Update on my crohns, taking better care of myself

[johndoe]

Its been a while since I posted on Crohns Forum and I actually deleted my account because of frustration. But I realize that its not all about me. Its about trying to help people who are in the same predicament as I am and giving out my living advice. I know everyone is different when it comes to this disease, but perhaps someone with similarities can benefit from my account.

Diet and exercise is everything to me. Its not hard. I have made it a routine for the last 5 years since being diagnosed, and even before then I was already a very fit and active young man. I remember a time when all I did was plan my meals, and suffering thereafter, everyday. It had control over me. Now im happy to say that I have control over my crohns and know my disease well enough to live in "harmony" I suppose! haha. I workout, surf, play basketball, tennis, do some yoga and meditating and do stress relieving in everyway possible. This keeps my mind and spirit happy, and in turn, helps my body to heal as well. I could say there were a lot of contributing factors in my flare ups and initial onset of the disease like, heavy drinking with depression, heavy supplementation from body-building, eating a ton of red meat, white rice with hardly any vegetables, family and psychological issues, viral infection... etc. But time really can heal things. And so can changing your diet. I have not done anything extreme like going totally gluten free and vegan... but I have definitely changed my eating habits. I have slowly progressed to the point where I only eat real food, I monitor my fiber intake (in remission), and try to eat anti-inflammatory foods whenever my stomach is telling me something. You see, your body tells you whats wrong, you just have to be mindful and listen. I don't eat fast food ever, for years now, and when I do it reminds me of why I didn't for so long and I end up throwing it away. I don't drink soda, hardly drink alcohol (lite beer once in a while, Michelob ultra, don't hate!), I still eat red meats but I look for leaner cuts or I BBQ it so most of the inflammatory fats cook out, then I counter that by eating salmon, best anti-inflammatory protein. For carbs, I only eat jasmine rice because it has better nutrient content, Yukon potaoes (anti-inflammatory), taro root, Okinawan sweet potatoes (anti-inflammatory). I avoid dairy most of the time, unless its its yogurt, kefir, cheese sometimes. I eat fiber very cautiously now, not too much and I make it count. baby spinach, apples that I peel most of the skin off, sprouts etc. Basically only foods rich in nutrients. Oh, and I go gmo free and organic most of the time as well. Its more expensive, but it makes me feel better so its worth every penny.

 

[CrohnsChicago]

I hear you on the fiber. I am in remission too and even two days of too much fiber can become uncomfortable for me. I was never one to drink soda (I can't even swallow coca-cola it's so acidic my throat closes up on contact). I LOVE spinach, sweet potatoes and zucchini. I occasionally allow my gut some precautionary rest and juice my fruits and veggies. I prefer salmon, chicken and turkey over red meat...always have. I also typically stick to yogurt and cheese and avoid other dairy products whenever possible. GMO-free is very difficult to filter out this day and age as packaging can be misleading and sometimes it is purely unavoidable...I don't grow my own plants and it can get too expensive for me to keep up that lifestyle but I AM more aware than I used to be and am very mindful of the ingredients in foods that I cannot make myself due to time, cost, accessibility of ingredients and other factors.

I've gotten a bit carried away at times knowing that I can eat again so on top of these things I mentioned above, moderation, portion and timing of meals are also important factors for me. Exercise is a newer thing I am getting back into and I see how beneficial it can be in keeping remission as well as focusing on mental and emotional health.

Anywho, I understand what you are saying and I hope that your remission sticks for a very, very long time

 

[johndoe]

Here is a list of foods I eat regularly. Trial and error has brought me to the conclusion that a wide variety of different foods is the best diet. but that's just me. here you are:
wild salmon, acai, jasmine rice, taro, Okinawan sweet potatoes, Yukon potatoes, whole grain bread, canned tuna, fresh wild tuna, mussels, whole grain pasta, 100% natural tomato sauce or organic tomatoes on the vine, garlic, spinach, sprouts, apples, papayas, yogurt, kefir, bananas, almonds, organic tea, aloe leaf juice(gross but works amazing), ginger, ginger tea, plums, lemons, limes, steak (tri-tip bbqed), hamburger(grass fed leanest cut), lots of different fish, chicken breast, chicken thighs(need fat for flavor lol), almond milk, used to do soymilk but heard bad things about it so switched to coconut milk.
Well you get the idea. The point is that I changed my habits slowly and had a vegetarian yoga girlfriend to help me further my health benefits. But I can tell you right now, I used to be so miserable, in such pain all the time. I hated everyone for not being there for me when I was down and only being there when I was up and spending money and giving to people. It made me very bitter. And I was literally dying from crohns disease and nobody bothered to help me except for a select few. Some even took the chance at my weakest point to kick me while I was down. But I rose back up, and you can too. It didn't kill me. And I feel strong again. I never thought I would be able to come back from being in the depressed ,painful, bloody toilet, losing weight, angry at the world and wishing I would die state I was in. But I came thru. with humira, dieting, lots of pleasurable exercise, loving people by my side, beautiful nature and the will to get better. Im proud to say I have come off of every drug the doctors prescribed me, except humira which I am cutting back. I never thought I would be able to stop taking so much medicine, or seeing the doctors every week, or going to the ER regularly. But I made it! Because after I made the decision to take better care of myself and stick to it indefinitely, I have seen nothing but positivity around me. The doctors prescribe and prescribe, but I stopped eating up their promises and looked deeper into what was the underlying problem. Am I really still sick? or can I manage this with healthy foods and exercise and a better state of mind? I chose the latter. I am 30 and I look younger than I did when I was 26-28 with crohns flaring, I feel younger, I am as fit as I was out of college with a decent six pack. People say I look a little thinner now, because I used to take so much supplements to get big. But just knowing that its all natural fit with no supplements is a beautiful thing. They'll never understand what we go through. They don't know how majorly we have to change our lifestyles. When you go thru the struggle that most people take for granted, you'll be stronger than they are! The doctors tell me to take this and that, but I don't. and every test they take keeps getting better. I swear! what does that tell you? You can do it too with diligence, and patience, and planning. don't dive head first, but ease into it and thank god for every little problem you overcome!!!

 

[johndoe]

Hey Chicago I was typing when you posted that so im sorry I didn't see that. But thanks for your input and yes, finding gmo free all natural anything is difficult at times. They can be misleading because hey, its their business to sell. But eating all natural and whole foods rather than taking in vitamins and supplements to me is so much better. The nutrition is there in your food... you just gotta choose the right ones!