Feeding ME

And feeding me.
So food is a big thing in this illness. In any illness. A lot of illnesses create food restrictions but the one constant that comes around is A Healthy and Nutritious Diet.
So how can this be achieved with little energy, sometimes very little energy to chew, and digest, as well as the issue of preparation?
Over the years I have experimented, finding budgets restrictive and being able to actually get out of the door to do the shopping. When I came to a crashing halt two and a half years ago the simplest option became quick food to stick in the oven and make it easy to eat too. I spent a lot of time eating supermarket pies and pasties, ready meals and left overs from my husbands efforts in the kitchen. His weekly pasta, with jar of organic tomato sauce, frozen chopped vegetables and tin of tuna was the normal offering for sunday lunch, also feeding himself and I for a couple of days into the week. Cottage pie and spag.bol. became another easy option too, both of which would be made with turkey mince or lean organic beef mince. We also ate a lot of home made potato wedges with pieces of breaded fish and good old toad-in-the-hole.
A lot of the other meals consisted of wholegrain soda bread toast or sandwiches, with organic eggs or sardines, an occasional banana and sugar-free fruit yoghurts from the baby section of the supermarket. So much carbohydrate is easy fuel (but ironically can also encourage lethargy) and as I tried to include protein with every meal the energy lasted a little longer too.
About a year ago I applied for and was awarded  Disability Living Allowance. I still receive it and it is critical to support me through this recovery. ME is such an unpredictable condition that a sustained recovery into good health has to be maintained before benefits will be reduced or stopped. Some authorities are more understanding of the illness now and will be supportive of the condition. I have spoken to Citizens Advice Bureau representatives on numerous occasions and am assured of my need for this help as I recover. (that is a story for another blog post!)
So this gave me a little more scope as far as food budgeting was concerned. I changed tactics and started using a different supermarket, with more healthy, easy to cook options and our diet has improved as a consequence. Having to buy pre-prepared food will always mean the prices rise, but it has been a necessity at this stage of my illness.

These very good guidelines are given by the ME specialists I use (link)
Use the 80% rule... let yourself off if you stray from the suggestions 20% of the time
Cut out toxins in the form of refined sugars, alcohol, caffeine, refined carbohydrates, processed meat and food with un-pronounceable ingredients!
Include 3 pieces of fruit every day and add vegetables or salad to every meal.
Reduce dairy and wheat if the body finds them difficult to digest. (this is more than likely to be temporary unless tested otherwise by a doctor)
If the budget can only afford a little organic produce make it meat, as the meat will also be eating food- you are what you eat and what your food eats! (In my kitchen the daily staples are organic... yoghurt, eggs and butter, bread, pasta and rice, flour, tins of tomatoes, fresh soups and when possible meat and vegetables. As a compromise I buy free range and British, and choose the suppliers with the better standards in growing and producing)
Choose smaller fish as the toxin build up will be comparable to its lifetime- ie avoid tuna like the plague!

I stick to these rules 80% of the time and let that stretch over the week. Days will come along when the exhaustion and/or fridge dictate the need for an easy option. An occasional take-away or shop-bought sandwich and bag of crisps isn't going to prevent my recovery!
So I'll tell you about how I'm hoping to improve on my current diet next time...