1. Pooh Chart
Thanks to the guys at SCD Lifestyle for sharing this amazing pooh chart on their site today. I already have my own names for most of these: for example type 1 is the bunny pooh in my book, and type 6 is the Cadbury Flake. I think I'm going to start using this chart as a reference in my SCD diary, in which I've been charting my diet, poops, and pill intake. Maybe I'll share a screenshot with you one of these days.
2. SCD Issues
So, about that SCD thing. I'm getting really effing sick of it. I'm exhausted and angry all the time, I'm always hungry, I'm never satisfied, and I'm starting to see blood in my stool. I can't say that last part is to blame on the SCD- this week I've weaned down to 15mg of Prednisone, and have started taking Pentasa again. I re-introduced one 500mg pill last Friday, upped to 1000mg on Wednesday, and went up to 1500mg today. I'm still waking up every morning at 5 or 6, but more and more it's just to pee. I'm hoping my internal clock will reset soon. When I get up around 7 I'm pooping a ton, and while it usually starts out looking good -type 3 or 4- it degrades pretty quickly to type 5 or 6 with shades of pink winking out of the brown. And I've been having tummy cramps more often.
Back to diet- I've been relying pretty heavily on recipes from Comfy Belly, and am a huge fan of the morning sausages and cinnamon cookies. But then I start to wonder, should I be eating these things so soon? Here are some questions I'm having- I'm going to try to articulate them here and then I'll take them to some SCD communities online to see what feedback I get.
-Am I doing this right?
I made the stater soup on day one, I ate only that and broiled meatballs and broiled fish...and then I had a sweet craving and made SCD-legal almond flour and honey cookies. The next day I ate cheddar cheese with my soup, and made SCD-legal almond flour crackers. I ate variations of this menu all week, introducing mashed squash, overripe avocadoe, and homemade almond milk banana smoothies towards the end of the week. I know I wasn't adhering strictly to the starter diet and have probably moved too quickly- but I figured I was eating anything I wanted before without symptoms (thanks to the meds), so why not. And frankly, if I can't have the few things that get me through the sweet cravings right off the bat, screw the whole thing. Also, I haven't been able to make the yogurt yet. I'm getting a yogurt maker from a friend this week, was it dumb to start the diet before having access to the yogurt?-What happens if I eat something SCD illegal?
I haven't knowingly cheated at all, but am worried about what the outcome/next step should be if I were to ingest something SCD illegal. Back to square one? Or take it easy for a day or two and stick it out?
And in no particular order, here are the excuses I've been coming up with to justify giving up:
-My cholesterol. I cannot tell you how many SCD recipes call for a stick of butter and 2-3 eggs. I don't want to trade intestinal health for a stroke.
-Too much fiber! Even though a lot of delicious things are SCD legal, many of them are things that will still give me the shits, limiting my options even further.
-Holy crap is it expensive. I've been trying to tell myself, "you're spending as much as you would on take-out" but no, really, I'm pretty sure I'm spending way more on honey, almond flour, and kitchen gadgets.
-I am absolutely, completely exhausted. Thanks to the 'roids I'm constantly hungry, and as a result I have to constantly accommodate myself by cooking non-stop. And in order to cook non-stop I have to constantly do the dishes and run out to the store. It is all-consuming and I really don't care to commit all of my free time to this shit. I try to cook enough in advance to give myself a break every now and then, but I just don't seem to be able to cook and clean fast enough. J's been wonderfully supportive, as is his M.O. He made me SCD-compliant chicken nuggets for lunch today, and did all the dishes the other night. Regardless, I'm still constantly on my feet and it's wearing me down fast.
Right now, my shortest-term goal is to make it to Monday, when I talk to my doctor. My more respectable short-term goal is to make it to yogurt making and see how that goes. I really don't like the idea of leaving something plugged-in for 24hours, though, so I might not be willing to try making it until next weekend when I can at least be home. Ideally, I make it a month and see some results. No, Ideally I make it a few more days and start seeing results because patience is a virtue I wasn't blessed with. But realistically I know it can take a month or more, but then...can I really live this way for the long-term? I feel less than optimistic about that. Seriously, this diet is harder than quitting smoking.
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2 comments:
The first week is always the hardest for everyone, usually its due to physical symptoms but it can also be due to mental symptoms especially if your focused on all the foods you can't have and not the healing you could have. Hang in there and a month will be over in know time!
To your question about progressing to fast, I would say you moved extremely fast, your already eating foods that are in phase 3 of the diet that take more conservative people 3-6 months to reach. If you want to keep moving fast I think you should at least eliminate the almond flour and cheese for now. Give your a body a couple weeks of low inflammation foods and see what happens (a general rule is only add one new food variable every 3-4 days).
Most people don't start the yogurt until their first month into the diet and many people won't try it until they've been on it for several months so you should be fine.
If you eat something that’s not SCD legal or something that you are allergic to, your stools, any cramping, or other digestive symptoms will be your guide. If your system isn't stabilizing you probably need to return to the intro diet and take it slow. That’s the beauty of the SCD diet when done right it removes all the inflammation variables allowing us to figure out what's actually going on in our bodies.
Thanks Steve! Any suggestions on what I can do to get a sweet fix if I do nix baking with Almond flour for a while? A spoonful of honey won't cut it- ironically when I first tried the diet as a kid I got so sick of honey that tasting it by itself now makes me gag.
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