Las Vacaciones

Action shot! RZR ATV-ing

I’m back! It’s been a while but don’t worry, I’ve always had Me, Myself and Still’s Disease in the back of my mind. It’s been a busy but successful month! I’ve found a place to live next year, been vacationing and still occasionally trying to keep up with juicing. Hahaha I’ve been pleasure reading, running, hiking, biking, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, rzr atv-ing, swimming, cooking and watching so many Olympic events I think I may explode! :D I hope that y’all have been enjoying  the summer as much as I have.

For your reading pleasure, I will include the two days of mini-blogging my juice fast. (I can barely keep up with MMSD once a week; I was crazy to think I could write everyday for a week! Haha )

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Thursday

Oh. My. Goodness. I am so tired!! Day Two of the juice fast and I am feelin’ it. The few people in the documentary who participated in the juice fast said that the first few days are the hardest. (They weren’t kidding!) Last night my mom and I endured sitting through a pork tenderloin dinner while drinking a tall yummy glass of mixed vegetable juice. MMMMM *see pictures from Blog U! post* Not going to lie, I was craving serious meat all yesterday evening… saw a Raising Cane’s commercial on TV and chicken never looked and sounded more tasty!!

This morning I was feeling great; feeding off of the momentum of enduring dinner without much, if any, cravings (of the actual food in front of me!! Haha) then getting up and juicing first thing before I headed out to a nannying job I have for the next couple days. But as soon as I got home around 2 PM and had my lunch juice/ juice lunch, I got a headache and felt extremely fatigued, exactly what I felt last night around dinner time!! I need sleep. Will report tomorrow

Friday

Well, I got my meat!! … it wasn’t as great as I imagined it…  I didn’t exactly break; I planned this meal ahead of time. We planned a birthday celebration with some family friends who specifically were cooking for us and I felt morally obligated (sounds so serious!! haha) to eat some of the food they brought over.

Sure sure, I know what some of you may be thinking, “if you ate solid food and meat, you definitely broke your fast.” And to that I have to say, in that sense, yes I did break my juice fast. But in my mind I am still committed to juicing for at least four more days!! Which if you have or ever juice in the future, is a serious feat. I chalk that up TO eating solid food and meat today!! I felt awful afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, the food was delicious but my body said, nuh-uh not having this. I felt super fatigued and even had to lie down and take a nap (not at all typical for me).  1.5 hours later, I woke up still feeling out of it. So I decided to make a juice and go for a run.  Well, I ran for almost 3 miles!! Success

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As far as the juicing goes, I can honestly say it’s tough. I do believe that the vitamins and nutrients from juicing are benefitting me so I try and juice once a day now. Last time I checked, I’ve lost 4 to 5 lbs over the summer, which makes me think that my 15 lb goal was really really ridiculously ambitious! Haha Still, I’m proud of myself and know what I need to do to hit my ultimate goal weight… EXERCISE! I need to be doing intense cardio at least 5 times a week and I just haven’t put the time and effort in. Soon when I’m back at school and have access to a fully equipped gym, I hope that can be resolved.

Tree pose. Haha

Things to think about if you’re planning on trying juicing: Juicing does take time. You have to clean and cut your fruits and veggies, prepare your juice and clean the juicer. You also have to consider when and if you have access to your juicer. On a recent trip, I was able to buy 100% juices at Whole Foods Market but again, it takes more time and effort than just grabbing a salad or healthy food option when you’re out with family and friends. (My mom and I did haul the juicer up to our vacationing spot in Colorado though!!)

My stills continues to baffle me. Some days I have a little bit of a rash, other days nothing. Some days I feel a little stiff, other days not at all. I consider myself very fortunate. I have been taking my Humira for almost 2 months now and I haven’t had any major issues with my joints (to include those bothersome elbow joints)! Because stills is unpredictable and can vary drastically between patient to patient, I’m not sure why my stills has calmed down. It could be the Humira (I don’t think it’s the 2 mg of prednisone), quitting my stressful job, relaxing this summer, juicing and/or having set my plans for the future (at least until next summer. Haha).

I’d like to make a shout out to all the redditors who flooded my profile over two weeks ago. (Geez, it’s been that long!) I appreciate the uplifting comments made there. It’s nice to read that (at least some of) you find my blog helpful and enjoy it!! On that note, my non-redditor viewers can find that post and other helpful posts at reddit.com/r/autoimmunity. There are also other “Subreddits”, as they’re called, on the right-hand side of that page linking you to other related information pages.

Have a blessed week y’all and Happy rest of the Olympics!