The Not So Safe Safety Bubble

If you have allergies, try as you might to forget them in your day to day, you can't. I think if you have been living an allergy-free lifestyle for a number of years, it becomes part of your every day life. In our little gluten free, lactose free home and bubble, cross contamination is not much of a thought. Also if you are lucky to have a partner who is super supportive and hyper-aware of your allergies, then you forget that the rest of the world has gluten and lactose everywhere, and in everything.

I had family visit over the summer and I was reminded of how gluten and lactose free my bubble really is. We had bought some beautiful locally made artisan bread, which I ate when I was eating gluten. But simple things like using a common cutting board to cut the bread, using the common butter and knife for cutting, and then to not properly cleaning everything off. Even wiping off the knife with the common dish towel and putting it away. Ack! Simple things, really, not even a big deal, unless you have a celiac disease. They meant no harm, and probably weren't even aware, but what was evident to me, is that they don't live in an gluten free home. And man, was it obvious, just how gluten free my home is! And for the record, A, is not gluten free, and there is gluten in my house. He just has gone through my struggle with me, watched me suffer and is so keenly aware of cross contamination, that sometimes I take for granted how conscious he is. <3 <3 (He wins a gold star for sure!)

Even with my dogs, both of whom, have allergies, it too, has become part of our bubble of safety. It is just a part of life. Narrowing down dog allergies is a tricky, long process. (Read my collection of posts about that process here.) There is sooo much that goes into dog kibble. So much bad stuff and fillers, that it has taken quite some time to figure out both of their allergies. Addi, our golden boxer (half boxer, half golden retriever) is allergic to gluten and chicken meal. Oliver, our French bulldog, is allergic to pretty much everything (it's a Frenchie thing): gluten, dairy, eggs, cheese, beef, chicken, duck, any red meat really, on top of his environmental allergies to everything and skin issues, his list is epic!

So what does he eat you might be wondering....after much time, trial and tribulation we landed on Orijen food. It is a very clean (and very expensive) kibble. And the only flavor he can eat is the Six Fish. Another thing that we learned along the way, is often there are multiple kinds of protein in dog food, which can cause allergy flare ups, finding a single protein food is very, very hard. The ratio of protein to carbs to fats, is also a very important factor. Most standard dog foods have too high a percentage of carbs in them. He also takes a daily plant sterol and probiotics. He gets no handouts and only the occasional treat. I know you're thinking, poor guy! But honestly he is a much happier and healthier dog now, than when we got him 2 years ago. If you look at the post from January 18, 2015, you can see just how red and swollen he was when we got him. And now...look at how handsome and healthy and not red he is! Cutie! <3

Our household is a very allergy conscious home, and the doggies and I are grateful. And yet we are reminded how sensitive that daily balance is. We maintain the balance without effort, but when we travelled for Thanksgiving, the balance was knocked off. Our poor little Oli, had a pretty nasty reaction to a combination of things. To no fault of my mom, who watched after them. It was just evident that Addi, Oli and I live on a delicate tight rope of allergies, that doesn't take much to fall off, even when you are actively trying. Even a simple trip to the gas pump, where they offer your dogs treats, has to be an announcement of your allergies. Dog mom panic, "Don't burst the safety bubble!"

That is what is so frustrating, is when you are actively trying and yet you have an allergy attack. If you live with allergies you probably have a similar allergy-free bubble, where your house is safe, your immediate friends and family know and are as accommodating as possible, and you have your favorite restaurants because they are cautious and can accommodate your allergies. You learn to relax a little. To breathe. And trust that your allergy-free bubble is safe. And then you get symptoms! :'(

Right now, I am having respiratory problems. I can't catch my breath, I am wheezing, and my breath is shallow. It's even effecting my sleep. Not fun. There is no glaringly obvious reason for my respiratory problems, which is my first sign of contamination, except the other night. We went out to one of our favorite restaurants, which has long been on the safe list, and yet the other night it wasn't. Something that we have ordered many times before came with breadcrumbs on this time!! Whaaa? Never before, and now all of a sudden?! Annd they skimped on the bacon! Whatthe*$5*grumble grumble! I didn't pay much attention either. I am used to them being safe. I was talking with the bartender and watching the game, until A pointed it out (again <3 him!), he leans over and asks if those are breadcrumbs, and on close inspection they were. Well shit!

