadmill (recovery from bday party I'm throwing for husband Friday night)
Sunday	40min hard workout video, maybe Amy Dixon's (she's tough!)

Focus on Salad

Salads are a gift from the planet- there's no denying that the bounty of the earth is best displayed in a big color-filled bowl of veggies, lean protein and quality carbohydrates. So how do we do them right? Especially since we can't subsist on iceberg lettuce (not the best nutritional variety) alone, and restaurant salads are now so packed with junk it is better to have a hamburger!
So here's the perfect formula for a healthy salad that will propel you towards better health, without the crap.
1. Start with the darkest greens you can find to maximize the nutrient value of your salad- most of the time that's spinach. But don't get hung up on it- pick whatever green base you like. You won't eat it if you start with a foundation you don't like. Greens are important for volume-and reduce the chance that you'll fill your salad bowl with junk.
2. Add some moisture- in the form of vegetables, or non-sweet fruits like peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. Want that glowy skin? Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. These make your salad more colorful, and therefore nutritious and interesting- and help create that glow you can show off. Go crazy- add as much as you want to. Waterous (is that a word) vegetables also help keep you full.
3. Pitch in some protein using lean options like a combination of rice & beans (my fave!), your favorite chicken recipe (try my diet coke chicken recipe), tenderloin, tofu, tempeh or fish. Keep it to a half (1/2) a cup, or 3 oz if you are weighing the protein. Is it redundant if I mention this should not be breaded, nor fried, nor fatty options? You all know that.
4. Get fat in there too. And I'm not kidding. I love adding 1/2 an avocado to my salads either cubed, or on the side to spoon out. Other options can be the dressing you use.
5. Dress it with only the highest quality olive oil (best taste) with lemon juice and best-quality balsamic vinaigrette. It's the simplest, and best choice for bringing out the natural greatness already in your bowl. Just for kicks, try reading the label of most grocery-store dressings- I bet you can't pronounce or spell in a bee most of the ingredients. That means- don't you put it in your mouth.
6. Lastly, add your pizazz, your flair, your style in a tasteful way. Keep additions like dried fruit and nuts to very small proportions and never candied options. They are there to add crunch and interest- so don't forget them. Just don't blow your bowl of goodness with over-using complimentary additions. I use 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds or hemp hearts, or 2 Tbsp of pumpkin or sunflower seeds, raw and un-salted and un-sweetened. Try fresh fruit options instead of dried ones to add to the moisture content instead of dried options.

New Tracking Spreadsheet

What do you think? I'm going to see if numbers actually do help keep me moving. You can see I'm also tracking rest (yes/no) to make sure I'm incorporating that oh-so-important aspect to health.

At Work Meals-How To

It's not easy packing your daily meals and snacks to work, to play, or on a road trip. A little planning and you'll find great success in your meals- committing even 1 hour on the weekend to some prep for the week will make your goals attainable. Here's a glimpse into how I use preparation on the weekend to create easy meals during the week.
1. Once home from the grocery store, immediately wash and cut your vegetables, and store. Then make a batch of hummus for the week. I divide the hummus into individual containers as I need it.
2. Next, just mix a bunch up into take-away containers for a couple days at a time. Here I've created two days' worth of veggie sticks to go. When they run out, I'll head back to my veg stash to make more. Also, the pre-cut and washed veg can be chopped for evening salads!
3. Lunch right now is a salad. So I create a protein combo on the weekend with a pot of rice, and some beans. This week I mixed them with Jalepeno peppers and some corn for the 'meat' of the salad for the entire week.
4.Thrown over some spinach, that concoction becomes my lunch for the day.
5. Then it's onto my morning snack- my beloved hot cereal, either oats or creamy rice. Every other day I make a pot of 2 servings, and divvy it up into two containers.
And that's it. I throw some Vega into a bottle every morning, and add it all together for my day's worth of healthy, whole foods. Wherever I go, my lunch bag goes with me.

Weekly Nutrition

So this is again, pretty simple. I'll post again later today, showing the process of getting all this food ready for the week. It's easy to stick to a plan, when you prep ahead of time.

