Changing it Up

Food has always been my sore spot in terms of my own self-care. Whether it's my relationship with food that needs changing, or what I choose to put in my body, or whatever. The thing that keeps this a sore spot is time.

Even with the pandemic, I've been super busy at work. I always keep myself super busy because I like being busy, and also because the nature of being a mental health counselor is that if I'm not busy, I'm not helping. (I'm also not making money, but that's another point entirely.)

I got an endocolonoscopy last week. They found some stuff that they said wasn't concerning, but needed to be addressed before it did. The big thing they found was inflammation in my stomach and my esophagus. They put me on this medication that's been helping like gangbusters (I've had this chronic cough for...well, forever, and all of a sudden it's just GONE. It's weird.), and this constant feeling of my stomach being in flux is just...not present anymore. It's been there so long I didn't even know that it COULD go away. There was talk of potentially having GERD when I was in my early 20s after I had to have an upper GI, but I brought it up to my doctor and she seemed unconcerned, so I dropped it.

(Side note - I said this more than once to my new doctor at my latest physical about various medical stuff that has come and maybe gone, and I could see her shoulders drop every time I said it. As a result, she was like "We're addressing this NOW. No more dropping it." I like my new doctor A LOT.)

But, what the most bonkers part of the whole process was the prep. I approached it with some trepidation. I'd heard that the prep is the worst part, and that it would be a highly unpleasant experience. First, I had to stop taking my supplements a week before the procedure. No big deal. Then, three days before it, I had to stop eating all nuts, seeds, and beans. A little problematic because I eat a lot of chickpeas, but not a terrible change. Then, the day before, this past Sunday, I had to stop all solid food. I had to go on a fully clear liquid diet all of Sunday. Again, not terrible. Not pleasant, but also not terrible.

Then, starting Sunday night, I had to start drinking the Plenvu. It tasted terrible, it caused some Very Unpleasant Feelings in my gut, and then I'll spare the details about the rest. It took about five hours to really start working. I slept on the couch that night so that I wouldn't disturb Rob, and then got up at 4:30am to continue the prep. It meant taking the double dose of the Plenvu, which started working in about an hour.

But let me tell you. In spite of the unpleasantness that led up to it and while I was taking it and waiting for it to work, once I was done with the prep, I felt GREAT. I literally could have gone and done major exercise in the morning on Monday if my wrist wasn't still healing. I felt light, I felt...just amazing. I practically bounced into the hospital on Monday morning, ready to have my procedure. I continued to feel amazing after I woke up, and still continue to feel pretty freaking great. I was pleasant to deal with, I felt clearheaded, and it was just different than I was expecting. I don't know what kind of magic happened between the beginning of my prep and the end of the procedure, but it has really made me want to continue feeling good.

I'd started back on the smoothie train a couple of weeks ago at the advice of my doctor, who said that I needed to beef up my breakfasts. We got a new blender and retired our 10-year-old Ninja, and our new one has a way to blend smoothies in their own cups rather than the big container, so it was a big win all around. Still, I resist making smoothies. They take too much time (they actually don't at all), they're expensive (they're not - a full bag of frozen fruit lasts me a week), the add-ins are a pain in the ass (a fistful of spinach - bam, done), I can't find a good protein powder (unflavored pea protein - bam, done), there are some fruits that I should stay away from because they were flagged as intolerances (just blueberries, and I have blueberry syrup in my coffee with no reaction) and they're in every mix I can find, wah wah wah.  I just had all of the excuses. 

Then I found Splendid Spoon. They were some random facebook ad that just popped up. I'm not a fan of food delivery services at all, but this company is right up my alley. They had exactly what I wanted - quick breakfasts and lunches - and they are gluten-free and plant-based. I have to be careful with some stuff, but there are only like two meals in their entire menu that I can't eat. It gives me my smoothie fix in the morning and has ready-made lunches, both meals that I struggle with because I often only have about 10 minutes to scarf something between sessions and that's my breakfast or lunch. It's a little pricey so I probably won't keep it up forever, but the ingredients give me ideas for smoothies that I can easily make myself. And, the lunches look so easy that I could meal prep them and be done for the week.

I got my first shipment yesterday and have to limit the number of smoothies I drink. I almost drank two yesterday, but I want to save them for when I'll actually need them. They're so good that I can't even. And who thought that cacao would be good to put in a smoothie?! Whoever it was, give them a prize, because the raspberry cacao smoothie that I had yesterday was nothing short of miraculous. The mint chip smoothie that I had today was more of the same.

I was due for a re-focusing of my diet, and I'm so glad that I gave myself the opportunity for one. Also, first medical procedure down, only one more to go (or potentially two - I find out in March). I go back for another colonoscopy in a year, but I'm not too upset about this idea, given how this one went.