So even when you think you are safe, you are not. Lesson learned, always, Always ask questions when you are eating out. And never assume that because it is a restaurant on your safe list, and you've gotten the dish before, that it will stay that way. Things change, restaurants change, heck for all I know if was a new chef! I just get a sad mopey face and am reminded that again my safety bubble is not as safe as I believe.

For people with allergies the holidays are particularly hard. There is so many social events and opportunities for cross contamination. From Thanksgiving on, try as you might, the likelihood of some cross contamination is likely. Unless you are a hermit and don't socialize, or maybe, you are lucky, and have friends and family that are allergy-aware. I am surprised by my current allergy breathing symptoms, but at the same time I guess I shouldn't be. The time of year and a more unusual diet, for me at least, with some likely cross contamination, boom, symptoms. It sucks, because you want to just enjoy the festiveness of the season and eat all the yummies (that you think are safe) around you. You can't. And it is really unfortunate timing too. Christmas festivities are within a few days and really I need to go on a strict cleanse to get rid of whatever is backed up in my body causing my respiratory problems. Bah humbug! 

As much as I want to ignore my symptoms, not being able to breathe is really, really scary. And if I think about it, I am also having digestive issues and not so good poops. So obviously it is all connected. The signs are there, my body is telling me, and now I have to help it out. Part of the process of discovering, managing and living with food allergies is learning your body's symptoms. They are there, however subtle, your body always has a way of saying, "hey that's not working for me," you just have to learn the signs. And once you do, and you figure out your trigger, the symptoms become more obvious, even in the slightest onset.

Good luck throughout your remaining holiday festiveness. I hope you are able to navigate and stay symptom free. And I know, because you are like me, you are hyper-vigilant about cross contamination, but be wary of your vigilance slipping. I think we all want to relax and trust and believe what we know to be, will stay the same, but unfortunately it doesn't. If you have lived allergen free for a long time, and you do have contamination, the likelihood of horrendous symptoms will be less, but still be on the lookout for the more mild symptoms. They are there. Always be on the lookout for daggers that are going to poke your safe, allergy-free bubble.

How to Control Your Seasonal Allergies Symptoms with Diet

I have a love/hate relationship with fall in Maine.

Yes, it is beautiful, the leaves, the cool air, the lacking of tourists and bugs, but with fall comes allergies for me. In fact researchers think nasal allergies affect about 50 million people in the United States. And allergies are increasing. They affect as many as 30% of adults and 40% of children. www.aafa.org/page/allergy-facts

I've always had allergies, it is only until I moved to Maine that they became a major problem in my life. Spring and fall have been dreaded seasons for me since I moved here and until the last few years were debilitating months.

I remember one fall being so sleep deprived because of my allergies and congestion that I couldn't sleep and when I would finally fall asleep I would wake in a panic unable to breathe lying down. All I could do was sleep sitting up with a fan directly on my face. The combination of fear of suffocating in my sleep, the exhaustion and overall stress still horrifies me to this day, as in, I never, ever want to go back to a time like that.

I know so many people who suffer with seasonal allergies and the symptoms are getting worse, not better. I used to be a statistic until I made radical lifestyle changes. Sure I can pop an OTC antihistamine or use my rescue inhaler, but that doesn't feel right for me, in fact, both are last resorts. I haven't had an active rescue inhaler prescription for the last 3+ years and I take Allegra only in a dire situation.

I have changed my approach with my seasonal allergies, as something my body is telling me, but also as a time for me to reset, which actually feels natural and in sync with the changing of the seasons. With these changes, I have been able to have mild to no seasonal allergy symptoms for the last 2 years with seasonal changes in my diet alone. 

I noticed a considerable difference in my seasonal allergy symptoms when I identified my gluten and lactose intolerances and removed those foods from my diet 6 years ago, but now I can mitigate further seasonal aggravations by eliminating nightshades and alcohol as well.

