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Crohn’s Disease and Mental Health
It’s no question that Crohn’s Disease, or any inflammatory bowel disease, can affect your mental health. I’ve been really open about how my mental health ebbs and flows. I think it is important to understand that with Crohn’s Disease, your mental health may take a plunge. But, there are ways to improve your overall health, both physically and emotionally, even with IBD. I’ll share what’s been going on in my life and how I am making changes to improve my well-being. The Gut-Brain Connection First off, it’s important to understand how intertwined the gut and the brain are. It’s no wonder that when we struggle with inflammatory bowel disease that…
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Anxiety & IBD
Anxiety…anyone else struggle with this? I have struggled with some form of anxiety my whole life, but since having IBD it has only gotten worse. Not only is anxiety a horrible problem on its own, it can exacerbate symptoms making life unbearable sometimes. Mental health is tightly wound within your IBD journey be it anxiety, depression, stress or guilt. Today we’ll focus on anxiety and how to manage it, but don’t worry, we’ll touch other areas of mental health soon! The reason I want to touch on anxiety is because mine has been really bad lately! (And I’m currently writing this on an airplane which is like the most anxious…
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Half Marathon Training with IBD
I’m running a half marathon! Crazy to think that I’ll be running for more than a half hour at one time. But, I wanted to talk to you all about Half Marathon Training with IBD. I think there are a few things that we need to take into consideration with our diseases. However, running, and exercise in general, are not out of the question when you get diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. First, I am not a doctor. So be sure to check in with them and keep them informed with what you are doing. Second, if you are in the middle of an active flare, you may…
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3 Ways to Reduce Inflammation
And My 10 Year Diagnosis Anniversary I haven’t updated you in a while, but I am working through some inflammatory issues! Here’s what’s happening and 3 ways I am working to reduce that inflammation (if that’s even what it is!). It’s been a while since I have posted. Apologies. But if you read my last post, you know I’ve been struggling. I have some serious inflammation going on. I think part of it has to do with I ate like crap for almost an entire year because I was at a training facility. It wasn’t in line with what I had in place before training. I also have had increased…
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I Need Some Motivation for Healing my Gut
Updates, Accountability & What’s Going On! My motivation for healing my gut is so low and I need to just write to get my thoughts on a page. So here we go! I am not feeling great. In all aspects…Crohn’s, life, mentally, physically. And I know that I need to make some adjustments. But finding the motivation lately in a STRUGGLE. Maybe because I feel like crap? And the cycle continues. My life has been a whirlwind the past year. I changed my job, went to training far from home which lead to eating like absolute crap, pandemic crisis, and moving 3000 miles away from family. It hasn’t been easy.…
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Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and Covid-19
Updates, Vaccine Info & Resources! **Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. True medical questions regarding Covid-19 and IBD should be directed to your doctor. This is merely a gathering of information. Covid-19 and Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis is not something that has been thoroughly looked into. Granted, it’s a novel virus and we are learning as we go. What I am concerned about, as I’m sure many of you are, is what happens with my immunosuppressed body, vaccines, and potentially getting the virus. A really great resource for everything Covid-19 and how it relates to IBD is the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. They have IBD patient stories with people…
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Remember that Gratitude Practice?
Gratitude practice? Oh that one I told myself I was starting at the beginning of the year? Yeah, it’s been rough. I made a goal for myself in the beginning of 2020 to start a gratitude journal. I had A LOT of changes coming this year, I mean, I started a brand new job, had to train for 18 weeks away from home, and oh yeah…MOVE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I wanted to keep focused, grounded, and reflect on the many, many things I had in my life to be grateful for. In the beginning, I was really good about it. I was pumped that I was building a new, positive…
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4 Ways to Curb Stress
Let’s talk about stress real quick. It is something everyone deals with and manages differently. No one can make it through life without stress. But stress can take a toll on those of us with IBD and can have an effect that goes well beyond our mental wellness. I’ve talked about my struggle with anxiety, which is a topic I think should be touched upon more, but the number one contributing factor to my anxiety and majority of my flares…STRESS. This topic could be something I could write about for days. There is a lot of science happening in regards to stress and our body’s reaction to it. But what…
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Clean Out Your Supplements, the Right Way
I wrote this for Autoimmune Sisters as a spring cleaning post. With everyone being home more and needing ideas of what to do, why not clean out that closet or drawer or bin full of supplements you are no longer using, and appropriately! Click here to see the post on Autoimmune Sisters along with a bunch of other cleaning ideas. But, you can continue reading on just to see how to appropriately clean out your supplements! As much as we try to heal with food, our bodies sometimes need a little support. So we end up with all these supplements that sometimes we need to throw out. Here we talk…
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Get Back to a Routine
How to get back into a health and fitness routine, and quite frankly, a daily routine after some time away. After a vacation, or time away from your normal day to day routine, it can be difficult to decide what to do to get back into the swing of things. Decisions like, *Should I let my body recover/rest from my trip?**Do I start this new intense workout program?**Do I cut out X food after overindulging for too long?**Do I need to fight some inflammation that I may have caused during my trip? (me in a nutshell)* can seem daunting and overwhelming. Understanding your body and being willing to potentially experiment…
