God Will Help You Do Hard Things!

Yippee!! Wahoo!! Oh yeah!! Eeeee!!! Today is finally the last day!

The last day of what? Today is the last day of being on the elemental diet. 13 days people. 13 DAYS! That is a loooooong looooooong time and I am ready to eat some food! To put it simply, since August 24th I have been eating and drinking nothing else other than water and water mixed with the elemental powder formula. The idea behind this is to give my digestion a rest and to hopefully reset and recharge my body. Additionally, the elemental formula is the most simple way to obtain nutrients and calories, making it very easy for my body to absorb all the fats, carbs, and protein (in the form of small amino acids) that it needs. I think that it is so interesting!! (Haha here is where my nerdy science girl comes out...) And I would highly recommend doing an elemental diet for someone who may benefit from it. You will need to get it ordered from a Dr. so talk to them if you would like to find out more. 

Here are my observations while on this diet: 

• Day 1: Tastes NASTY, but then I found out that you can blend it with ice and combine 2 scoops into 1. Therefore you can don't have to drink 12 drinks, but simply 6. With ice and in a blender I have actually grown to really like the taste, haha...
• It does keep me pretty full surprisingly, but it only lasts for a few hours so you will need to eat every 1.5-2 hours.
• It takes a while to work. For about 10 days, I saw no progress. Then on day 10, I started to see some real progress! Eeeee! I am so happy about this!!! Be patient with yourself and don't give up. It is crazy hard and when you don't see progress, it is even easier to give up. But don't. Because you will turn a corner at some point. 
• Drink it slowly and add a probiotic to it (if tolerated well). 
• This helped solve my daily issue of "what in the world do I eat today". For 13 days it has been kinda nice to not have to worry about cooking, meal prep, or what to eat. With that being said, it is never a way to permanently live. 

Now for the real story. I have seen quite the bundle of miracles this week. To the untrained eye, they may seem small. But for me and those who know me well, realize that there have been some miracles lately that are among my biggest since my experience with Crohn's Disease. Here are just a sample of the miracles that have taken place: 

• After praying that my drink would taste good, it actually did start to taste good. Like really really good. I'm talking like I couldn't even swallow all 12 scoops the first day and last night I even had an extra 4 because I wanted to. 
• My attitude has been extremely positive! Contrary to popular belief, I actually do complain about Crohn's. And sometimes a lot. I am sorry to my family and those around me for hearing me complain. This diet has literally stripped me of all the remainder of the foods that I could eat. This absence of what I have been able to enjoy has taught me how good I really still have it. My diet for the upcoming future may be extremely bland, but now all I see is what I do have. Not what I lack. My perspective has completely shifted and I feel that God has woken me up. I feel like my usual Camille self again. And I like Camille. 
• God strengthens you (and me) to do hard things. That is my favorite quote. "I can do hard things!" 
• The power of positive attitude is so so real. My dear friend Valerie has been sending me something positive every single day and I am so grateful for support like this. 
• Honestly, these 13 days have been only slightly hard. I attribute ALL of this to the divine help from my Savior Jesus Christ. Please lean on him, always. He will not leave you alone. He will strengthen you to do hard things. 

What's next? Well after working this hard I am certainly not going to let it all go to waste and not be careful about what I eat. In fact, I will be starting the SCD diet from square one. Ugh. But really I am actually stoked about it because in 2012 that's what I did and that is how I shaved 15 minutes off my 5k time. This diet is stinking hard. Like way hard and way restricted. But it works and I highly recommend it for anyone who is facing GI disorders of any kind or autism. Follow this link to learn more about SCD. 

And lastly, here are some pictures and videos along the way from this 13 day journey. I still have a long way to recovery, but I know that I will fully heal from this one day. I know it. 

On my way to work.... haha

Guess which shelf is mine? Lol.

Canyon drives with my sis... there is always a reason to smile :)