Nightshades contain alkaloids which can aggravate or even mimic seasonal allergy symptoms. Nightshades include potatoes, peppers (all kinds except black pepper), eggplants, tomatoes, tobacco and some more esoteric things like goji berries and some version of blueberries or huckleberries. Unfortunately, fall is also harvest season in our garden and almost everything coming out of the garden is a nightshade. Nightshades allergies are a problem for some even when seasonal allergies aren't being triggered and can look and feel similar to seasonal allergies, year-round. Nightshades cause inflammation and joint pain, specifically lower back pain (dead ringer for me there). The research available on nightshade allergies is abundant when you search Google, so I will let you do your own research, however, this time of year cutting out nightshades for me is a night and day difference when it comes to my allergy symptoms, so perhaps you might consider doing the same.

If I stick to a strict vegan-paleo diet, aka Pegan, coined by Dr. Mark Hyman, with no nightshades or alcohol, that is heavy on veggies, gf whole grains, beans and some animal protein and fruit, I have considerably less allergy symptoms, and I can't recall the last time I took an OTC antihistamine.

Seasonal allergy sufferers are on the rise, unfortunately, and beyond the environmental allergens around us, especially in a heavily wooded place like Maine, there are allergy inducing, inflammation triggering foods we eat every day. If we limit our intake of those foods, especially when the environmental ones are high, you have the power to control your own symptoms. It is actually a really cool revelation to have come to this point where I can see directly the foods I eat, the time of year and how by controlling what I eat in the fall and spring actually allows me the ability to not dread the standard seasonal allergy seasons. I can see fall for all it's colors and beauty instead of dreading it for all the pollen and sneezing it used to make me suffer through.

There is great power in knowing your body well enough and knowing that nourishing it with foods that support and sustain health, rather than aggravate and inflame, is amazing. It is amazing to know that if I wake up in the morning and have a congestion and a sneezing fit, all I have to do is look at what I ate the day before to realize what the culprit was.

The ability to recognize your sensitivities and triggers does not happen over night, nor are you able to associate your seasonal allergy symptoms as being triggers by potatoes or gluten or dairy, without first knowing what it feels like to not have those foods in your system, causing potential inflammation. 

The journey is challenging, but you don't have do it alone. I find the power of food and the way it makes us feel, in particular to allergies, seasonal and food related, is fascinating. It is a journey everyone should be willing to explore because knowing you have the ability to make yourself feel better just by the food choices you make in a day is powerful. You aren't relying on a pill to temporarily brain-fog-alright the symptoms away. You can learn that by simply removing a trigger for a short period of time can alleviate a multitude of symptoms that you would otherwise have to sniffle, snort, and wheeze and generally feel like crap through.

To learn more about how to control your seasonal allergy symptoms with diet, contact me at alixhealthcoach@gmail.com or visit eatbelivewell.com.

Health Russian Roulette

I have been playing Russian Roulette with my health and diet lately. Ignoring all the past-month warning signs has led to the explosive (literally :o) misery of the last 2 days. Ugghh... :(

I have been thoroughly enjoying my foodie filled summer of sunny days, long nights, plenty of BBQs and social gatherings. With these indulgences I have been lax in my typically regimented eating. I am normally gluten free and lactose free always. Minimal meat and dairy. Lots of veggies and whole gf grains. But lately, yeah...not so much. Eat it all has been my MO, cross my fingers, and hope for the best, so far it hasn't caught up with me...

Especially given the bounty of our glorious garden this year, one would think I would I would be eating veggies all-day-erry-day, which I am, BUT I am eating mostly nightshades–peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes–all of which we are harvesting aplenty right now. While I love these veggies, hence why they populate most of our garden real estate; did you know, nightshades aggravate seasonal allergies? Who knew, right?! Ever notice that your allergies are awful in the fall, ever notice how many garden fresh tomatoes you are consuming at that time, weird correlation. Nightshades cause an inflammatory response in the body and when your body is already on high inflammation alert because of the environmental allergens, the double whammy is a double sniffly-uck-fest for all those seasonal allergy sufferers. 