Breakfast: Greenie Smoothie (includes big handfuls of spinach, 1c frozen berries, 1 frozen banana and water.) If I have a high-activity day then I add about 1/8c raw organic uncontaminated (gluten-free) oats or 1Tbsp hemp seeds.
Mid-Morning: 1/2 c (measured raw) uncontaminated oats, or 1/8c (measured raw) creamy rice cereal. Cutting out the raisins this week- I tend to reduce sugar the week of my period to reduce carb cravings.
Lunch: 2/3c beans and rice mixture, 2c organic green leafy salad with oil and vinegar dressing
Mid-Afternoon: 2c raw vegetables (broccoli and carrots), and 1/2c hummus
Supper: Big Salad! with toppings like avocado and sunflower seeds
Post Work-out: 1/2 serving plain vega in water

Weekly Training

Monday: 30 min plyometrics, 30 min elliptical
Tuesday: 30 min incline treadmill walk
Wednesday: 30 min day shred level 1, 30 elliptical
Thursday: 30 min heart opening flow
Friday: 30 min heart opening yoga, 30 min bike
Saturday: Moksha yoga
Sunday: OFF
I was super low in iron this week- and therefore super low in energy. Gotta get nutrition in, or I can't get my workouts in.

Weekly Training

Squeeking in as much activity as I can get- I knew it would be a wild week, with my days starting with meetings as early as 7am (yes, full skirt, hose and heels meeting at 7am across the city), out of town client trips and a trade fair. I put all of my workouts in my calendar every Sunday, so I prepped last week. But I over-estimated my body's capacity for activity during such a stressful week and flexed a lot on my activity level to allow for rest:
Monday-30 min elliptical, 20 min plyo
Tuesday- 30 min yoga
Wednesday-30min yoga, Run outside 31 min (4.5km) see the picture
Thursday-looooong bike ride (15km)
Friday- 75 min Baptiste Vinyasa Flow (hot yoga)
Saturday-Off
Sunday- Off
My Wednesday run was to be the beginning of my outdoor running club at work- I've enlisted 3 other runners who want to workout with me at lunch hours- and they all 'forgot' their workout gear the first run- didn't stop me from getting out. I just got to map our first run for us, hopefully coming up this next week.

Now I'm off to put my workouts for my upcoming week into my calendar. Are you prepped for your week?

Weekly Nutrition: On my Feet

Prepare your stomach and digestive tract for the day- start it with a room-temperature glass of water, with 1/2 lemon squeezed into it. I do it every morning and have had great results. (My husband loves it too, calling it 'lemonade'). He doesn't know it's good for him...heehee
Then onto my daily routine of goods:
Breakfast- Greenie Smoothie (so easy to put together in a rush)
Mid-morning- More Greenie Smoothie (in my new Pure canteen) or a fresh apple and about 20 almonds.
Lunch-Salad, or raw vegetables with hummus.
Mid-afternoon- fresh fruit and vegetables
Supper-Salad!
Post Work-out- Vega
Very tricky week to get everything in- my meal times correspond to a client trip out of town, working a trade fair all day and other meetings. So it's convenience food, or food I can eat on my feet quickly, or in my car safely. None of those are any of the Top Ten Foods that Cause Car Accidents (MSN, 2010).

Weekly Training

Monday: 30 min Heart Opening yoga flow, 20 min treadmill incline walk, 15 min bike sprints
Tuesday: Level 2 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels DVD) , 20 walk, 20 elliptical
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 30 min Hip Opening Yoga, 20 treadmill incline walk, 15 min bike
Friday: 35min treadmill incline walk, Level 3 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels DVD)
Saturday: Light, 3km bike ride with T. 1 small incine. about 25 min.
Sunday: Bike adventure (12.33km in 49:56min)
A balanced week, I took 2 days off training, forgoing my usual Saturday Moksha Yoga class (75min, hot) because I hadn't slept more than 6 hours a night any night this week. I was irritable and grouchy and needed rest. And besides we picked up our bikes from Pure Cycle that afternoon and got to take our first ride!
This morning I was so excited to hop on and explore. Specifically, I wanted to begin mapping my neighborhood, and all the places I want to bike to. The first one being my workplace. Too bad it figures out to be about a 11.1km one-way trip, with a coulee in between. I went halfway then turned home- didn't want the shame of calling T to come get me once I got there, since I don't think I had it in me to do all 22.2km today. Maybe next week? Mwahahahahaha...so stoked to do it one day though.

