Planning A New Diet

Did you miss me? :) Tom and I went on a short break to Leicester to visit his parents and then on to Manchester for a few days just the two of us. It was lovely - we went to Twycross Zoo, Chester Zoo and The Chestnut Centre (an otter and owl sanctuary in the Peak District) - which I loved, but also highlighted my need to get fit like nothing else could!

The otters spotted breakfast on its way!

Despite stopping frequently to rest and taking plenty of food and drink to keep my energy up, I was still left exhausted and in pain on most of the days (a lot of walking was involved even on non-zoo days). I took naps on any afternoon we were home/at the hotel and was going to bed early most nights but I was still left drained by the end of the holiday and desperate for my own bed!

Alongside all of this happening I've noticed more bloating/some weight gain and the tightening of my clothes, so it's time to do something. I also have a friend who recently broke her leg and is looking to lose weight before her wedding later this year, so we've teamed up to keep each other accountable.

I've made a plan that I'm going to try for the next week to see if I can stick to it and I wanted to share it with you in case anyone wants to try it with me. :)

So here goes...

Breakfast: a fruit/veg smoothie. My plan is to buy fruit and veg in bulk at the start of the week the freeze it in portion sizes ready to blend each morning. (side note: I've tried blending then freezing but they just don't taste as nice.) I'm thinking a basic recipe of gluten free porridge oats, almond milk and then a mix of whatever fruits and veg (spinach/kale will be my sneaky iron intake) I have on hand.

Mid-morning snack: Veg sticks, nuts, raisins etc.

Lunch: Soup. Again, planning to make this in batches and freeze in individual portions to make things super easy.

Afternoon snack: Veg sticks, nuts, raisins. On treat days this is when I'll eat the chocolate too (raw dark chocolate of course!)

Dinner: This is the only meal that will be more flexible as I'll have to accommodate Tom here, but I'll still try to keep it healthy and perhaps reduce my portion sizes.

Drinks: I'll be following the rule "don't drink your calories" and sticking to water, except perhaps some fruit juice or squash if I really need something with flavour! I know people advise lemon/lime in water for flavour, but that just doesn't cut it for me.

I'll try to get more exercise in too to keep up any fitness I gained while we were away, but since #EndoFitPlan bombed miserably I'm gonna concentrate on getting the diet right before worrying about that!

Is anyone else trying to get healthy and lose some weight as summer approaches? (I don't believe in yo-yo diets, but I definitely find myself more motivated when the weather is nicer!) Let me know if you want to create a group for support!

#ChangingFaceOfEndo Day Six

Day Six
Another productive day at work, although my headache is hanging in there. I wish my wisdom teeth would just chill for a bit, haha. I've also spent the evening sorting through stuff ready for our trip to Leicester. It's always surprising how much stuff you need when you go away, even if it's not for long! Pretty much everything I wanted to take was in the wash so now every doorway in our flat has clothes drying, haha. Hopefully it all dries in time!

I'm really bloated again today and craving salty/sugary foods. I'm really not that fussy on what it is. Luckily it's quite well balanced with my extra fruit intake so if I can just cut back a bit it won't be a problem.

About the picture
This was taken during the 'chaos' stage of packing. You can see my laptop playing music in the background (playing the Bellas Final from Perfect Pitch I believe - my current obsession!) and the suitcase I decided was too small and put away shortly after. The weather is so changeable at the moment I'm planning lots of layers and options!

#ChangingFaceOfEndo Day Five

Day Five
Today was a good day. Productive at work and my laptop was fixed and ready for pick-up this morning - a day and a half earlier than predicted. :) Also squeezed in time to watch Game of Thrones before work this morning, so today is going well indeed!

I've noticed my stomach seems to be getting bigger at the moment, possibly down to bad diet and my digestion not being as good. We're getting into the habit of a fresh fruit smoothie each day at work so I'm gonna try to combine that with more veg at home and more water to try and ditch this bloat/extra weight!

About the picture
I'm showing off my 5-way plait because I'm proud of it! It was pinned back to keep my hair off my face as I worked but you can't see it properly there. Also the picture is taken from my laptop once more - a celebration of getting it back! :)

#ChangingFaceOfEndo Day Four

Day Four

I missed two days because my laptop died Friday evening and it's now with the computer doctors. It's forced me to actually do things other than be online. Yesterday (apart from my tours of various computer shops) I spent time with Kassi catching up on Game of Thrones, went to mums to show her the embarassing pictures I retrieved from my old computer and went to visit Nan before it was time to pick Tom up. Then in the evening we went to Rachel's house for a game night. Today I had a film day (4 and a bit films!) and it was nice to relax. Back to work tomorrow, which should be interesting without a laptop.. I have mum's iPad for now but it's difficult to get used to!

On the endo front I possibly over indulged in fatty foods today as I'm feeling quite sick. I've also got a bit of stomach ache. Otherwise everything is good - trying to up my fruit and veg intake to see if it has an effect on my energy. :)

About the picture

I look like I have two black eyes but it's just bad lighting and tiredness! I've straightened my hair for a change and I'm enjoying it for now. It's the longest it's ever been and it's getting to the stage where I just throw it in a messy bun for ease!