So while we have been subsisting on nightshades for the last month–hello fresh pasta sauce, caprese, eggplant parmesan, all of which of course must include an abundance of cheese (another food I must avoid). I have been extra "allergy-y" lately and ignoring the signs. I wake up sneezing, having sneezing fits regularly, extra drippy nose, taking my seasonal allergy meds daily, regularly feeling achy in my hips (huge red flag: In fact, scientific research suggests that up to 90% of individuals who suffer from any form of pain or discomfort in the body are sensitive to nightshades–which can trigger an inflammatory response.) I have even had this weird rash around the corners of my mouth (which in Chinese medicine is a sign of a stomach/intestinal infection/discomfort) and yet, keeping on eating my tomatoes and eggplants and cheese, and...

A cheese stuffed pepper and tomato dinner Friday night, led to horrendous gas, lower back and hip aches, and ultimately explosive, diarrhea that has lasted for 2 days now. Gross, ew, don't talk about that stuff, I know, but seriously, we have to talk about it. I have been blatantly ignoring what my body has been subtly telling me for over a month, and now here is my payment, shitting water and stomach cramping for 2 days. I am even telling myself, "I told you so!" 

Isn't it so funny how we play Russian Roulette with our health and the way we eat? We all know what makes us feel better and what is good for us–lots of water, a diet of mostly veggies, limited meat, dairy and processed foods, exercise daily, good restful sleep, yada, yada, yada–we get it! We all know what we "should" be doing and yet we don't do it. Or we do, but on a short term basis. We'll "be good" for a month, 3 months, 6, whatever the timeline is, yet most of us (there are the few that have iron-clad will power and discipline–aliens?) will test our limits, "fall off the wagon", challenge if dairy really gives me gas that clears the room as I writhe in pain, that " 'one piece of fresh whole wheat bread and butter won't kill you' "– but in fact it will. We all know our body's limits and yet we continually test them. Why is that?

We all know when, what, how and why our body is mad or explosively diarrheating all over the place because you ate too much cheese, and yet we still eat the cheese. It is funny how we do that! I know personally I get SO sick of being aware, of having to worry about bringing my own snacks, literally everywhere I go, of having to say, "Oh that looks delicious but I can't", of being the "gluten free girl" the "lactose free girl", the "what crazy thing don't you eat now, girl". I just want to eat and enjoy and live, goddamnit! I don't want to have to worry about my butt exploding or my stomach retching from the inside, or zits appearing as a warning sign that my insides are not happy! Why does my body hate all the foods I love so much?!? 

I know, I know, pity party for one. My rant is over. It has to be, as does my episode of "falling off the wagon". For the last month, that little voice in my head has been very vocal–"Oh, you know, you should really be eating better." "Umm, hello, you can't eat that!" "You'll be sorry if you keep eating like that." "You know, fall is coming–which means, heinous allergy season, you better clean up your act girlie!" What!? You don't have a guilt-tripping-nagging voice in your head all day tell you what you know is better for you?

So, fine. I am waving the white flag, since the bright neon red flags have been evident for over the last month. I surrender. I must be good or else...dun..dun..dunnnahhh! The last two days of misery are enough of a "sign" to shape up. As I write I am drinking a glorious (although horrible tasting) green juice, from all fresh veggies from our garden (and no nightshades). Side note: I have this theory that the worse it tastes, the more your body needs it. Ever notice how some green juices taste awful, while others are delish, and how even the exact same yucky one will taste fine the next time you make it? I think the same thing about wheatgrass shots, if it tastes awful and you gag at the smell of if, do it, drink it up and maybe do it again. While green juice is the last thing I want right now, I really want potato chips and wine, but given that I haven't eaten for two days, I am thinking green juice is the right nutrient boost my insides need, yes, it might give me more diarrhea, but at this point, what's a little more ammo for the explosives.

My moral of this shitting water story for you, (please learn from my lessons), our body's give us signs, small at first, then very obvious. Some of us ignore the signs, unknowingly perhaps, or intentionally. We, you, me, we all, know what our body's need. Each of us is unique in our needs, and only you can know and identify those needs. We must know those needs and also our limitations so that when the signs are there we know how to right the path. To be our own arbiters of health. To know how far you can push yourself (regardless if we should or not). 

