Vegan with IBD/Ostomy - Do You Have Experience?
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KetsyBaby
Posts: 40 Member
Hello All,
I am a brand new Vegan, a baby vegan as it were, and I have made this decision based on my current state of poor health, and the fact that I can no longer ignore the benefits of a vegan diet, but also the downfalls of not choosing to change the way I eat and treat my body and the environment.
I am 40 years old, morbidly obese, and my life "was" (as of a week ago) pretty much over. I was gaining weight, chronically overeating, and eating nothing with any nutritional value. I have IBD, sleep apnea, SOB, knee problems, abdominal hernias, a permanent ileostomy, depression, anxiety, PTSD, carpal tunnel in both wrists, and am practically immobile. I haven't left my apartment in 2 months because It is too difficult to get in and out of my car and my belly hits the steering wheel. This is not living, this is waiting to die.
I have tried every diet I know of, had consultation for gastric surgery, and am seeing a Bariatric specialist MD who believes I have ADHD. Because of my bowel disease and the twists and turns of the herniation I have, I CANNOT eat most raw fruits and vegetables. It is hard to be on any diet when you can't eat the "free foods".
I have slowly been considering my relationship to meat, dairy, eggs, and animal products. I saw the documentaries including Super-Size Me, Food Inc., Hungry for Change, and Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead. Then I caught something on the evening news that disturbed me greatly, it was a hidden video of a pig farm where they were handling these small helpless piglets, and without stating what most of you already know, I was sickened. I also always thought that Kosher meat was somehow better, after watching Vegucated, then PETA's "If all slaughterhouses had glass walls", and finally Earthlings. There was simply no way I could ever put any of that crap into my body ever again.
I realize the reason I was eating so much, such mass quantities of garbage food was because my body is craving nutrients that it is not getting. Not only that, all my food was processed and washed down with copious amounts of diet soda and artificially sweetened mix drinks. I was not drinking any water.
Now, I don't smoke, drink, or drug, but I have been addicted to crap (and I now know that it is not entirely my fault). I am lucky in that I have normal blood pressure and no diabetes in my family history, but I am approaching early signs for Type-2 Diabetes. I am not living, and it is time for all that to change. I want the second half of my life to be better than the first. I deserve this.
I am reading tons, and I have been juicing and tracking my intake, cleared out all the crap and filled the cupboards with the most nutrient dense and cleansing foods I can.
I may have to puree or cook some veggies to eat them, but there is so much I can eat it is unbelievable. I am almost a week in and I feel fantastic, I have lost a lot of the swelling in my legs, I am sleeping better, I love the food, love the fresh juice (who knew beets and lemons made for awesome). I feel somehow 'brighter', less hungry, I am eating correct portions, I am kicking myself for not doing this sooner.
This is my choice, no one told me to go VEGAN, but I don't think I could even look at meat, dairy, or eggs again, I am just not interested. To top it all off, I am a nurse, yep, I take care of others and help them find health for a living. I know better, I knew better, and now I will do better.
I'd love to have anyone interested add me as a pal, if you have any of the same hurdles to overcome, if you are a nurse too, if you are a new vegan, if you identify at all with my story.
With a compassionate soul,
Ketsy
I am a brand new Vegan, a baby vegan as it were, and I have made this decision based on my current state of poor health, and the fact that I can no longer ignore the benefits of a vegan diet, but also the downfalls of not choosing to change the way I eat and treat my body and the environment.
I am 40 years old, morbidly obese, and my life "was" (as of a week ago) pretty much over. I was gaining weight, chronically overeating, and eating nothing with any nutritional value. I have IBD, sleep apnea, SOB, knee problems, abdominal hernias, a permanent ileostomy, depression, anxiety, PTSD, carpal tunnel in both wrists, and am practically immobile. I haven't left my apartment in 2 months because It is too difficult to get in and out of my car and my belly hits the steering wheel. This is not living, this is waiting to die.
I have tried every diet I know of, had consultation for gastric surgery, and am seeing a Bariatric specialist MD who believes I have ADHD. Because of my bowel disease and the twists and turns of the herniation I have, I CANNOT eat most raw fruits and vegetables. It is hard to be on any diet when you can't eat the "free foods".
