The Why Behind The What

These several times a day smoothies (have had 3 a day the last few days) are curbing my appetite for a bunch of junk food and are definitely helping to give me more energy and I only felt a little achy until late in the afternoon when I had a bit of a flare-up. We went to Half-Price books today and I picked up a few books on nutrition and one in particular that's been very informative - The Food Doctor - Healing foods for mind and body by Vicki & Ian Dipion. I'm enjoying it because I really wanted the why behind the what. I know that pineapple is a good choice for fibromyalgia sufferers but I didn't know why, now I do. The pineapple core contains bromelain which blocks pro-inflammatory prostaglandins as well as increasing anti-inflammatory prostaglandins. I also read that bananas are a good before bed snack so I made the following smoothie for Andy and I tonight. I used one I read on Pinterest by Dr. Oz as a jumping off point. It's a thick smoothie that has a somewhat unusual taste but we both loved it - I guess the proof will be in the pudding and we'll see how we sleep tonight.

Suck It Fibro Sleepy Time Smoothie

1 banana
1/2 avocado
1 apple
1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large heaping spoonful of homemade almond butter
2 large spoonfuls of pomegranate arils
2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1 c frozen cherries
2 c ice

Throw into the vitamix in the order given. Yum!

Today's Smoothie ...

Is a green smoothie and was so yummilicious! I say "was" because both Andy and I slurped it up in about ten minutes flat. This one turned out a very healthy green color. The following is the recipe.

Fibromyalgia Can Kiss My Fat Rolls

1 banana
1 bunch of red grapes
1 orange
1 apple
More than 1 handful but less than 2 of fresh spinach
2 heaping spoonfuls of plain organic yogurt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp organic pure vanilla extract
A healthy dollop of honey
8 large frozen strawberries
1/2 c of water

Put all of the ingredients in the vitamix in order given. Start the blender on 1 and work to the highest level. Blend for 30-45 seconds. Enjoy!

Smoothie Sensation For This Broken-down Fibro body

This weekend the hubs and I broke down and bought a Vitamix. Should've done it a long time ago with what I've paid for on other much less wondrous blenders and food processors in the past few years. We debated between that and a good juicer but Costco had the Vitamix at $100 off the normal price and so we gathered our pennies and took the plunge. Is it that expensive? I guess in the grand scheme of life maybe not but its about the same price as washing machine, an iPad, a television for our bedroom - and all it does is blend! I think it should have a few more features for that price. I say all of this just to give my train of thought and to admit that I really am cheap and don't like to spend over $100 on anything. BUT this overpriced blender is probably the best appliance we've ever purchased. Totally worth the money and I guess it proves the adage "you get what you pay for".

So since we have this new toy I'm determined to use it every day and honestly we've used it several times a day this week. The whole family is drinking our yummy vitamins. I've noticed that I'm feeling a little better in the mornings. The fibromyalgia is not knocking my on my arse as much as normal and my sugar addiction is not clamoring in the back of my head during every waking moment. I'm still crashing out in the afternoons but I'm afraid I might be overdoing the chores when I have a little extra energy and feeling less bad than normal.

Thought I'd share today's recipe which was yummilicious even if Andy said it looked like something Fat Bastard drank. But as any kindergartener will tell you, if you mix red, green, and yellow you'll get brown! So it may look a little gross but the taste is all that matters! At least to me anyway! Please note that 2 bananas are in this smoothie. If bananas give you migraines, don't use them. Unless you want a migraine. If you want a migraine you are too stupid to read my blog - these are not the droids you're looking for, you can go about your business. Move along, move along.

Today's smoothie is called:
Fibro Can F*** Off For All I Care

1/2 fresh pineapple
2 bananas
1/4 lemon
1 orange
1 large spoonful of organic plain yogurt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
A healthy dollop of honey
1/2 c water
1 c frozen kale
15 large frozen strawberries

Put ingredients in the blender in order listed, reserving half of the following items: pineapple, banana and strawberries. If using a Vitamix start on 1 and work up to the highest setting until completely blended, tamping down all the while. Once blended, lower the setting to 3 and add remaining ingredients. Place on highest setting and blend until all fruit is fully mixed in and no chunks of fruit are remaining, approximately 30-45 seconds. Smoothie will be the color of cat sick.

What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

I'm the worst blogger. I know that - I've had five or six of them over the years. Blogs haven't even been around that long. So instead of starting a new one, I'm just going to revive this one. The last post was from September 2011, so where have I been? Upside down. That's where I've been - upside down.

A year and a half in a nutshell: part-time job turned into a full-time job turned into having to quit, 3 kids in school to two kids in school and one in college, marriage ups, downs, and back ups again, healthy body to a sick body, family and friends visiting, a trip to California, new friends, old friends, a giant puppy who is still a giant puppy, 20 pounds down, up, down, and up again. And I'm sure a million other things but that a good overview. Probably one of the biggest life changers of this list is the sick body part, which has impacted a lot of other things. Fibromyalgia. It's changed my life. It changes everyone's life. Pain everywhere, insomnia, exhaustion - it's a fun little chronic illness. But it's given me time to knit and crochet. Maybe it'll give me time to blog as well. But I won't be holding my breath. ;-)

I'm on about ten different medications and hurting all the time but I'm going to start drinking smoothies and juice - try to detox my body some. I'm hoping that will make a difference - I'm tired of being miserable all the time. It blows my mind that some people think this is made up or all in a person's head. What a joke! If I made this up, I'd certainly make up a cure for myself! My whole life has changed, and not for the better. Why would anyone make up such a dreadful thing? So I'm hoping this diet change will help. We'll see...