It is a choice to choose health, and also to ignore health. If you know the difference and learn to trust that your body is your guide; so long as you learn your signs, we are all be able to achieve our optimal health.

Eat the Damn Cookie

There are plenty of posts circulating that you can read about "How not to break your diet this holiday season," or "Avoid the Holiday Bulge," and "Tips for not ruining your life with all the indulgences this holiday season," etc. These are great, helpful even, if you really are one of those people who worries about diets and dieting and gaining weight "this holiday season."

Yes, I am well aware that temptations are a-plenty. Hors d'oeuvres with ooey, gooey goodness, creamy dips that make you wonder how can a bowl of white glob be so darn good. Treats, and sweets, and candy and booze, oh my!

So yes, watch what you eat, if you really must, don't gorge yourself nightly for 2 weeks straight, but if you get drunk or eat so much you need to be rolled home from the holiday festiveness, enjoy, be festive and merry and bright. Don't worry.

There is something to be said about just having a grand-ole-time with your coworkers, your friends and your family. So what if you "cheat" or are "bad" - enjoy! If you spend so much time fretting over what's in that dip or how many cookies did you really eat or what number glass of champagne is this, oh and now I must punish myself and eat salad for the next whole month, you my friend are not just being.

Embracing the holiday festiveness, enjoying the merry, love, laughter, dips, treats and champagne will not ruin you, your diet or all your hard work towards health nirvana. If anything being healthy is a lifestyle not a one-off, will be ruined by a few days of indulgences. There is health in love, in connecting with those you love, in laughing, sharing a meal and singing carols together. The feel-good hormones you get from the love and sharing that is the holiday season is nourishing enough on a soul level and will actually make you live a longer, happier and healthier life. Stressing about avoiding the snack table and bar will actually cause more damage in your inability to just be and live and love, than if you just ate the damn cookie (or 5 ;) ).

So my tip for the holiday season is try your best. Try to maintain balance. Drink some green juice to counter the cookies. Add a dark leafy green your holiday feast. If you get the chance to move your body, even if it is just dancing with your grandpa or chasing the kids, it counts! Have your Christmas morning mimosas, New Years' Eve champagne, your Hanukkah Manischewitz wine, and Festivus nog, because this time of year comes once a year. You may as well cut yourself some slack and enjoy, indulge, feel loved, give love, and just be, because you'll actually be healthier and happier than trying to remember the hundreds of tips of not gaining that holiday bulge.

Merry, festive, brightness, balance, peace, love, laughter and joy to you all. 

Cheers!

When You Have No Time to Write - Post Pictures

Lupine in our garden

Oli driving the boat

Window gazing

Homegrown peonies and homemade kombucha

My downdog view

 A lovely meal out - local Maine crab salad with avocado and mango, local pea shoots and cukes

Breakfast smoothie pre-blend view

A day off morning view with a cup-o-joe and Boo

Farmer's market lunch: roasted beets, zucchini, portabella mushroom, poached farm fresh egg, Maine Pineland Farms feta and a balsamic reduction

 Organic, homemade almond milk.

Going fishing in the handmade boat (by Mr. here).

Our beautiful-down-the-road-from-our-house-beach walk. Gosh, I love where we live!

There's also been a lot, a lot of work and a lot of diversity of work (exciting new things a-brewing), but no one takes photos of work (well maybe one day ;) )

My Banana Bread Gave Me a Lump - Gulp!

My seasonal allergies have tremendously lessened since I have changed my diet to no gluten, no dairy (except fermented), limited-to-no meat, no refined sugars and no processed foods. They are almost non-existent. 

I have always had allergies of some kind, even as a kid – be it unidentified food allergies or seasonal allergies; they were never as bad until I moved to Maine. I think the culmination of moving to a densely forested environment coupled with my immune system being on it's last leg with horrible inflammation – my body finally gave out. After a lot of time and experimentation I finally figured it out and I am living an allergen free life. Yay! 