What goals have you set for yourself this summer? If you haven't yet, it may be a better time to than New Years since you have the support of the sunshine and fresh air.

Weekly Nutrition

This is a treat I had this morning, half a gluten free bagel with yogurt-cheese sweetened with agave nectar and cinnamon. The recipe for that is on it's way!
But my week broke down into this daily:
Breakfast: Greenie Smoothie (spinach, frozen berries, banana, water)
Mid-Morning: 1/2c oats, raisins
Lunch: Salad, 1/2c rice and beans
Mid-Afternoon: 2c raw vegetables (mostly broccoli and carrots) and hummus (less than 1/4c)
Supper: Big Salad! (includes 1/2 avocado, sunflower seeds, spinach, lettuce and other random veg)
Post-Workout (usually after my second workout at 1030am)- 1/2 serving Vega Whole Health Optimizer plain flavour.

Saturday's I've noticed I eat a little differently because of the convinience of being close to my kitchen and all my fresh vegetables. It's not a 'cheat day', but it is a 'flex day'- straying slightly from my 'plan' you can see above, but adhering to the core of my philosophy on food- fun and fresh! So here is another example of a sampling platter I made for myself yesterday. And, it was my first patio meal of the year! Hurrah!
On the plate is an assortment of veggies, some fresh grapes, gluten-free seed crackers and hummus. Accompanied by 0 calorie (my vice, diet drinks) black cherry soda water, Body+Soul and Clean Eating mags...and SUNSHINE! Sun makes everything taste better.

Weekly Training

Monday: 45min Ultimate Fat Burn DVD
Tuesday: 60 Hot Power Fusion Yoga
Wednesday: 1h yoga sculpt class
Thursday: 25 min plyo's, 20 min elliptical hill, 15 min treadmill incline walk
Friday: 30 min sun salutations (vigorous vinyasa), 20min elliptical hills, 15 bike intervals
Saturday: hot yoga class?
Sunday: Level 1 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels DVD)

Weekly Nutrition

Last week I was still lovin' the green movement so here goes:

Breakfast: 1 Green Monster (Banana, berries, spinach, water)
Mid-morning: 1/2c oatmeal with raisins
Lunch: Salad, 1/2c beans and rice
Mid-afternoon: raw veg sticks and hummus
Supper: Big salad
Post work-out: 1 scoop Vega Whole Health Optimizer (plain)
I had pancakes on Sunday, and made some almond butter cookies that night and had a few as my treat for the week.

This week upcoming is going to be awesome- I'm hosting a huge event on Wednesday for work, and won't get much time for snacking healthly or drinking my water, but I'm determined to do it. Plan plan ahead.

Post-Yoga Snack

After a nice long cool shower, I refueled after my Moksha Yoga class at my absolute favorite studio in Calgary, with this. A nice little snacking plate. I love finger food- I think it's a throwback to the sports parties my awesome Dad used to throw when we were kids. We'd get little plates and get to fill them up with all sorts of nibblies. This reminds me of those days.
Fuel for my body included 1 large (and I mean HUGE) ambrosia apple (BC! Go British Columbia fruit!), about 10 unsalted almonds, 1 sunflower butter corn cake sandwich (about 1/2 Tbsp sun butter) and 1 corn cake smeared with 1/2 tsp of coconut butter (a fave pick from Blush Lane Organics I'll review later this week). Alongside you can see my huge mason jar with water to rehydrate. Fresh food, combining protein, fat and carbs.
For more ideas on nourishing yourself post-yoga, in an intentional way (to carry on the yoga-bliss) then check out this post by Yoga Bear.
Lovin' this day. How is yours going?