I have slowly been considering my relationship to meat, dairy, eggs, and animal products. I saw the documentaries including Super-Size Me, Food Inc., Hungry for Change, and Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead. Then I caught something on the evening news that disturbed me greatly, it was a hidden video of a pig farm where they were handling these small helpless piglets, and without stating what most of you already know, I was sickened. I also always thought that Kosher meat was somehow better, after watching Vegucated, then PETA's "If all slaughterhouses had glass walls", and finally Earthlings. There was simply no way I could ever put any of that crap into my body ever again.
I realize the reason I was eating so much, such mass quantities of garbage food was because my body is craving nutrients that it is not getting. Not only that, all my food was processed and washed down with copious amounts of diet soda and artificially sweetened mix drinks. I was not drinking any water.
Now, I don't smoke, drink, or drug, but I have been addicted to crap (and I now know that it is not entirely my fault). I am lucky in that I have normal blood pressure and no diabetes in my family history, but I am approaching early signs for Type-2 Diabetes. I am not living, and it is time for all that to change. I want the second half of my life to be better than the first. I deserve this.
I am reading tons, and I have been juicing and tracking my intake, cleared out all the crap and filled the cupboards with the most nutrient dense and cleansing foods I can.
I may have to puree or cook some veggies to eat them, but there is so much I can eat it is unbelievable. I am almost a week in and I feel fantastic, I have lost a lot of the swelling in my legs, I am sleeping better, I love the food, love the fresh juice (who knew beets and lemons made for awesome). I feel somehow 'brighter', less hungry, I am eating correct portions, I am kicking myself for not doing this sooner.
This is my choice, no one told me to go VEGAN, but I don't think I could even look at meat, dairy, or eggs again, I am just not interested. To top it all off, I am a nurse, yep, I take care of others and help them find health for a living. I know better, I knew better, and now I will do better.
I'd love to have anyone interested add me as a pal, if you have any of the same hurdles to overcome, if you are a nurse too, if you are a new vegan, if you identify at all with my story.
With a compassionate soul,
Ketsy
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Replies
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Hi. I have IBD so I understand how it feels when 'healthy' food is bad for you. Lots of people will not get it.
However, I'm not sure going vegan is going to help your situation. If it is a life choice you have made, then fine, but don't do it because you think its going to help your weight and/or IBD. Cutting out a food group, especially meat and dairy, for people who often need to keep on a low fibre diet isn't a great plan. Also we can be prone to iron deficiency.0 -
I am making the choice for a variety of reasons, one of the being compassion, so it's not just me trying a new trendy diet. I will not likely be eating much raw fibrous veg, so I think I should do OK. I will mostly juice the majority of my veggies unless they are steamed very very well in small amounts.
I have had anemia in the past and required IV infusion, and if that becomes the case again, I would still seek treatment. I plan on monitoring my intake and choosing vegan foods high in iron, like molasses and raisins. Also I am taking supplements and vitamins for the minerals that are hardest to get from most vegan diets. I know which veggies I must avoid (sprouts and such) and therefore won't even go there.
It really is so hard to have to be careful when you want to eat that huge salad but know it means hell or the hospital for yourself. I think it's true, we always want the things we are "not allowed" to eat. It goes both ways.0 -
I found that eating with an ostomy was no different than real life. I had horrible anemia too. I use a supplement called Floradix. It is vegetarian and made from beet juice. It also doesn't cause digestive upset like other iron supplements.
I don't want to get you overly excited, but one of the best vegan sources of iron is dark chocolate. However, that depends on where it was farmed. you need to check the nutrition summary. You also need to eat it in conjunction with something acidic. I will have dark chocolate with lemon juice and water to help with my iron intake. Sometimes I buy the chocolate with with chili so I don't eat too much.
Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables. I buy packs that are organic but precut/spiced. It gives me good reference as to how many calories. Stay away from processed, eat real food, and give yourself fitness goals.
Good luck.0 -
Ohhhh Chocolate is wonderful... I have to be careful though, too much in the house and I eat it all!
Another good source of Iron is Blackstrap Molasses, but I have to figure out how to use it, since I am not such a fan of the dark malty flavors.
Juicing is great for me, the fiber is out of the equation, so no bowel obstructions and lots of hydrating properties.
Thanks for the ideas! Ketsy , Vegan x 5 Weeks And Loving It!
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I'm vegan and also have a permanent ileostomy.
I ended up starting a blog in order to share my experiences as I found no information for vegan ostomates anywhere.
Hopefully, it can give you some insight, but if you have any questions or would like me to write about a specific topic, please feel free to ask!
http://veganostomy.blogspot.ca/0
