Experi-month #2: Meat or not to meat?

“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” –Hippocrates

I figure I’m on a roll with health related things, so I have decided that Experi-month #2 will be devoted to attempting vegetarianism. If you know me, then you probably know that I have flirted with being a vegetarian for about 5 years now. And by flirted, I mean that I have tried and failed multiple times. I have a commitment issue in my relationship with a meatless life. I usually do not have much of a problem with will-power. That is one thing that my stomach issues taught me. But this is the one thing that I can’t seem to give up completely.

Why I want to be a vegetarian:

1.      I love animals.

2.      If I was forced to go out and kill my own dinner, I would never do it.

3.      Meat is difficult to digest… and per last month’s topic, I don’t need more difficulty in that area.

4.      I’ve seen multiple documentaries on the meat industry and the conditions outrage me. I don’t want to support those terrible companies.

5.      Why are certain animals acceptable to eat and others are not? For example, I would NEVER consider eating my dog (I love you, Krissy).

Why I fail at committing to vegetarianism:

1.      Chicken is delicious.

2.      I don’t really like beans. Thus, protein becomes a problem.

3.      It’s hard to be the only one… especially when you go to someone’s house for dinner.

4.      I forget that what I’m eating used to be breathing.

5.      People think you are high-maintenance. Don’t pretend you haven’t thought that.

So this topic is a perfect Experi-month for me. I need a deadline. I need to know that it will be over in one month if I want it to be.

I have been dabbling with vegetarianism for a long time. I stopped eating red meat about 3 years ago. This decision was made to help my digestion and because pigs and cows are cuter than chickens. Legit. That was my thought process. I have also never really eaten seafood. I have a texture issue with most of it. So that leaves poultry, which is the only meat that I consume. My original plan was to give up red meat first and then give up chicken… so that I wouldn’t be going cold turkey (no pun intended). But I never did.

My current diet does not have tons of meat in it. I would say that I eat meat 6 times a week. And this is usually at dinner time. I never eat it for breakfast and very rarely for lunch. If you have suggestions of delicious recipes for me to try, PLEASE send them to me!! I need help on this one. Salads get old pretty quickly.

I’m not really sure that this will contribute to my happiness, which was the overall goal of Experi-months. In fact, it might contribute to unhappiness. If that turns out to be the case, so be it. I’m going to try it for all the chickens (people and birds) out there.

Here goes nothing.

P.S. I’m serious about the recipe thing. Send them. Now.

Verdict on Month 1

“A man may esteem himself happy when that which is his food is also his medicine.” --Henry David Thoreau

Last week, I started my allergy supplements. I made the mistake of going cold turkey, meaning that I stopped taking my Zyrtec on day one. Rookie mistake. Several hours into the day, I got the mother of all headaches and could not breathe. The devils inside my sinuses forced me to break down and pop my Zyrtec. I felt like an addict. I lasted a mere 5 hours without the comfort of my decongestant and then fell off the wagon. So since then, I have been taking half of my Zyrtec plus the supplements. My body can handle this much better.

My NP noted that it may take a little while for my body to adjust to life without a decongestant because I have been taking one since about age 10. Few things in my life have been as consistent as my morning allergy pill. I can truly say that I have only forgotten to take that pill once in 12 years… and it was easily in the top 10 most miserable days of my life.

So I’m still working on weaning off of the medication. BUT it’s almost time to move on to Experi-month #2. Before I introduce the new topic, I have some closing thoughts on my holistic month.

Will I stick with it?

I can say with 100% certainty that I will continue taking Slippery Elm and Fish oil. This combination seems to do wondrous things for my insides. I have noticed the largest improvement in this arena. These little miracle workers changed my life! I went from feeling pain every single day to feeling nothing. It still surprises me… and I love it.

I’m still not certain about the supplements for my thyroid and allergies. Those conditions seem pretty much the same with or without the supplements. So my decision may come down to comparing hassle and cost. Is it worth it to take something 3 times a day versus once a day? Is it worth it to pay slightly more, thanks to my insurance company’s lack of support for holistic healing? We shall see. It may take a few more months for the verdict to come out on this one.

Am I glad that I tried this?

I hope no one seriously asks me this question after reading the previous paragraphs. But, heck yes! Insert previous comment about my life being changed in marvelous ways. My body is happy. If I listen closely, I can actually hear my body saying, “Thank you,” as it digests. I can actually enjoy eating food instead of waiting for the eminent repercussions. It’s a great way to live. Food = nourishment… not food = enemy.

Would I recommend trying it?

Abso-freakin-lutely! I realize that not everyone has the same health problems that I do. But there might be something that you wish was a little better. Or you might want to prevent future illnesses. It sure as heck won’t make you feel any worse. I also think that I was lucky to find a good Naturopathic Physician so quickly. Maybe that was the universe’s way of making it up to me for staying with Cruella Condescension for so long. If you decide to try it, definitely do research to find a good one and to make sure that they are legitimate doctors. That’s my general advice.

