Sunday Seven #2

Seven of my favorite things from this past week:

1. All things lupus awareness. May is Lupus Awareness Month so purple will abound this month! I think it is so important to raise awareness about this disease so we can find a cure for it! Wear purple on Friday May 16th for Lupus Awareness Day and post pictures to social media using the hashtag #PutonPurple to show your support! And you better believe I am going to keep posting reminders, we gotta spread the word! 

2. Sam's kale sprouts. She always posts pictures of awesome things she finds at Trader Joe's and it makes me really sad because I don't have one near me. If I want to go to Trader Joe's it's a 40 minute drive, which I think is a little far to go grocery shopping. I will have to live vicariously through Sam's creations! 

3. Açai oatmeal. I can't stop eating this stuff! OH.MY.GOODNESS. So good! Hi my name is Rachael and I am addicted to açai. Maybe there's an açai anonymous group out there for people like me...

4.This weather! It's been SO nice out! I spent most of yesterday outside playing with Cora and helping my dad work on a deck. It's supposed to be almost 80 degrees out today- whoop whoop!! 

5. Planet fitness people watching. I broke down and joined Planet Fitness because I wasn't about to pay $180 for a three month gym membership. Whenever I'm doing my cardio I always secretly people watch. There are some interesting people that go there. Let alone the lunk alarm just makes me laugh to no end. I also think it's funny that some people are only member for the pizza nights and bagel mornings. Makes me wonder what the world is coming to.

6. San Franola Granola. I have always been a granola lover, recently I haven't been able to eat granola because seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc. have been causing horrible pains in my stomach area (I'm being tested for crohn's disease). But I have been able to munch on San Franola Granola because it doesn't contain any seeds! It's also high protein, high fiber and low sugar, so it's an all around win!! The people who own/run the company are also the nicest people ever! I highly recommend checking out their granola- my mom is addicted to their granola!

7. Knowledge is power. I loved reading this article about what sugar does to your body. I don't like sweets and don't eat candy so the vast majority of sugars I consume are from fruits and vegetables. It's important to know what sugar does to your body because frankly the unnatural sugars- aka processed foods- are awful for your body.

Açai Oatmeal

Good morning and HAPPY SATURDAY!! I want to say a giant THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all of the positive feedback I got from yesterdays post about lupus awareness month. I was flooded with texts, messages, and emails and I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to each and every person who took the time to read what I wrote. Reading all of the beautiful messages literally made me cry because I have never felt so loved in my entire life <3 Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Ok enough mushy gushy stuff for now and onto today's post. I love açai. Like I am obsessed with açai (take a look at the recipe index if you don't believe me). I combined my love for açai with my favorite meal of the day- breakfast and made açai oats. It's everything that I love about açai bowls with oats including LOTS of fruit and you can't forget about the nut butter!

Açai Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup gluten free oats
• 1 tablespoon açai powder
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• 3 strawberries, sliced
• 1/8 cup blueberries
• 1/2 kiwi, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon Justin's vanilla almond butter

Cook oatmeal according to package directions. 

You can add in the açai powder in two ways. One if you are microwaving the oats cook the oatmeal for half of the time, pause and stir in the açai powder, and then finish cooking. OR you can stir in the açai powder after the oats have finished cooking. 

Top oats with banana, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and almond butter. Enjoy!

Lupus Awareness Month

The month of May is Lupus Awareness Month. This is something that is near and dear to my heart because a little over a year ago I was diagnosed with lupus. 

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which something causes the body's immune system to create autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. The autoantibodies cause pain, inflammation, and can affect and/or damage organs. 

It is really hard to diagnosis lupus. Lupus mimics other chronic aliments so it isn't uncommon for people to be wrongly diagnosed for years (like me!). The most common symptom of lupus is a butterfly facial rash that spreads across the nose and cheeks, but this is not present it every case. Other symptoms of lupus include chronic fatigue, joint stiffness and swelling, fingers turning white or blue when exposed to cold, hair loss, and chest pains among others. It's reported that 90% of those affected by lupus are women. Most cases occur between the ages of 15 and 44 (source).