Sure I sneeze often, but not nearly as much as I used to. I blow my nose as soon as I wake (which Dad endearingly mentions every time I visit, of how much he loves to hear me honk first thing in the morning) otherwise it is not too bad. Even this time of year when my coworkers and friends around me are suffering, my allergies are manageable, actually they pretty much doesn't exist – especially in comparison to where I once was. Occasionally my eyes will itch and I won't wear my contacts. I will be a little extra snotty-drippy, but normally if I go to an extra clean diet of dark leafy veggies and lots of pre- and probiotic foods, I am a-OK. Read more about my allergy diet in my post Seasonal and Food Allergies.

I have noticed over the last few days I am having a problem with some gluten free foods. I don't have many in the house as it is, my though is if I wouldn't eat the packaged glutenous version, why would I eat the gluten free kind? I always have a loaf of gf bread in the freezer, which typically lasts me months. And I had some overripe bananas the other day and it was a cool, drizzly morning and banana bread and coffee sounded delish. So I made both – both of which I never eat. I just used my Grandma's famous banana bread recipe, but switched out the APF for some gf alternatives. I used almond meal, quinoa flakes, Bob's Red Mill gf APF and aside from not having walnuts in the house, it turned out deliciously. I enjoyed my 2 slices of warm banana bread with a decent amount of butter on them and a hot cup-o-jo, curled up in my bathrobe and indulged. It was a great weekend gray, drizzly morning.

As with anything I bake, now and in the past, I have 1 or 2 pieces/bites/slices and then it gets moved from counter on pretty display, into the fridge with plastic wrap over it, ultimately into the freezer. "A" normally helps out, but when it comes to gf baked goods he's not as willing to help.

So the banana bread is now in the freezer as per usual. However, I have noticed over the last week an unusual thing – I am getting the typical "lump-in-my-throat I have eaten gluten reaction" I used to get way back when. It is a little hard to identify now, because I haven't had it in so long and it kind of feels like I am overly hungry, but no, I am pretty sure it is that I've eaten-gluten-lump. Hmmmm. 

So I have wracked my brain for days. Double checked my sealed zip-lock of gf grains (to eliminate cross-contamination) and everything I used was gf and really had no possibility for coming into contact with A's gluten items. He is so hyper conscious and aware, always making sure to use different utensils and equipment (sweet man!). His flour lives in a different pantry in it's own plastic bag away from mine in their baggy. Cross contamination really isn't a big concern in our house, we are a well oiled machine.

So I am 99.99% certain it isn't cross contamination, I haven't had the banana bread for a few days, and the last time I had a small sliver (while it was still on the counter) I had no reaction, huh?! Today I had a piece, thinking to myself it isn't the banana bread. And then I had a piece of gluten free cinnamon raisin bread with organic peanut butter and banana after my run with dogs. And now, low and behold the lump is back!

So I am thinking, and they say trust your intuition, and let me tell you through this whole journey that is the one thing I have learned to really tune into, especially when the "professionals" had no answers for me. I trust my intuition all the time now. So my intuition is telling me what little seasonal allergies I do have now, are aggravated by any form of bread product, even gluten free. The reaction is subtle and most wouldn't even notice it, but I do and it makes me think that in the spring and fall avoiding all gluten free processed products - bread, crackers, even homemade banana bread made with gf grains is the best way to eliminate any undo aggravation and inflammation.

A little helpful tip I have learned, drinking ginger tea when you get a mild allergic reaction aides in the digestion of the food and also for me, at least, helps lessen the intensity of the lump in my throat.

I have never heard of anyone having this reaction in peak seasonal allergy times. Have you? Do you have reactions? I think it is interesting that gf products are bothering me right now. And the only new thing was the homemade banana bread. The cinnamon raisin bread I have been eating for year. So now I am going to test myself even further. The banana bread is in the freezer now. So I will try the cinnamon raisin bread in a few days to see if I get another lump.

And even now a few days later, I had a piece of toast with breakfast. Lump is there!

This really is intriguing to me. I know in the fall I can't drink wine. I get allergic reactions and horrible stuffiness and headaches, but only for the months of September and October. The fall is worse for me as a whole when it comes to seasonal allergies and I typically revert to a very limited elimination diet for those months. But perhaps I need to add gf products as something to avoid in the spring too, just to eliminate any unnecessary irritants and inflammation that my body is already dealing with in defense of the environmental allergens around me.

