3 month Medical Medium: diary

Welcome to my online diary where you can follow ME my on 3 month Medical Medium challenge. Read more about why I do this, how I prepared (slowjuicer, book) and my plan.

Below you’ll find the week 1. Here you will find week 2.

Day 0

As an introduction, an average weekday before I started…

8.30: the alarm goes off. Very slowly I emerge from a deep black hole. I’m fighting my way into the day but it’s hard for me. I feel bad. Nausea, muscle pain, dizziness. Light and sounds hit me hard. Everything is too much, too bright, too shrill, too loud and it overwhelms me. I don’t want this, I can’t do this. I don’t wanna do this anymore.

I make breakfast and lunch for my daughter. She is also sick and is picked up at 10am for a half day of school in Rotterdam (half an hour’s drive away). Then I lie on the couch for an hour. I’m working on my blog (my only connection to the outside world). If I can manage fog in my brain. On a bad day I lie in bed with a blindfold and earplugs. I don’t have real conversations with neighbors or friends or even my husband or daughter, that’s way too hard.

On a good day I can vacuum or wash my hair. On a really good day I can do some work in the garden. We live in the outskirts of a small village (Rockanje) and have a large garden with many mature trees, large shrubs and as many native flowers as possible. I also do some shopping, cook something and take pictures for the blog.

At the end of the afternoon I have to take the dog for a walk. That’s hard for me, sometimes I have to fight back the tears while walking, and I’m happy when my daughter takes over for a day. After dinner I’m a zombie. I hang out on the couch and go back to bed around 10pm. I’m dead inside.

Day 1: Saturday, August 3rd

Today is the last day of our week’s holiday in South Brittany. It did me good. This region nourishes me. With all the inlets, bays and peninsulas, I have felt sea salt all around me. My skin and lungs enjoy that. My head is clear, I feel light. This week I decided that I want to live again, that I am willing to change course completely. I’m going to do it! I find Medical Medium a bit strange, but something is pulling me towards this change and I am expectant and excited.

We drive back home. Through my mother-in-law who lives just east of Brittany. Our dog, Rizo, stayed there for a week. About 10 hours in the car… Not the best day to start a new lifestyle. But I had breakfast with fresh apricots. And it turns out my mother-in-law has a whole bowl of fruits for lunch. This is confirmation that I am really going to start today. Fruit all day and I can buy some unprocessed nuts at a gas station.

On the way in the car, I ordered the slow juicer that I had already selected. Then it will be delivered on Monday!

I did it! I started Medical Medium, not in the most perfect way. But I ate a lot of fruit and no no-foods at all. Strangely enough, I don’t feel like eating bad foods at all. Normally I have good intentions starting a long trip, but during the day I always end up eating cookies and chips. Needing something all the time, the whole time. But now no dissatisfied feelings, no craving for junk food. How nice.

Day 2: Sunday August 4th

Got up early. Shopping for healthy foods! Bought lemons for my first lemon water.

While I thought I was going to start my new diet with making juices and smoothies, I’m mainly redecorating the refrigerator. Where do I put all that celery and spinach!? The fruit bowl is overflowing with oranges, bananas, lemons and seasonal delicacies such as peaches and cherries.

Start: lemon water
After 30 minutes of breakfast: banana smoothie bowl with spinach, celery, honey, wakame, tiger nut flour and lemon water.
Snack: banana and peaches
Lunch: half of a large pan of chickpea stew with eggplant. Can I eat it again tomorrow?
Dinner: I wanted to cook something else but I’m tired. So the second portion of chickpea stew is also finished.

Again, I notice that the fruit not only satisfies my hunger but also my appetite and cravings. If want something, I just eat fruit and while I was afraid of a sugar dip, I actually feel balanced and energetic afterwards. I don’t understand this… I don’t crave sugar from cookies or soda. When I was on a keto diet I felt something I call ‘eating rest’. My eating habits have taken a U-turn, but I feel a similar peace. Maybe a little deeper, satisfied and comforting.

Day 3: Monday August 5th

Start: lemon water. Made more today, the rest goes in a glass bottle in the refrigerator. Second bottle with boiling water ginger and turmeric. That goed is the fridge after cooling.
Breakfast: bananas, cherries, strawberries
Lunch: Boiled potatoes. That feels really strange. That’s suddenly possible again. So I have lunch with a delicious potato salad. Just have to come up with a nice dressing because standard mayo is of course not possible. It will be orange juice, honey and chili flakes.
Snack: spinach smoothie with melon, ginger and turmeric.
Evening: stirfry of mushrooms, bimi, bean sprouts and zucchini with cashew nuts and coconut aminos.

And during the day: my slow juicer has arriverd!

I have a mild headache and stomachache. Again: I have no hunger or cravings. I sometimes sit on the couch in amazement, trying to imagine what it would be like with a bag of chips. And it doesn’t bother me… I am thirsty though. All day long. Although I drink a lot of lemon water, ginger water and a lot of plain water. I can’t keep up. But I certainly don’t drink too little, it is well over 2 liters. More like double. I also have to pee constantly. Little bits. My guts is also working overtime. I have twinges and cramps that I can feel throughout the entire length of my intestines. And this is in addition to the mild cramping I always feel on the left side from my diaphragm to my groin.

