Morning Steve, ah breakfast my favorite meal of the day. I threw out convention and i eat what i fancy for mine.
OK cereal, you need to buy gluten free porridge or oats. I find Tesco has a good range, but i dont start with cereal myself.
I buy Burgen or Genius free from bread its the best. I like the Burgen with Linseed which is very good for us.
You can buy potato cakes gluten free lovely fried gently with bacon, mushrooms egg on top.
Gluten free flour (Dove).
OK you can make loads of things for breakfast.
Omelette… fill it with bacon, ham, spinach, or fried potato, tomato, red peppers whatever you fancy even left over veggies.
Pancakes. Make your own with gluten free flour (or buy a gluten free mix), and fill with loads of lovely fruit, honey, whatever takes your fancy, and you can have it with a dairy free yoghurt, or if your not bothered about going full dairy free, greek yoghurt is nice.
What about mushrooms on toast (I buy a tin of sliced and warm them up and put on toast, you can add egg, spinach whatever you fancy. Poached egg on toast, what about eggy bread, fried egg on toast, or if you have a sandwich maker you can make yourself a hot toasted sandwich fill it with what you like.
Eggs are so good for you, the sky is the limit there.
Oh i love avocado on toast (yes i said avocado lol), its very healthy although fat it is good fat. You need good fat.
You need to eat at least twice a week, sardines, or tuna, yes i eat that on toast too lol. Omega 3 and 6 is essential for us.
I always finish my breakfast with a bowl of fresh fruit and coconut milk you can buy it one is called Koko the other is Alpro. I like the Koko you can get it long life or fresh. Its not cheap though, but it is really healthy. It is full of stuff we need.
To put weight on is way harder then to take it off.
Oh dont forget the humble banana, its very good for you.
Go for high glycemic foods that take longer to go through your system so you dont crave the snack. If you want to snack buy NAKD snack bars they are gluten free and pure fruit and nut yummy, my favorite is called Bakewell tart its delish.
Dont forget you can buy gluten free pitta bread, so you could eat one for lunch, fill it with cooked chicken, or sardines, salmon, lots of salad stuff. Very healthy and pitta is high glycemic.
For dinner, lots of fresh veg with rice, casseroles or curries or gluten free pasta, make your own sauces (you have the gluten free flour so you can make a basic white sauce, and add what you like). I eat a lot of sweet potato, either mashed (you can buy it now frozen), or baked potatoes with fish or tuna.
Going dairy free is not necessary if you substitute just the milk its a start. I tried dairy free cheese its disgusting lol.
Day 1.
BREAKFAST. 2 slices of gluten free toast. Add wilted spinach and scrambled eggs. You could sprinkle some cheese of parmesan. Glass of water or herbal tea.
Bowel of berries, nuts dried fruit with coconut milk.
SNACK - Banana or snack bar like Nakd.
LUNCH - Gluten free pitta bread, fill with whatever you have available, keep cooked chicken in fridge as a staple, or have sardines, or tuna and fill with chopped salad, feta cheese olives (olives again are one of the healthiest foods you can eat). Use a salad dressing of your choice. Finish with fruit, glass of water.
SNACK - eat what you fancy, some chocolate wont harm you.
DINNER - beef casserole. Now you have to buy a SLOW COOKER, i use mine all the time. Buy your veg already prepared, whatever you fancy, with potatoes, lots of nice veggies, some cubed beef, a gluten free gravy, turn your crock pot on in the morning and just shove all the ingredients in dont forget seasoning (you can add a little red wine). Make sure it is on high, and let it cook for about 5 hours. When you come home its cooked and ready. Yummy. You can find tons of recipes for slow cooker on the Internet.
My essential items. Slow cooker, halogen, soup maker, and smoothie maker and the microwave.
In the winter i make loads of soups, you can literally shove what you like in them they are so good for you and filling with nice toasty bread. You can take some to work in a flask.
Smoothies, you can have a smoothie with your breakfast, tons of recipes out there for healthy, the sky is the limit to be honest.
Slow cooker, you can make lovely curries, stews, cook a whole chicken in, just shove it in on high, with seasoning and a bit of garlic butter, rosemary thyme, and leave it to cook all day, yummy, and it makes a lot of moisture which you can use as a stock.
Halogen, i use mine everyday. I buy parchment paper, put some sliced potatoes, fresh veggies, and a piece of salmon, use lemon and seasoning, lift up the paper and seal it by scrunching the top together a bit like a pastie, and cook for 25 minutes on 200c in your halogen and have a lovely light lunch yummy. Or roast a chicken in it, whatever takes your fancy.
Oops i better close now, dont get me started on food lol. I hope the above helps a bit.
Anxiety is normal in MS. When you feel a panic attack, do something else. What do you like doing? If i start to feel a panic attack, i will play a silly game on the Internet, or do some cleaning, my house is sparkling lol… you have to just remove yourself away and do something else, so you are not focusing on the anxiety. It does work. Its really normal, and can be quite scary as it can literally just hit you when your not even thinking about it, but know the signs BEFORE it gets a hold of you is the key.
You have been through a lot lately there are no quick fixes, but you can focus on good things you have in your life, there are always good things sometimes we forget what they are. Or you can go to a happy place, we all have them. The trick to coping is to change the way you think.
I find the worse thing is the MONKEY CHATTER… we all have them in our brain. The monkey chatter that tells us things we dont want to hear, on and on it goes with negative thoughts, telling us we cant do that, or if we do that it will cause this, dont do that as you will be too tired afterwards, it chatters around in our brain, and we have to shut it up basically or give it something to do.
So now i draw on my internal strength which i know i have, i find a place where i feel empowered, and i go there, and show the monkey chatter that i can do, i have done it. My place is the here and now, i am here after 16 years of battling to get a diagnosis, i have managed to survive all of it, and have worked hard to get where i am, and have not allowed anything to stop me being here.
As chronic long term sufferers of a delibitating disease, we are all SURVIVORS, WARRIORS, we are the strongest of the strong, and we can do anything we want to do. I wont let my illness define who i am. I am strong, i want to survive, and i have done many good things in my life to be proud of, and I use these to get me through the day.
Writing down how you feel, what you have achieved, your best moments, your funniest times, your good times, is the way to make you feel better. You will have a lot you never even thought about.
All these good things are there if you want to see them. Every new chapter is a new path in your life. I always say to my grandchildren you can take the easy road, or the hard road its your choice.
Again my brain is in rambling mode lol… I must get up, i have chickens to feed, they need me. Take care, remember a little of what you fancy does you good, never deny yourself anything, just remember moderation, and balance is the key. xxxxx
I didnt realise there were so many options. Ive not eaten eggs for around 6 months now, (I was led to believe these were one of the worse things for MS) so to hear theyre ok is great cos I love them! Omlette for tea tonight! I went to tesco this afternoon and stocked up on a load of stuff. Theyve got a pretty good ‘free from’ range, its all quite pricey but I guess thats to be expected. Didnt have any Bergan Bread tho but Im fairly sure they sell it at morrisons near me.