Almond Breeze- a Tall Girl Now

Look at her! Isn't she gorgeous? That carton of unsweetened, original Almond Breeze is almost 2L! It was by far my best find at Planet Organic this week. Normally I breeze through 2 of their smaller cartons in no time, so this is going to be rich. Thanks Almond Breeze for reducing packaging and delivering a consumer (and I mean frequent consumer) friendly size.
Beside that tall girl is the Green Monster I whipped up for breakfast on my way to Moksha Yoga (75 min class this am).
It contained:
-1/2c Unsweetened Original Almond Breeze
-1 medium banana
-1/2c frozen blueberries
-1/2 scoop of Vega Whole Food Optimizer (for the energy of the added maca)
-2 handfuls of spinach
-1 Tbsp agave
-dash of cinnamon
-dash of vanilla
This one tasted a lot like I had added the Vanilla Chai Vega, rather than the unflavoured. I like that I can mix and match taste any day with an unflavoured powder.
Off to burn burn burn in hot Moksha Yoga class

Breakfast

Hm...Still liking the smoothie for breakfast. Today's included
2 Tbsp hemp hearts
1 medium banana
2c spinach
2/3c frozen blueberries
water
almond milk (about 1/4c)

What I love about these Green Monsters is that my stomach, and therefore my mind and body doesn't feel full and heavy after breakfast, but I know that I've had a lot of good dense nutrients to fill my mornings. Have you tried them yet?

Fresh Workout: 25 min AM Plyo's

Felt like movin' this morning and was inspired to create my own little plyo based workout. So I busted out of bed this morning and just started kickin' my own butt doing the following. Try this out, or just start movin' your body to how it feels good.
Fresh Workout included- (image from www.fitjunkie.com)
Arm circles
Jabs
Backwards lunges
Shoulder Circles
Pilates leg arrows
Standing side crunches
Knee ups
Boxer shuffle
Ballet arms
Side Kicks
Upper cuts
Skate side jumps
Squats
Up and Downs
Tri push ups
Back extensions
Shoulder presses
Mix it all up, do each for at least 30 seconds, repeat on other side if needed. Random, mix it up. Borrow from your fave DVD.

Weekly Training-Managing Grief

What does grief look like in your life? When imaging this post, I thought I could either post a picture of a big old bowl of ice cream and call it 'managing grief' or I could post a pic of my Garmin's screen of a kick-a@$ run and call it the same. That helped me choose- working out over pigging out. My Grandma's funeral was Sunday and I'm dealin' as best I can.
So here is how the last week broke down:
Monday: 30 min morning yoga, 35 min treadmill incline walk
Tuesday: 30 min yoga, 45 min run
Wednesday: 35min bike intervals
Thursday: OFF
Friday: 45min exercise DVD
Saturday: 7k run (outside! oh the sun is here)
Sunday: 3k walk (outside!)

I had wanted to do a hot yoga class, but I couldn't fit it into my schedule. I'm a little erratic on what I do for workouts, but the most important thing is consistency. I'm out there everyday, getting moving. And that is health.

A Little Raw Today: Greenie

Here it is...my first Green Monster...Angela is doing it, and so is Kath...
This is part of my flirting with a more raw food, and more vegan lifestyle.
It was hard to think about not diving into my favorite egg white breakfast this morning, but once I started assembling this monster, I got a little excited about it.
In the humble little blender this morning went
1. frozen strawberries (local, organic)
2. fresh spinach
3. almond milk (about 1/2c)
4. frozen banana
It made a huge amount, keeping me well satiated until my scheduled morning snack. It tasted good- believe me. No 'green' flavor at all. And I had BOUNDLESS energy this morning- whether that's because of an awesome sleep last night, 2 cups of coffee or this greenie I don't know (and don't want to perform isolated trials to figure it out).
I'm waiting to see if the sugars (natural, but sugar none the less) will give me a headache later in the day as they have done before. So far so good though, and if this proves to be a cost effective and healthy alternative I may make these a staple in my meal plans.

Weekly Nutrition: Spring changes

I've craved fresh, raw fruits and vegetables since there have been signs of spring abound. So you can see more light, cool dishes in my meals this week.
1. 6 Egg whites, 2 handfuls spinach, 1 handful mushrooms
2. 1/2c Raw oats with almond milk, raisins and ground flax
3. 2c raw spinach, 1/2c rice and beans, vinaigrette
4. 2c raw veggies (mostly broccoli and carrots)
5. BIG bowl of salad including avocado and hemp hearts
Some treats over the week included:
Some almond-banana oat cookies, some trail mix, some gluten-free crackers and cheese. I had a treat just about every other day- just not tightening up my nutrition like I would like to. Not going to beat myself up about it because my workouts have been AWESOME, and included more HIIT circuit training c/o Jillian Michaels.