Goat's milk soap

This is what I'm using right now for soap. I really like it and it's fragrance free and doesn't have any extra "junk" in it. I get mine at Hannafords for $2.79 but I see you can order it online a little cheaper. Of course that depends on shipping costs.

Day by Day

Taking it day by day :-) I have eliminated the gluten and am so proud of myself for it. I never noticed in the past how sensitive I was to it - but once last week I though I'd "try" to see if I really had an issue with it. I ate a burger - didn't really enjoy it either. Within an hour my face looked like a red tomato, I itched everywhere, my stomach was very upset and my psoriosis flared bad! I have officially proven to myself the gluten is bad for me.

This is how an elimination diet works. Eliminate what you suspect you might have issues with - for about a month if you can (I did 3+ months on the gluten free diet). Then try the product. I only needed one try - but they say you should go back to eating it for several days and see how you feel.

I have to be honest - it took my many tries to stay gluten free. I started in August. I'm not in the process of doing the same with dairy.

Today I was dehydrating zuchini chips w/ sea salt and vinegar. (My version of potato chips because I'm avoiding all "manufactured foods".) My husband suggested I make zuchini bread with the rest of the zuchini. I told him I could - but it would be gluten free because I was out of reg. flour. He told me it's all in my head - he thinks I've just "decided" I have an issue because the doctors don't direct you towards diet. It was extremely discouraging. He's never made any comments about my skin - but thinks I'm a little crazy to be trying all these food eliminations. I am just having a really discouraged day. I will keep going though. I've heard some say it took them like 7 months of changed diet to see a change in their skin. I also know if nothing else I'm going to be healthy ( and thin ) once again.

Feeling Good/Losing Weight

Well I made it to day 7 on my detox cleansing week. Yeah!!! Once I got about half way through the week my energy picked back up and I wasn't so tired. It's normal to be tired at the beginning and more energized at the end. Right now I have no desire to go back to eating the bad stuff. I'm loving the ease of making my green smoothies for breakfast and prefer the fruits and veggies. I have a ton of new recipes to try that I found online. Today we're snowed in - so far about 12" and it's only 10 am. The storm is suppossed to go until around 7 tonight. Today is a good day to cook. I'm making some homemade baked beans (that way I can control the sugar amounts) and tomatillo guacamolie for a potluck on Friday (I have lots of avacado's right now). I'm also making a mushroom lentil bake and I have an awesome recipe for eggplant caserole that I'm making for the potluck also. As I see it the trick to a potluck is bringing stuff you can eat so you're not starving and everyone brought desert or something.

Well so far I've gone from 171 lbs to 162. That's almost 10 lbs without "trying" - just changing the eating habits. I'm happy about the weight loss though. When you have psoriosis your self esteem can really be damaged. You feel like your damaged and you don't want anyone looking at you. Because I have psoriosis between my breasts so bad I can't wear anything remotely low cut. I also have to wear longer shirts because I don't want anyone to see my lower back or my belly button area. For a women this is tough because we want to feel sexy and attractive - that's really hard when the last thing you want is for anyone to ever see you naked! I remember when I was younger and fit I felt good about myself. I wore sexy bras and underwear and even if no one was seeing them I still felt sexy in them. I'm really happy that I'm starting to loose some weight as at least then I'll feel good in tight jeans or something. I'm praying for the skin to clear - at the very least in the more private areas. I met a guy on facebook that has psoriosis on his private areas. My heart just breaks for men who have that problem. He said it was causing issues with his wife and his sex life - I can only imagine the pain he must go through (physically and emotionally). I'm so happy to have an understanding husband. He has never made a negative comment about my skin.

Here's to more weight loss and clearer skin. Cheers! (I'm toasting myself with a cup of hot green tea - no alcohol for me).

Detox Week

I started my 7 day detox on Tuesday. So far so good. Things are "moving" so to speak. I'm comfortable though and not having any issues like really loose stools. Work was a little tough because everyone in my office ordered out almost every day - I did good though and just thought of my skin and was able to eat what I brought. I made a large batch of veggie soup at the beginning of the week so I had it on hand in case of hunger. I've had some raisins and almonds as well as fruit for snacks. I've been drinking lots of hot tea - I love the stuff. I've been making a large smoothie to drink in the morning and on the ride in to work. I have refused to bring them in to work because they look horrible - depending on what I put in there it's either dark green or poop colored. People would be really grossed out if they didn't understand. I'm really getting to like them and find it's much easier than actually cooking breakfast. The hard part for me is making dinner for everyone else in my family and then eating something else myself.

