My On Again Off Again Relationship... With Food

For as long as I can remember I have been a picky eater.  I have gotten a lot better about eating more diverse foods.  Unfortunately, I also have several food intolerances.  About five years ago, I was first tested for food issues.  I was having a lot of trouble with foods, mainly being nauseous every day.  I was living in Boston at the time, and on my way to the work in the morning, on the T, I would be looking for the exits in case I needed to get off to throw up.  I found out that I was severely intolerant to apples.. and at the time I was eating an apple everyday (an apple a day is supposed to keep the doctor away).

 

I have been told by several naturopathic doctors that my food intolerances are related to my MD.  Something about the MD starting as a virus, then your body can't fight it anymore, so it sort of goes behind the scenes and other things (like food issues) show up a lot.  I don't understand kinesiology as much as I wish I did, but my body always seems to respond well to the supplements given to me from the testing.  So I usually believe what they tell me.

Just last week I went to a new kinesiologist and found out that I am having issues with food again. I went back into a small depression about eating.  I went through this before.  I get told all these things I "shouldn't" eat, and at some point it's like... what else is there?  If I didn't have to eat, I probably wouldn't.  Because the truth is, most food makes me feel bad- tired, stomach aches, even stuffy nose and head congestion.  It's more like a chore.

Once again I have to figure out what I can't eat, what I shouldn't eat very often, and what is okay to eat as much as I want.  And then, I have to really pay attention to what I'm eating.  It's exhausting.  My relationship with food is rocky, but I try to eat as well as possible in the hopes that I can feel as good as I can, despite my chronic illness.

Mobility

FSH Factoid: The rapidity and extent of muscle loss differ considerably among FSHD patients — even among members of the same family. Some report few difficulties throughout life, while others need a wheelchair as walking becomes too difficult or impossible (FSH Society, 2010).

An excellent blog entry about using a wheelchair can be found here. 

Beauty

I've recently posted, on facebook, several articles related to beauty, so I thought I would clump them into one blog post.  I talk about this concept a little in the book, but actually removed several sections where I wrote about beauty for the final publication.  I didn't want to sound vain. 

 As a woman, beauty is often on my mind; and as a woman with a disability, the beauty "ideals" seem impossible. 

Here are two great articles on beauty and disability:

Woman with MD Becomes a Model

Perceptions of Beauty for the Disabled

Book Review

Below is a recent review of The Graceful Art of Falling:

"This book will bring you comfort, tears, and hope. Without having to know the author, you can hear her voice as she recounts her experiences with MD, good and bad. There are parts of this book that make you root for L. White while you are silently cheering for her as you feverishly read through the chapter. There are parts that make you hold your breath and say a prayer for her. There are parts that make you feel like you are right there next to her and wish you could reach out and offer her a steady hand. Then there are parts that make you envious at the amount of strength and bravery this woman goes through everyday. You wish you had half of what L. White has. This book makes you hope for a future where MD has as much publicity and awareness as some of the more popular foundations. It makes you hope that there will one day be a cure for this disease. L. White is truly a brave woman and should be admired among all who read this book for giving us a look inside her head and what everyday life is like with this disease."


Have you had a chance to read the book?

Consider writing a review on Amazon and/or the AuthorHouse page.

I would love to hear your thoughts!