#ChangingFaceOfEndo Day Three

Day Three
Today was really productive! I had a good morning getting stuff done at work then an afternoon off with Tom. We went to vote (my first time, woohoo!) then spent the afternoon watching films and relaxing. Note: This Is The End - crap film!

My headache persists, I have a theory that it's to do with my wisdom teeth coming through. The pain in my stomach is improving though which is good news. :)

About the picture
Okay so it's not my face... but I have a jumper with an apple on it and this makes me very happy. It's very comfy and cosy too. Yay!

#ChangingFaceOfEndo Day Two

Day Two
Spent the day half asleep - really struggling with energy at the moment - and only remembered to take the picture as I was going to bed, so I thought this one was quite fitting. I had a headache all day that got worse as the day went on, although it eased off after dinner. Still really enjoying being back at work, it's nice to be feeling productive again!

On the endo front I'm feeling disproportionately tired for the sleep I'm getting and that pulling pain in my stomach has continued. Very weird, but hopefully it's just a pulled muscle and will ease over the next few days.

About the picture
The bear in the picture is Egbert - he's actually one of those teddies that has a microwavable pouch in his tummy. I started using him to help with the endo pain when I went to bed, but now he's just a lovable cuddle buddy.

For details of the #ChangingFaceOfEndo project you can read the explanation post here.

#ChangingFaceOfEndo Day One

Day One
I woke up exhausted today despite doing very little yesterday. I went to bed a little later than usual, but was disproportionately tired as a result. Once I got going it was a pretty good day - my first day back working for Discover Your Bounce 3 days a week which I was excited about.

I was pain free until this evening when I must have moved funny because I felt something pull around my belly button incision scar. After that every time I stood up it hurt like something was pulling in my stomach and I had to stand bent slightly forwards. Very weird and I hope it goes by the morning!

About the picture
I'm holding my Thoughts & Dreams notebook, which is quite fitting as I was given it as a present after my first lap that diagnosed endometriosis. I've been using it to keep track of my Life Pyramid (something I'll post about soon) and it's never too far from me at the moment!


For details on the project check out the explanation blog!

#ChangingFaceOfEndo Project

I mentioned in the last blog that I was thinking of doing a new project so today I'd like to explain a little more about the idea. As with many other invisible illnesses, you can't tell someone has endometriosis just by looking at them (unless they're doubled over in agony, ha). This idea has been explored by people with all sorts of illnesses, including the #facesofendo challenge to raise awareness, but I've been thinking of a slightly different (if not original) take on it.

Not only does endo look different on each woman who has it, it also looks different for the same woman depending on the day, her symptoms, where she is in her cycle etc. So I wanted to try the photo-a-day project that many people do, but in a way that helps to raise awareness for endo at the same time. With each picture I'd include thoughts on how I feel in general but also endo-specific stuff so that people can see the different aspects of endo over the course of weeks, months and the year.

I'm anticipating most of the pictures will just be me at the laptop, perhaps with some situational pictures if they seem relevant to the project. I'll be posting picture one in a separate post tonight so you can see what I mean. :)

So what do you think? Would you find this kind of project interesting? Do any fellow endo sisters want to take part? Let me know in the comments below!

ps thanks to Kassi and Nicky Marshall for their help in coming up with the project name/hashtag!

Food Challenge Update

This post is a little overdue since I actually did my food shop on Friday, but it was a busy weekend so I hope you'll forgive me!

The good news is that Part One of the challenge was a success - I managed to make meals each night without doing any extra shopping (besides getting lunches for Tom for work, but we do that every week anyway so I'm not counting it!). Woohoo! There was a bit of luck involved as I wasn't sure one of my batch meals was going to stretch to 4 portions (it looked more like 3 generous portions or 4 measly ones) but in the end it was just an eyes-bigger-than-belly scenario, haha. Isn't it always?

As for Part Two I've made a good start. Instead of getting a weekly shop as usual on Friday I went to Aldi. Their meat is cheaper than Asda and good quality, but it's the only thing we buy there so I don't go often unless it's to stock up in bulk. I ended up spending about £25 on meat and managed to get 4kg of chicken breast (for comparison this much in Asda would be £30 alone), 4 beef burgers, a pack of turkey mince and a pack of pork mince (which we've never tried before). That should last us quite a while! I also did Asda for our usual stuff, but bought extra veg so that I can prepare and freeze it for future meals.

So far I've done a big batch of shredded chicken - half went to that nights' batch meal (a Mexican Casserole style thing that I just have to share at some point!) and the other half I froze for future meals. I also froze enough chicken stock for 2 meals, so I'm feeling pretty smug. On the menu tonight is Chicken Tikka Masala and I'm adding in some veg we don't normally eat so I'll chop and freeze extra at the same time again.

On a semi-related note I've thought of another project to start that I'm hoping might be interesting, so I'm gonna write another blog on that shortly. Stay tuned!

Is anyone else doing any food challenges at the moment? I'd love to hear about them. :) I always feel like Spring is a better time to start resolutions than January - it's right as the weather picks up and everything feels more positive! What do you think?