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HAWMC Day 10: Food, glorious Food!

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Welcome to the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge brought together by WEGO Health – a social network for all health activists.  Again, I am participating in the annual Writer’s Month Challenge in which I will be writing about my health activism and health condition based upon given prompts.

Friday 10th April: Comfort Food

We’re not all 5 star chefs, but we all need to eat!  Tell your readers how to make your favourite dish.  Does the recipe hold a good memory for you?  Is it the act of cooking itself that brings you joy, or the people that come together to eat it?

Admittedly, because of my condition it is incredibly difficult for me to be able to cook – weakness in the legs and the potential for them to give way with no prior warning therefore makes it dangerous to be able to cook dinner for myself or others.

Consequently, I have to rely on my parents, particularly my lovely Mum to cook dinner in our household.  Not that I don’t do any cooking at all; in fact once a fortnight I help prepare the lasagna.  Usually on a Friday afternoon, ready for Saturday night.  And as the dish is for the next night, it means that I am able to take my time and do the preparation and cooking of the meat sauce in stages, taking breaks when I need them and relying on my perching stool when my legs are trembling badly.

The meat sauce prepared by myself
The meat sauce prepared by myself

After the meat sauce is cooked, my Mum makes the bechamel (white sauce) sauce before assembling all the layers in the dish, letting it rest and placing it in the fridge.  Even just preparing the meat sauce tires me and leaves me feeling weak so in some ways I am glad that I do not have to cook on a regular basis.  I do enjoy the process despite this however, and it makes me feel useful and that I am contributing a little to our household.

I love food, although for some quite time I have been experiencing a lot of nausea and as a result I am not always in the mood, or enthusiastic about mealtimes.  However, by living with parents, I am encouraged to eat even when I don’t want to!

However, the favourite dish that I am going to tell you all how to cook, is one that we first made recently, and is one that is special as it is a meal that my Mum and I cooked together, spending quality time with each other and is also a time that despite experiencing a lot of nausea, it was a meal that I thoroughly enjoyed and felt good after eating.

It is also a meal that is healthy and low in fat and as it is a dish that includes spinach it can help with symptoms including fatigue due to the iron!

LINGUINE WITH GARLIC, PRAWNS & SPINACH

Serves 4

300 g linguine (or spaghetti if you prefer)
salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, sliced
150g spinach leaves
400g uncooked prawns, peeled
4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

  1. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan with plenty of boiling salted water until al dente
  2. As the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 1 minute until golden.  Then add the spinach and cook for a further 2 minutes
  3. Add the prawns with the parsley and season with the salt and pepper.  Stir well and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes or until the prawns are pink
  4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the frying pan with the other ingredients, then lower the heat
  5. Add the lemon zest and cherry tomatoes and stir everything together
  6. Serve and enjoy!

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HAWMC Day 7: World Health Day

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Welcome to the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge brought together by WEGO Health – a social network for all health activists.  Again, I am participating in the annual Writer’s Month Challenge in which I will be writing about my health activism and health condition based upon given prompts.

Tuesday April 7th: World Health Day 

April 7th is World Health Day – so let’s talk about daily nutrition and diet.  After your diagnosis, did you alter your diet or health routine?  If so, how so?  How do you maintain a health regiment?

Water.  Leonardo di Vinci, famously said that “Water is the driver of nature.” Drinking plenty of water and keeping well hydrated is vital for a healthy functioning brain and nervous system.  Therefore, when living with a neurological disorder, hydration and proper nutrition are not only critical to sustaining health but can also prevent a progression of the condition, or worsening of symptoms.

After being diagnosed with a neurological therefore, I take steps to ensure that I drink enough water throughout the day and even downloaded an app for my phone to remind myself to drink a glass of water, as living with symptoms such as fatigue, and brain fog, it can be really easy to forget!  And nowadays, water is generally the main beverage that I choose to drink.  I have never been one to drink hot drinks, such as tea or coffee, although I do enjoy the occasional hot chocolate for a treat!  But knowing all of the benefits of water for not just the brain, but the whole body I am happy drinking it, knowing I am doing something good for my health.

Doctors estimate that we need to drink around 8 glasses of water a day
Doctors estimate that we need to drink around 8 glasses of water a day

Since my diagnosis, however, I would not say I have taken huge alterations to my diet or daily health regiment.  I have been aware more of my diet and the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, especially as the weakness in my legs, and the other symptoms have made it difficult to regularly take part in cardiovascular exercise.  I am now therefore more aware of what I eat, and if we are having a take-away or eating out, then I will choose a dish that is healthy and not overloaded with salt or fat.  Recently, I have been opting to eat dishes with chicken, or seafood, especially king prawns, which not only have plenty of protein but are also low in fat.

Over the past couple of years, I have also developed Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which can result in agonising stomach cramps, bloating, and diarrhea.  As a result of this new diagnosis, I now have to be careful what I eat, especially for any potential trigger foods.  For example, dairy products can often be a trigger for an IBS flare, in particular cream and to have ensure that I ask for any desserts or my order of a hot chocolate not to be topped off with the whipped cream.  Luckily, in terms of the IBS, I have found a great friend in peppermint tea, as if a bad flare of the symptoms occur, after a mug or tea of the tea, I often find that the symptoms such as the stomach cramps eases off.  Yay for peppermint tea!