Blah Humbug

This time of year is challenging. No matter how hard you try, those delectable holiday treats sneak in, no matter your good intentions and hold-strong self-control, you (i.e. me) will inevitably fail.

My self-control is very good all year round, even other holidays and special occasions, I can easily say no to the sweets, meats, dairy and certain delectables I choose not to consume on an almost-never basis. My food allergies, gluten and lactose intolerance, make it a simple choice, no one wants to engage in birthday festivities with the belching, stinky-farting birthday girl, nor the grumpy, bathroom-bound, one-year-older-cranky-next-day-birthday-girl either. So I kindly say, "No thanks."

But there is something about the holidays! It starts with Thanksgiving and snowballs from there into a zitty, gassy, bloated, chapped lips, irregular pooping (read irritable and oh-so lovely) me. I have the zits, raw private bits and irritability to prove it. Concluding thoughts, the holidays are evil.

Thanksgiving I did well, as I hosted, so I had most control. I made everything vegan, except, well the turkey. I proposed the idea of a turkey-less Turkey Day and that did not go over well. How could I resist the herb and lemon, crispy skin, dark meat that I have long loved, so I indulged slightly. Other than that Thanksgiving was easy. I didn't over eat, didn't eat the desserts others brought and thought to myself I can handle this.

Ha, nice try...then there is my Mom's birthday, which is overindulgent by nature. We went to Boston (hello yumminess). Between the long sitting/traveling time (i.e. traveling gas and bloating) to the overindulgence of yumminess and mucho vino, I was constipated and achey all over. My yoga sessions in our hotel room hoedown space helped, as did some intestinal massage and probiotics, but the entire weekend, I was not a happy camper.

I came home and immediately started a juice cleanse. Knowing Christmas was around the corner, my system needed a break. After my 4-day cleanse, my body, poops, discomfort and irritability finally balanced out.

Not consuming alcohol during the holidays is a nearly impossible feat, it seems. I swear the holidays are the only socially acceptable time to be drunk continuously for days, hey "it's festive!"

I was good, happy, pooping regularly and balanced until Christmas Day. Christmas Day is filled with family traditions that have been modified to fit my dietary restrictions yet still, is so far from my normal eating habits; mimosas, lots-o-coffee, bagels, lox, goat cheese a plenty. Then the following days is chocolates, more champagne, more, more. Hence poop, fart, poop, zits.

Oh wait, and Then there is New Years Eve!! More booze, more gooie-yumminess....Ahhhh....I'm too sore to keep wiping!

How do you do it? How do you celebrate without celebrating with food? Each childhood holiday was surrounded in celebratory foods, meals, drinks that marked and made that specific holiday special. Letting go of those family traditions is hard and somehow the idea of a holiday without them is less festive.

I think this time of year wouldn't be so hard except for the fact that there is 5 holiday celebrations for me, back to back with little to no break in between. It is also amazing to me how quickly our bodies get confused and tell us we crave things that we don't normally. It goes to show you the power of processed foods, sugars and fats, and their addictive properties. So rarely eating such things, this little dose is making my body go, "give me more, give me more."
My body can't handle that much irregularity and I normally don't subject it to so much hatred. It is ironic that the holidays are celebrating family and the holiday spirit, yet somehow I forget to celebrate me, my body and my health. I need to learn to merge the two, be celebratory and involved, while still celebrating my normally happy-healthy body.

@yoga_girl after Christmas smoothie

I am mesmerized by people like @Yoga_Girl, Rachel, a girl on Instagram I follow, she is so inspirational in her practice, positive thoughts and uplifting posts. She posted a pic the day after Christmas of a smoothie that she made from leftovers. I know, sounds gross, but it is beautiful and is rather amazing, because she eats so clean and mostly raw (Even on Christmas!!!), the mix included fruit, nuts, and a raw cinnamon roll thing. I was inspired and amazed. 

How does she do it? How can I do it?