Day 4: Tuesday August 6th

Start: lemon water. Another extra bottle of ginger turmeric water prepared.

Time for my first celery juice! Assembling the slow juicer turns out to be quite difficult. How does something like that actually work!? Ok, just slide the stems in like that? Yes, it works! Juice comes out! I start with 4 stems. I want to take a standard bush, bunch (I don’t even know in Dutch: what do you call that?) and maybe two (recommended by lyme is 32 oz and a bunch is about 16 oz).

First sip. Disgusting…. That’s the first thought. But immediately afterwards: no, it’s actually not that bad. It takes some getting used to, different than I expected. My tongue and lips tingle a little. Well, I’m curious.

Breakfast: 2 bananas, half a melon, peaches
In between and lunch: also easy, always grab some fruit.
Evening: millet couscous with onion, zucchini and sun-dried tomato. I miss some meat and take chicken thigh. Chicken breast would be better because it is leaner. But I like it a lot less and I don’t feel too much about myself

I have a tingling tongue and lips all day long. I have a slight headache. Again: very thirsty and urinating often. My intestines feel hard and messy. I’m flatulent, but what strikes me: no bad smell. I have to go to the toilet often, the stool is thin and comes out in in funny bits with air in between. That must be because of all the fruit and fiber?

My brain fog was already less due to the Breton sea breeze (how I like salty air!). But today it seems even less… That’s not possible, is it? Within a day!?

Day 5: Wednesday August 7

I wake up early. I’m going to walk Rizo. Nice to be able to take over that chore from my husband. I feel light and happy, looking forward to the day. Say what…!? I don’t know what’s happening to me.

Start: lemon water. Also made a bottle with mint and basil.
After half an hour: celery juice. I’ll go for a half. Maybe increasing a little fast, but I feel well, so I just go for it..
Lunch: stir-fry with mushrooms, bimi, bean sprouts, zucchini and cashew nuts. I liked that one last time.
Evening: stew of endive and I smuggle in some bacon. Phased out no-foods out this week quite enough…
Later in the evening: we watch the fieldhockey semi-finals at the Olympic Games. I’m feeling hungry and have two large smoothies of spinach, orange juice, ginger and turmeric.

My husband is going to the beach with Rizo. And I think: yes, I’m coming along! I can’t believe it. But I have the energy to go… I happily get into the car. The walk is lovely but short. Femke Bol (400 metes hurdles) is about to run her final at the Olympics, but above all: I really have to go to the toilet. That was one smoothie too many.

Day 6: Thursday August 8th

Start: lemon water. Herbal water made for the rest of the day.
After half an hour: half a bunch of celery juice.
Breakfast: bowl of cooked millet with dates, banana and orange.
Snack: bananas, peaches, strawberries.
Late lunch: I have some mackerel with cucumber. Perhaps a little too fatty, so I eat less than usual. In addition to the head, Rizo also gets something extra.
Evening: stir-fry with lots of bok choi and leeks and a little chicken fillet.

I can work in the garden. Even above my head. That was a good thing because the grapevines exploded. My intestines are a bit calmer. The standard cramping also seems less. My thirst decreases and I urinate less often and more in a single go.

Day 7: Friday August 9th

Start: lemon water
After half an hour: against all advice, I go for a whole bush. I feel good.
Breakfast: bananas, peaches, cherries
Lunch: I experiment with an oat and spinach wrap. Recipe still needs some fine-tuning.
Evening: curry of chickpeas, potato, carrot, tomato and onion in coconut milk. With coriander seeds, cumin, fenugreek. Large pan of 3 to 4 portions.

I can work in the garden again. I clean the back of the fence near the neighbors with the brush cutter. I even have the energy to tackle some invasive blackberry bushes.

Day 8: Saturday August 10th

I’m up early again. Bright, energetic. I walk the dog, take the garden waste to the dump, visit the farmer for grassfed beef (pasture meat) and to the home breeder (local, with many seasonal products from our area). Both suppliers I never went to before. I always wanted to shop there but never had the energie. It’s al little further out of my usual route and one stop at the supermarket was all I ever could manage.

Start: lemon water
After half an hour: celery
Breakfast: 2 bananas, cactus fruit (not really a success) and strawberries

My husband goes sailing today. He often does that alone this season or with a mate. I can’t go anymore. I hear myself saying: I’m coming along! I’m bringing a double portion of curry from yesterday. Just plain water, I don’t have herbal water anymore. For the first time in a while, I manage to be on the water. With all that light, the noise of the sails and the lines hitting everything, the rocking of the boat.

But my muscle strength is shaky and I get tired. I cut my leg open on a not-so-sharp plastic thing. Anyone else would have a bad bruise, but my extremely thin skin is cracking open. I see some fat coming out but tie it off quickly to stop the bleeding. Later that evening we sit at the doctor’s office. With some difficulty it is sutured by 2 doctors. Back in the car I notice that the stress was high. I’m exhausted.

Evening: I whip up a (slightly too greasy) salad with arugula, watercress, tomato, Sockeye salmon, avocado and olive oil. And it may sound strange: what a nice day this was! I’m alive, I’ve felt the wind and sun. Without getting dizzy and nauseous. I’m experiencing something again. It’s not about what I do but how I feel inside. I’m back.

Go to week 2.