It’s that time of the year! The holidays! As I type and I
was thinking of all you wonderful ladies out there. I think this time of the
year is wonderful. It’s one of my favorite times but it can also be one of the
hardest. You get busy and feel like there’s not enough time in the day, even
more so then usual. You’re going from family members’ house to family members’
house and during this time it can be easy to forget to take care of
yourself. From cooking the turkey for
Thanksgiving to opening the presents on Christmas, this time can really take it
out of you.
So how do you survive the holidays with Endo?
Well first you have to pace yourself. I know you know this
already, so do I. But putting what we know into action sometimes is a little
different. We want to be the super women
and make the holidays great and fun for everyone and in the middle of it all we
forget that we can’t do everything all at once and to take care of ourselves.
This goes for women with and without Endo. It’s important this time of year because
in the chaos of it all we forget to take a breath and sit down just to recharge
for a little bit. ENJOY the holiday!
Getting enough rest is so so important. I can’t stress enough
how important it is not to go through the holidays or any other day for that
matter with not enough sleep. My body reminded me that I didn’t take this advice
this past weekend. Starting Thursday till Sunday night I wasn’t getting very
much sleep at all. There was so much to do! Thanksgiving, my out of town
boyfriend came in, everyone was going Black Friday shopping, Saturday was my birthday date, and then
church and family get together for my birthday Sunday. As you can tell, I wasn’t
thinking about resting up. By Sunday night my body was feeling the effects. My
ribs ached (Does anyone else have this weird side-effect of PMS and Endo?) And I hurt so bad I couldn’t sleep. Did I have a fantastic weekend? Yes but I know that I would have enjoyed it more if I paced myself and had rested more.
When you push yourself through the weekend it also sets the tone for the
following week. Confession: I slept till 11 a.m. this morning.
Watch what you eat. During the months of November and
December there is sweet temptation all around. Being careful not to overload on
the sweets is a really good thing to keep in mind. Eating a lot of sugar isn’t
good for you anyways but when you are fighting a disease, keeping your body
full of healthy nutrition is so important. Treat yourself but don’t go
overboard 🙂 I
don’t know how many of you have tried this but my doctor put me on a
gluten-free diet after my surgery last year. I had a really hard time after
surgery digesting my food. Everything I ate came back up and I lost a lot of
weight. She decided that I needed to try gluten-free and dairy-free for two
months and see how I was feeling. It made a huge difference! Once I got the
hang of it and learned what foods worked for me and what didn’t I have been
able to control my diet which makes me feel a whole lot better. I know a lot of
people have heard of the gluten-free diet but don’t really know what it is. A
gluten-free diet means cutting out everything that’s made with things like wheat,
barley, oats, and rye. It does mean cutting out stuff like bread and pasta but
a lot of places have gluten-free grocery sections and also restaurants now
offer gluten-free menus. I limit myself on dairy products but I try to stay pretty much all gluten-free. I’ve found I
can cheat with having a sub or a slice of pizza every now and then but I can’t
handle it all the time. If you have any kind of digestive problems I encourage
you to talk to your doctor about trying a gluten-free diet.
Enjoy the holidays! Enjoy everything the time with family
and friends. Enjoy whatever time you get off of work. Enjoy all that is around
you. This is such a buys crazy time of the year but take the time to sit back
and relax so you will feel the joy of the holidays. Remember sometimes the
greatest things come from silent nights.
Much love, pain free wishes and the best wishes for your holiday season!!
Rachel
This article is intended to convey general educational information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.
