Ups and downs

 My closest friends and family know what a struggle it's been for me to loose and keep weight off. Over the years, the one thing that remains constant is knowing that I MUST get the weight off. Not because I am being vain, but because my health and future depends upon it. I come from a family with a deep history of cancers and diabetes. I have taken the stance of fighting with all I've got to prevent that from hitting me. In the last year, I have: 

• established regular care with a primary provider
• gone to see an allergist
• gone to see a gastroenterologist
• had labs done

With all of that, what we found was: 

1. I have a fatty liver
2. I am prediabetic
3. I have irritable bowel syndrome type D
4. I have a lower than desired Vitamin D level

So, the decision had to be made for what to do about my diagnoses. You see, I went to see the GI doctor because of the IBS and my pre-existing gastroesophageal reflux disease. What he asked was that I try the FODMAP diet to identify my triggers and to try to limit those triggers. I went to the allergist at the request of my primary to determine if the IBS symptoms were being caused by any food sensitivities. They were not. While at the GI, they pulled a celiac panel on me to make sure I didn't suffer from celiac disease. Additionally, the GI doctor wanted a liver ultrasound because my liver enzymes came back a bit higher than they'd like to have seen. 

In the time since then, I've done about 6 weeks on FODMAP and found that onions are particularly bothersome for me. I try to eliminate them as much as possible. I have dropped about 15 pounds this year as a result of some of my other steps to getting healthier. 

Fatty liver - 

To work on this, I am working to lose weight and to decrease the amount of fat in my diet. This means that I need to consume healthy fats like avocado and limit processed fats like mayonnaise and vegetable oil. Additionally, I am increasing my fresh green foods like salads and decreasing the fried foods by opting to bake them or put them in the air fryer so they are fried but without any oil. 

Prediabetes - 

This was the hardest pill to swallow for me. I knew it was possible that I was getting to the point of needing treatment. I was diagnosed as gestational diabetic when I was pregnant with Maddie. Although they didn't do the 4 hour screen after the 1 hour came back high, there was still a risk I would develop the disease later in life. While I was one tenth of a point away from Diabetes type 2, I decided I would work my rear off to trend in the other direction. I came off of sugar (for the most part) and really started working to clean up my diet. In doing this, I lost 4 tenths of a point. This was just the inspiration I needed to keep going. 

IBS-D - 

As noted above, for this one I am really working to track my foods and identify when I have an issue. Then I can look at what I ate and not repeat that activity. This has worked very well and it is super rare that I need to take my "tummy" pill. I am on a pill that slows digestion down as needed. At first, I was needing to take it every 4 hours. Now I might need 1 or 2 a week depending on what I have chosen to eat. 

Vitamin D - 

For this, the treatment is a little more simple: take a supplement and spend at least 10 minutes a day out in the sun. While the latter has been a bit harder because I do not enjoy being out in the dead heat of the summer, I am hopeful that I can train myself to get out there more. I am hoping that soon I can go out and start hiking every weekend. We shall see how that goes. 

I tell you all of this to say that despite odds stacked against us, WE can do it. If you need someone in your corner that is fighting the good fight, I will be that person.