Lupus is a disease of flares. Flares are periods of time when symptoms become much worse and gradually begin to subside. Joints may balloon up for a week or weeks or fatigue may be worse before beginning to lessen. There is medication to control pain caused by lupus and to reduce the severity of flares, but THERE IS NO CURE FOR LUPUS. 

I can tell you from my own experience lupus is a cruel disease and frankly it sucks. There's no other way to put it. 

Aside from the symptoms I think the worst part about lupus is people can be really, really mean about it. I can't even begin to count the number of people who have told me I am faking my symptoms for attention, which they then proceeded to call me pathetic and a drama queen. How do you make people understand that just because you don't look sick doesn't mean you aren't suffering? 

Do you know what it's like to wake up every day utterly exhausted? I could get 2 hours or 10 hours of sleep but it wouldn't matter. Even the most basic tasks of brushing my teeth or showering are completely draining. Despite how tired I might be a lot of times I can't sleep. A lack of sleep often intensifies symptoms, creating a vicious cycle. 

Then there's the attractive rash. Yes I have the butterfly facial rash, but I also have a lacy patterned rash on my arms and legs. I have had so many people treat me like I have ebola or I'm a freak show because of how it looks. It got to point where I refused to wear short sleeves out of the house. I hid my arms in shame. You may think that's cowardly but when everyone gives you strange looks and asks what's wrong with your skin it destroys your self-confidence. I even had a boss look me straight in the eye and ask me, and I quote "What's wrong with your face?" I drove home crying that day. It's words like that stick with a person forever. 

Then there's the people who want to know if lupus is contagious. Sometimes I want to punch these people in the face (ok most of the time I want to punch these people). No joke I have had people take a GIANT step back from me and ask if it is contagious. It's moments like those that make me wish it was contagious only so people could understand what I go through. But no lupus is not contagious and I can't "give" someone lupus.

Lupus has truly affected every aspect of my life. I can't be out late with friends because I pay for it for a week. I have always been a really healthy eater, but my diet has become much more restrictive as my body no longer tolerates certain foods (namely gluten and raw seeds and some nuts). I have had to stop running because running causes really bad pains and causes my joints to swell (which just makes me really sad because I was halfway through training for a half marathon). I no longer have enough fingers to count all the doctors I see, not to mention the box on medical forms to list all of your current medication is about ten lines too short. 

Lupus has negatively impacted my life in many ways, but so much good has come out of it as well. I refuse to let the negative outweigh the positive on this journey because I have learned a lot about myself along the way. I've learned that I am not in control, nor can I control what happens. God is the only one who knows what the future holds. I hold fast to the fact that his ways are perfect and that everything happens in his perfect timing. God has become my rock and honestly I don't think I'd be as happy or accepting of my lupus if I didn't trust in him. 

I've also learned that I am a lot stronger than I ever thought possible. I've learned that I really don't care what people think of me. My worth is not found in others approval, it's found in God. I've learned that having a support system is vital, especially on bad flare days. I've learned that there is life outside of lupus. And most importantly I have learned that lupus does not define me. Lupus is a part of me, but it's only a small part of who I am. 

Lupus cannot and will not change my dreams. It can't change the passion I have for life. It can't change the love I have for my family and friends (and my nutty dog). It can't change the wonder I feel when I stand beneath a blanket of stars. It can't change the love I have for helping people. It can't change my love of adventure. Lupus has changed my body, but it can't change who I am.

The point of this is not to make you feel sorry for me. Frankly I don't want and certainly don't need your pity. Rather, I wanted to give you a window into my life and what it is really like to live with lupus. There is no cure for lupus and sadly lupus is largely ignored in medical research because so much funding is poured into research for other diseases. Lupus is as real of a disease as cancer and there needs to be funding for research to learn more about the disease and hopefully develop a treatment for it. One of my dreams is to be able to address congress and fight for funding to lupus research.

Nothing can happen without people speaking up though. I know I will continue to be an advocate for lupus research for the rest of my life. But one voice alone cannot make a difference. Education and awareness are critical first steps. 

If you get nothing else out of this please, please I beg you PLEASE wear purple on Friday May 15 for #PutOnPurple to raise awareness about lupus. Post pictures to social media and hashtag away with #PutOnPurple! Please help me raise awareness about this disease so we can find a cure!