Go Green – Green Smoothies that is! Fight your RA with nutrition!

Hey everyone! how is the RA been treating you? Crappy? HAHA – Well how about you up your intake of veggies and fruit by making one of these bad boy green monster smoothies? I have a green smoothie or green juice almost daily for breakfast. It is easy on the digestion and loaded with super-rich nutrient foods that can help power up our bods to combat RA and the associated symptoms like fatigue, yukky skin, hair loss, etc. I am a firm believer that a healthy diet based mainly on plant-rich foods can really help with auto immune disorders. Has my RA improved on the Raw/Vegan diet? NO…but remember I had a major surgery 6 months ago which I think put me in a major flare. That in conjunction with detox symptoms from switching from a crappy Standard American Diet to a High Raw/Vegan diet has made my RA not so good.  But hey, I am not a quitter! I have improved other areas of my health dramatically by going Raw. My LDL cholesterol dropped a whopping 30 points since I started this diet, and we all know how important it is to remain heart healthy when you have RA. I am keeping thin on this diet which really helps my knees. My skin has finally cleared up and alot of my brown splotchy areas on my face (which I know was from RA) have disappeared. My nails grow like crazy and I have also cured myself of lifelong constipation. I know, I know, a yukky subject, but I lived on senekot for years. I was the queen of constipation! Not anymore. I am 100%, totally cured of that crappy ailment (no pun intended!)

Ok, so anyhoo, here is the green monster thang that I drink alot of!  Drinking smoothies and fresh juice is a great way to get tons of veggies and fruit into your diet!

My Green Monster Beast! with a Rubik's Cube in the background..I am such a nerd!

Judy's Spinach Mango Green Monster Beast

• 2 big handfuls of Organic Spinach (I buy mine in the package at the regular grocery store)
• 1 cup of frozen Mango (Trader Joe's)
• 1/2 cup frozen Papaya (Trader Joe's)
• 1 banana (I freeze mine in chunks then just toss them in my smoothie)
• 1 TBSP Coconut butter (I LOVE THIS STUFF and it is soooo good for you)
• 2 cups of high quality H20 - (just like waterboy)

That is it! Blend it all up for about 30-60 seconds and you have a super-nutritious green monster beast to feast on anytime of the day!

You can replace the coconut butter with almond butter, or whatever floats your boat. Sometimes I toss some raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas) in there to increase my iron intake, maybe hemp seeds for protein. You get the picture. A basic green smoothie recipe that you can tweak to your heart's desire and feel good about drinking! Be warned though, go put on a jacket as these dang things make you cold. Well, I am always FROZEN cuz of RA, so cold drinks make me cold…lol go figure.

We can take control of what goes in our bodies! That is the one area that we are totally 100% in charge of! We may have to take crappy meds and live with RA until they find a cure (*cough*) but I WILL control what goes into my body. I hope one day that my RA will turn the corner and I will be able to get off conventional meds due to my healthy diet – if not, well back to cheetos! haha

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Working out with RA – The Dreadmill, I mean Treadmill

Hey, hey, its Saturday! What's up? How is the RA treating you this weekend? Crappy, yeah, I knew that. Well, I thought I would let you know about the new Asics running shoes I just purchased last weekend. I have a treadmill in my bedroom that I try to use at least 3 or 4 times week (if I am not out hiking). But alot of times I put my workout clothes on, lay in my bed and stare at the treadmill. Does that count as a workout? Can I burn calories that way? HAHA…I SO WISH! I have been wearing Salomon trail shoes, but they suck on the treadmill as they are made for the trail. I am soooo glad I purchased these Asics 1140 Running shoes and I got them at a killer price of 59 bucks. I notice my feet are not near as sore after I walk and there is alot of heel cushion. So if you have RA and you are looking for some great walking/running shoes, these Asics are the bomb. You can also insert Superfeet insoles, as they are awesome for arch support.

Asics Women's Gel -1140 Running Shoes

I have stepped up my workout routine lately as I am trying to shed some poundage. I have been alternating walking and running on the treadmill. Granted I cannot run fast (its a jog ok?) but I am hoping it will jiggle the pounds off of me. So far my knees are handling it okay. When I first went on the raw diet, my knees were killing me, but that has subsided a bit. My RA has always really affected my hands, wrists, and feet.  All my other joints are not great, but not near as bad as the former. I used to lift weights faithfully years ago before my RA got really bad. I am trying to start that up again, but with horrible wrists, I have to lift really light and wear tight wrist straps. Remember these:

 Wrap these super tight to hold any weights in your hands…even 2 pounders!

Anyways, here is my workout routine this week (I know a boring post but hey, my life is mostly boring!)

• Monday: Treadmill [2.0 miles, alternate walking at 4.0 incline 3, jogging 5.0 incline 1.0)/Pyramid Upper Body Cathe Tape
• Tuesday: off – felt crappy today
• Wednesday: off – still felt crappy
• Thursday: Treadmill [2.0 miles, alternate walking at 4.0 incline 3, jogging 5.1 incline 1.0)
• Friday: Treadmill [2.25 miles, alternate walking at 4.0 incline 3, jogging 5.2 incline 1.0)
• Saturday: Treadmill [2.25 miles, alternate walking at 4.0 incline 3, jogging 5.2 incline 1.0)/Cathe Muscle Endurance tape

This routine includes LOTS of Motrin and keeping up on my Enbrel (my medicine routine kind of sucks, I am trying to work on it). I feel the need to really start building up my muscle strength to help support those crappy joints I have. Okay, well it's Saturday and I have not started my workout. Off to the dreadmill, oh I mean treadmill! I hope you all have a fantastic day! And remember, RA is CRAPPY!

What do all of you do for exercise? Do you feel that it helps you in the long run even thought it might hurt to do it at the time?

How to peel an orange

Not so easy to do with mangled hands! Simple solution. Have the hubby do it! Yep. He peeled it and then I ate it. Men are really useful for some things! lol. At least for me, peeling an orange with my bare hands is not gonna happen. Alot of times I do not want help even though I need it. Kind of a rebellion thing. One time I stopped all my meds for six weeks just cuz RA pissed me off so much. Yeah, RA won that battle – but it's always a battle with RA isn't it? A mental and physical battle. I cannot open jars, or ziplocks (yes ziplocks…how sucky is that??!!! I mean who cant open a ziplock?), clean showers or any tight spaces, button stuff, etc. But hey! I can still tell RA to go where the sun don't shine right?  For me, I know it's gonna suck most of the time. Like last night at 4:30 am when I woke up to take a Darvocet and some prednisone cuz I hurt so bad. But I refuse to get depressed over it. I would rather just lift my crippled, mangled, middle finger and flip RA the bird each morning, and then get on with my life. Sorry for the middle finger reference, but sometimes that is exactly what I need to do to overcome this crappy RA thang! I do not look to happy in this pic as I was trying to peel the dang orange by myself, but had to let the hubby finally do it! Scroll down for happier pics from this crippled, old RA gal.

Snow Canyon State Park, Utah

Hiking essentials with RA 101 – Trekking Poles are a must!

 

Wrist wraps are absolutely essential RA hiking people using trekking poles! Well at least for me they are necessary.

Pineapple and Peet's Coffee….yum..Pineapple for Bromelain for the anti-inflammatory effects. Heck, I do not notice a difference but it tastes good (even better with Rum and Coconut) No alcohol with RA meds? Who said that…hello I can't hear you???!!!!!! After 13 years with RA, who says I ever listen to Doctor's anymore?

Have a great week everyone!