Top 5 things I learned from this month:

1.      Listen to your body’s cries (or screams) for help and change.

2.      You are responsible for your own health. If you don’t put your whole effort into helping your body feel better, why would anyone else?

3.      It actually is possible to digest without feeling intense pain.

4.      If health insurance companies had a Facebook page, it would say “In a Relationship with drug companies.” And it doesn’t appear that will change any time soon.

5.      When you feel healthy, so many more things seem possible. Hope is a lovely thing.

I officially declare this month a success.

updates galore!

“He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.” --Arabic Proverb

I apologize ahead of time for the random nature of the subsequent paragraphs.

Still can’t tell a difference in bodily functions from the supplements I’ve been taking for my thyroid. So I suppose that means they work just as well as the medication I used to take. I will, however, need to get my blood tested just to make sure everything is all good.

I have this friend. Let’s call her Mica. She is awesome and gave me a helpful response to one of the questions I had about probiotics. The question was if your body can become immune to probiotics like it can to antibiotics. She said that it most likely won’t, but there can be a too-much-of-a-good-thing type of situation. So moral of the story: probiotics are nicer to the body than antibiotics, but don’t pop them daily if you want them to work splendidly. Mica also gave a lovely description of how probiotics work (per her mother), which included the phrase, “It’ll help restore the flora in your gut.” I found this simultaneously interesting and disturbing.

The next phase of my naturopathic healing is to tackle my allergies. This was my next to most annoying ailment, following IBS obviously. Without being redundant and repetitive and redundant and repetitive, I will make an abridged list of the things of this world to which I am allergic.

1.      Cats

2.      Dogs

3.      All animals with fur, really

4.      Smoke

5.      Mold

6.      Dust

7.      Trees

8.      Pollen

9.      Grass

10. All of the outdoors, really

11. Several varieties of antibiotics

As you may have noticed, these supplements will have their work cut out for them. But let me note the score, for those of you who haven’t kept count:

Natural healing: 5 million points             Modern medicine: -37 points

My body seems to be keen on naturalness, with regard to medicine. What can I say?

Lastly, I have decided what the next Experi-month will be!!!! I’m super excited about it. I also very much appreciate your suggestions for future topics. In reference to Experi-months, I will say, my search for more than contentment has already gone marvelously. It’s much easier to be happy when your body is happy. And my body is beyond happy. It’s downright pumped about life these days. I just want to sing happy songs from Glee all the live-long day. If that’s not an indication, I don’t know what is.

a new kind of healing

"A wise man ought to realize that health is his most valuable possession." -Hippocrates

In order to lead a life beyond mere contentment, I first need to address some physical health issues. It’s hard to be exceptionally excited about life when you feel crappy. I usually keep these things to myself… no need to bum other people out with my ailments. If I complained about them, I’d be complaining… pretty much always. But in order to fully understand the mammoth I’m attempting to tackle, you will need to know the scope of the situation (not to be confused with The Situation) that I’ve got on my hands. Over the past 5 years, I have been lucky enough to acquire several minor health problems: hypothyroidism, IBS, and severe reactions to antibiotics. These enjoyable (note the sarcasm) things have been added to the other minor health issues that I have had all my life: asthma, allergies (intensely to dogs, cats, and the outdoors as a whole) and eczema.

A few of these problems individually or together, might not be so bad. But together… they kick my butt on a daily basis. Some of them have typical medical solutions (for example: asthma – inhaler). But most of them have led my doctor to say something along the lines of: “I’m sorry you are experiencing chronic pain. We don’t really know why that is happening. Take these pills and hopefully the pain will stop.” I’m not gonna lie, the pain usually does stop with said pills… for a while. But I’m tired of the pills. If I’m on this many pills as a young adult, imagine my life as an elderly person. I want to avoid those super handy pill sorters with the days of the week written on them if I can.

So in a world where we expect doctors to fix everything with magic pills, with names 17 letters long, are there any other options? It turns out there are.

Experi-month #1: Practice Naturopathic Health

Is it a coincidence that my body has new illnesses and problems that develop every few years? Lately, I’m beginning to think it’s not. Maybe it’s my body’s way of screaming at the top of it’s lungs to freakin’ do something different. So here I go.

Naturopathic (or Holistic) Health is essentially taking into account the whole person when practicing medicine (including psychologically, physically, socially, mentally, etc.). In other words, don’t just look at the physical body but look at the person as a whole unit (whole = holistic… get it?). As a psyc major, I find this particularly intriguing. My current general practitioner (GP) has never asked about anything going on in my life or mind. It has never been taken into account. But I think the mind is extremely powerful. Even if this whole experi-month turns out to be a giant placebo, I’d be fine with that.