I've been searching and doing a lot of research on diets people have results with for psoriosis. I have the book by Dr. Pagano called " Healing Psoriosis the natural alternative". I also have one called "Your healing diet" by Deirdre Earls. I've also been studying the diet from "how to beat psoriosis.com" All recommend the usual: Drink lots of water, get plenty of rest at night, exercise, etc. Dr. Pagano's book and howtobeatpsoriosis.com both show the importance of having regular bowel movements. As far as diets go ... howtobeatpsoriosis.com is the most restrictive, followed by Dr. Pagano's book and then Deirdre Earls book.

Here's my summary....
Eat more Alkaline forming foods and less acidic (80%/20%)
Drink at least 8 glasses of water or herbal tea daily
Make sure you're going to the bathroom daily
Get in your fiber - flax seed is a great way to add extra
Stay away from the nightshade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers)
- black pepper is fine and sweet potatoes are fine
- Nightshades contain solanine which contributes to inflammation.
Avoid shell fish - they are bottom feeders (Eat freely swimming fish instead)
Limit or cut out beef and pork. Beef is very hard on your liver.
For gluten and dairy you'll need to do an elimination diet to see if they affect you.
- Gluten intolerance if very high among psoriosis sufferers
Watch out for citrus fruits and berries (strawberry, black berry, etc)
- Blueberries seem to be ok per 2 of these sources.
Fresh squeezed lemon juice is great to add to water, tea or smoothies.
Nuts - one source says all nuts are bad, one says nothing about them and one suggest they're all good except peanuts. I for one itch with peanuts but have no issues with almonds or sunflower seeds.

My conclusion: I'm going to due my best to follow these suggestions until my psoriosis is pretty much clear. Then I will try adding in the nightshades and watch for any reaction, etc. I for one never ate very many nightshades - so I don't think they caused much of my problems - but they can contribute to inflammation. I spoke w/ my nuetritionist about them and she felt if I ate them I should just take extra omega 3 (anti-imflamatory) to combat it some. She didn't feel veggies of any kind are a problem - fruits either. She did warn me beef is very hard on your liver though and we determined peanuts normally have a mold that grows on them - which is probably why I itched so bad after eating them.

I have noticed since starting to detox things have gotten worse - yes worse. That's normal though. The redness is incredible right now - but the thickness of the scales is almost gone. The skin is very uncomfortable and sore also. I'm taking things a day at a time. I know it can take a long time for your body to heal naturally - but I feel it's worth it.

Happy New Year

Today is the start of a new year. I'm hoping today is the start of a new body also :-) I went to see my neutritionist yesterday and had another colonics. We talked about how things were going. I haven't seen a whole lot of changes yet. Things look good then bad then good. You know how that goes. She said basically my body is in a state of toxicity right now because the toxins are going to my skin. My liver is obviously on overload right now and not functioning at it's best. She wants me to do a 7 day detox before the next colonics session. She looked over the 7 day detox system I've used in the past and felt it was a good one. I also like it because it's fairly gentle and I can still work while doing it. I need to eat mostly fruits and veggies. For protein if needed I can have eggs/chicken or fish - without cheese or added fat, etc. My smoothies are good in the morning - but she wants me to up the amount of flax seed meal I was adding from 1 tbsp to 2-3 instead (more fiber). I'm starting this on Wed so I need to prepare by making some veggie soups to have on hand, etc. It's not good to get to a really hungry stage and not have things on hand to grab.

My colonics session went well. More came out than I normally see. She thinks my colon may be tipped a bit so that when I'm laying down on the table the angle's not working with my body as well as if I'm sitting on the toilet. From what did come through the machine she noticed I had a lot of mucus and we could see a lot of hard metal coming through. I asked about that and she said it comes from environmental toxins mostly as well as dental work. (Yikes). I'm glad most dentists have swithed away from the metal fillings.

I found some really awesome lotions that I like recently. They're from a company called SheaTerra Organics. They have a website and are made from shea butters. I got Shea Gold and Cape Lavender. The Shea Gold says right on it for psoriosis and the lavender smells heavenly! The products don't have any preservatives/parabens and other toxins so I feel safe putting them on my body. Right now I'm so leary of what I eat and what I put on my skin because I am seeing what all the toxins have done to my body over time. It's time for me to put an end to adding more in there. If you sign up with your email address at SheaTerra Organics they add you on the email list - then you get coupon codes sent to you. I signed up and waiting about 2 weeks before getting one - but I got a coupon code for 30% off. It was well worth the wait. I'm always one for a sale :-)

Last night I went to a New Years Eve party at my sisters. After we ate some I came down with an immediate migraine headache. I haven't had one in awhile so I knew it was something I ate or drank that caused it. After going back through everything I ate I narrowed it down to the punch. It had fruit punch in it with artificial flavorings and colorings. I was so good on what I ate I didn't even think about the punch. I was trying to avoid the soda! Ugh - very discouraging. I'll stick to water & tea like I have been doing.

I wish all a happy new year and also a year of clearer skin and less aches and pains!