The Plague

Man down.

This was one intense virus!  I couldn't function for nearly 3 days!  I'm talking in bed asleep for more than 2 full days.  No reading, no TV, no Ipad... asleep.  I'm finally feeling like myself again, except for the fact that I can't hear out of one ear and I have an awful cough.  But I survived!!  Thank goodness for my wonderful husband, he took the week off to take care of me and our children once he had recovered!  Also, thank god for daycare.

So, being super sick on this crazy diet is not easy.  When you don't feel good, what do you want to eat?  Crackers and peanut butter, right?  Maybe a salty can of soup?  Not the options I had... which were homemade broth (I'm so sick of this I can't even look at it), a lot of meat (I'm nauseous and you want me to CHEW?), pumpkin, and zucchini.  Yuck.  So I added back in bananas and peanut butter.  As in, the only think I ate on Wednesday was a banana... and again on Wednesday.  Thursday I managed a small amount of soup, and friday I gave in an ate a spoonful of peanut butter.

All said and done... I lost another 7 pounds last week.  Crap.  I am now at an alltime low of 123 pounds... which would be great if it were on purpose, but it's not!  I'm trying NOT to lose weight at this point, and it's not working out so well...

Yesterday afternoon I went for my first infusion of Entyvio, the new treatment I'm trying.  About 50% of people who try this drug for ulcerative colitis see results at 6 weeks... so fingers crossed!  But my weight loss has been so drastic and fast, that when they tried to enter yesterday's weight into the computer a flag came up to make sure they didn't make a typo!  I've lost 15 pounds in the past month, and almost 50 (yes, FIFTY) pounds in the past couple of months.  I weighted 170 for a while after the baby was born, due to all the steroids I was on.  I'd estimate that since Christmas I've lost 25 pounds... that's a lot!  Too fast!  Not healthy!

So is this diet working for me?  The truth is, I don't think it is.  Today is day 60.  I'm afraid to give up after all the energy I've invested in it at this point, but I'm only feeling marginally better, and holy cow is it inconvenient!  It's nice that my clothing isn't too tight anymore, but this isn't sustainable.  I've been stuck in the intro diet for much, much longer than is recommended, but between the steroid taper and food reactions I just can't seem to get out of it!

So here's my plan:  Start adding foods a little quicker, hold off tapering prednisone for a few more weeks.  Add high calorie foods first - yesterday I added avocado.  I'm going to try waiting 2 days between foods rather than 3 or 4, to try to speed things along.  I'd love to know what's bothering me, but i think nutrition is more important at this point.  I've been eating a lot of peanut butter, and I'm going to try almond butter again in a day or two as well... then I think i'll move onto eggs.  If i can successfully introduce eggs and almonds, then I can start making some baked goods, which will really help me pack in some calories.  I'm supposed to be focusing on introducing vegetables, but I think calories are more important right now.

The truth is, if i lose another few pounds, I'm going to have to eat a potato.