There is also another big aspect to holistic health that is often overlooked. It’s the idea that patients (i.e. me) have to take responsibility for maintaining their well-being. So this is saying that I’m making choices (for example, diet) that are making my body scream obscenities. I have no one to blame but myself. This will be a struggle for me. As a human, I like to blame my issues on things outside of myself. So this should be fun… and by that I mean insanely difficult.

The part I like best about this holistic thing is that the doctors try to find the underlying cause of the condition… not just treat the symptoms and move on. So while it is great to avoid the pain, isn’t there an evolutionary reason that pain exists? Like maybe to tell your body to stop doing something. Fire hurts when we touch it because if we didn’t move our hands from flames, our skin would burn off. Pain is a signal to change something. Move your flippin’ hand from the fire. In this instance, I don’t know what to change. I’ve tried dozens of things… but none seem to work. I eat fairly healthily, drink tons of water, run at least 4 times a week, load up on fiber, etc. Theses changes haven’t hurt, I’m sure. But they haven’t removed the conditions.

Because I have lost my faith in modern medical treatment methods, I am diving head-first into the world of Naturopathic Medicine for one month. I want to make it clear that I do not think all modern medicine is bad or evil. It just hasn’t worked for me. My body rejects what is has to offer 90% of the time. Like most western-thinkers, I am somewhat skeptical of alternative medicine. It makes me think of acupuncture, aromatherapy and people chanting and meditating… all things that I find hard to take seriously But I’m putting my reservations aside and hoping (praying) that it helps my physical self surpass contentment.

intro to blog-hood

“Contentment is, after all, simply refined indolence.” -Thomas C. Haliburton

About me:

My name is Stephanie and I graduated from college in May 2010. I majored in Psychology with little to no intention of going to graduate school (smart, huh?). Thus, my degree is somewhat useless in getting a job in that field. Since then, I have gotten settled in my hometown and acquired a job moderately related to my interests. I’m pretty content.

About my contentment:

Right after walking across the stage and receiving my diploma, there was a high that came over me. I had accomplished something great! Ten minutes later, I was not a happy camper. But let me explain. I’m not really a fan of endings. Like when I read a good book, I read the second half much slower because I don’t want it to end. It’s too hard to find another good book. After college, I knew it would take me a while to find another “book” worth reading… if you catch my drift. And college… it was a darn good book.

To start my adult life like a real winner, I stayed in my pajamas all day for 3 months straight, wondering if there could be a way for me to go back to college forever. But don’t fret; I was also applying for jobs like… well, like it was my job. I daydreamed of ways to stay in that space between legal adulthood (having the legal ability and right to do whatever I want… par-ty!) and actual adulthood (getting a job and being financially independent… gross!). I couldn’t come up with a way to stay in that magical land. If you have any suggestions, lay them on me!

So alas, I am now a productive member of society, holding down a job that I enjoy, but that is not exactly the most intellectually stimulating thing in the world. I find myself longing to be back in a classroom. Not because I weirdly enjoy homework, monotone professors, powerpoint slides and number two pencils, but because I miss the challenge. I miss constantly having my narrow world-view obliterated and questioned. I miss hearing perspectives that I never would have thought of on my own and doubting opinions that I’ve had all my life. And most of all, I miss the immeasurably fulfilling process of learning and growing as a person.

About what you might be thinkin’:

A lot of people would probably call me a “nerd” or perhaps even the “mayor of Lame-town.” But I had A LOT of free time to think during my hiatus from the real world and I decided to embrace my geektastic self. Those of you who are still in school probably think I’m a whack-job. So let me clarify, I sure as heck don’t miss the stressing about deadlines and grades, which comes with traditional schooling. And when you’re in school, the stress often overshadows all the awesome learning stuff that’s going on. But just you wait; you will feel the same way one day.

Just because I’m officially done with schooling myself, doesn’t mean I’m done with my education. I have so much left to learn. And even though I majored in Psychology in college, (cliché alert!) what I learned most about, was myself. I need more of this in my life. I’m content with my life now, which is leaps and bounds better than being semi-depressed about an ending. But I don’t want to be just content with my life. That’s not good enough. I deserve… better. But what do I do about it?

About my awesome, yet somewhat incomplete PLAN:

I have a plan. If you know me, you know that I love having a plan. So here goes: For one year (maybe more, if it goes well), I will have what I will call Experi-months. This basically means that I will try something new for one month. I’ll dive in head-first and challenge myself in brand spankin’ new ways. If I like it, I’ll keep doing it. If not, then I can scratch it off the list as potential passions in my life. I have a few hopes of things that will happen during my Experi-months. I’m hoping this will add to my life: intellectual stimulation (some good ole learnin’), personal growth (some good ole challengin’), and a healthier lifestyle (some good ole well-bein’).

My plan hasn’t gotten much farther than that… shockingly, I know. The point of this whole blog thing is that I need suggestions and feedback. I’m a seeker of opinions (hello… I minored in Sociology). So bring it on people! 

Contentment is overrated.