Would recommend for anyone with IBS to keep some peppermint tea handy in case of a flare
Would recommend for anyone with IBS to keep some peppermint tea handy in case of a flare

Exercise, as previously mentioned is often very difficult when living with a chronic illness, due to debilitating symptoms, such as pain, fatigue and weakness inhibits us to be able to do so.  However, last year I joined, what is known as a feel-good factory.  It is different from a conventional gym, as the equipment there consists of toning tables rather than giving a cardiovascular workout.  These toning tables are designed to rebuild muscle strength, tone, improve posture, increase circulation and mobility, just some of the examples of the benefits of the equipment.  And as the equipment consists of chairs and beds, I am not at risk of falls due to legs giving way.  Although I may not have seen improvements in the muscle strength and tone in my legs, it may be that without regularly working out at the feel-good factory, the weakness may be even worse.

FeelGood Factory in Llantrisant - photograph from their Facebook page
FeelGood Factory in Llantrisant – photograph from their Facebook page

All these steps, may not have had any effect on the symptoms caused by my neurological condition, which is evident by the recent worsening of my symptoms, however by taking small steps in maintaining a healthy regiment such as drinking plenty of water, and eating a healthy low-fat diet I can not only have control over aspects of my health that I can control but also helps to avoid even more health problems often caused by an unhealthy lifestyle.

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Exercise: Taking back control from symptoms…

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Welcome to the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge brought together by WEGO Health – a social network for all health activists.  Again, I am participating in the annual Writer’s Month Challenge in which I will be writing about my health activism and health condition based upon prompts given.

Today’s prompt reads as follows:

Fitness Friday…What do you do to stay fit?  Tell us about your efforts in maintaining a healthy lifestyle

Living with a chronic illness can often mean that you are not in control over a number of different aspects in your life.  More often than that not, your life is controlled by the symptoms associated with your condition.  For example, on the days where the weakness and trembling in my legs is very bad then I am unable to get out of bed because I can hardly stand or walk.  Therefore, my life is being controlled by symptoms because my ability to do certain tasks is dependant on the severity of the trembling and weakness in my legs.  However, an aspect of our lives that we do have control over is our personal fitness and general health. Taking part in regular exercise and eating healthy are things that are in our control.

It took me a long while, however, to find exercise that suited my abilities and symptoms due to my neurological condition.  Due to the pain, weakness and trembling in the legs I am unable to take part in activities such as running, or going to the gym.  Furthermore, my hand and eye coordination is also affected and therefore, I am not suited to be able to take part in sports which require good hand and eye coordination.  In the past, I have tried pilates and yoga but as the balance problems associated with the neurological condition I live with, I eventually had to give it up due to the falls I was experiencing when taking part in these exercise regimes.  There was also the Wii Fit, that my parents and I bought together for Christmas one year, but as the balance problems causes a swaying motion when standing, the Wii Fit board would no longer register me, as it would constantly tell me to stand still, which I was doing to the best of my ability!

Then the perfect solution found me whilst watching QVC on television (well, Mum had it on much to my dismay!).  The special value item for that day was an AeroPilates machine.  Aeropilates is a machine that incorporates basic Pilates movements whilst supporting the spine, joints and muscles of the body and uses resistance to strengthen muscles that are weak and lengthen muscles which are tight.  The machine has a bed as all the exercises require either sitting or lying down.   Therefore, this form of exercise is perfect for me as it is an exercise that I can still do even when my legs are weak as it requires either lying or sitting and in addition I do not have the worry of suffering a fall and injuring myself.  Furthermore, this form of exercise also concentrates on areas that I need to work on to prevent further deterioration of symptoms as the resistance training is designed to strengthen and tighten muscles which are weak and tight, which mine are due to the spastic paraparesis.  The machine can also be used as a rebounding machine by which the body moves back and forth thereby elevating your heart rate and providing an excellent cardiovascular workout.  It is a great machine, especially for those with problems similar to mine.  To find out more about this form of exercise, then watch this great video by Marjolein Brugman who developed the machine and form of exercise:

More recently, I have also started going to a place nearby to where I live called ‘The FeelGood Factory‘.  This is not a conventional gym, but they instead provide power assisted toning equipment.  These pieces of equipment (there are 12 pieces of equipment in total) facilitates both passive and active exercise and as a result can be used by anyone regardless of age, mobility, weight or fitness level.  Furthermore, they are even suitable for those with medical conditions such as MS, fibromyalgia, ME and arthritis.  The circuit of machines exercises all the major muscle groups in the body, and you can expect results whether you actively use the machines or allow the machines to work your body.   To find more about this particular form of exercise then watch the film below:

Not only does The FeelGood Factory provides a relaxing and safe workout but it is a lovely place to go with a lot of lovely and friendly faces and you are always guaranteed interesting conversations.  I go approximately twice a week and me and my carer always look forward to going and seeing everyone we have had the pleasure of meeting there.   If you suffer from a chronic illness and live near Llantrisant then I cannot recommend this enough and I have seen great results even after two months with various parts of my body feeling toned.  It has also given me psychological benefits as I feel more relaxed, happy and even confident since I first started attending The FeelGood Factory.

There are other FeelGood Factories around the UK, to see if there is one near you then visit the Shapemaster website here.

In addition to exercising as regularly as possible, I of course take control over what goes in my body by maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, which is just as important as exercise for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Of course, I still enjoy chocolate on occasion, but I do tend to avoid junk food and instead eat a balanced and sensible diet.

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