Figuring myself out :)

Lots has happened since my June 3rd post. Most importantly is my clean eating. I went no carb a few days to get a jump on good eating then after about a week I started eating good healthy carbs again. This is no way a no carb diet. What is clean eating? Nothing processed, no fast food, no alcohol, no bad carbs ( high glycemic)  and no sugar.  I realize I can't always be good and be perfect so I'm really trying to learn if I have something bad it's ok and I did not fail, just have to go right back to my good diet.
A special thank you to Tonya for letting me E-mail her and pick her brain. It's been a really big step for me to realize I need to eat for my health and not to lose weight through fad diets. This needs to be about me and health. Check out her blog and she has some recipes I really want to try:)  Happy Body Happy Life

I hit the 3 week mark on my new eating plan and had a mini family vacation. I had the best intentions to not eat bad and not fall off.  My husband ( I love you dearly) bought veggies and fruit to snack on for the car ride that Thursday to help me overcome temptation and I was going to allow myself a restaurant night and not feel guilty about it. All started off well and the restaurant was delicious. But the next day with the best intentions of staying on track I started to spiral. Saturday we cooked out with the neighbors,  pizza on the grill and ate way more then I should have. Sunday I told my husband enough is enough I need to get on track here but also said lets go to breakfast and made poor choices then another cookout with neighbors eeks really spiraling now. Monday I had another good intention thought but not prepared so I started snacking on sugary stuff then to tired and hurt to much to go shopping so ordered Chinese for dinner.
Last night I felt tired, bloated and swollen. RA was acting up with all the crap I ate. I decided I did not just invest 3 weeks into my health to give up so easily and 4 days is better to recover then not at all. Yay me...Am I actually figuring this out?
So this morning I made a strawberry smoothie with protein powder. I took a trip to the fitfood trainer and bought some snacks and lunches. Had a nice talk with the owner Sarah and she is having me food journal and we are going to go over it next week. It really motivated me to chat with her and also that she would take the time to go over my food journal  and help me tweak my eating is beyond awesome.  It's also nice to say I have RA and I am struggling like hell to figure this all out and I need help!  Hopefully I can get some workouts in with her very soon. Baby steps but it's on the goal list! 

On the RA front:
I started a new medication last Monday. This one is called Actemra. I was feeling a little nervous about switching. Even though Remicade stopped working I was at least getting a break in the pain. 2 weeks of feeling like me is better then no weeks. Nothing really exciting with the new med just yet. I was told it would take until the second dosage ( given every 4 weeks)  for any real relief but I should notice the edge is at least gone. I would agree that is an accurate statement. When I take prednisone in the morning it's kicking in faster and lasting longer. Better then being in so much pain I can't move so it's a start :)   On the plus side the Actemra IV infusion is only an hour long compared 2 hours with Remicade. Hopefully next month after my next infusion I will have more news. But I am staying hopeful this new med and eating clean is the answer!